GUN CEREMONY DEEPENS FEARS OF GROWING NATIONALISM

Today’s Zaman, Turkey
Feb 12 2007

Prosecutors have launched an investigation into a controversial oath
taking ceremony by an ultranationalist group after recent footage
was broadcast showing its members swearing over a gun to protect the
"homeland."

The head of the group has played down possible court action, vowing
to go ahead with similar oath ceremonies across Turkey.

The footage, broadcasted on a satellite channel, shows members of
the Kuvayý Milliye Association (National Forces) taking an oath by
putting their hands over two pistols and holy Koran in a ceremony
held at a public building generally used for wedding ceremonies in
the Mediterranean province of Mersin. Chairman of the group, retired
colonel Fikri Karadað, quotes from a speech made by the founder of
modern-day Turkey Kemal Ataturk and says, "Dear friends; you may get
killed, you may kill in this endeavor."

Prosecutors in neighboring Antalya have launched an investigation into
the group after the footage was broadcasted.A similar ceremony took
place in the Kemer district of Antalya late last year, but prosecutors
then did not take any action.

The footage comes amid fears of rising nationalism, something experts
say had a role to play in the murder of Turkish-Armenian journalist
Hrant Dink by a 17-year-old assailant. The assailant reportedly
told the police he had killed Dink because he had "insulted Turkish
blood." The Kuvayý Milliye members say they are pure Turks "born
from a Turkish father and a Turkish mother and have no converts among
their ancestors."

"I am aware of the historic responsibility I take on my shoulders. I
swear on my honor and dignity that I shall work determinedly for the
peace, wellbeing and eternal existence of my nation and my state in
order to make the Turkish nation the master of the world… and to
willingly sacrifice my life when necessary for the homeland, the
Republic and the flag."

In a statement published in a local newspaper in Mersin, Kuvayý Milliye
Association provincial representative Kemal Canay said Karadað had
identified some 13,500 "traitors" across Turkey and vowed to make
them account for their actions.

Canay also quoted Karadað as saying that "Mersin has been invaded
by Zionists and the outlawed PKK." Karadað also said 90 percent of
criminals in Mersin come from southeastern Anatolia because "Turkish
children don’t commit crimes." Responding to accusations in the media
at a press conference on Saturday, Karadað said these 13,500 people
were "important people" and that he would not announce their names
before confirming certain information.

Karadað also said the guns used in the ceremony were air guns. He said
the oath taking ceremonies would continue across Turkey. "I don’t
understand why this bothers you," he told reporters at the press
conference. "One day we will see tens of, hundreds of thousands of
people take this oath."

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