Monday, 13 April 2009
Police on Monday have started searches in branches of the Organization for Support for Contemporary Life (CYDD), an NGO, in Istanbul, Izmir, and Adana under Ergenekon probe.
In a separate operation conducted in western province of Bursa, police searched house of Prof. Mustafa Yurtkuran, deputy chairman of Kemalist Thought Association (ADD), and former Rector of Uludag University.
Also, within the scope of the operation, police have started search in the house of Prof. Ferit Bernay, the former Rector of Ondokuz Mayis University in Black Sea province of Samsun.
The alleged criminal network that came to be known as "Ergenekon" was revealed after police seized 27 grenades, TNT explosives and fuses in a shanty house in Istanbul on June 12, 2007 and Istanbul Chief Prosecutor's Office launched an investigation into weapons. Police waged operations in several provinces and detained a number of people, including retired senior army officers, journalists and businessmen, for their alleged involvement in the network.
Eighty-six people already are on trial in the probe for allegedly being part of the Ergenekon while trial of 56 others will begin in June. They are accused of planning assassinations and bombings to sow chaos and overthrow the government.
