Ihsan Bal Head of USAK Science Committee printable version send your friend

Saturday, 20 May 2006

JTW has arranged a meeting between Prof. Ihsan Bal, Head of International Security, Terrorism and Ethnic conflict studies at ISRO, and its editors. The transcript of his talk has been summarized below.

A Brief Summary of the Incident

On the 17th May 2006, Wednesday, a gunman named Alpaslan Arslan has raided the meeting of Council of State in Ankara and wounded 5 out of 6 judge of the meeting. Later on one of them died at the hospital. He was named Mustafa Ozbilgin, a state judge.

The gunman has entered the Council of State building with the privileged status hence escaping any security checks. The privileged status is given to judges and lawyers as they show their ID cards, they are refrained from security checks. The gun used in the incident has been with the gunman all the way.

The meeting was at the fifth floor. At the meeting room there was a table with 6 people having a meeting. When he burst into the room, there were two judges on the right hand side of him, and another two judges on the left hand side, one judge sitting just in front(close to door) of him. The last one was the victim who was at the far end of the table with regard to gunman. And this judge was the one who later died in the hospital, and the one close to the victim, also close to far-end of the table was severely injured and still in the hospital. But the judges close to the gunman were very lightly injured.

After his attack, he used the least used exit at the backend of the building. The exit was only used for emergency and VIP exit and entrance. When he just arrived at this exit, someone at the stairs of an upper floor has pointed the gunman to the two police officers waiting in front of the exit. Then the police officers first warned the gunman to stop. Gunman panicked and took his gun out and shouted in to the air. The police officer jumped on to the attacker and they apprehend him.


The profile of the Gunman

Alpaslan Arslan, was born in Bingol ,1977. His ethnic background is Kurdish and has a diploma from Marmara University Faculty of Law. The family of Arslan is a secular and a modern family in terms of Bingol’s regional traditions. The headscarf is part of a tradition in this region. However, one of his sister’s is not wearing a head scarf and also the family says their son never interfered with his sisters’ attitudes and lifestyles.

The members of his family are educated, and his father is an inspector of National Education, which is a respectable post in state and has been awarded after tight security scrutiny including the political views of the children.

During the police interview, the family has said they were not aware of their son’s relation and his involvement with any extremist organization or Hezbollah, which has a considerable strength in the region.

In the police interrogation, he first claimed that he has conducted the attack on his own. He didn’t name any person or organization. He also denied shooting “God is great” after the incident. The other three witnesses of the crime scene including two judges said that they have not heard any “God great” or related Islamic chantings during or after the shooting.
His attitude was so much like Mehmet Ali Agca, with regard to his psychological behavior. He was extremely self confident, calm. He even claimed he is not going to stay in prison any longer than couple of months.

Police Investigation

Following his first interrogation, the police investigation has extended including his bank account information, hotel records, mobile phone records, cell phone roaming information which is the information based on cellular networks and holds the record of the person’s position with a limited accuracy. Also his house was raided by the police.

There are also witnesses including a woman who claimed that she has seen the gunman and two other man arguing in an area close to the Danistay building on the morning of the incident.

Before the second interrogation of the gunman, two other man those arrived from Istanbul in a car with the gunman has been apprehended based on the information from the police investigation. And also another man in Istanbul with a criminal record apprehended.

With the information gathered, police interrogated the gunman a second time and asked the crucial question again: “Did you conducted this event alone on the bases of these evidences?”. And the gunman couldn’t deny more. He confessed that he has conducted the event with other people. He acknowledged the truth of the evidences.

The police evidence has lead into a more complex network of relations. The complexity has lead in to the suspects of the daily leftist and secular Turkish newspaper Cumhuriyet’s bombing. Cumhuriyet’s Istanbul Headquarter has been bombed three times in five days.

From an initial gunman, police has reached a gang like organization with more than 8 persons whom were also behind the recent bombings in Turkey. These apprehended 8 people’s close relatives and friends can not confirm any religious extremist or ideological background or relation of these suspects.

Ismail Sagir, who has been involved in Cumhuriyet bombing, has also arrived to the Ankara with the gunman in the same car. His brother said : “I couldn’t understand how he could be involved in such events. He is a drunk, and has a crime record on burglary. He has no relation with any religion or organization”(Milliyet,20.05.2006).

Is he a new kind of Agca?

Yes, there is a possibility. He is quite an Agca like man. He has got an ability to strike, to escape. He is calm; he can stand against social pressure. He is like a professional hitman. He doesn’t say more that what the interrogators know. But he also portrays someone with very secretive, powerful links. In this sense he resembles Agca.

What makes you think he is professional hitman?

First of all, Danistay operation is very well planned as the three day investigation has proved. The day before the incident he surveyed the area including the room, and let’s say he “rehearsed” the incident. He is aware that with his Lawyer ID he can escape from security
Checks, during the entrance to and the exit from the building.

The other one is that, he burst into the room and made a selective killing. This indicates that the gunman has conducted the attack in a rational manner. This was not a man out of control. He was well determined, and he was exactly aware of his attack. He was doing what he has been told.

He used the back exit and he only fired once and not to the police officer. His aim was to create a panic and escape, because this exit was the last barrier before his escape.

His resilience, calmness and confidence show that he is well trained for every stage of the operation. He didn’t give a clue. But when the police show the evidence, he confirms some of them. He also draws a mysterious picture as if he has got very powerful friends.

Conclusion

To sum up everything, militant of the media news has turned in to a gunman with a non-religious gang. The ideological and organizational background is not proven to be as it claimed by news agencies. He is more like a professional hitman, a Neo-Agca like figure.

One problem is the disinformation pumped into the domestic and international media. Even BBC news, has broadcasted the incident globally as an attack by an Islamic militant who chants ‘God is Great’, just after the incident. Still none of this has been confirmed and there is no evidence to prove his relation with any radical Islamic movement.

In this sense, the media professionals seem like to be using minimum evidence to make maximum comment. Even some has further exaggerated the event and fabricated news. Was this intentional? Who knows!

So far the evidences gathered from all parties’ investigations suggest that one man show is getting into a more complex network of criminal gang, even further up may have links to national and international masterminds and dirty relations. The key mind behind the attack is an ex-captain in the army named Muzaffer Tekin. The ex-captain has been expelled from the army during the 12 September 1980 military coup (Radikal, Newspaper, 20.05.2006).

In this respect, it is not an exaggeration to claim that the people not surfing on high tides of emotions and the ones who patiently search and find the evidences may have a better chance to enlighten the masterplan behind this event.