LATE BBP LEADER CONCERNED OVER ERGENEKON’S INFLUENCE OVER YOUTH
Today’s Zaman
April 3 2009
Turkey
The late leader of the Grand Unity Party (BBP), Muhsin Yazıcıoglu,
who died in a helicopter crash prior to the March 29 local elections,
was worried about the influence of Ergenekon, a political crime
gang accused of attempting to topple the government, over the BBP
youth branches.
According to the sources of Today’s Zaman, Yazıcıoglu had a meeting
of all the branch leaders of Alperen Ocakları, the youth branch
of the BBP, and told them that Ergenekon had been planning to use
the group and that they should be aware and stay far away from all
provocations. BBP officials, who requested to remain anonymous, said
Yazıcıoglu met with an Ergenekon prosecutor in İstanbul. They said
it is very likely that the late leader talked about the ties between
the ultranationalist youth group and the Ergenekon gang.
Alperen Ocakları has been mentioned in the Ergenekon indictment
in relation to the killings of Catholic priest Andrea Santoro and
Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink. Yasin Hayal, one of the
key suspects in the plot leading to the 2007 assassination of Dink,
was a member of Alperen Ocakları.
When Hayal took the stand at the sixth hearing in the Dink case last
year, he first greeted the members of the press and the "leader of
the Turkish nation Muhsin Yazıcıoglu." He said "Dear Muslims and
dear Alperens, relax. This situation will continue until the BBP
comes to power."
The suspected gunman the Dink case, Ogun Samast, was also a member
of Alperen Ocakları. In addition, Erhan Tuncel, another suspect
linked to the Dink murder, was a member of the BBP. Moreover, lawyer
Alparslan Aslan, who entered the Council of State building in Ankara
in 2006 and fired shots in a meeting room, killing a judge, has been
known for his close association with the BBP.
Yazıcıoglu met with minority leaders
BBP Vice Chairman Selcuk Ozdag said Yazıcıoglu met with some
minority leaders and with Fener Greek Orthodox Partriarch Bartholomew
in September 2008. Ozdag said the meeting was about the problems of the
Greek community living in Turkey. Ozdag also noted that Yazıcıoglu
was planning a meeting in May of this year to bring together Turkish
intellectuals and Turkey’s Greek community leaders. Ozdag added that
they will continue with Yazıcıoglu’s project.
A helicopter crash last Wednesday killed all six passengers on board,
including Muhsin Yazıcıoglu.
As the Ergenekon investigation revealed that the terrorist organization
was allegedly plotting to assassinate Turkish-Armenian Patriarch
Mesrob Mutafyan and another Armenian religious leader in the province
of Sivas, Minas Durmaz Guler, Yazıcıoglu had a private meeting
in February with Guler in Sivas, which is Yazıcıoglu’s electoral
district. Sources say they talked about the Armenian community’s
concerns and problems in Sivas, and that Yazıcıoglu promised
to repair an Armenian cemetery in the province in response to the
community’s demand. With the intermediation of Guler, Yazıcıoglu
also had a telephone conversation with Mutafyan’s aide, Aram AteÅ~_yan.
The Ergenekon investigation also found that Oguz Bulut and Bekir Celik,
İzmir provincial heads of Ulku Ocakları, which is a far-right youth
organization, were gathering intelligence about an Armenian jeweler and
community leader with the aim of assassinating him. This information
was obtained from the computer of Ä°brahim Å~^ahin, former deputy head
of the National Police Department’s Special Operations Unit, after
he was arrested on Jan. 7 for suspected membership in the Ergenekon
gang. Å~^ahin also served as a police officer in Sivas. In a police
raid on the homes of Celik and Bulut, police seized two hand grenades,
three revolvers, five rifles and many bullets.
Controversy surrounding helicopter crash
Some unanswered questions about the crash raised suspicions whether
the accident was planned in order to assassinate Yazıcıoglu.
The crash investigation team examining the helicopter accident has
discovered that the helicopter had an electronic location transmitter
(ELT), but it was disabled when its antenna was broken by the impact
of the crash, leading to weaker signals. The discovery was also
confirmed by the administrators of Med Air, the company that leased
the helicopter.
The BBP officials said the helicopter should remain at the scene of
the accident until all investigations are complete. They suspect the
crash may not have been the result of an accident.
Huseyin Bozok, the BBP’s provincial chairman in Ankara, said prior
to the crash Yazıcıoglu’s computer was stolen and left in the front
yard of his home after its hard drive was taken. Bozok confirmed that
there were several assassination threats against Yazıcıoglu.
He also said there is a need to question the Kayseri governor, who had
said Yazıcıoglu was alive and to be hospitalized last Wednesday, the
day the accident occurred. The Anatolia news agency recently announced
that it had retracted the report of the remarks of the Kayseri governor
because it was written without verification from official sources.