According to the HSYK appointment decree, which changed the posts of 128 judges and prosecutors across Turkey, İstanbul Specially Authorized Deputy Chief Public Prosecutor Turan Çolakkadı was appointed as the İstanbul chief public prosecutor and replaced Aykut Cengiz Engin, who was recently appointed as the chief public prosecutor of the newly founded İstanbul Regional Appellate Court. The HSYK also appointed specially authorized prosecutors Öz, Fikret Seçen and Ercan Şafak as deputy chief public prosecutors.
Responding to questions by reporters yesterday about his appointment, Öz said he is surprised because he had no such request. “I was very tired [from a heavy workload]. I made no such request. I did not expect such a decision. It came as a surprise to me,” he said.
He also noted that his appointment would not influence the Ergenekon probe. “Investigations are based on case files, not prosecutors,” he added. Öz is known to be the main prosecutor involved in the investigation into Ergenekon, a clandestine criminal network charged with plotting to overthrow the government by creating large-scale chaos in the country. Sources said the special authorities of Öz and Şafak were also removed with the appointments. Seçen’s authorities, on the other hand, have reportedly been retained and he replaced Çolakkadı as the specially authorized deputy chief public prosecutor. Öz’s appointment was interpreted as a promotion but also meant that he will not oversee the Ergenekon case since he no longer has special authorities. He is expected to hand over the cases he has been conducting, including Ergenekon, to other prosecutors, which are expected to be determined by Çolakkadı and Seçen. Sources say since Seçen still has special authorities and can oversee the probe himself. Seçen was one of the prosecutors overseeing the Ergenekon probe.
İbrahim Okur, the head of the HSYK’s 1st Chamber, which was responsible for yesterday’s decision, said yesterday that the appointments were made not taking into consideration ongoing probes and aim to “provide a trustworthy team for Çolakkadı.” When asked why Seçen’s special authorities were retained and not those of Öz, he said Seçen is more experienced. He said Çolakkadı and Seçen will determine who will oversee the Ergenekon probe, adding that Seçen will be more influential in the probe.
The special authorities in question are those given by Article 250 of the Code on Criminal Procedure (CMK) to investigate organized crimes against the constitutional order and terrorist groups. The article also vests civilian prosecutors with the power to investigate military personnel accused of crimes threatening national security, constitutional violations and attempts to topple the government in peacetime.
The appointment decision came on the same day as a new wave of operation ordered by Öz. There were searches at the homes of six individuals, all theology professors, yesterday as part of an operation Öz ordered into suspected links with the 2007 Zirve Publishing House murders, in which three people who sold Christian literature were killed.
Öz had been conducting many Ergenekon-related investigations. Dozens of suspected Ergenekon members, including those from the military, academia and the business world, have been jailed as part of the investigation into the group. The probe began in 2007 with a raid on a shanty house in İstanbul which police discovered was being used as an arms depot. The ensuing investigation revealed questionable links between a variety of individuals and groups with a wide range of, and even opposing, political ideologies and associations and their involvement in past incidents, such as unsolved assassinations and suspicious bombings.
Mete Göktürk, a former chief prosecutor of the now-dissolved State Security Court (DGM), also said in televised remarks yesterday that Öz’s appointment is a kind of promotion. “Being a deputy chief prosecutor is more prestigious than being a specially authorized prosecutor,” he said.
Will the Ergenekon probe be influenced?
Öz being taken off the Ergenekon case also sparked a discussion as to whether this will influence in any way the ongoing Ergenekon probe. The government has strongly reacted to the HSYK decision and said the ongoing case would be negatively influenced because it would take time for the new prosecutor to be brought up to date on the case. “This change of post, which was made without the consent of the prosecutors, is wrong. However, the appointments may negatively influence the ongoing prosecution of the [Ergenekon] case. It may cast doubt on court decisions. The HSYK has no authority to make such a change on an ongoing case. … Although they received a promotion, I think this decree is wrong because it means an intervention in the ongoing trial process,” Justice and Development Party (AK Party) parliamentary group deputy chairman Bekir Bozdağ told reporters yesterday.
State Minister Hayati Yazıcı also expressed concern about the future of the probe and said he hopes the appointments do not harm the ongoing case.
Commenting on the appointments for Today’s Zaman, retired prosecutor Reşat Petek said the Ergenekon case should not be related to only one person and that he does not think the appointments will have a major effect on the probe. “There are also other prosecutors who are overseeing the Ergenekon investigation. I do not think the probe will be influenced,” he said.
Vahit Bıçak, an expert on criminal law, also said the investigation should not be influenced by Öz’s removal. “In a country with the rule of law, investigations proceed in accordance with the law and individuals’ personal approach should not be a determining factor. That is how it should be. That said, we cannot know what will happen. But, concerning Öz, it was a promotion,” he said
