SEVENTH WAVE OF ERGENEKON ARRESTS

id: 170802 date: 9/22/2008 7:05 refid: 08ISTANBUL505 origin: Consulate Istanbul classification: CONFIDENTIAL destination: 08ANKARA1217|08ISTANBUL380 header: VZCZCXRO7916 PP RUEHFL RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHROV RUEHSR DE RUEHIT #0505 2660705 ZNY CCCCC ZZH P 220705Z SEP 08 FM AMCONSUL ISTANBUL TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 8487 INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE PRIORITY RUFOADA/JAC MOLESWORTH RAF MOLESWORTH UK PRIORITY RHMFISS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC PRIORITY RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY RUEKJCS/DIA WASHDC PRIORITY RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC PRIORITY -------------- header ends -------------- C O N F I D E N T I A L ISTANBUL 000505 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/18/2018 TAGS: PHUM PREL TU ASEC AA SUBJECT: SEVENTH WAVE OF ERGENEKON ARRESTS REF: A. ISTANBUL 380 ¶B. ANKARA 1217 Classified By: Classified by Consul General Sharon A. Wiener for reasons 1.4 (B) and (D). ¶1. (U) On September 18, in a seventh wave of Ergenekon-related detentions, Turkish police in Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir, Mersin, and Hakkari provinces took into custody 17 people. (The religiously-oriented Zaman daily newspaper reports that 19 people were taken into custody, rather than 17, as reported by Dogan news agency affiliated outlets.) In Istanbul, five army lieutenants, a military academy student, well-known actress Nurseli Idiz, artistic manager Seyhan Soylu, and lawyer Levent Temiz were taken into custody. ¶2. (C) Temiz is the president of the nationalist organization Ulku Ocaklari (Ideal Home),which is widely believed to be the unofficial youth branch of the right-wing Nationalist Movement Party (MHP). Both Sabah and Taraf newspapers report the police have determined from a review of phone records that Temiz had ties with both the charged murderer of Hrant Dink and one of the terrorists involved in the July 9 attack on the U.S. Consulate. This allegation follows a front page report in Zaman newspaper on September 18 that made substantially the same allegations. The Legal Attache in Istanbul advises it has no information regarding Temiz and reports no knowledge of any connection between the Ergenekon group and the attack on the U.S. Consulate. The investigation into the July 9 attack is still on going. Turkish police have refused to speculate on an Ergenekon link to the attack. ¶3. (U) Zaman claims, without explanation, that Soylu played a key role in the "post-modern military coup" in 1997 that led to the collapse of the Erbakan government. Ruhat Mengi, columnist for mainstream Vatan, notes that the timing of this new Ergenekon operation seems designed to deflect attention from allegations swirling around PM Erdogan in connection to the Deniz Feneri corruption case. The 103 suspects accused of having suspicious links to Ergenekon will begin to appear in court on October 20, facing accusations that include "membership in an armed terrorist group." WIENER