Weapons found in the Ergenekon investigation
A number of Weapons found in the Ergenekon investigation form a key part of the Ergenekon trials, prosecuting the Ergenekon organization. The Ergenekon investigation officially began after an anonymous tip led to the finding of 27 grenades in Ümraniye, a district of Istanbul. The serial numbers of these grenades matched those of grenades found in other locations and some used in terrorist attacks.
Overview
Debate about weapons evidence in the Ergenekon investigation has focused in particular on the grenades, which can be uniquely identified by the fuse type and batch number. According to police officials, "HGR DM 41" indicates German origin, SPLITTER denotes a fragmentation grenade, "COMP-B" means composition B, "LOS" indicates European production up to NATO standards, while the number following "FMP" indicates the batch. The NATO standard, Makine ve Kimya Endüstrisi Kurumu grenades have serial numbers like TAPA M 204 A 2/KF-MKE-91 12–77. The part before the slash denotes the fuse type, while the part after it denotes the batch number. For example, the batch number of the first entry means 'batch 91, December 1977'. The army bought 8800 such grenades from the MKE in 1978.| Date | Description | Serial numbers |
| 4 December 1998 | Two hand grenades were found in a house in Manisa province, Akhisar district. | One had the serial number HGR DM 41 SPLITTER COMP-B LOS FMP 24. |
| 26 February 1999 | In İzmir province Urla district 10 hand grenades were found. | One of the ten grenades had the serial number HGR DM 41 SPLITTER COMP-B LOS FMP 16. |
| 25 March 1999 | In connection with an operation against the militant Islamic organization Hezbollah in Şırnak 41 people were arrested and of six hand grenades one was linked to the Ergenekon investigation. | |
| 26 May 1999 | A hand grenade was thrown into the office of Nucu Portase in Trabzon Province Of district. | |
| 30 December 2000 | In İzmir province, Karşıyaka district a defence hand grenade was found. | |
| 29 July 2001 | In Antalya Province Alanya district three hand grenades were found in a hotel. | |
| 11 August 2001 | In the centre of Hatay, İzmir a hand grenade was thrown at the car of Hayrettin Yavuz. | |
| 29 July 2002 | A hand grenade was found in a dustbin in Kütahya. | |
| 27 February 2003 | A hand grenade was found near the Eyüp Lyceum in İstanbul province Eyüp district. | HGR DM 41 COMP-B LOS FMR-24. |
| 18 May 2003 | In the garden of Kerem Adıgüzel in Amasya Province Merzifon district a hand grenade of MKE exploded. | |
| 25 November 2003 | Hand grenades were found in the fields in Ağrı Province Patnos district that had not exploded although the pins had been pulled. | |
| 9 May 2005 | Two hand grenades were found on Serkan Şahin and Abdurrahman Dağ in Kırıkkale Province Keskin district. | |
| 5–11 May 2006 | A hand grenade thrown at the newspaper Cumhuriyet in İstanbul Şişli. | * TAPA M 204 A 2/KF-MKE-91 12–77
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| 9 November 2005 | Şemdinli incident | Two grenades with serial number HGR DM 41 SPLITTER COMP-B LOS FMP 134. |
| 2 October 2006 | In Konak, Izmir one of two hand grenades thrown into a coffee shop in Alsancak, killing İbrahim Çiftçi and injuring two persons reportedly relates to the Ergenekon investigation. | |
| In İstanbul Tuzla district a hand grenade of MKE brand was found. | ||
| 11 December 2006 | In the hotel "Iğdır Doğu" one MKE brand hand grenade was found. | |
| 12 June 2007 | Ümraniye | |
| 26 June 2007 | Fikret Emek | TAPA M204 A2/KF-MKE-91 12–77, matching the ones from the Cumhuriyet attack. |
| Trabzon | ||
| 2009 | Çatalarmut, Erzincan |
Grenades in Ümraniye (2007)
The investigation officially began after the Trabzon Gendarmerie Headquarters' tip-off line received an anonymous call on 12 June 2007 saying that grenades and C-4 explosives were to be found at Güngör Sokak № 2, Çakmak Mahallesi, Ümraniye. A search warrant was immediately obtained from the Ümraniye 2. Peace Penal Court. 27 hand grenades were found in a nylon-covered wooden chest on the roof of a slum at the stated address.The serial numbers of some of the 27 grenades found in Ümraniye are:
- HGR DM 41 SPLITTER COMP-B LOS FMP 16
- HGR DM 41 SPLITTER COMP-B LOS FMP 24
- HGR DM 41 SPLITTER COMP-B LOS FMP 22
- TAPA M 204 A2/KF-MKE-169 5–85
The grenades were found to bear the same serial number as those used in 14 incidents throughout the country. They were disposed of two weeks after their discovery on account of their not being preservable.
A search of Yıldırım's office in Reina and Muzaffer Tekin's house revealed a secret document titled "Ergenekon Lobi" about the group's plans. The information in the documents led the authorities to revisit the [|Tuncay Güney] case.
Indictments
According to the indictment, the caller was Şevki Yiğit, the father of the building's tenant, Ali Yiğit. Şevki found the bomb-filled chest by accident and asked his son about them. Ali then asked the owner of the house, his uncle Mehmet Demirtaş about it. According to Yiğit, Demirtaş responded that there was a chest with military equipment on the roof belonging to Special Warfare Department NCO Oktay Yıldırım, and instructed him to keep quiet about it. Ali Yiğit added that retired captain Muzaffer Tekin and retired NCO Mahmut Öztürk, both of them special forces, once stopped by his grocery store in a black Mercedes while Yıldırım was present, that Yıldırım left only to return with Öztürk 15–20 minutes later in a yellow Opel Corsa, and that his father found the bombs 3–4 months later. Yiğit said that his father, who lives in Trabzon, might have placed the call since he was not on good terms with Demirtaş.Yıldırım later denied the charges, though his fingerprints were found on the chest. During his trial, he referred to Demirtaş as a former subordinate soldier of his, and said that the four reports about his fingerprints contradicted one another. Yıldırım also alleged that Ali Yiğit failed to distinguish Tekin from Öztürk when brought to Bayrampaşa Prison. Cross-examining Yiğit, Yıldırım asked him if Demirtaş was present when the police searched for the grenades. Yiğit said "no", contradicting his earlier statement that Demirtaş had arrived after a phone call by the police.
At the thirteenth hearing, Ali Yiğit said that he mistook someone for Muzaffer Tekin, with whom he shared a cell in Bayrampaşa prison and bonded well enough to look up to as a father figure. He also stated that he had moved out of the building twenty days before they were found. After learning about the grenades, he left his job at the grocery, and became a taxi driver. He was allegedly driving by the house when the police came, and told them that the place was his so that they would not break down the door. However, his uncle Demirtaş did not trust Yiğit and left the keys to Yiğit's brother. They fetched the keys, searched the house, had Yiğit confirm that the grenades had been found and that the house had not been harmed, then took him to the station to obtain his statement, described above. After being detained, Yiğit says he was intimidated by Demirtaş, Kerinçsiz, Yıldırım, and his lawyer. Yıldırım allegedly pressured Yiğit to incriminate his father by calling him a weapons smuggler.
Demirtaş strongly denied having made the explanation about the origin of the chest, as alleged by Yiğit. Demirtaş alleged that Yiğit confided to him that he had only seen pictures of Tekin at the police station. According to Radikal, the police threatened him with 39 years in jail if he did not blame Oktay Yıldırım.
Others
Fikret Emek (2007)
On 26 June 2007 various material was recovered from the home of the mother of Fikret Emek. The recovered materiel included 11 kg of C-3, a telescopic rifle, a Kalashnikov, a shotgun, M-16 shells, 12 grenades, smoke bombs, 12 210g TNT setups, 6 500g TNT moulds, a 1.5 kg TNT mould, a 1 kg demolition block, ignition munitions. This is sufficient to flatten a twelve-floor reinforced concrete structure, with each floor over 400 m2. The grenades have serial number TAPA M204 A2/KF-MKE-91 12–77, matching the ones from the Cumhuriyet attack.Trabzon (2008)
With the help of a tip-off on 3 December 2008, the Trabzon police on 13 December 2008 found nine grenades of the same batch number as those in Ümraniye. In nearby Yomra, the police seized a gun and eight 7.65 mm bullets for it, a Kalashnikov rifle and three chargers, a total of 420 7.62 mm Kalashnikov bullets and a grenade. In the city, eight grenades were found; seven hidden inside a washing machine, and another in an oven. Trabzon governor Nuri Okutan said that none of the suspects were public officials or members of the military. The serial numbers of the Trabzon grenades are:- HGR DM 41 SPLITTER COMP-B LOS FMP 143
- HGR DM 41 SPLITTER COMP-B LOS FMP 197
- HGR DM 41 SPLITTER COMP-B LOS FMP 125
Dönmez and Şahin (2009)
Searches at the homes of Mustafa Dönmez and İbrahim Şahin on 7 January 2009 found a variety of materiel.22 grenades, over 100 bullets, 1 Kalashnikov, and 4 pistols were found in Dönmez's vacation house in Sakarya.
Three drawings and 9 unlicensed Glock pistols were found in the home of special forces police chief İbrahim Şahin. The drawings led to a location in Ankara's Gölbaşı district where excavation revealed 8000 bullets, 2 light-weight anti-tank weapons, 1 kg of plastic explosives, 10 hand grenades whose serial numbers had been removed and 10 smoke bombs. The recovered weapons were determined to be buried in July 2008. They are reported to be different from the ones that were entrusted to Şahin's department and went missing after Susurluk scandal.