Trials in Turkey
The Ergenekon trials or the Ergenekon conspiracy, were a series of high-profile trials which took place in 2008–2016 in Turkey in which 275 people, including military officers, journalists and opposition lawmakers, all alleged members of Ergenekon, a suspected secularist clandestine organization, were accused of plotting against the Turkish government. The trials resulted in lengthy prison sentences for the majority of the accused. Those sentences were overturned shortly after.
Since Istanbul Heavy Penal Court 13 (tr: "13. İstanbul Ağır Ceza Mahkemesi") accepted the 2,455-page indictment against 86 defendants in the first case against alleged members of the supposed clandestine organization Ergenekon on 28 July 2008 a further 14 indictments were submitted up until February 2011. Until the fourth indictment the number of defendants had increased to 531 and more than 8,000 pages of indictments had been written. Most trials were held in Silivri Prison. In June 2009, the prison's sport hall was converted for the term of the trial into a maxi courtroom with a capacity for 753 people.
In April 2016, the Supreme Court of Appeals overturned the lower court's convictions because prosecutors had been unable to prove that Ergenekon actually existed and whatever evidence presented had been collected illegally.
The first indictment.
The first hearing at Istanbul Heavy Penal Court 13 was held on 20 October 2008. The main charges were: establishing, directing, and being a member of an armed terrorist organization; aiding and abetting a terrorist organization; attempting to overthrow the government through the use of force and coercion; acquiring, stocking, and using explosives; and urging others to commit crimes using explosives.
The reading of the 2,455-page indictment lasted until 13 November 2008. In the 26th hearing on 15 December 2008 defendant one, retired General Veli Küçük spoke for the first time and pleaded not guilty. In January and February 2009 four defendants were released including retired General Hurşit Tolon. One defendant, lawyer Kemal Kerinçsiz testified from hearing 66 to hearing 78 on 20 April 2009.
On 30 January 2010 the defendants Dr. Emin Gürses, Dr. Ümit Sayın and Muhammet Yüce were released on pending trial. The hearing was adjourned to 22 February 2010. During the hearing of 7 December 2009 Dr. Ümit Sayın had said that he was a "secret witness" by the code name of "Anadolu". Subsequently, his lawyer declined to defend him any further. During the hearing of 2 December 2010 (hearing 165) the defendant Alparslan Arslan, charged for the 2006 Turkish Council of State shooting, demanded to benefit from the law of repentance. Despite repeated demands of the presiding judge he did not reveal any details.
On 9 December 2010 prime defendant, retired General Veli Küçük took the floor to complain that allegedly a diagram existed showing people in the organization above and below him. He claimed that persons such as former Chief of Staff Hüseyin Kıvrıkoğlu, former Prime Minister Tansu Çiller and Mehmet Ağar were among his "superiors". He asked that they be heard as witnesses.
Court cases merged with the first indictment.
The cases merged with the first case against Ergenekon include:
In May 2011 a trial of a man accused of plotting to assassinate Greek Patriarch Bartholomew was merged with the first Ergenekon case. The case was taken from Istanbul Heavy Penal Court 9 and will continue at Istanbul Heavy Penal Court 13. The man accused in the assassination plot, Ismet Rençber, is facing a prison sentence of between 7.5 and 15 years on charges of "being a member of armed organization".
As of early 2011 there were 119 defendants overall charged in the first case against Ergenekon.
The second indictment.
With the 1,909-page second indictment another 56 defendants were charged at Istanbul Heavy Penal Court 13. The main defendant was General Şener Eruygur. This case was later merged with a case against 52 defendants named in an indictment of 1,454 pages. The main charges include plotting a coup by forming a terrorist organization, plotting to restructure the civil administration and planning to wiretap illegally. The defendants include Ali Balkız, Mehmet Haberal. Tuncay Özkan and journalist Mustafa Balbay. The trial of Yusuf Erikel was merged with this trial on 4 February 2011. There are eight defendants including the lawyer Yusuf Erikel. The indictment has 150 pages
The first hearing was held on 20 July 2009. The court merged the cases of indictments 2 and 3. Of the 52 defendants from indictment 3 37 were in pre-trial detention. In June 2010 defendant retired General Levent Ersöz read out his 350-page testimony via a video conference from the hospital of the medical faculty Cerrahpaşa. He pleaded not guilty.
The Poyrazköy case.
Poyrazköy is the name of a village (village Poyraz, tr: "Poyrazköy") in Beykoz district, Istanbul Province. It has become the name of one of several trials against alleged members of the clandestine organization Ergenekon, allegedly planning to overthrow the government of the Justice and Development Party. Three court cases (indictments) were merged to form the "Poyrazköy case": a) the planned assassination of admirals, b) the cage action plan and c) the initial Poyrazköy trial. All three cases were initiated after the discovery in Poyrazköy of illegal arms. A coup plan, referred to as the 'cage plan', dated March 2009, was seized by investigators from Ergenekon suspects.
The 'cage plan' allegedly aimed at destabilising the country by killing members of non-Muslim minorities.
The indictments.
In January 2010 Istanbul Heavy Penal Court 12 accepted the indictment against 17 people who are accused of storing munitions in Poyrazköy. The indictment consists of 300 pages and 24 additional files. The first hearing was scheduled for 9 April 2010. The defendants were Tayfun Duman, Ergin Geldikaya, Levent Bektaş, Mustafa Turhan Ecevit, Ercan Kireçtepe, Eren Günay, Erme Onat, İbrahim Koray Özyurt, Şafak Yürekli, Muharrem Nuri Alacalı, Levent Görgeç, Mert Yanık, Dora Sungunay, Halil Cura, Sadettin Doğan, Ferudun Arslan and Ali Türkşen. The charges relate to possession of arms without permission, membership in an armed organization and the attempt to overthrow the Grand National Assembly of Turkey.
In February the same court accepted an indictment on allegations that 19 Navy personnel planned to assassinate Navy admirals. The targeted admirals were named as current top Navy commander Admiral Metin Ataç and former top Navy commander Admiral Eşref Uğur Yiğit. The charges include being members of an armed terrorist organization, keeping explosive materials and bullets and illegally recording personal information. The assassination case's first trial was scheduled for 7 May 2010. The 166-page indictment listed as defendants: Faruk Akın, Sinan Efe Noyan, Alperen Erdoğan, Burak Düzalan, Yakut Aksoy, Tarık Ayabakan, Ülkü Öztürk, Ali Seyhur Güçlü, Sezgin Demirel, Fatih Göktaş, Burak Amaç, Burak Özkan, Yiğithan Göksu, Oğuz Dağnık, Koray Kemiksiz, Levent Çakın and Mehmet Orhan Yücel.
The trial of 33 serving and retired Turkish military officers opened on 16 June 2010, with a first hearing at the Istanbul Heavy Penal Court 12. The Armenian newspaper "Agos", one of the targets identified in the alleged plan, was accepted as an intervenor. The 65-page indictment presented the imprisoned defendants Ahmet Feyyaz Öğütçü, Kadir Sağdıç and Mehmet Fatih İlgar as prime suspects in direct contact to the armed organization Ergenekon. The other defendants (not on pre-trial detention), Mücahit Erakyol, Deniz Erki, Tanju Veli Aydın, Emre Sezenler, Hüseyin Doğancı, İsmail Bak, Metin Samancı, Levent Gülmen, Aydın Ayhan Saraçoğlu, Bülent Aydın, Bora Coşkun, Süleyman Erharat, Murat Aslan, Emre Tepeli, İbrahim Öztürk, Halil Özsaraç, Gürol Yurdunal, Ümit Özbek, Bülent Karaoğlu, Daylan Muslu, Hüseyin Erol, Mehmet İnce, Alpay Belleyici, İsmail Zühtü Tümer, Levent Olcaner, Özgür Erken, Metin Fidan, Türker Doğanca, Mesut Adanur and Metin Keskin were accused of membership in an armed organization.
The conspiracy plan entitled Operation Cage Action Plan (Turkish: "Kafes Operasyonu Eylem Planı") was found on a CD seized in the office of retired Major Levent Bektaş, who was arrested in April 2010. The document was published by Taraf newspaper in May 2010. An English translation of it exists. The plan allegedly calls for political terrorism and assassinations to be enacted against various groups of Eastern Orthodox, Armenians, Kurds, Jews and Alevis. The plan apparently originates from secret societies within the Turkish military.
Hearings.
The European Union declared that it was closely following developments related to the Naval Forces Command plan.
On 9 April 2010 the first trial in the Porazköy case started. The judge at Istanbul Heavy Penal Court 12 rejected applications from defense lawyers that the case be transferred to a military court. The prosecution is seeking life sentences for five defendants, up to 39 years for another, and up to 15 years for the other 11.
In May 2010 the case relating to the arms found in Poyrazköy and the attempted assassination of two admirals were merged. The defendants Ülkü Öztürk, Ali Seyhur Güçlü and Sezgin Demirel were released.
During the first hearing on the so-called "cage action plan" on 15 June 2010 the court rejected the demand to transfer the case to a military court. The case has a total of 33 suspects who are being charged with membership in an armed terrorist organization and could face prison sentences of between 7.5 years and 15 years if found guilty.
In June 2010 the cases dealing with the "Cage" plan and the munitions found in Poyrazköy were merged.
On 5 July 2010 the final three suspects under arrest in connection to the "Kafes" (Cage) Plan were released pending trial.
On 11 April 2011 the 6th hearing was held in the Poyrazköy case that involves 69 defendants, seven of them in pre-trial detention. Defendant Faruk Akın stated that the admirals Metin Ataç and Uğur Yiğit (the potential victims of the planned assassination) had visited him in Hasdal Prison and expressed their sorrow on the case. At the end of the hearing defendant Levent Bektaş was released pending trial.
Case 4: "Wet signature", Erzincan and the "Action Plan to Fight Reaction".
The name "wet signature" (tr: "Islak İmza") is known as indictment seven. Among the seven defendants are Bedrettin Dalan and Major Dursun Çiçek. The indictment has 165 pages. The nine-page document carrying the hand-written signature (wet signature) of Major Dursun Çiçek on each page was found in the office of lawyer Serdar Öztürk. It also is mentioned under the title "plan to intervene in democracy" (tr: "Demokrasiye Müdahale Planı") . In a letter to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan lawyer Öztürk alleged that the signatures had been faked by using technical methods.
The trial of people from Erzincan involves 23 defendants including General Saldıray Berk, once commander of the 3rd Army and Erzincan Chief Prosecutor İlhan Cihaner. The indictment consists of 61 pages. The indictment for the Erzincan group was presented to Erzurum Heavy Penal Court 2 on 26 February 2010. Excluding the attachments of 6 pages the 55-page strong indictment presents statements of 12 secret witnesses on 20 pages of it. The defendants allegedly tried to put the "action plan against fundamentalism" (tr: "İrtica ile Mücadele Eylem Planı") into effect.
This plan found in an office of a lawyer pretended that reactionary (fundamentalist) groups accused members of the Turkish Armed Forces to belong to Ergenekon and, therefore, had to be presented as criminal elements. The investigations had started after hand grenades and munition had been found close to Erzincan. Afterwards the defendants had tried to "hire" witnesses to testify that the police had placed the arms there. They had tried to find people to place arms in the home of a religious officer and a school of the Gülen movement. Chief prosecutor İlhan Cihaner had threatened to kill the father of the person, if he did not as demanded.
The first hearing at Erzurum Heavy Penal Court 2 was held on 4 May 2010. At the time 10 of the 16 defendants were in pre-trial detention. Since another case against prosecutor Cihaner was pending at the Court of Cassation for misuse of authority the files were sent there to decide which court should hear the case. On 18 May 2010 Penal Chamber 11 at the Court of Cassation heard the case and decided to release all 10 defendants. Since Istanbul Heavy Penal Court 13 also had demanded to take over the case the Assembly of Chamber at the Court of Cassation had to deal with the case. On 24 December 2010, the Assembly decided that the case related to misuse of authority should continue at Penal Chamber 11 at the Court of Cassation, but the Erzincan file should be sent back to the prosecutor in Erzurum, because he had initiated a case against a