Ten people, including four military officers currently on active duty, were arrested yesterday as part of an investigation into Ergenekon, a clandestine terrorist organization, 146 of whose suspected members are currently facing trial for plotting to overthrow the government.

The ranks of the four were not made public by the police. An arms cache was discovered on Tuesday buried underground on land owned by the İstek Foundation, set up by a fugitive suspect in the investigation, former İstanbul Mayor Bedrettin Dalan, the chairman of the foundation. The arms were discovered yesterday during excavations carried out as part of the continuing Ergenekon investigation. In Tuesday's excavations on the İstek Foundation land in İstanbul's Poyrazköy district, 10 light-anti tank weapons (LAW), 20 percussion bombs, three other bombs, 250 grams of C4 explosive, 19 emergency flares, 10 hand grenades, 800 G3 bullets and a large number of bullets for revolvers were found. The discovery follows the unearthing of similar underground weapons' sites earlier in January, uncovered during digs based on maps found in the homes of two suspects -- former Deputy Police Chief İbrahim Şahin and Mustafa Dönmez -- a lieutenant colonel who turned himself in after a few days following the initial warrant for his arrest. Dalan was in the US during the time of this wave of detentions and discoveries, which started on Jan. 7, 2009. An arms cache was discovered on Tuesday, buried on land in İstanbul's Poyrazköy neighborhood owned by the İstek Foundation, whose chairman, Bedrettin Dalan, is a fugitive Ergenekon suspect who lives in the United States. He has since not returned, despite telling journalists in a statement he made in the US that he would be back at the end of January. A statement from Dalan himself was published in the Vatan daily yesterday. Dalan told the paper that the land was military property and that the foundation has been fighting a legal battle with the Ministry of Defense over an expropriation fee the foundation was expected to pay. Yet another site of munitions buried underground, including anti-tank weaponry, was discovered on Tuesday on land owned by a foundation set up by a fugitive suspect in the investigation into Ergenekon. Six were detained, including four military personnel who are currently on active duty. Bullets in safeMunitions were also found in Dalan's room in the office of the İstek Foundation. Five revolvers and 7,000 bullets were found in the room's safe. Dalan, the prosecution claims, established the link between former Gen. Veli Küçük, charged with being the leader of Ergenekon, and former Police Chief Adil Serdar Saçan, accused of covering up an earlier investigation into the organization in 2001. Dalan is also accused of being one of the 16 people who were actively involved in plotting a coup d'etat. These 16, including Cumhuriyet writer İlhan Selçuk, retired generals Şener Eruygur and Hurşit Tolon and former Higher Education Board (YÖK) President Kemal Gürüz, are being accused of actively planning attacks and other activities to "eradicate by force the organs of the legislative and the executive."The İstek Foundation released a statement Tuesday evening which said the foundation bought the property in the year 1992 but said since the land was a "military zone" and a "no-construction area," it has never been used. "Entry and exit from the land can only be carried out under permission from the military command and with accompanying military personnel. The land in question has never been used by the İstek Foundation," read the statement. Land owned by the İstek Foundation, founded by fugitive Ergenekon suspect Bedrettin Dalan. An arms cache was discovered buried underground here on Saturday. Meanwhile, a search yesterday was carried out in the house and office of retired naval forces Maj. Levent Bektaş, a former member of the navy's Underwater Assault Teams (SAT). The police said the search in Bektaş's home and office were linked to the Poyrazköy dig.The police also carried out excavations in different parts of the same land. Officials said more digs will be conducted as experts determine more spots to investigate. Meanwhile, five hand grenades were found yesterday abandoned on the Sivas-Erzincan highway. The police are investigating.Ankara excavations for gunsThe police, as part of the January investigation, carried out a series of digs at a number of sites around the capital in a search of weapons linked to Ergenekon. In Sincan the police unearthed 30 hand grenades, nine smoke bombs and hundreds of G3 rifle bullets in the garden of a deserted house. Another arms cache was unearthed in the Zir Valley in Ankara's Sincan district based on a map found in the house of Lt. Col. Dönmez. Thirty hand grenades, nine smoke bombs and more than 800 bullets for G3 assault rifles were found there. Around the same time, two hand grenades were found buried inside a park in an industrial zone. Nearly 200 bullets were discovered also in Ankara, in early January, in a vacant lot across from a housing complex in the OR-AN area, formerly reserved for members of Parliament and their families. 23 April 2009, ThursdayTODAY'S ZAMAN  İSTANBUL