TURKISH-ARMENIAN WRITER: CAGE PLAN SIMILAR TO EARLIER PLOTS

Today’s Zaman
April 26 2010
Turkey

The tactics outlined in the Cage Operation Action Plan, an alleged coup
plot aimed at undermining the government by assassinating non-Muslims
in Turkey, do not sound farfetched and are actually reminiscent
of earlier incidents, Turkish-Armenian writer Mıgırdic Margosyan
has said.

In an interview with the Zaman daily published on Sunday, Margosyan
discussed the significance of the plot, for which 33 suspects including
serving generals have been implicated on charges of membership in
Ergenekon, an alleged armed terrorist organization. He said the tactics
outlined in the plan were similar to the incidents that took place
on Sept. 6-7, 1955, when almost 5,000 stores belonging to non-Muslims
were burned down by provoked mobs in Ä°stanbul.

"They are trying to do what they did 55 years ago. They failed [this
time]. If they had been capable, they would have done so again. It
makes me worry that there are still people with such a mentality
within the state," he said.

He further argued that those alienated by these persistent circles
nested deep within the state are not only the Armenians and other
minorities but also the majority of Turks themselves.

"What is their problem? A lack of democracy. We will continue to
have problems as long as we keep saying that we are a democracy but
not meeting the minimum requirements of one," he noted, adding that
he will vote in favor of the government-proposed constitutional
amendments if they are presented for public approval in a referendum.

The proposed changes include extensive reforms, particularly to the
judiciary, mainly aimed at expanding democratic representation and
bringing it closer to the standards of the European Union, which
Turkey aspires to join.

Margosyan is a Turkish citizen of Armenian descent who was born in the
southeastern province of Diyarbakır in 1938. He has written six books.