Torture a rough method of investigation: Former police chief

AYDIN - Doğan News Agency

Justice and Development Party (AKP) deputy Yaşar Karayel (C), who heads the delegation, says they particularly asked Ağar about the Feb 28 process. DHA Photo

Former Police Chief and Interior Minister Mehmet Ağar told Parliament’s coup commission that torture claims against him during his post were “a rough method of interrogation.”

Parliament’s Coup and Memorandum Investigation Commission visited Ağar, a former police chief and interior minister serving his term in prison for the “Susurluk Case” in the western province of Aydın on Nov. 10.

Unresolved murders

Infamous for his “We have done a thousand operations” remark about unresolved murders that took place in the 1990s, Ağar told the members of the commission that the missing weapons were a requirement of a successful struggle. On being questioned about torture claims against him during his post as the head of national police, which preceded his post in the Cabinet, Ağar said, “It was a rough method of interrogation.” Justice and Development Party (AKP) deputy Yaşar Karayel, who headed the delegation selected from the parliamentary commission members, spoke to the press after Ağar’s interview and said they particularly asked about the Feb. 28 process.

 Karayel said he considered the interview a successful one and added that they had asked Ağar about the resignation of Necmettin Erbakan, who was the prime minister at the time, after his Libya visit. “He said they had received intelligence from Foreign Ministry sources, and he shared the intelligence with Erbakan, warning him against going to Libya. He also said that a decree was prepared and Erbakan later said he did not know about the decree when the members of the press asked him about it. Ağar also said Erbakan insisted on going to Libya and his visit had proved Ağar right.”

Committee member Ahmet Toptaş, a deputy from the Republican People’s Party (CHP), said Ağar said nothing original and all he said was a repetition of his publicly known remarks.

Named for the harsh Feb. 28, 1997 National Security Council (MGK) declaration, the Feb. 28 process was the largest part of a series of events that eventually made the government comply with legislation on secularism and gave the government a list of actions to take regarding the situation.

The Ankara 11th High Criminal Court had sentenced Ağar in September 2011 in the final case over the so-called Susurluk scandal of 1996, when Ağar was head of the national police. The scandal exposed links between the police, the mafia and politicians after a car accident in Susurluk.