Ankara is set to be in turmoil: Police officers who conducted the Bora Kaplan operation turn on each other!

Müyesser YILDIZ / 12punto

The police officers who carried out the Ayhan Bora Kaplan operation—which has been interpreted as a struggle between the teams of former and current Interior Ministers Süleyman Soylu and Ali Yerlikaya, and also characterized as a "coup against the People's Alliance" following the statements made by secret witness Serdar Sertçelik after his escape—have turned on each other.

Ahead of the Wednesday hearing for the police officers being tried at the Ankara 13th Criminal Court of First Instance, Suna Öztaşdönderen, the lawyer for one of the defendants, the then-KOM Branch Manager Kerem Gökay Öner, submitted a 6-page defense to the court.

First criticizing the investigation process regarding the police officers, Attorney Öztaşdönderen stated that while the process should have moved from evidence to the suspect, the suspects' digital materials were seized first, and then, like "pulling a rabbit out of a hat," they moved from the suspect to the evidence. She further reported that these digital materials were suspiciously obtained by Ayhan Bora Kaplan and other defendants being tried in this case, and therefore, her client's safety is no longer guaranteed.

Accusing Prosecutor Mustafa Kaya, who conducted the Ayhan Bora Kaplan investigation, regarding the doctor's report stating that there was "an objection to the detention" of the fugitive secret witness Serdar Sertçelik, Attorney Öztaşdönderen noted the following:

"It was Mustafa Kaya who asked the doctor to provide this opinion. For this reason, during the prosecution phase, a letter should be written to the HSK (Council of Judges and Prosecutors) for the relevant prosecutor so that an investigation into the matter can be conducted and treated as a preliminary issue by the court. Because while police personnel have been subjected to many initiatives, including arrests and detentions, and especially while they have been labeled as coup plotters in the press and in parliament every day, let alone taking the statements of the relevant prosecutor and the deputy chief prosecutor, their opinions have not even been sought. For this reason, this missing point must be completed immediately."

SERIOUS ACCUSATIONS

The other names accused by Attorney Öztaşdönderen were former Ankara Deputy Police Chief Murat Çelik and Deputy KOM Branch Manager Şevket Demircan.

Stating that Murat Çelik gave instructions as if he were declaring war on all police personnel, such as "Let's break up the technique, let's start within the branch on Monday, let's put these traitors in detention, 30 people to the detention and duty officer's room," Attorney Öztaşdönderen also made the following allegations regarding Şevket Demircan and his wife:

"Although Şevket Demircan was my client's deputy, he did not comply with the existing hierarchy; putting aside respect for superiors, he disregarded state discipline and hierarchy by using unspeakable insults about my client. In his correspondence with his wife, Demircan referred to his superior, my client, as a 'sold-out dog,' and his wife E.D., who is also a police officer, used the expression 'Director Kerem is rotten.' Demircan's wife is a police officer serving at the Provincial Police Department. Again, in the correspondence, it is seen that the comings and goings of the Civil Inspectors conducting the administrative investigation to the Police Department were conveyed moment by moment to Şevket Demircan by Assistant Commissioner E.D. Not only was the hierarchy turned upside down, but he is also having his wife, with whom he has a close relationship, abuse her duty."

While stating that her client Kerem Gökay Öner wanted intervention by reporting those who exceeded the hierarchy and hindered his work to the administration, Attorney Öztaşdönderen emphasized the following:

"The answer to the question of why this matter was not intervened in is the current Ankara Provincial Police Chief Engin Dinç. Because on the evening of the day he was suspended during the investigation phase, Mr. Dinç called my client Kerem Öner from his own open phone, creating unease and raising question marks by saying that such things can happen to every professional, that he has long years ahead of him, that what is important is to be united, and that not every truth should be told everywhere, adding that there were things he knew about my client but had not voiced anywhere. For this reason, we request that he be heard in court as a witness."

Finally, Attorney Öztaşdönderen directed the following accusations at Ankara Police Chief Engin Dinç and former Deputy KOM Branch Manager Şevket Demircan:

"Defendant Demircan shares everything via WhatsApp. There are no limits to this. It is significant that Şevket Demircan, a 4th-grade Police Chief with this level of comfort, did not write down his meetings with the suspect Serdar Sertçelik. However, it is known in the police community that he has had dinner many times and established a close friendship with Engin Dinç, who previously served as the Provincial Police Chief in Konya. Dinç, who does not meet with the Branch Manager, meets frequently with the other defendant, Şevket Demircan, and even keeps his wife in his closest circle."