MILITARY’S EVIL PLOT AGAINST AK PARTY, GULEN MOVEMENT EXPOSED
Today’s Zaman
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June 12 2009
Turkey
Documents recently discovered as part of the ongoing Ergenekon
investigation have revealed plans to defame the ruling Justice and
Development Party (AK Party) over claims of reactionaryism, weaken
the Gulen movement and support with individuals arrested on charges
of gang membership.
The Taraf daily published documents on Friday seized in the office of
Serdar Ozturk, the lawyer of a retired colonel arrested earlier this
year on charges of membership in Ergenekon, a clandestine criminal
organization charged with plotting to overthrow the government. The
documents, prepared in April of this year, include a detailed plan
drawn up by Col. Dursun Cicek and submitted to a department of the
General Staff.
The documents revealed that the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) had a
systematic plan to damage the image of the AK Party government and
the Gulen movement — inspired by internationally respected Turkish
scholar Fethullah Gulen — in the eyes of the public, to play down
the Ergenekon investigation and to gather support for members of the
military arrested as part of the inquest.
Documents allegedly prepared by a colonel on active duty have revealed
that the TSK had a systematic plan to damage the image of the AK
Party government and the Gulen movement in the eyes of the public
To date, dozens of people have been arrested in the Ergenekon
investigation, launched after the existence of a gang bearing the
same name was discovered in June 2007, when police found a house
full of munitions in Ä°stanbul. The neo-nationalist Ergenekon gang,
suspected of having ties to various individuals and groups within state
bureaucracy and the military, worked to create a chaotic atmosphere
in Turkey so people would welcome a military coup against the ruling
AK Party.
The multi-step plan calls on TSK members to be watchful about reports
appearing in the press regarding links between the military and other
groups and organizations.
"The TSK is seen as the only obstacle before the destruction of
Ataturk’s principles and the establishment of a new system based on
religious tenets. They are publishing documents that aim to weaken the
TSK in their own press organs. They are depicting the rallies, which
have captured huge public interest, as though they were organized
by Ergenekon. They are claiming that the TSK has close cooperation
with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party [PKK] and other terrorist
organizations under the umbrella of Ergenekon. They are preparing news
stories saying high-level members of the military are of Jewish and
Armenian origin. They are releasing voice recordings that allegedly
belong to TSK personnel," the document warns TSK members.
Criticism against TV series also part of conspiracy Taraf’s report
also cites documents that the popular television series Tek Turkiye
(One Turkey) and Kollama (Patronage), run by STV, a television station
affiliated with the Gulen community, were also a target of the action
plan against religious fundamentalism.
A news story criticizing these two series in the Hurriyet daily
earlier had been criticized for distorting facts. According to this
story, the Police Department had provided real guns and rifles for
use in Tek Turkiye, and also allowed special operations officers to
act as extras in these series. Later, it became apparent that this
information was not true. The producers rented a real Kalashnikov
rifle from the police department, but that was done completely in
accordance with procedure and was not a special treatment of STV.
Newspapers in the Dogan group have also published criticism of STV’s
Kollama series, with writers commenting that the series gave dangerous
messages to society.
Several recordings allegedly of conversations of TSK members and
their family members have been revealed in which they discuss their
plans against the ruling party and the government.
The documents go on to detail a plan to defame the AK Party government
and fight the alleged threat of reactionaryism in society. In
accordance with this plan, press organs are to disseminate propaganda
against reactionaryism and fundamentalism; TSK staff and their families
are to be informed about this threat; and the military is to step up
measures to prevent their documents from leaking to external groups.
Plan to cast shadow on Ergenekon probe The documents also mention plans
to discredit the Ergenekon investigation and reduce its credibility
in the eyes of the public.
The TSK is to engage in an intense period of propaganda and stress
that the military is not against people’s religious sensitivities,
according to the documents. It is to make press organs prepare
reports on the immoral relations of TSK members who are suspected of
reactionaryism. In this way, the public will question the credibility
of religious individuals.
The TSK is also to urge newspapers to publish stories against the
Ergenekon investigation and claim that TSK personnel are being arrested
because of their fight against the threat of reactionaryism.
The documents also suggest that TSK members who are detained or put in
jail should make statements in accordance with an outline determined
by the military and emphasize that they are innocent and that they
have been put behind bars due to their fight against powers that wish
to change the regime in the country.
TSK documents target Gulen movement Another section of the documents
is dedicated to the fight against the Gulen movement.
The TSK wishes to create a harsh public reaction against the movement,
the documents reveal. According to the documents, the military plans
to depict the Gulen movement as being engaged in acts against the
unity and regime of the country.
"Claims that followers of Gulen are attacking the TSK will be focused
on so that people will say, ‘We are also Muslims, but these men are
disseminating intense propaganda to wear down the military," read
the documents.
The TSK plans against the movement are, however, not restricted to
smear campaigns. They aim to show followers of the Gulen movement as
being engaged in illegal acts.
"We will enable the discovery of weapons, ammunition and documents
at the addresses of Gulen’s followers as if they were members of a
terrorist organization. The movement will be named ‘Fethullah’s Armed
Terrorist Organization’ (FSTO) and investigations into its members will
be carried out by military prosecutors. We will focus on the concept
of moderate Islam and emphasize that the Gulen movement aims to cause
Islam to deviate from its original form," continue the documents.
The documents also aim to urge press organs to claim that there is
cooperation between the Gulen movement and the terrorist PKK as the
latter does not target in its terrorist acts the schools established
by the former in the eastern and southeastern parts of Turkey and in
northern Iraq.
Police raids against the residences of Gulen’s followers are also to
reveal documents to foment enmity against Alevi and Alevism in the
country, according to the documents.
As part of the plans, individuals are to be urged to appear in live
TV programs and make statements on various issues, adding they are
followers of the Gulen movement. "They will challenge everyone and
accuse everyone who does not agree with them of being an Ergenekon
member," read the documents.
The documents have drawn the anger of intellectuals, who have
criticized the military for plotting against the country’s citizens.
"A wing of Ergenekon infiltrates the military. But they don’t work to
expose it. The military’s weapons are discovered at the addresses
of Ergenekon members. They don’t work to find who’s behind it,
either. They are working to declare the government as a body engaged in
religious fundamentalism and labeling followers of the Gulen movement
as members of a terrorist organization. If Gulen’s followers are
guilty, then the state will find their documents and put them on
trial. No official body, including the state, judiciary, police or
military, can enable the discovery of weapons at the addresses of
these individuals. This is crime. And the state and the military does
not have the freedom to commit crimes," stated Taraf’s Ahmet Altan.
The TSK documents also revealed that the General Staff was
in cooperation with fundamentalist groups to defame the Gulen
movement. "Our men, like Ä°skender Evrenesoglu and Omer Ongut, will
appear in TV programs and associate Gulen’s group with fundamentalist
groups," suggests the documents.
Evrenesoglu and Ongut are known to be members of hard-core religious
fundamentalist groups.
Plans know no boundaries Some sections of the documents reveal that
the mastermind of the documents knows no boundaries when it comes to
achieving its objectives.
Among the plans is a smear campaign to be launched against state
schools where young students will be captured while praying.
Press organs will prepare news reports that AK Party members are
living in luxury despite the ongoing financial turmoil, which has
made thousands of citizens lose their jobs.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress