TURKEY CAN FACE COUP D’ETAT BEFORE NOVEMBER, U.S. ANALYST SAYS
PanARMENIAN.Net
09.09.2008 13:56 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Turkey is speculating about U.S. ties with Ergenekon,
said Zeyno Baran, Senior Fellow at Hudson Institute.
"The U.S. is concerned whether Turkey will further liberal
democracy or will take up a regime like that in Iran or Russia,"
she said. "Anti-liberal and anti-democratic attitude of mind prevails
not only among the public but also among the political elite of the
country. The Ergenekon case is a manifestation of this undesirable
tendency."
The likelihood for a coup in Turkey before the presidential election
in the U.S. is 50-50, according to her, Sabah Turkish daily reports.
Ergenekon is a clandestine ultra-nationalist organization in Turkey
with ties to the country’s military and security apparatus.
It has been plotting to foment unrest in Turkey, inter alia
by assassinating intellectuals, politicians, judges, military
staff, religious leaders, and other public figures including Nobel
Prize-winning novelist Orhan Pamuk, with the ultimate goal of toppling
the present government. The coup was planned to take place in 2009.
86 people, including important personalities from the army, business
and the secular press, have been charged with conspiracy as of 14
July 2008. Those arrested have included nationalist lawyer Kemal
Kerincsiz; the leader of the neo-nationalist Workers’ Party Dogu
Perincek; retired brigadier general Veli Kucuk, retired full general
Hursit Tolon, and retired full general Sener Eruygur. Ilhan Selcuk,
a staunchly secular columnist at Cumhuriyet’s daily, has also been
indicted on charges of being the civilian leader of Ergenekon.
More than 40 are under arrest, and suspects will start appearing
before the court on October 20, 2008.