The Open Source Center prepared the report March 19, but it was not publicly released, as the center’s other reports typically are.

The report included a timeline of the Ergenekon case from June 2007, when it began with the discovery of hand grenades that belonged to a retired noncommissioned officer in a shanty house in the Ümraniye district of Istanbul.

The OSC also detailed the approaches various Turkish politicians have taken toward the Ergenekon case, which deals with an alleged gang accused of trying to topple the government. It explained how Ergenekon has turned into the most comprehensive case dealing with alleged military coups in Turkey, sparking a verbal duel between Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and the main opposition Republican People’s Party, or CHP, leader Deniz Baykal.

“President Abdullah Gül remained neutral. Erdoğan, supporting the Ergenekon investigation, denied the allegations against him [that say] he used control over the investigation to silence the opposition,” the report said. “Baykal, having a critical and suspicious approach toward the investigation, blamed the government for creating a society of fear.”

“Chief of the Turkish General Staff Gen. İlker Başbuğ denied the claims that the Turkish Armed Forces are part of the Ergenekon gang and said that these claims are aiming to erode the Turkish Army,” the OSC added. “But Başbuğ promised to start an investigation.”

CANSU ÇAMLIBEL – HÜRRİYET DAILY NEWS, April 18, 2010