Levent Ersöz

Levent Ersöz
Personal details
Born 19 April 1954[1]
Military service
Allegiance Turkey
Service/branch Turkish Army
Years of service 1974-2009
Rank General
Unit Army Aviation

Levent Ersöz (born 19 April 1954) is a former Turkish general in the Turkish Gendarmerie, who was head of the Gendarmerie's JITEM intelligence department.[2] He was considered a key defendant in the Ergenekon trials, and on 5 August 2013 was sentenced to 22 years and six months.[3][4] A trial charging Ersöz with the death of Turkish President Turgut Özal in 1993 began in September 2013.[5]

Prosecutors have accused Ersöz of being behind the 2001 assassination of Diyarbakır Police Chief Gaffar Okkan and a 2006 attack on Faruk Çelik,[6] and of having had a role in the 1993 death of President Turgut Özal.[7] The prosecution has shown a video of Ersöz talking to Bedrettin Dalan in 2004, saying "You are number three. Why don't you go out and talk like you're number one."[8] Police searching Ersöz' home had found nearly 2500 recordings of conversations.[8] A witness to the Ergenekon trials testified that Ersöz had had frequent contact with PKK commander Cemil Bayık.[9]

Prosecutors have charged a hitman with a December 2009 attempt on Ersöz' life, describing it as an attempt to silence Ersöz.[10] Shots were fired into the ceiling during a confrontation between the would-be assassin and gendarmes guarding Ersöz' room.[11]

A suspect in the Ergenekon trials told prosecutors that Ersöz was his instructor in TUSHAD.[12]

References

  1. ↑ Ergenekon indictments
  2. ↑ Today's Zaman, 15 January 2009, Fugitive former general Ersöz escapes police raid
  3. ↑ Today's Zaman, 5 August 2013, Long sentences for Ergenekon suspects, life for ex-army chief
  4. ↑ Hurriyet Daily News, 5 August 2013, 17 sentenced to life in Turkey's Ergenekon coup plot trial, including ex-military chief
  5. ↑ Today's Zaman, 11 September 2013, Trial into suspicious death of late president Özal begins
  6. ↑ Today's Zaman, 22 August 2009, Ergenekon suspect Levent Ersöz behind Okkan, Çelik attacks
  7. ↑ Today's Zaman, 16 April 2013, Court accepts indictment seeking life for Ersöz over Özal's death
  8. 1 2 Today's Zaman, 1 May 2009, Dalan was Ergenekon’s number three, says prosecution
  9. ↑ Today's Zaman, 22 August 2009, Ersöz and PKK's Bayık kept in touch
  10. ↑ Today's Zaman, 3 November 2010, Ergenekon attempted to kill Levent Ersöz to silence him
  11. ↑ Today's Zaman, 14 January 2010, Probe into Ersöz assassination attempt deepens
  12. ↑ Today's Zaman, 18 October 2012, Zirve massacre suspect: Ergenekon's armed wing still active
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