ANKARA - Turkish Prime Ministry denied allegations suggesting a connection between detentions under "Operation Ergenekon" on Tuesday and recent meeting between PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Land Forces Commander Gen. Ilker Basbug.
A press release issued from Prime Ministry said "Operation Ergenekon" did not come up during the meeting on June 24th and pointed out that such a thing was not legally possible as there was an ongoing investigation and trial process.
Earlier Tuesday, Gen. Basbug also denied the allegations.
"I want to declare openly. The comments, implications and evaluations made on my meeting with Erdogan are not real. The topic of Ergenekon investigation did not come up at all during my meeting with Erdogan," Gen. Basbug said.
Both statements came after certain news stories that appeared in the Turkish media suggesting that the said meeting with June 24th was connected to the Ergenekon investigation.
--OPERATION ERGENEKON--
A total of 21 people were detained within the scope of Ergenekon investigation on Tuesday.
Police waged operations in several provinces including Ankara and Istanbul and detained 21 people.
Several Turkish figures including retired Gen. Hursit Tolon; Ankara representative of Cumhuriyet daily Mustafa Balbay; chairperson of Ankara Chamber of Commerce (ATO) Sinan Aygun and Kemalist Thought Association (ADD) head retired Gen. Sener Eruygur, were taken into custody.
An alleged criminal network that came to be known as "Ergenekon" was revealed after police seized hand grenades, TNT explosives and fuses in a shanty house in Istanbul on June 12th, 2007 and Istanbul Chief Prosecutor`s Office launched an investigation into weapons.
Within the framework of the investigation, a retired non-commissioned officer Oktay Yildirim and owner of the shanty house Mehmet Demirtas were detained. On June 19th, 2007 a retired officer Muzaffer Tekin and retired non-commissioned officer Mahmut Ozturk were arrested.
Forty-five people including retired general Veli Kucuk; Dogu Perincek, the chairman of the Workers` Party; party`s secretary general Nusret Senem; lawyer Kemal Kerincsiz; retired officer Fikret Emek; Sevgi Erenerol, the spokesperson of the Turkish Orthodox Patriarchate; "Susurluk case convict" Sami Hostan; associate professors Umit Sayin and Emin Gurses were also arrested earlier.
Former president of Istanbul University Kemal Alemdaroglu and Ilhan Selcuk, the columnist of Turkish daily newspaper Cumhuriyet, were detained but later conditionally released .
The prosecutors carrying out the investigation have not yet completed the indictment of the lawsuit which is believed to be concluded soon.
(OZG-MS)