‘CAGE ACTION PLAN’ PUT INTO OPERATION IN KURTULUS, ADALAR

Today’s Zaman
Nov 20 2009
Turkey

A devious plan by a group of members of the Naval Forces Command to
intimidate the country’s non-Muslim population by assassinating some
of their prominent figures, and in this way undermine the power of
the ruling party, had been put into operation, recent incidents in
Istanbul’s Kurtulus_ neighborhood and Adalar district suggest.

The plan was exposed at a police raid on the office of retired Maj.

Levent BektaÅ~_ as part of a probe launched after the discovery of
a large arms cache in the Poyrazköy district in April.

Called the "Cage Operation Action Plan," the desired result from
the intimidation of Turkey’s non-Muslims and the assassination of
prominent ones, was that an increase in internal and external pressure
on the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) would ensue, leading
to diminishing public support for the party.

A series of incidents that Kurtulus_ residents experienced in August
suggest that the plan was put into operation by "dark powers." The
neighborhood is home to dozens of non-Muslim families.

On Aug. 7, 2009, some non-Muslim residents of the neighborhood found
colored stickers on the doors of their buildings, which sparked
increased fear among the residents. Police launched an investigation
into the stickers, but failed to find out who was responsible. The
stickers disappeared "mysteriously" at night the very same day,
leaving unanswered questions behind as to who took them away.

Ahmet Gunel, the mukhtar or neighborhood head, said the stickers aimed
at fomenting unease and fear among the neighborhood’s non-Muslims.

Selami MelemÅ~_e, a lawyer who is also a resident of KurtuluÅ~_,
said the "sticker campaign" had achieved its objective. "The stickers
managed to provoke fear among our residents. I do not think those
stickers were placed on doors in KurtuluÅ~_ ‘just by coincidence.’ Some
circles did it on purpose," MelemÅ~_e added.

The action plan has sent shockwaves across Ä°stanbul’s Adalar district,
which is home to hundreds of non-Muslim families. Raffi Hermon Araks,
the chief adviser to the mayor of Adalar in charge of cultural and
arts affairs, said some non-Muslims in the district had receive
threats to their lives for the past few months. "We experienced such
incidents in Heybeliada, Kınalıada and Buyukada. We thought these
were separate incidents, but when we saw the Cage plan, we understood
that they were all part of a detailed plot," Araks remarked.

A non-Muslim resident of the district, who wanted to remain anonymous,
said he had been told several times by people he did not know to
leave the country. "They told me the places I belong to. ‘You do
not belong to this place. Muslims will send you away. The order has
changed,’ they told me. I was very afraid. My neighbors and relatives
experienced similar incidents. We do not wish to experience another
Sept. 6-7 trauma," he added.

The Sept. 6-7, 1955 events started after a newspaper headline said
Ataturk’s home in Greece had been bombed by Greek militants. In
revenge, Turkish nationalists attacked the houses and business places
of non-Muslims, destroying 5,300 businesses and houses owned by Greeks,
Armenians and Jews.

Etyen Mahcupyan, editor-in-chief of the Agos weekly, said the names
of the country’s minorities, Alevis and Kurds will be mentioned in
many other action plans unless Turkey embraces a stronger democracy.

According to Mahcupyan, the Cage Operation Action Plan is a strong
indication of a war between "good Turks" and "bad Turks." "What I
mean is, there is a difference and quarrel between those who have a
statist and totalitarian mindset and those who are pro-freedom and
democrat," he said and added that such action plans have a single
aim: to destroy the AK Party. "To attain this target, non-Muslims
get killed; clashes are sparked between Sunnis and Alevis; Turks and
Kurds are made to fight; and the Kurdistan Workers’ Party [PKK] is
lent support," he remarked. Fethiye Cetin, a lawyer representing the
family of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink, who was assassinated
in 2007 by a young man strongly influenced by ultranationalism,
said the Turkish military sees some of the country’s citizens as an
"enemy" and produces plans against them.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress