SLEDGEHAMMER AND CAGE PLANS ON AGENDA OF MEETING WITH JEWISH COMMUNITY
Today’s Zaman
March 17 2010
Turkey
Ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) Deputy Chairman Huseyin
Celik will meet with representatives of Turkey’s Jewish community
on Thursday at the Neve Shalom Synagogue within the framework of the
democratization initiative.
It is expected that during the meeting Celik will tell the members of
the Turkish Jewish community more about the democratization initiative
and its content regarding religious minorities.
The government launched the democratization initiative in order
to solve Turkey’s Kurdish problem, but it has also defined it as a
"national unity project," and as the government frequently points out,
the aim of the initiative is more freedom and democracy for everyone.
Another subject of the meeting will be the concerns of Turkish Jews
regarding the Balyoz (Sledgehammer) and Cage plans.
The Cage Operation Action Plan is a subversive plan allegedly devised
by a group from the Naval Forces Command to intimidate the country’s
non-Muslim population by assassinating some of their prominent figures,
undermining the power of the ruling party. An indictment has been
submitted to a high criminal court regarding the plan.
The Sledgehammer plan, another plot against the government, allegedly
is the outline of a plan to create chaos by killing or injuring a
number bureaucrats and journalists and bombing mosques. According to
the plan, the assets of minorities were to be seized and nationalized.
Celik is expected to discuss these plans with the Jewish community
and assure them that they are protected.
The Jewish community requested the meeting after Celik’s recent
participation in a series of meetings called the "BeÅ~_iktaÅ~_
meetings" in which he talked about the Sept. 6-7, 1955, events. He
said these events were also planned to pave the way for the May 27,
1960, coup d’état.
The Sept. 6-7 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.
After Celik’s remarks about the Sept. 6-7 events, the Jewish community
asked the organizer of the BeÅ~_iktaÅ~_ meetings, AK party deputy
Nursuna Memecan, to organize a meeting between Celik and the Jewish
community as well.
Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arınc, also on Thursday, met with the
spiritual leaders of religious minorities in Turkey and the heads of
congregation foundations at a breakfast in Ä°stanbul, where he sent
a message of "unity" and "democratization."