An indictment recently accepted by an Erzurum court refers to the military commanders of 16 Turkish cities as “suspects” as they attended a meeting held last year in the eastern province of Erzincan under the leadership of 3rd Army Commander Gen. Saldıray Berk, who is a prime suspect in a terrorism case.

The indictment was prepared by Osman Şanal, a former specially authorized prosecutor in Erzurum. After the preparation of the document, Şanal was stripped of his special powers by the Supreme Board of Judges and Prosecutors (HSYK) in a controversial move. The document details a covert military plan already put into operation in Erzincan by the city's chief public prosecutor, İlhan Cihaner, and Gen. Berk.According to the plan, weapons and ammunition were to be planted in the homes of members of certain religious communities and the public would then start believing that these communities had “terrorist intentions.”According to the indictment, the military commanders of Tunceli, Erzurum, Elazığ, Bingöl, Muş, Ardahan, Ağrı, Kars, Erzurum and Erzincan attended Gen. Berk's secret meeting in Erzincan.The commanders of six other provinces were also present at the meeting. The meeting was held ahead of last year's March 29 municipal elections and was called a “seminar.” It was reportedly an occasion during which participants discussed a coup d'état to unseat the Justice and Development Party (AK Party). The meeting's participants also included two chief public prosecutors and several commanders from the General Staff Mobilization Department.The indictment calls for the interrogation of all those who participated in the meeting. The Erzurum 2nd High Criminal Court has yet to decide over whether to hear their testimony. Cihaner was arrested last month on charges of membership in a terrorist organization and falsification of documents. Gen. Berk was summoned to testify twice, but he has yet to comply with the court order.According to Reşat Petek, a former chief public prosecutor, the meeting attendees should be called to testify as suspects or witnesses in the ongoing probe. “Such a move would show that the probe is continuing,” he said. Another retired public prosecutor, Gültekin Avcı, underlined that there were witnesses and that their testimonies pointed to the participation of military commanders in the coup meeting. “An additional indictment should be prepared and accusations leveled against those individuals should be merged with the main indictment,” he said.The indictment lists Gen. Berk as the prime suspect and accuses Cihaner of putting into action a part of the suspected military plot, titled the “Action Plan to Fight Reactionaryism.”Other suspects named in the indictment include Erzincan Provincial Gendarmerie Regiment Commander Col. Ali Tapan, Eskişehir Provincial Gendarmerie Regiment Commander Col. Recep Gençoğlu, Erzincan Provincial Gendarmerie Intelligence Department Director Nedim Ersan, Erzincan Provincial Gendarmerie Intelligence Department Deputy Director Esin Ergut, Yaylabaşı Post Commander NCO Murat Yıldız. NCOs Orhan Esinger and Şenol Bozkurt, National Intelligence Organization (MİT) Erzincan Department Director Şinasi Demir, MİT members Sadri Barkın İnce and Kıvılcım Üstel, 3rd Army Intelligence Department Planning and Training officer Ahmet Saraçlar and Erzincan hunting goods store owner Yaşar Baş. The suspects are accused of membership in an armed terrorist organization.Erzincan chief of police: Cihaner requested hand grenadesDocuments attached to the Erzincan indictment also include the testimony of Erzincan Chief of Police Süleyman Oğuz, who told prosecutors that Cihaner requested hand grenades from him to be used in a plot against İliç prosecutor Bayram Bozkurt.“The other day, Cihaner called me and Col. [Ali] Tapan for a meeting. We met at the provincial gendarmerie command. Cihaner said he listened to two secret informants who testified against [prosecutors] Bozkurt and Şanal. The informants reportedly said the prosecutors had asked him to bring them ammunition. Cihaner said they needed hand grenades to catch the İliç prosecutor red-handed. He asked me to give him a few hand grenades,” one of the documents quotes Oğuz as saying.Oğuz also said he turned Cihaner's request down, saying his office does not have any hand grenades. There were earlier reports that Bozkurt announced his willingness to testify as a witness in the case against Cihaner.Erzincan police detained three in patisserie searchOn Tuesday, Erzincan police detained the owners of the Paradise Patisserie as well as one of its workers after a detailed search of the place. The patisserie made its way into the media after Republican People's Party (CHP) İzmir deputy Ahmet Ersin reportedly held a meeting there with a secret witness in the Erzincan case who goes under the code name of “Munzur” to convince him to retract his testimony against Cihaner.The owners of the place, Abdullah Erdoğan and Erdal Erdoğan, and a worker whose name was not released are currently in custody. Police also seized a large number of documents from the patisserie. 11 March 2010, ThursdayTODAY'S ZAMAN  İSTANBUL