ALLIANCE BETWEEN TURKEY’S ULTRANATIONALIST HARDLINERS AND LEFT WING "NATIONALISTS"
Ilnur Cevik
The New Anatolian
March 26 2008
Turkey
Three years ago we had written that some ultranationalist businessmen
were arming extremist nationalists against the Kurds.
At the time we were accused of trying to create sensation by some of
our colleagues in the press.
What is interesting is that as time went by it became apparent that we
were more than accurate. The capture of an ultra right wing gang with
explosives in an Istanbul suburb triggered a massive investigation
which has now mushroomed into the Ergenekon operation.
The aim of the gang was set up to create disturbances by assassinating
leading Kurdish figures in Turkey as well Nobel Laureate Orhan Pamuk
and prominent journalist Fehmi Koru. They were already implicated in
the killing of the supreme court judge and bombing left-wing daily
Cumhuriyet.
Several prominent far right personalities have been taken into
custody and nearly two dozen were charged. But then the situation
took a sudden turn as the prosecutor investigating the case turned
his attention to left-wing "nationalists."
The Workers Party set up by former Marxists and which has a highly
ultranationalist agenda had been targeting Kurds as well as Turkish
liberal personalities who support them through their Ulusal TV and
their weekly Aydinklik magazine.
So Workers Party leader Dogu Perincek as well as the executives of
the TV station and the weekly were taken into custody and then charged.
Also taken into custody was prominent journalist and Cumhuriyet CEO
Ilhan Selcuk. Another prominent figure was controversial Prof. Kemal
Alemdaroglu who was sacked by former President Ahmet Necdet Sezer as
the president of the Istanbul University. Later the two were released
but will stand trial. The judge who released them banned them from
leaving the country.
The arrest of these left-wing personalities triggered angry reactions
from left-wing and some liberal circles. People questioned by left-wing
people would cooperate with far right gangs.
However, the answer seems rather clear.
There are some circles in Turkey who are extremely unhappy with the
Justice and Development Party in power and are cooperating to create
havoc to create the groundwork for the downfall of the government
possibly by some kind of a coup.
So the ultra right wing extremists have joined forces with left-wing
activists in a crusade to block the AK Party.
Even the bombing of Cumhuriyet which did not actually result in any
casualties but created sensation is the work of the gang with the
approval of the left-wing activists.