PROSECUTOR'S ARREST REIGNITES BITTER CLASH BETWEEN

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ANKARA 000288

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT ALSO FOR EUR/SE

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/22/2020
TAGS: PGOV TU
SUBJECT: PROSECUTOR'S ARREST REIGNITES BITTER CLASH BETWEEN
AKP AND JUDICIARY

REF: A. 09 ANKARA 834

B. 09 ANKARA 721

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Classified By: POL Counselor Daniel O'Grady, for reasons 1.4(b,d)


1. (C) SUMMARY: The long-simmering power struggle between
the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and Turkey's
secularist judiciary escalated sharply last week after the
arrest of a provincial prosecutor in Erzincan who was
investigating the activities of a religious group. The High
Council of Judges and Prosecutors (HSYK) stepped in to defend
the Erzincan prosecutor, but not before his file had been
transferred to the main Ergenekon prosecutor in Istanbul. He
remains in detention. The Justice Minister has denounced the
HSYK's intervention. The flare-up has dominated television
news programs, and newspaper front pages, for four days --
although the wave of high-level military detentions February
22 eclipsed that issue and upped the ante considerably in the
secularist versus AKP schism. Embassy contacts have warned
us of a prevailing mood of fear in Turkey that discourages
any probes or legal actions against religious sects. The
Erzincan prosecutor appears to have fallen afoul of those
parameters. Meanwhile, the Court of Appeals Chief
Prosecutor, who prosecuted the 2008 AKP closure case, has
announced he is considering a new case based on the Erzincan
developments as well as the GOT's orchestrated assignment of
certain judges and prosecutors to greet Kurdish returnees
from Northern Iraq in 2009. A new closure case against AKP
would almost certainly backfire against the party's hardline
secularist critics, but remains a possibility. In the event
a new closure case is opened, AKP has already forecast early
elections and expects a significant electoral boost. END
SUMMARY.


2. (U) On February 17 Erzincan Provincial Chief Public
Prosecutor Ilhan Cihaner was arrested by Erzurum Provincial
Special Public Prosecutor Osman Sanal and charged with being
a member of the Ergenekon terrorist organization. On
February 18 the High Council of Judges and Prosecutors (HSYK)
which determines judicial appointments in Turkey, decided
that Sanal had exceeded his authority in arresting Cihaner,
and suspended him from duty along with four prosecutors on
his team. The Court of Appeals and the Danistay issued a
statement saying that the decision of the HSYK was in
compliance with the law and within its authority. But
Cihaner's file had already been transferred to the main
Ergenekon prosecutor in Istanbul, and Cihaner remains in
detention.


3. (U) The GOT moved quickly to denounce the HSYK's
intervention. Justice Minister Ergin stated that the HSYK
had exceeded its authority by removing Sanal. Deputy Prime
Minister Bulent Arinc contended to reporters that Cihaner had
been arrested for committing common crimes unrelated to his
investigations. He criticized the HSYK for meddling in
politics.


4. (U) Meanwhile, Court of Appeals Chief Prosecutor
Abdurrahman Cetinkaya, who formerly prosecuted the closure
case against the AKP in March 2008, issued a separate written
statement February 17, calling for an investigation into the
Erzincan developments, to determine if the government was
deliberately politicizing the judicial process. Cetinkaya
said he also wants to probe the special arrangements made for
judges and prosecutors who met the PKK returnees from
Northern Iraq in October 2009.


5. (SBU) Various contacts speculate that the "Ergenekon"
investigation against Cihaner was in response to his own
investigation, beginning in 2007, into the activities of the
Ismailaga religious brotherhood. Cihaner claims that in
mid-2008, then-Justice Minister Cemil Cicek had personnally
telephoned him to insist that the investigation cease. Cicek
denies it. In March 2009, Sanal requested the Ismailaga case
be transferred to himself, claiming it fell under his
jurisdiction as a Special Prosecutor investigating violent
crimes involving weapons. Sanal claimed that Cihaner was
investigating the Ismailaga brotherhood under instructions
from the Ergenekon criminal organization. Citing a now
public document allegedly signed by Col. Dursun Cicek, Sanal
claimed that Ergenekon members were attempting to link the
Ismailaga and other brotherhoods to violent acts and illegal
weapons caches in order to smear their reputations and
eventually establish justification for bringing their members
before military courts.


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6. (C) Rumors abound that allegations of politicization of
the judiciary will be the cornerstone of a new closure case
against the AKP. Television crews are camped out in front of
the Yargitay offices (conveniently across the street from the
Embassy) apparently awaiting such an announcement. Murat
Yektkin, a regular columnist for the daily Radikal newspaper,
wrote that a high-level AKP official told him, "if a closure
case is opened against the AKP we will immediately go to an
early election." AKP Deputy Secretary General Safi told us
last week that both the Erzincan and Erzurum prosecutors may
have exceeded their authority, but that HSYK itself is
aligned with opposition CHP leader Deniz Baykal. Safi noted
that another closure case may result "because everyone knows
the judiciary is eager to open a case even if it's bad for
the country." ButqnOQ@{S&elentless advance. It is also,
according to our contacts, a far more formidable opponent for
the AKP than, say, the Turkish military, because the
judiciary can claim the mantle of "the law" -- even though
all Turkish laws are subject to widely varying and often
political interpretations. The AKP's fixation on the
Ergenekon organization -- whether the organization is real or
fictitious -- has turned into a double-edged political sword
and may start to damage the AKP's own interests. We sense a
growing public fatigue at the endless stream of Ergenekon
plots leaked to the press and a deepening skepticism about
the ever-broadening arrests and detentions. The detention of
Prosecutor Cihaner will add to this skepticism, and will also
underscore the perception that probes or legal actions
against religious sects entails a high price.
Jeffrey

"Visit Ankara's Classified Web Site at http://www.intelink.s
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