Tolon Denies Role İn Missionary Murders İn Malatya

Retired Gen. Hurşit Tolon, who was named the prime suspect in an indictment prepared in June in the case of the 2007 Zirve Publishing House murders, attended the 47th hearing of the trial in Malatya on Monday where he described the accusations against him as "slanderous."



The murders involve the brutal killing of three employees of the Christian publishing house. The trial is being heard at the Malatya 3rd High Criminal Court.



Prosecutors are seeking two life sentences without the possibility of parole for Tolon, a former 1st Army Corps commander, who is currently under arrest as part of the case into Ergenekon, a clandestine criminal network that has alleged links within the state and is suspected of plotting to topple the government. There are 19 suspects in the June indictment, the second in the case. The indictment accuses the suspects of inciting murder, establishing a terrorist organization and membership in it as well as working to overthrow the government.



"I never deserved the insults, tyranny and slander I was subjected to. The indictment has turned into a slanderous document with regards to its content," Tolon said in his testimony. He said he came to the court not to defend himself, but to protect his personal rights, claiming that the indictment of the case is based on fabricated documents.



He said he condemns the massacre of the three Christians at the Zirve Publishing House and that he had no information regarding the attack before and after it was carried out, nor any contact with the perpetrators. Tolon claims that he knows none of the suspects mentioned in the indictment or in the courtroom.



The retired general also denied the existence of the National Strategies and Operations Department of Turkey (TUSHAD), a clandestine organization within the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK).



According to the indictment, TUSHAD was established in 1993 by Tolon, on instructions from the illegal Ergenekon organization, while Tolon was serving as secretary-general of the General Staff.



"There is no institution like TUSHAD mentioned in the indictment and it has never been in existence," Tolon told the court.



Tolon's name is also connected with JİTEM, a counterterrorism unit founded illegally within the gendarmerie, also believed to be responsible for hundreds of thousands of unsolved murders and disappearances in predominantly Kurdish areas of the country in the 1990s. According to the indictment, TUSHAD worked in coordination with JİTEM. The prosecution claims Tolon established a number of units within TUSHAD, including one working against missionary activities.



The indictment includes records of phone calls between Tolon and Fatih Hilmioğlu, the former president of İnönü University in Malatya. There seems to be a sudden increase in the number of calls between the two men ahead of the Zirve massacre. The indictment also notes that Tolon visited Malatya twice prior to the murders -- one visit occurring the day before the killings -- although he initially denied visiting Malatya in his testimony.



(Cihan/Today's Zaman)