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Turkey: Sixteen arrested in alleged coup plot
(AKI) - Sixteen people, including outspoken journalist Tuncay Ozkan, were arrested in Turkey on Tuesday in relation to a plot to overthrow the government.Turkish media said Ozkan was strongly opposed to the government and founded a website, "Biz Kac Kisiyiz?" (How many are we?), as a platform to oppose the Islamist policies of the ruling AKP party. He was also the founder and former owner of a Turkish TV channel, Kanalturk. Gurbuz Capan, a columnist for the anti-AKP Cumhuriyet daily and former mayor, Duygu Dikmenoglu, a former narrator for Kanalturk and Adnan Bulut, former executive of the channel and journalist, were among the detainees, news agencies said. A number of forensic specialists were also detained in the operation, they added. The latest arrests are part of an ongoing investigation, known as Ergenekon, in which politicians, journalists, intellectuals and retired generals are accused of being members of an illegal organisation planning a military coup. The Ergenekon operation was revealed in June 2007 when grenades were allegedly discovered in a house in Istanbul's Umraniye district. It is alleged to have exposed an illegal organisation that was planning events that would pave the way for a military coup to overthrow the ruling AKP government. The detainees will be charged with a number of crimes including "forming an armed terrorist organisation, being a member of a terrorist organisation, and aiding the organisation." Eighty-six people have been charged with conspiracy against the government in the Ergenekon indictment filed in Istanbul on 14 July 2008. Forty-seven are being held in custody and they are expected to begin appearing in court in October. Another indictment is expected to be submitted for those detained in the latest two waves of the operation. Last Thursday 15 people, including a well-known actress, were arrested in five Turkish provinces in relation to the plot to overthrow the government. Turkish news agencies said lawyer Levent Temiz, who is also the former head of a nationalist organisation, actress Nurseli Idiz and Seyhan Soylu, an artist manager, were taken into custody in Istanbul. Posted by: Fred 2008-09-24 |
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