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'DEEP STATE PLOT' GRIPS TURKEY
By Sarah Rainsford
BBC News
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/europe/ 7225889.stm
2008/02/04 11:41:47 GMT
Istanbul
It is a story that has set Turkey abuzz with rumour and speculation.
At its heart is an ultra-nationalist gang known as Ergenekon, exposed
when 33 of its alleged members were seized in a police raid in late
January.
The claims widely reported in the Turkish press ever since read like
a thriller.
They allege the gang was plotting to bring down the government.
It is claimed their plan was to assassinate a string of Turkish
intellectuals, including Nobel Laureate Orhan Pamuk, fomenting chaos
and provoking a military intervention in 2009.
When the Cold War ended those structures [illicit paramilitary gangs]
went out of business, but they still existed Cengiz Candar Turkish
newspaper columnist
A "menu" of targets had already been drawn up and a hitman hired when
the police swooped, according to the daily Hurriyet.
Sabah newspaper linked the gang to the recent murder of three
Protestant Christians and Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink.
Those details - apparently leaked by police - have never been
officially confirmed.
The lawyers of several of the accused told the BBC only that their
clients have been charged under Article 313 of the penal code for
inciting armed revolt against the government.
Those still detained include retired Brig Gen Veli Kucuk, an alleged
mafia boss and an ultra-nationalist lawyer who provoked numerous
prosecutions against prominent Turkish writers and intellectuals -
including Mr Pamuk - for "insulting Turkishness".
'Deep state'
A brief statement at the outset linked the arrests to a raid in
Istanbul last June. A large cache of hand grenades and explosives was
discovered; then and a number of former military personnel detained.
The Turkish military is not a criminal organisation Gen Buyukanit
Turkish army chief-of-staff
There have been no further formal statements about the gang, or
their plot.
But that has not stopped the Ergenekon affair making top "news"
for almost two weeks.
>From the start, this operation has been portrayed as a blow against
the "deep state" - which explains the excitement.
It is a term widely used to describe renegade members of the security
forces said to act outside the law in what they judge to be Turkey's
best interests.
The phenomenon, much-discussed but never proven, is said to stretch
back to Cold War times, when illicit paramilitary gangs were supposedly
set up in collaboration with Western intelligence agencies to prevent
the spread of communism.
"When the Cold War ended those structures went out of business,
but they still existed," claims newspaper columnist Cengiz Candar,
who has no doubt a "deep state" exists.
"Then the threat changed. The target became Kurdish insurgents or
Asala," an Armenian militant organisation that targeted Turkish
diplomats, he says.
For ultra-nationalists today the threats to Turkey include EU
accession, Armenian genocide allegations and any talk of a peace deal
to end the 24-year-old Kurdish insurgency.
'Under watch'
In 1996, many Turks' suspicions of a "deep state" were confirmed when
a car crashed in the town of Susurluk. Inside were a senior police
chief, a prominent politician and a wanted assassin.
"Susurluk revealed weird connections between state officials and those
who operate outside the limits of the law. It happened at a time when
we had a lot of extra-judicial killings in Turkey," Mr Candar explains.
"But the investigation stopped just as there was speculation it was
reaching very sensitive spots, even the military establishment. That
only confirmed the existence of these networks in the public
consciousness."
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan clearly has his own suspicions.
He used the same "deep state" terminology to describe the police
operation against Ergenekon.
"These gangs are not new in our country. Our aim is to get rid of
them. We see gangs in the most important institutions. People who
once worked in these institutions join these organisations," Sabah
quoted Mr Erdogan saying, immediately after the initial arrests.
Praising the police raids, he added: "There is a deep Turkey working
against the deep state. This prevents them [the gangs] being as active
as they once were."
If the prime minister has proof linking Ergenekon members to active
security officials, it has yet to be revealed.
"I think the government moved now to dirty these peoples' names and
reputations. It's a warning that they're under watch," believes Irfan
Bozan, who is following the story for the privately-owned NTV 24-hour
news channel.
Army rebuttal
Mr Bozan also raises the possibility the operation is part of a
continuing power struggle between a government led by devout Muslims
and a staunchly secular military.
"At first it does look like an attempt to crack down on the deep state
at last. But this is not a real challenge to those forces. This is
an attack on those who are anti-government," Mr Bozan suggests.
Still, the chief-of-staff of Turkey's army was concerned enough by
the suggestion the military might be tied to Ergenekon to issue a
public rebuttal.
"The Turkish military is not a criminal organisation," Gen Buyukanit
told journalists last week, apparently washing his hands of the
accused.
"Military members who commit crimes are punished by the courts. It
is wrong to try to link such incidents to the military as a whole,"
he said.
As the prosecutors gather their evidence the country is gripped,
awaiting the next revelation, the next headline and the denouement.
After years of "deep state" rumours, many see the Ergenekon case as
a real test of the government's will to dig deep and expose any ties
between illicit gangs and the state. If they do really exist.
By Sarah Rainsford
BBC News
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/europe/ 7225889.stm
2008/02/04 11:41:47 GMT
Istanbul
It is a story that has set Turkey abuzz with rumour and speculation.
At its heart is an ultra-nationalist gang known as Ergenekon, exposed
when 33 of its alleged members were seized in a police raid in late
January.
The claims widely reported in the Turkish press ever since read like
a thriller.
They allege the gang was plotting to bring down the government.
It is claimed their plan was to assassinate a string of Turkish
intellectuals, including Nobel Laureate Orhan Pamuk, fomenting chaos
and provoking a military intervention in 2009.
When the Cold War ended those structures [illicit paramilitary gangs]
went out of business, but they still existed Cengiz Candar Turkish
newspaper columnist
A "menu" of targets had already been drawn up and a hitman hired when
the police swooped, according to the daily Hurriyet.
Sabah newspaper linked the gang to the recent murder of three
Protestant Christians and Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink.
Those details - apparently leaked by police - have never been
officially confirmed.
The lawyers of several of the accused told the BBC only that their
clients have been charged under Article 313 of the penal code for
inciting armed revolt against the government.
Those still detained include retired Brig Gen Veli Kucuk, an alleged
mafia boss and an ultra-nationalist lawyer who provoked numerous
prosecutions against prominent Turkish writers and intellectuals -
including Mr Pamuk - for "insulting Turkishness".
'Deep state'
A brief statement at the outset linked the arrests to a raid in
Istanbul last June. A large cache of hand grenades and explosives was
discovered; then and a number of former military personnel detained.
The Turkish military is not a criminal organisation Gen Buyukanit
Turkish army chief-of-staff
There have been no further formal statements about the gang, or
their plot.
But that has not stopped the Ergenekon affair making top "news"
for almost two weeks.
>From the start, this operation has been portrayed as a blow against
the "deep state" - which explains the excitement.
It is a term widely used to describe renegade members of the security
forces said to act outside the law in what they judge to be Turkey's
best interests.
The phenomenon, much-discussed but never proven, is said to stretch
back to Cold War times, when illicit paramilitary gangs were supposedly
set up in collaboration with Western intelligence agencies to prevent
the spread of communism.
"When the Cold War ended those structures went out of business,
but they still existed," claims newspaper columnist Cengiz Candar,
who has no doubt a "deep state" exists.
"Then the threat changed. The target became Kurdish insurgents or
Asala," an Armenian militant organisation that targeted Turkish
diplomats, he says.
For ultra-nationalists today the threats to Turkey include EU
accession, Armenian genocide allegations and any talk of a peace deal
to end the 24-year-old Kurdish insurgency.
'Under watch'
In 1996, many Turks' suspicions of a "deep state" were confirmed when
a car crashed in the town of Susurluk. Inside were a senior police
chief, a prominent politician and a wanted assassin.
"Susurluk revealed weird connections between state officials and those
who operate outside the limits of the law. It happened at a time when
we had a lot of extra-judicial killings in Turkey," Mr Candar explains.
"But the investigation stopped just as there was speculation it was
reaching very sensitive spots, even the military establishment. That
only confirmed the existence of these networks in the public
consciousness."
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan clearly has his own suspicions.
He used the same "deep state" terminology to describe the police
operation against Ergenekon.
"These gangs are not new in our country. Our aim is to get rid of
them. We see gangs in the most important institutions. People who
once worked in these institutions join these organisations," Sabah
quoted Mr Erdogan saying, immediately after the initial arrests.
Praising the police raids, he added: "There is a deep Turkey working
against the deep state. This prevents them [the gangs] being as active
as they once were."
If the prime minister has proof linking Ergenekon members to active
security officials, it has yet to be revealed.
"I think the government moved now to dirty these peoples' names and
reputations. It's a warning that they're under watch," believes Irfan
Bozan, who is following the story for the privately-owned NTV 24-hour
news channel.
Army rebuttal
Mr Bozan also raises the possibility the operation is part of a
continuing power struggle between a government led by devout Muslims
and a staunchly secular military.
"At first it does look like an attempt to crack down on the deep state
at last. But this is not a real challenge to those forces. This is
an attack on those who are anti-government," Mr Bozan suggests.
Still, the chief-of-staff of Turkey's army was concerned enough by
the suggestion the military might be tied to Ergenekon to issue a
public rebuttal.
"The Turkish military is not a criminal organisation," Gen Buyukanit
told journalists last week, apparently washing his hands of the
accused.
"Military members who commit crimes are punished by the courts. It
is wrong to try to link such incidents to the military as a whole,"
he said.
As the prosecutors gather their evidence the country is gripped,
awaiting the next revelation, the next headline and the denouement.
After years of "deep state" rumours, many see the Ergenekon case as
a real test of the government's will to dig deep and expose any ties
between illicit gangs and the state. If they do really exist.