ISTANBUL, Turkey — In simultaneous operations in nine provinces of Turkey, authorities March 17 arrested 20 people suspected of playing a role in the murder of three Christians in Malatya in 2007, according to local news reports. Zekeriya Oz, chief prosecutor overseeing the investigation into a clandestine network known as “Ergenekon” aimed at destabilizing the government, ordered the arrests based on information that linked the suspects to both the network and to the Malatya murders, Turkish press reported after Istanbul police Chief Huseyin Capkin announced the sweep at a press conference.
“This was an operation related to the Malatya Zirve Publishing House murders,” Capkin said. “That’s the framework.” Those apprehended include Ruhi Abat, a Muslim theology professor from Malatya Inonu University; Mehmet Ulger, a retired commander of the Malatya Gendarmerie in service at the time of the murders and other members of the military.
A plaintiff attorney in the Malatya murder case, Orhan Kemal Cengiz, said that the names on the list of those arrested were suspects he and his colleagues have been trying to convince the Malatya prosecutor to pursue since the court received a tip in May 2008. The Istanbul Police Department prepared a report in 2010 revealing links between the Malatya murders and Ergenekon.
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