‘ERGENEKON’ AN OPPORTUNITY FOR PEACE BETWEEN STATE AND PEOPLE
Mustafa Acar*

Today’s Zaman, Turkey
Jule 4, 2008

Everyone has a stance based on their ideological tendencies and
political perspectives. These discussions are pretty important in
the process by which Turkey is evolving toward democratic, civilian
and pluralist rule.

Because the Ergenekon indictment — based on a case that has led to
the detainment of 23 people, including three former army commanders,
a journalist and the leader of a business group, as part of an
investigation into a powerful and illegal organization suspected of
plotting to overthrow the Justice and Development Party (AK Party)
government — has not been publicized at the time of this article’s
writing, it is possible to make the following assessment without
making improper statements regarding certain people, based on the
disclosed information and documents.

Ergenekon is a clandestine organization that has affiliations within
the state, the military and civilian bureaucracy, the armed forces,
judiciary, media and universities. It became evident that this
organization, which relied on illegal means including the creation of
a terror network, sponsorship of murders and attempted military coups,
has played important roles in a number of unresolved incidents that
sparked public reaction and protest. Elimination of this organization,
which may be described as the Turkish branch of Gladio — designed
as a semi-military organization in the NATO member countries during
the Cold War era by the US to take action whenever a communist
threat became imminent in those countries — is an issue vital to
Turkey’s survival. Turkey should get rid of this clandestine entity
for lasting peace, conciliation between the state and the people and
its worldwide image.

There are three vital reasons that make getting rid of the Ergenekon
gang important:

First, Turkey has to deal with Ergenekon effectively if it seeks to
get rid of the dire impacts of the Progress and Union Party (Ä°VT),
which remained effective in the country for more than a century. The
harm inflicted by the Ä°VT, which revolted against Abdulhamid II with
the promise of bringing liberties but resorted to repressive policies
after it took the office, is simply indescribable. The country
had to deal with enormous problems during the Ä°VT’s term between
1908 and 1918; every attempt by the Ä°VT during this period brought
nothing but disaster and destruction. The Balkan Wars, World War I,
the SarıkamıÅ~_ failure, the Armenian incidents, loss of the Balkans,
northern Africa and the Hijaz, the invasion of Anatolia and the path to
the Sevres Treaty are all products of the Ä°VT rule. The harm inflicted
by the Ä°VT on this country is not limited to the acceleration of
the Ottoman state’s collapse and the incorrect policies that caused
the subsequent tragic events, which still impacts current politics.

Maybe the Ottoman state would have collapsed anyway, just like the big
empires of the time, including the German, Austro-Hungarian and Russian
empires, collapsed at the end of World War I. The actual harm done by
the Ä°VT was in the mindset of the party; the Ä°VT mindset, based on
excessive nationalism — some may even call it racism — centralist
ideas, repression, alienation from the people and protection against
external actors left indelible imprints in Turkey’s last century. Ever
since then, the ongoing disagreement between the state and the public,
the clashes between the elected and the appointed, the perception that
freedoms will lead to turmoil and the perception that the recognition
of diverse identities will partition the country have all, to a great
extent, carried the marks of the Ä°VT. Removing the greatest barriers
before Turkey is directly dependent on getting rid of the Ä°VT mindset
and its imprints in the bureaucratic mechanisms.

Second, Turkey should effectively deal with the Ergenekon organization
if it seeks to become a country that is able to generate its own
policies based on its national interests. It is no secret that Turkey
has, since the end of World War II, remained a country that pursues a
foreign policy strongly attached to the actions of the US and Western
orientations and which has been strongly condemned and warned when
it sought to abandon its NATO alignment and orientation. Viewing the
military coups in Turkey as a reflection of domestic power deals
and struggles is actually a failure to see half the picture. It
is true that the coups were staged to consolidate the place of the
military within the political system, to preserve the privileges of
the white Turks and to keep the periphery away from the benefits of
government office. However, the coups also include some external
dimensions. Currently we are aware, from the proper analyses made
and the publicized documents, that every coup promoted and staged in
Turkey is somehow related to the Gladio-counter-guerilla-Ergenekon
organization and the attempt to preserve Turkey in Western
orientation. To this end, it is essential to follow the path of
Italy, Spain, Belgium and other NATO members following the end of
Cold War and eliminate the Ergenekon gang. Unfortunately this gang,
which extensively relied on a nationalist discourse, had done nothing
but implemented plans devised by NATO actors.

Third, Turkey needs to get rid of the Ergenekon gang if it seeks
to become a stable, pluralist and democratic country that has good
relations with its own people and the world and is able to sustain a
high growth rate. In the current world democracy, civilianization,
pluralism, human rights and rule of law are the most popular
notions. The Ergenekon gang does not favor these noble notions. Quite
to the contrary, it is focused on prohibitions, restrictions,
taboos, impositions and all other negative connotations. The point
to which this mindset will take Turkey is a place of a Third World
country suffering from constant turmoil, domestic problems and
instability. However, the new winds of globalization make calls
that imply Turkey should put emphasis on its European Union bid,
social transformation and ending the clash between the state and the
people. Those who seek to reverse this process are destined to lose and
become anachronistic. Eliminating the Ergenekon gang will contribute
to Turkey’s march toward wealth and welfare. We owe appreciation and
thanks to the prosecutors who initiated the investigation process
and the political actors that stood firmly behind the prosecutorial
actions. Further action should be taken decisively for effective
combat against this illegal entity, with the prayers and support of
the people in mind.

–Boundary_(ID_N4+YPYLyjQhIBwXCXj7ggg)–