ISTANBUL, Oct 1 (Reuters) - Turkish prosecutors are investigating claims that a plane crash which killed a military commander in 1993 may have been the result of sabotage, Turkish media reported.
Newspapers have widely reported voice recordings in which a former colonel allegedly says he played a role in the death of General Esref Bitlis, who was head of Turkey&${esc.hash}39;s paramilitary police force when he died in the crash.
The retired colonel, Arif Dogan, arrived at an Istanbul court house on Friday for a second day of questioning by prosecutors, state-run Anatolian news agency said.
Separately, prosecutors in Ankara also launched an investigation into the death of Bitlis, whose plane crashed due to engine failure shortly after takeoff in Ankara. The crash has long been regarded as suspicious and media reports say his death occurred at a time when he was investigating alleged links between the military and rebel groups in northern Iraq.
Dogan has said that the voice on the recordings was his, but that they must have been compiled from different sources, denying that he played a role in Bitlis&${esc.hash}39; death.
Dogan was also giving testimony on his role in the activities of a military intelligence unit in the 1980s.
The unit is suspected of involvement in many extrajudicial killings during that period.
Dogan is awaiting trial as part of an investigation into an alleged plot by the shadowy Ergenekon group to overthrow the government and told newspapers he wanted to testify to prosecutors before he dies, citing various medical conditions.
"I plead to the judges: take my statement before I die," CNN Turk reported him as saying. (Writing by Daren Butler; editing by Philippa Fletcher)
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