FETÖ arrests spark hope for inquiry into mysterious deaths
by Erkam Çoban
ISTANBULMar 11, 2017 - 12:00 am GMT+3
by Erkam Çoban
Mar 11, 2017 12:00 am
A string of deaths mostly ruled as suicides among employees of a top defense contractor might be investigated again due to the suspected role of a terror cult. The detention of 46 suspects in an investigation into infiltrators of the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ) in ASELSAN renewed hopes for families of engineers who mysteriously died, while working for the company. It is unclear whether the detentions are related to an ongoing inquiry into FETÖ's role in the deaths or their cover-up.
Vehbi Başbilen, the father of Hüseyin Başbilen, who was the first engineer of ASELSAN that mysteriously died in 2006, said he never "lost hope that the traitors who killed my son would be found." He believes FETÖ, which is accused of imprisoning its critics or anyone it deemed an obstacle to its infiltration of any sector, is behind his son's death. Başbilen was a 10-year employee of ASELSAN and was working on a project to develop the country's first nationally made tank. His father said his son was to give a presentation on the tank the day he was found dead in his car with cuts on his neck and wrists. "They forged a suicide letter and closed the case, saying it was a suicide," the father said, in reference to the prosecutors and police who handled the case. "The prosecutors in the case were always reassigned, and there was a faulty autopsy report. There wasn't any blood in the car when my son was found dead though they told us that he cut his wrists. They also forged a report claiming my son was receiving psychological treatment, while in fact he has never been to a hospital. It was all fabricated," Başbilen said in reference to evidence in the case pointing to suicide. Several prosecutors tackling cases related to the deaths were already implicated for their links to FETÖ.
Seven months after the death of Başbilen, Halim Ünsem Ünal, 29, another ASELSAN employee, was found dead with a bullet in his head in Ankara's Gölbaşı district. One week later, Evrim Yançeken, an electrical engineer at the company, fell from the balcony of his apartment on the sixth floor and died. In 2008, Zafer Oluk, a former employee of the defense contractor, who was working on secret projects according to media reports, died of electrocution during his compulsory service in the Turkish military. One year later, Burhaneddin Volkan was found dead with a bullet in his head in a commander's room, while he was serving in the army. All the deaths were either ruled a suicide or as, in the case of Oluk, an accident. Opposition lawmakers have called on the government to carry out an investigation into all the deaths related to ASELSAN, while the families of some of the victims claimed their sons were murdered. Erdem Uğur was the latest ASELSAN engineer to die in 2015. He died of gas poisoning in his home in Ankara, but prosecutors closed the case saying he committed suicide. The prosecutors said although the case was treated as a suspicious death in light of the previous deaths of the engineers and staff at the defense contractor, there was no evidence pointing to murder.
Başbilen said he always believed "deep powers" that opposed Turkey developing its own defense sector were behind the deaths. "I understand now that it was FETÖ behind the murders," he said. FETÖ, run by U.S-based Fetullah Gülen, is accused in a series of cases of wielding influence in the Turkish military, law enforcement, judiciary and bureaucracy through its infiltrators. The terrorist group is already implicated in sham trials to imprison its critics through forged evidence.
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