Ä°lker Çınar (c. 1968–1970) is a former intelligence agent of the Turkish Army, and a suspect and witness in the
Ergenekon trials
The Ergenekon trials were a series of high-profile trials which took place on 2008–2016 in Turkey in which 275 people, including military officers, journalists and opposition lawmakers, all alleged members of Ergenekon, a suspected secularist ...
. He was a 'special sergeant' who went undercover with Christian missionaries in Turkey and worked as a priest in Tarsus. He later broke with the Christian missionary world, gaining wide media coverage for his claims that missionaries were supporting separatist movements, and in 2005 published a book, ''Ben Bir Misyonerdim, Şifre Çözüldü'' ("I was a Missionary, The Code is Broken"). Çınar's identity as a military intelligence agent was revealed by ''
Bugün
''Bugün'' ( en, Today) was a Turkish daily newspaper. It was established in 2005. Columnists and journalists working for it have included Cengiz Çandar, Ahmet Almaz, Toktamış Ateş and Kamil Maman.
''Bugün'' was founded in January 2003 as ...
'' in June 2008, which showed he had been paid by the Army since 1992.
Career
Çınar said in 2005 that he had converted to
Christianity
Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...
in 1987. He began his Christian education in 1993, and became head pastor of the International Protestant Church.Hurriyet Daily News, 7 February 2005 Spiritual leader alleges death threats /ref> In 2005 he announced that he had re-converted to Islam, and had received death threats as a result. He gained wide media coverage for his claims that missionaries were supporting separatist movements, and published a 2005 book, ''Ben Bir Misyonerdim, Şifre Çözüldü'' ("I was a Missionary, The Code is Broken").
Çınar's identity as a military intelligence agent was revealed by ''
Bugün
''Bugün'' ( en, Today) was a Turkish daily newspaper. It was established in 2005. Columnists and journalists working for it have included Cengiz Çandar, Ahmet Almaz, Toktamış Ateş and Kamil Maman.
''Bugün'' was founded in January 2003 as ...
'' in June 2008, which showed he had been paid by the Army since 1992.
Today's Zaman
''Today's Zaman'' (Zaman is Turkish for 'time' or 'age') was an English-language daily newspaper based in Turkey. Established on 17 January 2007, it was the English-language edition of the Turkish daily '' Zaman.'' ''Today's Zaman'' included dom ...
, 12 June 2008 Former priest turned Muslim turns out to be military man /ref> Çınar said he at one time worked for the Land Forces Command. It was also reported that he received regular payments from JITEM.
Çınar told prosecutors in the Ergenekon trials that he had worked for the clandestine organization
TUSHAD
TUSHAD ( tr, Türkiye Ulusal Stratejiler ve Harekât Dairesi, TUSHAD; en, National Strategies and Operations Department of Turkey) was a clandestine organization within the Turkish Armed Forces, including within the General Staff of Turkey. Prose ...
believing it an agency of the state, but now believed it to be the armed wing of the Ergenekon organization. Çınar said TUSHAD had elements within it named the "black", "white" and "orange" forces, that he had been part of the white forces, and that his instructor had been Levent Ersöz.
Today's Zaman
''Today's Zaman'' (Zaman is Turkish for 'time' or 'age') was an English-language daily newspaper based in Turkey. Established on 17 January 2007, it was the English-language edition of the Turkish daily '' Zaman.'' ''Today's Zaman'' included dom ...
, 18 October 2012 Zirve massacre suspect: Ergenekon's armed wing still active /ref> A Turkish Protestant said that several years earlier Çınar had shown him a TUSHAD identity card, and that Çınar had protected him from a planned assassination. Çınar said he had been threatened by TUSHAD in 2008, and had seen his name on a death list.
Today's Zaman
''Today's Zaman'' (Zaman is Turkish for 'time' or 'age') was an English-language daily newspaper based in Turkey. Established on 17 January 2007, it was the English-language edition of the Turkish daily '' Zaman.'' ''Today's Zaman'' included dom ...