Ergenekon Subgroup Bribes People for False Testimony in Gülen Case
The Contemporary Education Foundation (ÇEV), whose members were recently detained as part of an ongoing investigation into Ergenekon, a clandestine organization charged with plotting to overthrow the government, had offered bribes to people to urge them to give false testimony in a case against renowned Turkish-Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen, according to a report published in the Bugün daily yesterday.
The daily reported that ÇEV Chairman Gülseven Yaşer offered to give her summer residence to a foundation member if he agreed to stand as a false witness in the Gülen case. Gülen was cleared of all charges against him last June.
In an e-mail she sent to a user identified as "hayricanoz," Yaşer said: "The common view is we should deny the conversations in question and claim that they were fabricated. Otherwise, it will be a disaster. Please, do not avoid such self-sacrifice. If you love the republic and [Mustafa Kemal] Atatürk, let's go and testify. Let's deny what we spoke. If you agree to make such a self-sacrifice, I am ready to give my summer residence to you. Do not call me on the phone; my conversations are wiretapped. Send me an e-mail immediately."
In another e-mail, Yaşer asks "hayricanoz" to find other people who can stand as false witnesses in the Gülen case. "Dear Mesut, we need to find new witnesses in the Gülen case. Our lawyer Hüseyin said the case was proceeding against our interests and that Eyüp and Serhat may side with others at any time. Serhat has a relative called Cihat. I am planning to offer him some money and use him as a false witness in the case," reads the e-mail.
ÇEV blacklisted scholarship applicants
Another document published by the Bugün daily showed that the foundation blacklisted many university students who applied for scholarships. According to the document, students were grouped in accordance with their political and religious views before ÇEV decided to award them scholarships. Their applications were approved provided that they came from leftist backgrounds and did not have family members who wore the headscarf.
A student identified as S.Ç. was denied a scholarship because s/he had in the past attended a religious high school. "S.Ç. needs the scholarship, but seems like a reactionary. Scholarship denied," read a note on the student's application for scholarship. Another student, C.H., was immediately granted a scholarship because s/he is Alevi. N.Ö. was also given a scholarship as ÇEV administrators believed the student was strongly against Shariah rule.
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