Poste d GMT 11-29-2009 18:46:43
Turkish Military Planned Attacks on Christians
Senior Turkish military officers had made extensive plans to terrorize
non-Muslims in Turkey. In the large Ergenekon1 scandal recently a
well-planned terrorist operation was revealed. The operation which is
called "Kafes Operasyonu Eylem Plani", in English meaning "the
execution of the cage – operation" was to eliminate the remaining
small group of Christians living in Turkey today.
The plan was revealed when police arrested Levent Bektas, a major in
the Turkish army. The evidence seized reveals more than 27 officers
and senior military officers involved in the conspiracy against
Christians.
In order to identify key persons among the Christians and then kill
them, this terrorist network has broken into a Greek church
congregation compound and stolen computers. The purpose of this was to
access the congregation’s member lists.
"When our office was emptied of computers and files, church members
were very concerned. Since the murder of the monk Santoro, the
journalist Hrant Dink and the brutal murder of three publishing
workers in Malatya, Christians are living in constant fear," said
lawyer Kezban Hatemi, representing the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate in
Istanbul.
On November 28, 2007, the Syriac Orthodox monk Daniel Savci in
Turabdin was kidnapped in southeastern Turkey. The monk resides in the
St. Gabriel monastery, which Turkish authorities are trying to
confiscate. A few days later the monk was found beaten. Shortly after,
the police arrested some village guards, a state-sanctioned militia
subordinate to the Turkish army, for the kidnapping. Many people with
insight into the situation interpret the kidnapping as a direct threat
to the remaining Assyrians in Turabdin.
Christians were attacked across the country. To implement the
strategic attacks, the country"s Christian population was mapped out
and 939 key persons from different parts of the country were
identified as potential targets.
The fully detailed operation consists of four phases: preparation,
spreading propaganda, shape opinion and execute.
The newspaper Taraf, which has been able to access the information,
has published several articles about this. On its website
it is described in detail how the plan to attack the
Christians was to be implemented.
Below are some points that constitute the plan"s main lines.
* Christians are mapped
* Famous and wealthy Christian businessmen kidnapped
* Systematic fires and looting of Christian businesses
* The Armenian newspaper AGOS be subjected to several explosions
* Murder patrols executing attacks against selected individuals
* Christian cemeteries subjected to explosions
* Churches and institutions belonging to Christians subjected to explosions
* Put the blame on imaginary militant organizations
>From the late 1980s to the 2000s, thousands of people have been
killed, among them there were also many Christians. The perpetrators
of the killings have never been found. But officially they have been
systematically identified as an organization named "Hizbullah".
A military arsenal provides the network with weapons. The police have,
after following the tracks, at a house search in Poyrazköy outside
Istanbul found a weapon cache to be used in the attacks. Among the
weapons were several items, from C4 explosives to Uzi firearms and
other sophisticated weapons.
According to the newspaper Taraf, major Eren Günay has been arrested
for having provided the attackers with arms and ammunition. According
to the newspaper there are indications that the plan is sanctioned by
the highest Turkish military leadership.
For a long time, Christians houses, property and businesses in the
Christian areas of the cities of Istanbul and Izmir have been labeled,
in order to identify them. MP Sebah Tuncel notified the Turkish
government with a written question last summer. The question addressed
the Ministry of Interior and was about what the government intends to
do against the labeling of Christian properties and about Christians
being identified. Even today, the government has not replied to this
question yet.
As long as the attacks were aimed at Christians and other minority
groups, the Turkish government acted indifferently. Not until the
ruling government party AKP themselves felt threatened they began to
act. In recent years the relationship between the government and the
military has been strained and on several occasions the military has
made attempts to make a coup d"état, without succeeding fully.
By Dikran Ego
1 Ergenekon is a terrorist network that consists of many different
elements, from high military officers to teachers and journalists,
there are many professional groups represented in the network. This
network is also called the "deep state" in Turkey.
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