Turkish police took into custody a retired lecturer in the ongoing Ergenekon investigation on Monday.

Turkish police searched the house of Professor Dr. Erol Manisali, a retired lecturer of the Faculty of Economics of the Istanbul University, in Besiktas neighborhood of Istanbul, and then detained the professor.

Police seized documents in Manisali's house, and took the professor to the Istanbul Police Department.

The alleged criminal network that came to be known as "Ergenekon" was revealed after police seized 27 grenades, TNT explosives and fuses in a shanty house in Istanbul on June 12, 2007 and Istanbul Chief Prosecutor's Office launched an investigation into weapons. Police waged operations in several provinces and detained a number of people, including retired senior army officers, journalists and businessmen, for their alleged involvement in the network.

Eighty-six people already are on trial in the probe for allegedly being part of the Ergenekon while trial of 56 others will begin in June. They are accused of planning assassinations and bombings to sow chaos and overthrow the government.

Earlier on Monday, police took into custody tens of people including Professor Mehmet Haberal, rector of the Baskent University in Ankara; Professor Fatih Hilmioglu, former rector of the Inonu University in Malatya; Professor Ferit Bernay, former rector of the Ondokuz Mayiz University in the northern province of Samsun; Professor Ayse Yuksek, member of the Executive Board of the Organization for Support for Contemporary Life (CYDD).


AA