Confusion in Turkey: Ergenekon and the "Military Coup"

EA Correspondent Aysegul Er reports:

Since 20 October 2008, the Turkey Government has been occupied with Ergenekon, a neo-nationalist group accused of plotting against the State.

It all started with 27 hand bombs, TNT moulds, and detonators found in a house on 12 June 2007. Since then, evidence from  wiretappings, weapons taken from excavations, and purported assassination plans allegedly show  a “grand project” pursued by the “deep state”. According to an indictment which is now more than 2500 pages, arrested politicians, journalists, lawyers, intellectuals, and generals formed a “terrorist” organization to create chaos weakening the ruling Justice and Development Party and justifying a military coup.



Retired Gendarme Brigadier General Veli Kucuk, retired Gendarme General Sener Eruygur, retired General of the 1st Army Commandership located in the Western Turkey Hursit Tolon, former Chancellor of the University of Istanbul Kemal Alemdaroglu, Vice President of the Labor Party Dogu Perincek, columnist Ilhan Selcuk, Ankara Chamber of Commerce Sinan Aygun, retired Brigadier General and former Head of Gendarme Intelligence Centre Levent Ersoz and even former AKP MPs Turhan Comez and Emin Sirin are among the more than 150 people who have been accused of membership in a “terrorist” organization.

Last Friday, in the 137th hearing of the Ergenekon investigation, 20 prisoners including the leader of the Labor Party, Doğu Perinçek, and retired Gendarme Brigadier General Veli Küçük made their defenses against the claims. As in the other 136 hearings, no verdict was released.

Meanwhile, the “Cage Plan”, in which weapons found in Istanbul were to be used against minorities to isolate the government in the eyes of international community, emerged. Another plan called “Balyoz” (Sledge-Hammer), targeting serving generals, occupied the front pages of newspapers last month.

According to so-called “coup diaries,” retired Commander of the Turkish Naval Forces Admiral Ozden Ornek, retired Turkish Air Force General Ibrahim Firtina, retired Brigadier General Engin Alan, retired generals of the 1st Army Commandership Cetin Dogan and Ergin Saygun, and more than 20 generals and brigadier generals can be added to the list of plotters. In a step-by-step coup, Ergenekon would pursue “deep state” manipulations such as hitting Turkish jets over the Aegean Sea and bombing two mosques.

Doğan’s response to the accusations was that hundreds of pages of documents and CDs were ordinary scenarios to be used in training the army officers. On Friday all accused were released, except Çetin Doğan and Engin Alan. (Ironically, it was Engin Alan who directed the operation of bringing the head of terrorist/separatist Kurdish movement PKK, Abdullah Ocalan from Kenya to Ankara.)

More importantly, the Chief of Staff, Ilker Basbug responded harshly to the court's accusations, although he did not specifically mention the government. He called all claims concerning any plans related with hitting a war plane or bombing mosques as “unjustness.” He said: “How can you imagine an army bombing mosques who say ‘Allah Allah’ while going to a war?”

The case has now reached the eyes of the international press. On 1 March, Daniel Steinvorth from Der Spiegel asks: “Is Erdogan Strong Enough to Take on the Generals?” He emphasized the power struggle between the government and the army and asks whether Turkey is going through a new period in which we could find a “more democratic” Ankara if Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan can cope with the opposition of the army.

In Turkey, however, people are still confused. Some believe that this is the most significant case  since the foundation of the republic and are hopeful of that “more democratic” Turkey. Some, on the other hand, fear this case could lead to  chaos if not to an authoritarian government.

Middle East Inside Line: Netanyahu's Iran Speech, Obama's Next Middle East Message, Syrian-Israeli Peace?, and More...

Netanyahu's Iran Speech: Speaking to the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee on Tuesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, on Tuesday depicted Iran as a runaway train and the international community as a rail car waiting on the edge. "There is a technological clock and a diplomatic clock. The technological clock is like a runaway train and the international community like a car that is about to decouple."

On the diplomatic clock, Netanyahu mentioned the Israeli delegation in China and described a "wide range of mutual interests" between Beijing and Israel. Netanyahu stated that he was not successful in obtaining Moscow's consent to tougher sanctions on Tehran but said he witnessed "more understanding there regarding the dangers the Iranian nuclear program poses to us, to regional peace and world stability".

Obama Administration's Next Message to be in Israel: U.S. Vice President Joe Biden is due in Israel on March 8, for a three-day visit that will also include the Palestinian Authority. An Israeli political source has told Haaretz that Biden would like "to make a speech that is important and significant for Israeli-American relations". The aims of this high-level visit to Israel are to ensure that Israel's response will be restricted with the diplomatic track and to give a strong "alliance" message to Israelis as President Obama gave in Turkey and Egypt last year.


Syrian-Israeli Agreement on Phased Withdrawal Plan?: Gabrielle Rifkind, the director of the Middle East Program at Oxford Research Group, told Haaretz via e-mail that Syria is willing to consider peace and gradual normalization with Israel. According to this plan, following an Israeli withdrawal from half the territory it holds on the Golan Heights, the two states would declare an end to the state of enmity between them as a first step.

Although Syrian officials insist on pressing ahead through Turkey's mediation, Rifkind emphasized the importance of Damascus in the region:

From a conflict resolution perspective, reaching out to Syria will involve bold steps, and experience would suggest that if Syria and Israel managed to establish an agreement on the Golan, the view from the leadership may be significantly different. There could be a potential role for Syria as a mediator between Israel, Hamas and Hezbollah which could drastically improve the chances of a long-term truce - or even a permanent resolution - between these parties.

Hamas Disowns Yousef: After it was released that Mosab Hassan Yousef, the son of one of Hamas's founder Sheikh Hassan Yousef, had worked for Israel's security service Shin Bet; Hamas Web sites published a letter saying the father disowned his son on Monday.

IDF Blacklisting Israelis?: It has been reported that the details of license plates of a number of left-wing activists during demonstrations at the villages of Bil'in and Na'alin were given to IDF by Israeli police. In the document entitled "Data of vehicles used by left-wing Israeli activists and anarchists to reach demonstrations in Na'alin and Bil'in", registration numbers of 11 vehicles are listed. The IDF did not deny the report and said the organization is using information on Israelis who demonstrate against the separation fence.

Hamas Accuses Egypt & Jordan: Hamas has reportedly claimed that the security forces of an Arab state were behind the assassination of a senior group operative in Dubai. Mahmoud Nasser, a member of Hamas' political bureau, said that agents from Jordan and Egypt took part in the assassination of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh.