'If you don't give Süleyman Soylu's name, you'll get life in prison'

For days, the scandal involving a secret witness in the trial of Ayhan Bora Kaplan, who was arrested on charges of being a “criminal organization leader,” has been the subject of discussion.

Having watched all the hearings of this trial, which involves 61 defendants, 28 of whom are in custody, held between April 15 and 26, let me say at the very beginning what I would say at the very end: How can a file described as “very important” be handled so clumsily?.. How can a process involving investigations, indictments, and trials be managed so poorly?!

So to speak, what was in front of us was merely a “mafia” case. According to the information provided during the operation, investigation, and indictment stages, a “criminal organization” had been dismantled, and as in every case, the verdict had been reached before the trial even began.

What is the reality that emerged after the secret witness's revelations? As we have witnessed many times; it turns out that indictments prepared entirely with information provided by police officers are not divine revelations!!

IMPORTANT NOTES FROM THE TRIAL

It was clear from the very first day of the trial, which began with Ayhan Bora Kaplan's spectacular arrest at the entrance of Esenboğa Airport, that the file would reach this stage.

How was it clear? Let us explain in order.

Both the defendants and the lawyers knew that Serdar Sertçelik—who was not arrested while the number two defendant and even valets were, who was released under judicial control with an electronic tag, and who later fled/was smuggled abroad and is now confessing what happened within the Police Department—was the most important secret witness in the case. For example, when Ayhan Bora Kaplan claimed regarding the secret witness, “Just as they put a statement in front of me, they gave it to him too. Let it be checked when the secret witness came to the police station and how long he stayed. What I know and hear is that the Prosecutor did not take his statement. It was prepared at the police station, uploaded to the Prosecutor's computer, and signed there,” the Presiding Judge asked how he knew this. Upon Kaplan's reply, “We know, we hear,” the Judge commented, “You are saying, ‘The Prosecutor committed a crime.’” Kaplan responded, “Let it be investigated and checked.”

Another defendant, while explaining that the police also wanted to make him a secret witness, that he initially accepted but refused when they asked him to burn 40 people to save himself, claimed, “I was in interrogation at the same time as this secret witness. The police had him talk to a famous journalist over the phone. They offered to have me talk too, but I did not accept.”

In short, it was like the “Osmanım” case in Ergenekon. We were facing a figure who was both a defendant, a secret witness, and a fugitive!!

Anything else?

From the first day, the defense lawyers emphasized that the case was opened based on files for which the Prosecutor's Office had issued non-prosecution decisions years ago… They explained that the phone tap transcripts in those files, which should have been destroyed, were not destroyed but were re-transcribed and used as evidence, and that this was unlawful. One lawyer even warned while asking the court to turn back from this mistake, “Otherwise, the day will come when the 17/25 December tapes will also be asked about.”

However, the Court's response to these objections on very fundamental points was: “We will evaluate it with the final verdict.”

Anything else?

All defendants claimed that their statements were taken under duress, even torture. For example, Bora Kaplan stated that he was asked to provide information about Süleyman Soylu and some police officers during the interviews in the interrogation, that a list of 40-50 people was put in front of him, and that he was threatened when he did not sign it, noting that some of those police officers were in the courtroom… Another defendant said, “The police officer who took my statement is sitting in the back. If he has even a little bit of conscience, mercy, or belief in God, let him say, ‘Your statement was read to you.’”

The scene was as follows: the KOM (Anti-Smuggling and Organized Crime) police officers who conducted the investigation and took the statements were sitting in the courtroom and taking notes busily. The lawyers requested that these police officers be removed from the courtroom after their identities were verified, stating that their presence violated the right to a fair trial and defense, created anxiety in the clients, and that they might be called as witnesses regarding the investigation process in the future.

However, the Court rejected this request on the grounds that “there is no possibility of them changing the evidence identified during the investigation phase, the principle of the publicity of hearings, and the lack of a concrete reason for the police to be removed.”

Anything else?

It was revealed that the most important complainant in the file had 8 separate statements, that names not present in previous statements were added to new ones, and that this person had five convictions for fraud and one for assault.

THE TRIAL WAS SUPPOSED TO END IN SEPTEMBER

While the hearings were proceeding in this manner; let us come to the last day of the trial, noting that the Prosecutor did not ask a single question to the defendants, the Presiding Judge read the phone taps at length and asked questions regarding them, and also made a schedule to finish the trial by September at the latest.

While the Presiding Judge announced the decision to release 8 defendants, he said that “the Police had conducted work regarding the accuracy of the statements of the secret witness ‘M7’ and prepared a folder of documents, that this had arrived in the file, and that the lawyers could examine it.” Then, noting that the Prosecutor's Office had sent a letter stating that “M7” could not be brought to the hearing to be heard because he did not comply with the control measures, he said, “We will suffice with his statements during the investigation phase.”

This secret witness, called “M7” and reported to have fled, was none other than Serdar Sertçelik, who is now causing the case to be questioned by speaking from abroad. The Presiding Judge made another important statement at that hearing:

The Police Witness Protection Branch had warned that an attempt was made to reveal the identity of the other secret witness, “Ü5,” and the Court had heard him between sessions upon this. After explaining this, the Judge said it was decided that the footage of that statement-taking would be given to the lawyers who wanted it, and that if they had questions, the secret witness would be heard again between sessions if they submitted them in writing.

What was done was, in the literal sense, a legal scandal. Yes, it was normal for a secret witness to be heard between sessions if there was a possibility of their identity being revealed. However, while they should have been informed beforehand and their questions taken and directed, they had essentially cooked and eaten it themselves, and then, perhaps to compensate for this mistake, a method of hearing for the second time had been found. Yet, a secret witness being heard for a second time was unheard of. This also happened!!

In short; what happened in the hearings in those days and these developments regarding the secret witnesses did not attract anyone's attention.

Until secret witness Serdar Sertçelik started speaking from abroad!!

You know what happened afterwards; upon Sertçelik's allegations, the Ministry of Interior launched an investigation and sent civil inspectors to the Ankara Police Department. Subsequently, for the sake of the investigation's integrity, the Deputy Ankara Provincial Police Chief, the KOM Branch Manager, and the Deputy Manager were suspended from their duties. Then, it was reported that the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor's Office had launched an ex officio investigation into the police officers. According to former AKP MP Şamil Tayyar, the MIT (National Intelligence Organization) had stepped in, and Erdoğan was also following the process closely.

The Police prepared the file… Flash operations were carried out… The Prosecutor wrote the indictment, and a verdict was formed in the public opinion based on this indictment… The Court began the trial… This is the point reached… In such a sequence—it seems—the deficiencies, contradictions, mistakes, and oddities in the file somehow did not attract anyone's attention!!

NOT ONLY POLITICIANS BUT ALSO ADIL ÖKSÜZ WAS ASKED ABOUT BORA KAPLAN

Before coming to why Ankara and politics are so stirred up after what Serdar Sertçelik told, let us share a few more notes.

First of all, we learned that names such as “Süleyman Soylu, Hasan Doğan, Bekir Bozdağ, Abdülhamit Gül, Fahrettin Koca, Mücahit Aslan, Yüksel Kocaman,” which Sertçelik claimed, were also wanted to be included in Bora Kaplan's statement.

Moreover, Kaplan was even asked how Adil Öksüz, an important figure of July 15, fled.

Kaplan has a second statement; the one said to be an “additional statement,” but in reality, it is the statement regarding his second arrest last March on charges of “money laundering” after being arrested for leading a criminal organization. A group of police officers, including those who conducted the criminal organization investigation and were suspended after the investigation was opened, went to İzmir, where Kaplan was in prison, to take his statement regarding the money laundering charge.

The allegation regarding this statement is as follows; the police said, “Say the names of Süleyman Soylu and Sadık Soylu. It will be good for you. Otherwise, you will get life in prison.”

WHO IS CONDUCTING AN OPERATION ON WHOM?

The reason for the importance and interest in the case was the claim that the operation was carried out to corner Süleyman Soylu, and that it would be questioned where Bora Kaplan, who went in front of TRT during the July 15 coup attempt, found the Kalashnikovs in his possession.

But after the latest developments, the operation turned towards the Ankara Police Department team brought to duty during the term of the new Minister of Interior, Ali Yerlikaya.

Along with this, the claim that came to the agenda last year and was vehemently denied by Soylu, “Soylu prepared a ‘FETÖ file’ about Ali Yerlikaya and presented it to Erdoğan to prevent his Ministry of Interior,” began to be discussed again in the lobbies.

Let us also share other details regarding that change process. As is known, the MHP, the partner of the People's Alliance, wanted Soylu to remain in office, but Erdoğan appointed Yerlikaya. With this change, it was considered certain that Deputy General Director Mustafa Çalışkan, who was at odds with Soylu, would be brought to the General Directorate of Security. The claim is that this appointment did not take place as a result of the MHP's reservation, and Eskişehir Governor Erol Ayyıldız was appointed to the General Directorate. Ayyıldız brought Engin Dinç, with whom he worked in Eskişehir and who later became the Konya Police Chief, to the Ankara Police Department. Dinç's most important feature was that he was the Head of the Intelligence Department of the General Directorate of Security during the July 15 coup attempt.

To get to the point; the members of the pro-government media, who announced the Bora Kaplan operation with great fanfare, passed judgment through the indictment, and were not interested in the trial process at all, are now writing and drawing that “the high-level names suspended in the Ankara Provincial Police Department wanted to set up a 17/25 December-like police trap for the AKP, and the main target was Erdoğan,”

“that the aim was to show that a dirty Turkey picture emerged during the AK Party period by using a FETÖ-style secret witness, and that even if FETÖ is physically far away, its mind continues to gnaw at the capillaries of the state.”

Then, in the words of one of these writers, “Cover it up, so I can die”!!

As it is said, is it a “FETÖ job,” is it a war between teams within the AKP or the police, or is it a total “operation against the AKP and Erdoğan,” it is unknown; but let us suffice by saying, “Where were you until so many AKP members' names were mentioned?” and asking the following:

Who/who brought those police officers to duty?.. Who did they take orders from while conducting the investigation?.. Who/who did they trust to commit so much lawlessness?.. If there is still “FETÖ” in the Police despite so much cleaning, who is responsible for it?.. And furthermore, does the judicial leg have no responsibility in this picture at all, that the bill is only being charged to the police?

One last note:

Is it a coincidence that the Sinan Ateş assassination case, which should be taught in law schools as a course on “How not to write an indictment,” also fell to the Ankara 32nd High Criminal Court, which is hearing the Bora Kaplan case?!

Müyesser YILDIZ

May 12, 2024