Assaults And Murders Linked To Ergenekon

In the 2245 page long Ergenekon indictment, the assault on the State Council and daily Cumhuriyet, the murders of Hrant Dink and Necip Hablemitoğlu take big place.

Moreover, among the most recent acts of the organization are the massacre of the three Protestants of Zirve Publication in Malatya and the murder of Bishop Santoro in Trabzon.

The indictment states that following a tip received on June 12, 2007, 27 hand grenades were found in a small shack in Ümraniye, Istanbul. Then came the arrests in relation to these hand grenades. Some of these people were tied to the assaults on the State Council and daily Cumhuriyet and some other judicial incidents that took place before. The authorities therefore widened the investigation.

It is said the organization that named itself Ergenkon – with the documents found – started evolving before 1999.

The assaults on the State Council and daily Cumhuriyet

The testimonies of the accused point to Veli Küçük and Muzaffer Tekin, who had the code name “Victory,” as the planners and the instigators of the assaults on daily Cumhuriyet and the State Council. Osman Yıldırım’s statement, which was the latest testimony added in this respect, is based on the same claim.    

Hablemitoğlu Murder

Basing it on a testimony of a secret witness, the indictment says the following:

According to Yıldırım’s statement:

“In 2002, Veli Küçük, Muzaffer Tekin and Osman Gürbüz had a meeting. Osman Gürbüz asked me to kill Necip Hablemitoğlu for one million dollars. When I did not accept this offer, Veli Küçük said “Osman you will have to do this”. I learned that he killed Hablemitoğlu from the media. When I saw Osman Gürbüz 6-7 months later, he said, “We consumed the money from Hablemitoğlu job on the tables.”

Hrant Dink Murder

The indictment states that Ogün Samast kept yelling at nights in the prison that he was used, that Veli Küçük threatened Hrant Dink and his lawyer before he was killed, and that Samast and Küçük had met.

According to the indictment, the most recent acts of the Ergenekon organization were Malatya massacre of three Protestants and the murder of Bishop Santoro in Trabzon. (EZÖ/TB)