Turkish judicial council report says Ergenekon trials were driven by Gülenists

Oya Armutçu – ANKARA

The High Council of Judges and Prosecutors (HSYK) has concluded that the six judges and two prosecutors who worked on the Ergenekon case, prosecuting 274 suspects on charges of attempting to overthrow the government of the time, were serving the movement of U.S.-based Islamic preacher Fethullah Gülen. 

The HSYK’s investigative commission on Nov. 9 released a 1,300-page report based on scores of complaints it received on the judges and prosecutors who prosecuted and convicted hundreds in one of the most controversial legal cases in recent Turkish history, which continued for nearly a decade. 

The report stated that the eight figures acted in favor of the Gülen movement, which is widely believed to have been behind the July 15 coup attempt against the Turkish government and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.  

The report cited “orders” from Gülenists as evidence that the judicial officials conducted their work in a way to directly benefit the Gülenists and denigrate the suspects with unfounded accusations. It also demanded the prosecution of these eight names.

In April, Turkey’s Supreme Court of Appeals overturned all convictions in the Ergenekon case allegedly targeting Turkey’s “deep state,” ruling that the target of the allegations, the “Ergenekon Terror Organization,” did not actually exist.