Today’s Zaman, Turkey
June 13 2009
Military’s evil plot against AK Party, Gülen movement exposed
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
Gülen movement and support with individuals arrested on charges
of gang membership.
The Taraf daily published documents on Friday seized in the office of
Serdar Ã-ztürk, 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 �içek 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
Gülen movement — inspired by internationally respected Turkish
scholar Fethullah Gülen — 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
Gülen 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
Atatürk’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.
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 Gülen movement
Another section of the documents is dedicated to the fight against the
Gülen 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 Gülen movement as being engaged in acts against
the unity and regime of the country.
`Claims that followers of Gülen 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 Gülen
movement as being engaged in illegal acts.
`We will enable the discovery of weapons, ammunition and documents at
the addresses of Gülen’s followers as if they were members of a
terrorist organization. The movement will be named `Fethullah’s Armed
Terrorist Organization’ (FSTÃ-) 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 Gülen 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 Gülen 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 Gülen’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 Gülen 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 Gülen
movement as members of a terrorist organization. If Gülen’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 Gülen
movement. "Our men, like Ä°skender EvrenesoÄ?lu and
Ã-mer Ã-ngüt, will appear in TV programs and associate
Gülen’s group with fundamentalist groups," suggests the
documents.
EvrenesoÄ?lu and Ã-ngüt 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.
Box 1: Criticism against TV series also part of conspiracy
Taraf’s report also cites documents that the popular television series
Tek Türkiye (One Turkey) and Kollama (Patronage), run by STV, a
television station affiliated with the Gülen community, were
also a target of the action plan against religious fundamentalism.
A news story criticizing these two series in the Hürriyet 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 Türkiye, 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 DoÄ?an group have also published criticism of
STV’s Kollama series, with writers commenting that the series gave
dangerous messages to society.
Box 2: Questions await answers
Following the discovery of documents allegedly belonging to the TSK,
many urgent questions have been asked. Here are some of them:
Was Col. Dursun �içek, who allegedly prepared these
documents, called to account? If the documents really belong to the
TSK, was �içek removed from office? Why did the lawyer
of an Ergenekon suspect, Serdar Ã-ztürk, keep the documents
in his office? What was Ã-ztürk planning to do with these
documents? Were the plans included in the documents implemented? If
so, who has been subjected to a smear campaign so far?
Box 3: General Staff launches investigation into controversial
documents
The General Staff has announced that an investigation has been
launched into recently revealed documents allegedly prepared by a
colonel on active duty that aimed to defame the ruling Justice and
Development Party (AK Party) and the highly respected Gülen
movement and support individuals arrested on charges of membership in
Ergenekon, a clandestine network charged with plotting to overthrow
the government. `We saw this morning that a [Turkish] daily published
a report and comments on documents allegedly prepared by a department
of the General Staff.
The General Staff has immediately ordered military prosecutors to
investigate the issue,’ Brig. Gen. Metin Gürak said at a press
briefing in Ankara yesterday.
Asked whether the investigation would question whether the documents
really exist or how they could have been exposed, Gürak said,
`The General Staff has ordered an investigation into all aspects of
the issue.’
The question remains as to what the outcome of the investigation will
be; in similar incidents in the past the General Staff either denied
responsibility or accused the publishers of the documents.
A newsweekly that published excerpts of a diary allegedly belonging to
an admiral was forced to shut down after it angered the General
Staff. Nokta newsweekly claimed in 2007 that now-retired
Adm. Ã-zden Ã-rnek and four force commanders in 2004 had made
plans to stage two military coups. A military investigation into the
claims resulted in the acquittal of the admiral and commanders but the
shutting down of the newsweekly.
Then followed a high degree of tension between the General Staff and
the Taraf daily, which published classified documents regarding
serious security flaws existing during a terrorist Kurdistan Workers’
Party (PKK) attack on Oct. 3 of last year.
A lawsuit was filed against the daily’s editor for legal affairs for
publishing "confidential and prohibited documents." Adnan Demir may be
sentenced to up to five years in jail if convicted. Ä°stanbul
Today’s Zaman with wires