Confessions of secret witness behind latest Ergenekon wave

Today's Zaman

The confessions of a secret witness, referred to as “Deniz Uygar,” are reported to be behind the latest operation in the Ergenekon investigation into suspected links with the 2007 Zirve Publishing House murders, in which three people who sold Christian literature were killed.

On Wednesday police searched the homes and offices of several theology professors as part of the operation. According to news reports in some Turkish newspapers, the operation followed the confessions of Uygar, who testified to civilian prosecutors earlier this month. Uygar was a former agent who pretended to convert to Christianity and received regular payments from JİTEM, an illegal network inside the gendarmerie that is believed to have been responsible for thousands of unsolved murders in eastern and southeastern Turkey in the 1990s.

The secret witness reportedly told prosecutors involved in the Ergenekon investigation that he was ordered to write books and give conferences about missionary activities in Turkey by military superiors. He also noted that some theology professors contributed to the military’s anti-missionary activities. The witness also provided the names of those professors to the prosecutors, according to news reports.

Ergenekon prosecutors ordered searches at the homes and offices of some theology professors on Wednesday. Ergenekon is a clandestine criminal network accused of working to topple the government. The searches were carried out in seven provinces: İstanbul, Ankara, Adana, Konya, Malatya, Antalya and Trabzon. Among the individuals whose residences were searched were Professor Zekeriya Beyaz, a former dean of Marmara University’s theology department; Professor Abdurrahman Küçük, an instructor in Ankara University’s theology department; Professor Mehmet Aydın, an instructor in Selçuk University’s theology department; Professor Şahin Filiz, an instructor in Akdeniz University’s theology department; Professor Salih Cöhce, an instructor in İnönü University’s theology department; and Associate Professor Kadir Albayrak, an instructor in Çukurova University’s theology department.

These theologians are well known for their research and books on missionary activities in Turkey. The raid followed the earlier arrest of seven individuals, including military officers and a theologian, due to suspected links to the Zirve killings. The suspects stand accused of having masterminded and instigated the murders as part of Ergenekon’s plan to lay the groundwork for a military takeover.

On April 18, 2007, Necati Aydın (35), Uğur Yüksel and German national Tilmann Ekkehart Geske (46) -- all Christians -- were tied to their chairs, tortured and stabbed at the Zirve Publishing House in the southeastern Anatolian city of Malatya before their throats were slit. The publishing house they worked for printed Bibles and Christian literature. A total of nine men have been charged in connection with the murders.

The secret witness also reportedly told Ergenekon prosecutors that he had hosted a TV show with Professor Beyaz. The show concerned missionary activities in Turkey. He also said he took part in conferences with Filiz, Küçük, Albayrak and Cöhce that dealt with missionary activities. During Wednesday’s police search, none of the theology professors were detained or arrested. However, police seized a large number of documents from their houses for examination. Professor Beyaz complained to reporters that police seized his studies on internationally renowned Turkish scholar Fethullah Gülen. The complaint was met with “jokes” by some Twitter users. The users said the professor was “wise enough” to save himself from the Ergenekon investigation. Critics of the investigation have claimed that the probe was aimed to put pressure on opponents of the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government and the Gülen movement.

The link between the missionary murders and Ergenekon has long been suspected, and the ongoing case in the Malatya 3rd High Criminal Court is expected to be merged with the ongoing Ergenekon case once the prosecutor’s investigation of the Zirve murders is completed. Last year, lawyers representing families of the Malatya victims appealed to prosecutors investigating the Ergenekon trial, calling for a merger of the two trials.

Beyaz came to prominence in 2008 when he attended a rally to protest the arrest of former Gendarmerie General Command head retired Gen. Şener Eruygur and Workers’ Party (İP) Chairman Doğu Perinçek as part of the Ergenekon investigation. Eruygur was later released from prison pending trial for health reasons, but Perinçek is still incarcerated. Both are accused of membership in a terrorist organization. During the rally, Beyaz said he is also a member of Ergenekon.

On Thursday Religious Affairs Directorate President Mehmet Görmez spoke to reporters about the searches at the homes and offices of theology professors, saying it would be wrong to make comments about an issue that is being handled by the judiciary now. “I hope they [police] will not mix Ergenekon-related issues with scientific issues,” he added.

Published on Today's Zaman, 01 April 2011, Friday