İlker Çınar

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İlker Çınar (c. 1968 [1] –1970 [2] ) is a former intelligence agent of the Turkish Army, and a suspect and witness in the Ergenekon trials. He was a 'special sergeant' who went undercover with Christian missionaries in Turkey and worked as a priest in Tarsus. He later broke with the Christian missionary world, gaining wide media coverage for his claims that missionaries were supporting separatist movements, and in 2005 published a book, Ben Bir Misyonerdim, Şifre Çözüldü ("I was a Missionary, The Code is Broken"). Çınar's identity as a military intelligence agent was revealed by Bugün in June 2008, which showed he had been paid by the Army since 1992. [3]

The Ergenekon trials were a series of high-profile trials which took place in Turkey in which 275 people, including military officers, journalists and opposition lawmakers, all alleged members of Ergenekon, a suspected secularist clandestine organization, were accused of plotting against the Turkish government. The trials resulted in lengthy prison sentences for the majority of the accused. In the event, those sentences were overturned shortly after.

Tarsus, Mersin Place in Mersin, Turkey

Tarsus is a historic city in south-central Turkey, 20 km inland from the Mediterranean. It is part of the Adana-Mersin metropolitan area, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in Turkey with a population of 3 million people. Tarsus forms an administrative district in the eastern part of the Mersin Province and lies in the core of Çukurova region.

Bugün was a Turkish daily newspaper. It was established in 2005. Columnists have included Cengiz Çandar, Ahmet Almaz and Toktamış Ateş.

Career

Çınar said in 2005 that he had converted to Christianity in 1987. He began his Christian education in 1993, and became head pastor of the International Protestant Church. [1] In 2005 he announced that he had re-converted to Islam, and had received death threats as a result. [1] He gained wide media coverage for his claims that missionaries were supporting separatist movements, and published a 2005 book, Ben Bir Misyonerdim, Şifre Çözüldü ("I was a Missionary, The Code is Broken").

Çınar's identity as a military intelligence agent was revealed by Bugün in June 2008, which showed he had been paid by the Army since 1992. [3] Çınar said he at one time worked for the Land Forces Command. [4] It was also reported that he received regular payments from JITEM. [5]

Çınar told prosecutors in the Ergenekon trials that he had worked for the clandestine organization TUSHAD believing it an agency of the state, but now believed it to be the armed wing of the Ergenekon organization. [6] Çınar said TUSHAD had elements within it named the "black", "white" and "orange" forces, [7] that he had been part of the white forces, and that his instructor had been Levent Ersöz. [8] A Turkish Protestant said that several years earlier Çınar had shown him a TUSHAD identity card, and that Çınar had protected him from a planned assassination. [9] Çınar said he had been threatened by TUSHAD in 2008, and had seen his name on a death list. [10]

TUSHAD was a clandestine organization within the Turkish Armed Forces, including within the General Staff of Turkey. Prosecutors in the Ergenekon trials allege that it was set up in 1993 on instructions from Ergenekon, by then secretary-general of the General Staff Hurşit Tolon. Tolon has denied that TUSHAD ever existed.

Levent Ersöz is a former Turkish general in the Turkish Gendarmerie, who was head of the Gendarmerie's JITEM intelligence department. He was considered a key defendant in the Ergenekon trials, and on 5 August 2013 was sentenced to 22 years and six months. A trial charging Ersöz with the death of Turkish President Turgut Özal in 1993 began in September 2013.

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References

  1. 1 2 3 Hurriyet Daily News, 7 February 2005, Spiritual leader alleges death threats
  2. ↑ Hurriyet Daily News, 14 June 2008, Anti-missionary activist says life in danger
  3. 1 2 Today's Zaman, 12 June 2008, Former priest turned Muslim turns out to be military man
  4. ↑ Today's Zaman, 13 June 2008, Controversial ex-priest claims to be social engineer
  5. ↑ Today's Zaman, 26 March 2011, Secret witness: Zirve recording aimed to protect murderers
  6. ↑ Today's Zaman, 13 May 2013, TUSHAD behind Zirve killings, says Zirve suspect
  7. ↑ Today's Zaman, 22 May 2013, General Staff gives conflicting answers about TUSHAD's existence
  8. ↑ Today's Zaman, 18 October 2012, Zirve massacre suspect: Ergenekon's armed wing still active
  9. ↑ Today's Zaman, 6 July 2012, More info revealed on illegal unit related to Zirve murders
  10. ↑ Today's Zaman, 20 May 2013, Zirve secret witness claims gang attempted to kill him
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