Levent Ersöz | |
---|---|
Born | [1] | April 19, 1954
Allegiance | Turkey |
Service/ | Turkish Army |
Years of service | 1975-2005 |
Rank | Brigadier general |
Unit | Gendarmerie |
Levent Ersöz (born 19 April 1954) is a former Turkey brigadier 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] He was released on 11 March 2014. [5] A trial charging Ersöz with the death of Turkish President Turgut Özal in 1993 began in September 2013. [6] Ersöz was found innocent and received an amnesty in March 2016. [7]
Prosecutors have accused Ersöz of being behind the 2001 assassination of Diyarbakır Police Chief Gaffar Okkan and a 2006 attack on Faruk Çelik, [8] and of having had a role in the 1993 death of President Turgut Özal. [9] 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." [10] Police searching Ersöz' home had found nearly 2500 recordings of conversations. [10]
Prosecutors have charged a hitman with a December 2009 attempt on Ersöz' life, describing it as an attempt to silence Ersöz. [11] Shots were fired into the ceiling during a confrontation between the would-be assassin and gendarmes guarding Ersöz' room. [12]
A suspect in the Ergenekon trials told prosecutors that Ersöz was his instructor in TUSHAD. [13]