Ergenekon: General Ersöz in Hospital, ex-Anti-terror Colonel Commits Suicide

On Sunday (18 January), he was taken to hospital from prison for heart problems.

Meanwhile, the 39th hearing of the Ergenekon trial at the Istanbul 13th Heavy Penal Court was postponed to evaluate a demand of the joint attorneys to change the judges. The next hearing is on 22 January.

Heart and prostrate problems

According to Ersöz’ lawyer Gülten Güven, her client was taken first to one and then to a second hospital in Istanbul from prison because of heart problems. She said her client had had three heart attacks in the past and had been fitted with a stent. She alleged that Ersöz had handed in relevant health reports before his arrest, but that the reports were disregarded.

Ersöz’ daughter Fulya Ersöz said in a statement in front of the hospital on Sunday (18 January) that her father was in intensive care and was being kept unconscious. She added:

“First of all, this is a an issue of humanity. My father is a heart patient. One of his arteries is 91 percent blocked. He had a stent fitted in another artery. As his family, we demand that an angiography is carried out. At the moment his life is in danger. We want first his heart and then his prostate problem to be dealt with.”

It is claimed that Ersöz as gendarmerie head of intelligence was close to prime Ergenekon suspect retired general Veli Küçük as well as then Gendarmerie General Commander Şener Eruygur.

"Temple of Terror"

Ersöz, who retired in 2003, was field officer in the province of Şırnak, southeastern Turkey. During his time there, Şırnak was called the “Temple of Fear” and the “Republic of Şırnak”, referring to the control and terror the gendarmerie was wielding in the province.

For many, Ersöz is a key figure in solving hundreds of disappearances in the area.

Suicide in Ankara

Meanwhile, former Diyarbakir commander of the clandestine JITEM gendarmerie intelligence unit, Colonel Abdulkerim Kırca, has been found dead at his gendarmerie lodgings in Ankara. It has been announced that he committed suicide, but this still needs to be confirmed by an autopsy.

He was found dead in his home in the morning of 19 January. Kırca was accused of ordering PKK informant Abdülkadir Aygan to carry out many extrajudicial killings. When he was a major, Kırca, together with Mahmut Yıldırım, who was codenamed “Green”, was put on trial by the Military Court of the Diyarbakır 7th Corps Command. He stood accused of ordering the kidnapping and execution of eight people when he was gendarmerie head of intelligence. The case file had been sent to the Ankara Court of Jurisdictional Disputes because of a disagreement in jurisdiction.

Kıra stood accused of founding an armed illegal organisation, torture and three murders, and the prosecution was demanding a life sentence. Kırca, who was disabled in an operation against the PKK in Antalya, had retired early.

Medal for Kırca

On 12 December 2004, then President Ahmet Necdet Sezer awarded him a state honour medal. There is another case open at the Diyarbakır Heavy Penal Court, where Kırca stands accused of founding an armed illegal organisation. (BÇ/EÖ/AG)