Emerging details about audio recordings discovered in the home of Hanefi Avcı, the former police chief of the central province of Eskişehir, have raised questions about whether the police chief was also a member of the terrorist Ergenekon organization, as the recordings also feature the phone conversations of many people who currently stand accused of membership in Ergenekon.

Ergenekon is a clandestine criminal organization that is believed to be nested within the state and accused of working to overthrow the government. Avcı was arrested in late September due to his links to the Revolutionary Headquarters, a leftist-terrorist organization behind a deadly attack that took place in İstanbul in 2009. During a search of his Eskişehir home, police discovered audio clips featuring phone conversations of 53 people. Turkish dailies reported on Tuesday that the clips feature the phone conversations of Tuncay Güney, a former journalist who once worked for Turkey's National Intelligence Organization (MİT), mafia boss Sedat Peker, drug lord Drej Ali, famous transsexual Seyhan Soylu (also known as Sisi) and retired Gen. Veli Küçük. All these individuals are believed to have close links to Ergenekon.The conversations were wiretapped between 1994 and 1998, raising questions as to whether Avcı had knowledge about the Ergenekon terrorist organization back then and whether he has been a member of the organization since then. Güney currently resides in Canada. He is a key figure in the Ergenekon investigation, referred to by the Turkish press as the “black box” of the organization because he is thought to know a great deal about the structure and actions of the terrorist group. Küçük is currently jailed on charges of founding and directing an armed terrorist organization.The recordings also feature the conversations of convicted gang leader Alaattin Çakıcı; businessman Erol Aksoy; Hürriyet daily Editor-in-Chief Enis Berberoğlu; retired Brig. Gen. Çetin Harmankaya, the former commander of the Gülhane Military Academy of Medicine (GATA); former Prime Minister Mesut Yılmaz; the husband of former Prime Minister Tansu Çiller, Özel Çiller; and the late Grand Unity Party (BBP) leader Muhsin Yazıcıoğlu. Yazıcıoğlu was killed in a helicopter crash last year.A civilian prosecutor recently summoned them to testify about the audio recordings.The wiretap records are also believed to be critical findings that can shed light on the post-modern coup of 1997, when a coalition government led by a conservative political party was overthrown by the powerful military on the grounds that it was working to erode the secular identity of the Turkish Republic. Retired Gen. Çevik Bir, who played a major role in the 1997 coup, was also illegally wiretapped by Avcı. The coup occurred under the leadership of Gen. Bir.Soylu was detained in late 2008 as part of the Ergenekon investigation. She is believed to be the “unsung hero” of the 1997 military intervention. Ergenekon was suspected of involvement in the 1997 intervention, commonly referred to as the “Feb. 28 process.” Hanefi Avcı was arrested in late September over links to the Revolutionary Headquarters, a leftist-terrorist organization behind a deadly attack that took place in İstanbul in 2009. Avcı came into the spotlight in August when he released his book, titled “Haliç'te Yaşayan Simonlar” (Simons in the Golden Horn). In the book, which experts on crime have labeled as biased, Avcı argues that ongoing criminal investigations aiming to confront illegal activities within the state, including the probe into Ergenekon, lack evidence and are based on illegal wiretapping. However, it is known that the telephone conversations of Ergenekon suspects were legitimately wiretapped by prosecutors overseeing the probe under court orders.Berberoğlu, Aksoy testify in wiretapping caseBerberoğlu and Aksoy arrived at the Beşiktaş Courthouse in İstanbul early yesterday, separately, to testify to Altınışık about the wiretap records.Berberoğlu arrived at the Beşiktaş Courthouse in İstanbul early yesterday to testify to Altınışık about the wiretap records. Berberoğlu told reporters that his phone conversations were illegally wiretapped after the 1996 Susurluk affair, which exposed links between the Turkish state, the criminal underworld and Turkish security forces. He added that he did not know why he was wiretapped. Berberoğlu filed a criminal complaint with the police against Avcı.“Professional values required me to file a criminal complaint. The wiretaps have come to violate democracy, freedom of expression and human rights. I do not know whether the wiretaps belong to a legal case. If so and if the police failed to find anything that may constitute a crime or evidence of a crime, why were the records not destroyed during the past 12 or 13 years? If the records are the product of illegal wiretapping, how could anyone dare to record my phone conversations and keep them for so many years?” he asked.On Monday, former MİT Counterterrorism Unit head Mehmet Eymür and the son of Turkey's eighth President Turgut Özal, Ahmet Özal, testified to the prosecutor about the records. The two also filed criminal complaints against Avcı.Also last week, journalists Mehmet Ali Birand and Fatih Altaylı testified about the recordings. While Altaylı filed a criminal complaint against the jailed police chief, Birand refused to do so. In the meantime, Güney said he was not surprised to learn that he was illegally wiretapped and added that he will file a criminal complaint against Avcı. 13 October 2010, WednesdayTODAY'S ZAMAN  İSTANBUL