Erdoğan-Ergenekon discomfort in court!..

A new investigation has been launched regarding the operation that targeted Fenerbahçe and its president, Aziz Yıldırım, in 2011, which was later stated to have been carried out by “FETÖ.” In the investigation launched following a tip-off in May and concerning alleged email correspondence with Mehmet Baransu, the then-officials of the Turkish Football Federation who were detained were accused of “aiding an armed terrorist organization without being a member.”

It is understood from this that the conspiracy cases that left their mark on an era have not been thoroughly investigated, and all those responsible have not been held to account.

Three days ago, in our article titled “These were recounted in a court 78 days before Mehmet Akif Ersoy was arrested,” we mentioned the Selam Tevhid case being heard at the Istanbul 13th High Criminal Court.

In the hearing of the case on September 24, in addition to the then-Istanbul Intelligence Branch Manager Erol Demirhan, Ali Fuat Yılmazer, who was the Intelligence Branch Manager before him and left his mark on conspiracies such as Ergenekon, Poyrazköy, Kafes, and Odatv, also presented his defense.

In the case heard in another court on charges of “misconduct in office” regarding the Poyrazköy conspiracy, it was decided that only the file of Gülseven Yaşer, the founder of the Çağdaş Eğitim Vakfı (Contemporary Education Foundation), one of the participants, would be merged with the Selam Tevhid case at the 13th High Criminal Court in terms of Ali Fuat Yılmazer.

This surprise merger decision created a great opportunity for Attorney Hüseyin Buzoğlu, who is himself a victim of the Ergenekon conspiracy and has wanted to ask Ali Fuat Yılmazer some questions about the process for years.

As is known, before his arrest, Yılmazer claimed in two television programs he appeared on in 2014 that he had met with the then-Prime Minister Erdoğan numerous times before the operations and that he had given the instruction for the arrest of former Chief of General Staff İlker Başbuğ.

When Buzoğlu, who attended the hearing as the lawyer for Gülseven Yaşer, asked about these, Yılmazer detailed and repeated his claims.

HE FIRST MET WITH ABDULLAH GÜL

For example, he explained that the Ergenekon operation started with a tip-off to the Gendarmerie regarding hand grenades in Ümraniye before him, that it was transferred to the Police Department because the address was in the police zone, that the then-TEM Branch Manager Selim Kutkan and the Deputy Police Chief responsible for TEM, Hakan Aydın, looked into the matter, and that these individuals later called it a “conspiracy” and started “FETÖ” operations against them, and continued as follows:

“So what did we do? The most important work of the intelligence branch is this. After an organizational entity emerges, identifying its relationships and connections; our means and capabilities allow for this. We went after this. The matter reached such points that, after a stage, this issue first went to the then-President. When I explained our situation to the people around me, they directed and sent me to the President. I first presented it to our President. He directed me to my Minister of Interior. Afterwards, I was directed to the Prime Minister, and from that date on, the Prime Minister met with me continuously throughout the duration of the operations and received detailed information from me. The work of the Intelligence Branch was shaped according to the instructions I received from him. This starts from 2008 onwards.”

Upon another question from Attorney Buzoğlu; Yılmazer, who claimed that the then-Istanbul Police Chief Celaleddin Cerrah worked against him and that the then-Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor openly threatened him, said, “I conveyed this to the then-governor Muammer Güler repeatedly. Therefore, my going to the President and the Prime Minister was for this reason.”

When Yılmazer was asked about the then-prosecutors Zekeriya Öz and Mehmet Ali Pekgüzel, “Which one was influential in the investigations and the preparation of the indictment?” he replied, “I don't know much about the indictment phase. We met with these prosecutors a few times before the initial investigation,” to which Attorney Buzoğlu reminded him of the famous iftar dinner they organized with judges and prosecutors. Yılmazer said the following:

“The iftar dinner is a traditional organization of the intelligence branch. It is held every year, it was organized before me as well. In my period, my friends also invite judges, because we deal with judges. I told Celaleddin Cerrah about this that year because our relationship was problematic. Due to his attitude towards me, Celaleddin Cerrah said, ‘If that's the case, don't just make it for judges. Extend the invitation in my name, and invite the prosecutors as well.’ Upon this, we invited the prosecutors and judges; most judges and prosecutors who heard Celaleddin Cerrah did not come. This has nothing to do with me or the operations. It is a traditional thing that has been done every year. It continued afterwards as well.”

WHEN THE PROSECUTOR “REALIZED” BUZOĞLU'S PURPOSE

When Attorney Hüseyin Buzoğlu asked about the expenditures made from the secret fund during the Ergenekon conspiracy period, the following conversation took place:

Yılmazer: “We already use the secret fund. What exactly do you mean by this?”

Attorney Buzoğlu: “I want to express it for this reason.”

Prosecutor: “Counsel, what does the secret fund have to do with the other investigation? Where are you trying to get with this?”

Attorney Buzoğlu: “Actually, Ali Fuat Yılmazer is making statements during this process of investigations and prosecutions. Look, Erol Demirhan says that, according to Article 10 of the Constitution and Article 3 of the TCK (Turkish Penal Code) regarding equality, if someone has committed that crime, they should also be tried alongside them as a result...”

Prosecutor: “Where are you going to connect this to? I am asking where you want to connect it.”

Attorney Buzoğlu: “Şamil Tayyar says, ‘1.5 billion dollars were spent in that period for the use of serious intelligence organizations that bring intelligence to the government and for its establishment in this context.’ Since he was the Istanbul Intelligence Branch Manager, I am asking if there were any requests regarding this expenditure.”

Yılmazer: “I don't know anything related to what you are saying. We use the secret fund. It has a customary limit. We used it within that limit, there was nothing extra.”

Continuing, Attorney Buzoğlu asked “whether he knew Mehmet Baransu, Zihni Çakır, Nazlı Ilıcak, Bayram Özbek, and whether he had information about the briefing given at the US Embassy regarding the Ergenekon operations,” and upon asking a question in the form of, “Just as in your meeting with Erdoğan, do you have information about Erdoğan's meeting with Zekeriya Öz?” the dialogue continued as follows:

Yılmazer: “Yes, I do.”

Attorney Buzoğlu: “How many times did he meet, and do you have information about who mediated their meetings? For this reason.”

Prosecutor: “Is the defendant the addressee of this? I have realized your purpose.”

Attorney Buzoğlu: “What is my purpose according to you?”

Prosecutor: “Let it be, let it stay with me.”

Attorney Buzoğlu: “If it is to stay with you, let what I have stay with me. Mr. President, please.”

Court President: “He is not the addressee of the subject, how would he know?”

Attorney Buzoğlu: “It is very simple, sir, let me explain that too. After December 17, in the phone conversation between Bilal Erdoğan and Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Erdoğan already says, ‘Hamdi Topçu brought him to me.’ Why do I care about this?”

Prosecutor: “Look, you are making a statement here based on an illegally obtained ‘tape.’ It was like this. It was like that. The place you want to take it is very different.”

Attorney Buzoğlu: “Look, it has nothing to do with it. With Zekeriya Öz...”

Court President: “Okay, I do not accept this question. Let's move on to another question.”

Attorney Buzoğlu: “In January 2006, an Ergenekon presentation was organized for Erdoğan by the Intelligence Department. Do you have any information about this?”

Yılmazer: “No, I don't remember. I did not participate in such a thing. I also had no information about such a preparation.”

Court President: “Ali Fuat Yılmazer, since you don't have a lawyer now, you don't have to answer the questions if you don't want to. Let me remind you of this as your legal right.”

Yılmazer: “There is no problem from my perspective. I don't want this business to drag on. Attorney, ask whatever you think is not harmful, whatever is not legally objectionable. I will give the answers I can.”

THE COURT PRESIDENT DID NOT ACCEPT THESE QUESTIONS EITHER

Attorney Buzoğlu finally asked Ali Fuat Yılmazer the following questions:

“You said that you personally gave information to the Prime Minister about the operation from the beginning of 2008, that you acted according to the instructions you received from him, that you made the arrests with his knowledge, that there was his instruction regarding the arrest of İlker Başbuğ, and that the Oda Tv investigation was also carried out upon the Prime Minister's instruction, and that the Prime Minister was always supportive. Are these words of yours true?.. Do you have any information about whether the Prime Minister had knowledge of all stages of the KCK investigation?.. There is a statement by Fikret Seçen that on January 6, 2012, when İlker Başbuğ was arrested, the then-Deputy Chief Prosecutor Fikret Seçen took his breath next to Ali Fuat Yılmazer after receiving the instruction from Prime Minister Erdoğan that Başbuğ must be arrested. Is this true?”

While the Court President objected to all these questions with the words, “I do not accept this question. This has nothing to do with the file... Yes, we do not accept this question either,” preventing Yılmazer from answering, the Prosecutor also reacted by saying, “He is asking the defendant about Fikret Seçen's statement, isn't he.”

This is what happened in court regarding a process that left its mark not only on Turkey's past but also on its present and shaped our future. We asked Attorney Buzoğlu about the meaning of this picture. He settled for the following comment:

“If the prosecutor is a Public Prosecutor and the court panel are members of an independent judiciary, they serve not to protect the political power or anyone else, but for the material truth to emerge. Instead of the reaction of ‘We understand your intention,’ the answers to those questions should have been obtained, and perhaps a new investigation should have been opened accordingly. It didn't happen, but it is also important that these are recorded.”