The Ergenekon trials or the Ergenekon conspiracy, were a series of high-profile trials which took place in 2008–2016 in Turkey in which 275 people, including military officers, journalists and opposition lawmakers, all alleged members of Ergenekon, a suspected secularist clandestine organization, were accused of plotting against the Turkish government. The trials resulted in lengthy prison sentences for the majority of the accused. Those sentences were overturned shortly after.
Since Istanbul Heavy Penal Court 13 (tr: 13. İstanbul Ağır Ceza Mahkemesi) accepted the 2,455-page indictment against 86 defendants in the first case against alleged members of the supposed clandestine organization Ergenekon on 28 July 2008 a further 14 indictments were submitted up until February 2011.Ergenekon'da dava sayısı Masonlarla 15 oldu Haber7.com of 6 February 2011. Retrieved 17 May 2011 Until the fourth indictment the number of defendants had increased to 531 and more than 8,000 pages of indictments had been written. Most trials were held in Silivri Prison. At the beginning the courtroom could accommodate about 280 people. In June 2009, the prison's sport hall was converted for the term of the trial into a maxi courtroom with a capacity for 753 people.
In April 2016, the Supreme Court of Appeals overturned the lower court's convictions because prosecutors had been unable to prove that Ergenekon actually existed and whatever evidence presented had been collected illegally.
The first indictment The first hearing at Istanbul Heavy Penal Court 13 was held on 20 October 2008.Details can be found in the annual report 2008 (in Turkish) of the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey (HRFT). The Democratic Turkey Forum has issued the reports in chapters including the chapter on Ergenekon. Retrieved 17 May 2011 The main charges were: establishing, directing, and being a member of an armed terrorist organization; aiding and abetting a terrorist organization; attempting to overthrow the government through the use of force and coercion; acquiring, stocking, and using explosives; and urging others to commit crimes using explosives.Turkey – Guide to Ergenekon An Open Source Center Report of 19 March 2010. Retrieved 18 May 2011
The reading of the 2,455-page indictment lasted until 13 November 2008. In the 26th hearing on 15 December 2008 defendant one, retired General Veli Küçük spoke for the first time and pleaded not guilty. In January and February 2009 four defendants were released including retired General Hurşit Tolon. One defendant, lawyer Kemal Kerinçsiz testified from hearing 66 to hearing 78 on 20 April 2009.
On 30 January 2010 the defendants Dr. Emin Gürses, Dr. Ümit Sayın and Muhammet Yüce were released on pending trial. The hearing was adjourned to 22 February 2010. During the hearing of 7 December 2009 Dr. Ümit Sayın had said that he was a "secret witness" by the code name of "Anadolu". Subsequently, his lawyer declined to defend him any further.Archives of Hürriyet of 30 January 2010 (Turkish). Retrieved 17 May 2011 During the hearing of 2 December 2010 (hearing 165) the defendant Alparslan Arslan, charged for the 2006 Turkish Council of State shooting, demanded to benefit from the law of repentance. Despite repeated demands of the presiding judge he did not reveal any details.Archives of Hürriyet of 2 December 2010 (Turkish). Retrieved 17 May 2011
On 9 December 2010 prime defendant, retired General Veli Küçük took the floor to complain that allegedly a diagram existed showing people in the organization above and below him. He claimed that persons such as former Chief of Staff Hüseyin Kıvrıkoğlu, former Prime Minister Tansu Çiller and Mehmet Ağar were among his "superiors". He asked that they be heard as witnesses.Archives of Hürriyet of 9 December 2010 (Turkish). Retrieved 17 May 2011
Court cases merged with the first indictment The cases merged with the first case against Ergenekon include: a case called "Power Union of Patriotic Forces" (tr: Vatansever Kuvvetler Güç Birliği). This trial is related to an operation called "Vortex" conducted on 8 July 2007. There are 14 defendants in this trial. The case was merged with the Ergenekon trial on 28 August 2009. the 2006 attack on the Council of State and the bomb attack on the daily Cumhuriyet, This cases (one of them conducted in Ankara) had been merged earlier. Nine defendants are on trial here. Molotov cocktail attack on Cumhuriyet in 2008. Here eight defendants, six of them in pre-trial detention are charged. a case related to supply arms for the main defendant in the trial on the attack against judges at the Council of State, Alparslan Arslan has two defendants.
In May 2011 a trial of a man accused of plotting to assassinate Greek Patriarch Bartholomew was merged with the first Ergenekon case. The case was taken from Istanbul Heavy Penal Court 9 and will continue at Istanbul Heavy Penal Court 13. The man accused in the assassination plot, Ismet Rençber, is facing a prison sentence of between 7.5 and 15 years on charges of "being a member of armed organization".Patriarch murder plot merged with Ergenekon case in Turkey, Hürriyet Daily News of 5 May 2011. Retrieved 17 May 2011
As of early 2011 there were 119 defendants overall charged in the first case against Ergenekon.
The second indictment With the 1,909-page second indictment another 56 defendants were charged at Istanbul Heavy Penal Court 13. The main defendant was General Şener Eruygur. This case was later merged with a case against 52 defendants named in an indictment of 1,454 pages. The main charges include plotting a coup by forming a terrorist organization, plotting to restructure the civil administration and planning to wiretap illegally. The defendants include Ali Balkız, Mehmet Haberal. Tuncay Özkan and journalist Mustafa Balbay. The trial of Yusuf Erikel was merged with this trial on 4 February 2011. There are eight defendants including the lawyer Yusuf Erikel. The indictment has 150 pages
The first hearing was held on 20 July 2009. The court merged the cases of indictments 2 and 3. Of the 52 defendants from indictment 3 37 were in pre-trial detention.The annual report 2009 (Turkish) of the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey (HRFT) can be found one the website of the HRFT as pdf-file In June 2010 defendant retired General Levent Ersöz read out his 350-page testimony via a video conference from the hospital of the medical faculty Cerrahpaşa. He pleaded not guilty.Archives of Hürriyet of 3 June 2010 (Turkish). Retrieved 17 May 2011
The Poyrazköy case Poyrazköy is the name of a village (village Poyraz, tr: Poyrazköy) in Beykoz district, Istanbul Province. It has become the name of one of several trials against alleged members of the clandestine organization Ergenekon, allegedly planning to overthrow the government of the Justice and Development Party. Three court cases (indictments) were merged to form the "Poyrazköy case": a) the planned assassination of admirals, b) the cage action plan and c) the initial Poyrazköy trial.See http://www.turkishgladio.com/ for news and background material in Turkish and English on the various trials. The indictment on the "cage action plan" can be downloaded in English, while the other indictments only exist in Turkish, assessed on 14 May 2011 All three cases were initiated after the discovery in Poyrazköy of illegal arms.Bill Park: Turkey and Ergenekon: from farce to tragedy in Open Democracy of 10 March 2010. Retrieved 14 May 2011 A coup plan, referred to as the 'cage plan', dated March 2009, was seized by investigators from Ergenekon suspects. The 'cage plan' allegedly aimed at destabilising the country by killing members of non-Muslim minorities.See: European Commission Progress Report on Turkey dated 9 November 2010. Retrieved 14 May 2011
The indictments In January 2010 Istanbul Heavy Penal Court 12 accepted the indictment against 17 people who are accused of storing munitions in Poyrazköy.See Hürriyet Daily News of 27 January 2010. Retrieved 14 May 2011 The indictment consists of 300 pages and 24 additional files. The first hearing was scheduled for 9 April 2010.See the archives of Hürriyet (Turkish) of 27 January 2010 . Retrieved 14 May 2011 The defendants were Tayfun Duman, Ergin Geldikaya, Levent Bektaş, Mustafa Turhan Ecevit, Ercan Kireçtepe, Eren Günay, Erme Onat, İbrahim Koray Özyurt, Şafak Yürekli, Muharrem Nuri Alacalı, Levent Görgeç, Mert Yanık, Dora Sungunay, Halil Cura, Sadettin Doğan, Ferudun Arslan and Ali Türkşen. The charges relate to possession of arms without permission, membership in an armed organization and the attempt to overthrow the Grand National Assembly of Turkey.
In February the same court accepted an indictment on allegations that 19 Navy personnel planned to assassinate Navy admirals.See Hürriyet Daily News of 5 February 2010. Retrieved 14 May 2011 The targeted admirals were named as current top Navy commander Admiral Metin Ataç and former top Navy commander Admiral Eşref Uğur Yiğit. The charges include being members of an armed terrorist organization, keeping explosive materials and bullets and illegally recording personal information. The assassination case's first trial was scheduled for 7 May 2010. The 166-page indictment listed as defendants: Faruk Akın, Sinan Efe Noyan, Alperen Erdoğan, Burak Düzalan, Yakut Aksoy, Tarık Ayabakan, Ülkü Öztürk, Ali Seyhur Güçlü, Sezgin Demirel, Fatih Göktaş, Burak Amaç, Burak Özkan, Yiğithan Göksu, Oğuz Dağnık, Koray Kemiksiz, Levent Çakın and Mehmet Orhan Yücel.See the archives of Hürriyet (Turkish) of 4 February 2010 . Retrieved 14 May 2011
The trial of 33 serving and retired Turkish military officers opened on 16 June 2010, with a first hearing at the Istanbul Heavy Penal Court 12. The Armenian newspaper Agos, one of the targets identified in the alleged plan, was accepted as an intervenor. The 65-page indictment presented the imprisoned defendants Ahmet Feyyaz Öğütçü, Kadir Sağdıç and Mehmet Fatih İlgar as prime suspects in direct contact to the armed organization Ergenekon. The other defendants (not on pre-trial detention), Mücahit Erakyol, Deniz Erki, Tanju Veli Aydın, Emre Sezenler, Hüseyin Doğancı, İsmail Bak, Metin Samancı, Levent Gülmen, Aydın Ayhan Saraçoğlu, Bülent Aydın, Bora Coşkun, Süleyman Erharat, Murat Aslan, Emre Tepeli, İbrahim Öztürk, Halil Özsaraç, Gürol Yurdunal, Ümit Özbek, Bülent Karaoğlu, Daylan Muslu, Hüseyin Erol, Mehmet İnce, Alpay Belleyici, İsmail Zühtü Tümer, Levent Olcaner, Özgür Erken, Metin Fidan, Türker Doğanca, Mesut Adanur and Metin Keskin were accused of membership in an armed organization.See archives of Hürriyet (Turkish) of 15 June 2010. Retrieved 14 May 2011
The conspiracy plan entitled Operation Cage Action Plan (Turkish: Kafes Operasyonu Eylem Planı) was found on a CD seized in the office of retired Major Levent Bektaş, who was arrested in April 2010. The document was published by Taraf newspaper in May 2010.Junta’s Cage Operation Action Plan against non-Muslims uncovered . An English translation of it exists.See the relevant . Retrieved 14 May 2011 The plan allegedly calls for political terrorism and assassinations to be enacted against various groups of Eastern Orthodox, Armenians, Kurds, Jews and Alevis. The plan apparently originates from secret societies within the Turkish military.
Hearings The European Union declared that it was closely following developments related to the Naval Forces Command plan.
On 9 April 2010 the first trial in the Porazköy case started. The judge at Istanbul Heavy Penal Court 12 rejected applications from defense lawyers that the case be transferred to a military court.Hürriyet Daily News of 9 April 2010. Retrieved 14 May 2011 The prosecution is seeking life sentences for five defendants, up to 39 years for another, and up to 15 years for the other 11.