SOLDIERS AT CIVIL COURT

The Istanbul 12^th High Criminal Court accepted the indictment of the Istanbul Public Prosecution regarding the litigation of 17 defendants, five of them detained, in the context of ammunition found in excavations conducted in Poyrazköy in the eastern banks of the Bosporus in Istanbul. The indictment comprises about 300 pages plus 24 attached folders containing evidence collected during the investigation.

Accusations

The allegations against the 17 defendants are listed in the indictment as follows: "possession of one firearm and a number of bullets", "purchase, carrying or providing of unlicensed firearms and ammunition", "purchase, carrying and providing of weapons or ammunitions in vast numbers and of severe kind", "membership of an armed terror organization", "unlicensed acquisition or handover of dangerous substances", "attempted abrogation or obstruction of the fulfilment of duty of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey", "attempted abrogation or obstruction of the fulfilment of duty of the government of the Turkish Republic", "purchase, receiving or providing of explosives minor in type and numbers".

Cage Operation Action Plan

The indictment also mentions the so-called "Cage Operation" Action Plan, which was supposedly worked out as a coup plan by the Naval Forces, targeting non-Muslims and aiming to charge them of their religious beliefs. It was put forward that the Cage Action Plan was designed after the Davos crisis. The indictment comprises allegations that there are still more buried weapons.

Defendants

The indictment defines the following people as "defendants": Tayfun Duman from the Gölcük Warfare Squadron Command Group ,  former SAT Commander Ergin Geldikaya, retired Major Levent Bektaş, Lieutenant Colonels Mustafa Turhan Ecevit and Ercan Kireçtepe, Naval Staff Major Eren Günay, Erme Onat , İbrahim Koray Özyurt and Şafak Yürekli from Aksaz Naval Base Command , Muharrem Nuri Alacalı from the Gölcük Naval Command, Levent Görgeç from the Naval Training Command, Mert Yanık from the Naval Command Academy, Dora Sungunay, Halil Cura, Sadettin Doğan, Ferudun Arslan and Ali Türkşen.

Istanbul court

The case will be tried at the Istanbul Courthouse in Beşiktaş. The first hearing is scheduled for 9 April.

Poyrazköy background

Weapons, bullets and ammunition were found in the course of an excavation in Poyrazköy, Beykoz, a district of Istanbul, on 21 April 2009. The excavations were said to have been ordered according to a plan found at the educational İSTEK foundation, branches of which have previously been searched as part of the Ergenekon investigation. The excavations revealed 21 flame throwers, 15 of them loaded, 14 hand grenades, 24 hand grenade fuses, 450 grams of C3 explosive, 7 pieces of various explosives, 3 demonstration bombs, 5 new and 2 used booby traps, 23 flares, 45 smoke bombs, 15 illumination rounds, 30 metres of fuse (cortex), 38 metres of safety fuse, 3,017 rounds of various calibres and 1 tube of black camouflage cream. (BB/VK)