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Why did they kill Christians?
by Orhan Kemal Cengiz
01 April 2011, Friday
When members of the Ergenekon gang were arrested, starting with 2007,
several documents were seized from them, in their houses and
businesses. One of these documents was titled `Lobby,' which explains
how and why Ergenekon would gain control over civil society in Turkey.
In 2004 and 2005, many ultranationalist associations were established.
All of these associations were established by a bunch of people all of
whom were in the core group of Ergenekon. They are Sevgi Erenerol,
Kemal Kerincsiz, Ergun Poyraz, Muammer Karabulut and Oktay Yildirim.
These people were also very active in the anti-Christian campaigns in
those years. I would like to give the names of some of the
organizations they established: the Turkish Revolutionaries
Association, the Association for the Union of Patriotic Forces, the
Grand Attorneys Association, the Ayasofya Association, the
International Father Christmas Peace Council, the Association for
Union of Great Powers, the National Union Movement Platform, the
National Industrialists and Businessmen Association, the Private
Security Sector Businessmen's Union Association and the Leading Youth.
Again, all of these organizations were quite active in anti-Christian
campaigns in Turkey. In fact, everything starts with quite an ordinary
development. In 2002, the National Security Council (MGK), which
consists of high military commanders and members of the government,
defined `missionary activities' as a national threat. There was a
parallel between this definition and the intense activity of those
associations that were established by Ergenekon members. The media
also gave much support in spreading paranoia about missionaries
amongst the whole population in Turkey. If you were to look at
`mainstream' newspaper' coverage between 2004 and 2007 you wouldn't be
able to believe your eyes. You would get a sense that Turkey was being
invaded by Christian missionaries and that the country was about to be
divided. As I am writing this piece the second wave of the
investigation into the Ergenekon-Malatya massacre connection has just
started, and police have begun searching the homes of several theology
professors who are known for their anti-Christian and anti-missionary
stances. These professors were quite active in the war against
missionaries; they appeared on TV programs almost every day and tried
to convince the public how great a danger Turkey was in because of
missionary activities.
In my Wednesday piece, I tried to explain the strategic importance of
Malatya in all these anti-Christian campaigns. Last week a tape
recording and statement of a secret witness caused Ergenekon
prosecutors to start a wave of arrests targeting some gendarmerie
officers who were on active duty in 2007, when the Malatya Massacre
took place.
According to the statement of the secret witness, Deniz Uygar, a
former JITEM aide who was active in anti-Christian campaigns, the
local gendarmerie unit in Malatya, following the orders of their
superiors, decided to scare away missionaries in this city, and
through this action deter Christians across the country. They
evaluated the information collected about Emre Gunaydin and his
friends, who later killed three Christians by slitting their throats.
Uygar also says in order to prepare these youngsters for the murders
Ergenekon suspects gave seminars and spoke about missionary activity
in Malatya.
Connections between JITEM/Ergenekon and the Malatya massacres are not
limited to only these actions. We know two prime suspects in the
Ergenekon gang, former gendarmerie commander Sener Eruygur and former
commander of the 1st Army Hursit Tolon, used to visit Malatya. When
Tolon was arrested, police found a power point presentation prepared
by him on missionary activities and slides that included the
underlined name of Kayra Publishing, which was replaced with Zirve
Publishing, where the Malatya massacre took place.
I can tell you many other things that reveal a connection between
Ergenekon and the Malatya massacre, but I think this is already
enough. The Malatya massacre was an important event in the game of
manipulation that the Ergenekon gang was playing. They, on the one
hand, wanted the Turkish people to believe that there was a serious
`missionary' danger in Turkey and wanted to mobilize nationalist
sentiments. On the other hand, they wanted to send a message to the
whole world by showing that as soon as an `Islamist party' came to
power, Christians were massacred.
I think Father Andrea Santoro, Hrant Dink and the three Christians in
Malatya were killed for same purpose by JITEM/Ergenekon. While these
murders were carefully being planned, I believe the police were also
watching every step, without seeing the big picture. The police were
not concerned with the possibility of the murder of an Armenian and a
few missionaries. In this sense these murders present a quite
thought-provoking picture of the system in Turkey. However, following
recent developments in the Ergenekon case, I am quite hopeful for the
first time. I hope these important and hopeful developments are not
overshadowed by the hunt for Ahmet Sik's book.
From: A. Papazian
Why did they kill Christians?
by Orhan Kemal Cengiz
01 April 2011, Friday
When members of the Ergenekon gang were arrested, starting with 2007,
several documents were seized from them, in their houses and
businesses. One of these documents was titled `Lobby,' which explains
how and why Ergenekon would gain control over civil society in Turkey.
In 2004 and 2005, many ultranationalist associations were established.
All of these associations were established by a bunch of people all of
whom were in the core group of Ergenekon. They are Sevgi Erenerol,
Kemal Kerincsiz, Ergun Poyraz, Muammer Karabulut and Oktay Yildirim.
These people were also very active in the anti-Christian campaigns in
those years. I would like to give the names of some of the
organizations they established: the Turkish Revolutionaries
Association, the Association for the Union of Patriotic Forces, the
Grand Attorneys Association, the Ayasofya Association, the
International Father Christmas Peace Council, the Association for
Union of Great Powers, the National Union Movement Platform, the
National Industrialists and Businessmen Association, the Private
Security Sector Businessmen's Union Association and the Leading Youth.
Again, all of these organizations were quite active in anti-Christian
campaigns in Turkey. In fact, everything starts with quite an ordinary
development. In 2002, the National Security Council (MGK), which
consists of high military commanders and members of the government,
defined `missionary activities' as a national threat. There was a
parallel between this definition and the intense activity of those
associations that were established by Ergenekon members. The media
also gave much support in spreading paranoia about missionaries
amongst the whole population in Turkey. If you were to look at
`mainstream' newspaper' coverage between 2004 and 2007 you wouldn't be
able to believe your eyes. You would get a sense that Turkey was being
invaded by Christian missionaries and that the country was about to be
divided. As I am writing this piece the second wave of the
investigation into the Ergenekon-Malatya massacre connection has just
started, and police have begun searching the homes of several theology
professors who are known for their anti-Christian and anti-missionary
stances. These professors were quite active in the war against
missionaries; they appeared on TV programs almost every day and tried
to convince the public how great a danger Turkey was in because of
missionary activities.
In my Wednesday piece, I tried to explain the strategic importance of
Malatya in all these anti-Christian campaigns. Last week a tape
recording and statement of a secret witness caused Ergenekon
prosecutors to start a wave of arrests targeting some gendarmerie
officers who were on active duty in 2007, when the Malatya Massacre
took place.
According to the statement of the secret witness, Deniz Uygar, a
former JITEM aide who was active in anti-Christian campaigns, the
local gendarmerie unit in Malatya, following the orders of their
superiors, decided to scare away missionaries in this city, and
through this action deter Christians across the country. They
evaluated the information collected about Emre Gunaydin and his
friends, who later killed three Christians by slitting their throats.
Uygar also says in order to prepare these youngsters for the murders
Ergenekon suspects gave seminars and spoke about missionary activity
in Malatya.
Connections between JITEM/Ergenekon and the Malatya massacres are not
limited to only these actions. We know two prime suspects in the
Ergenekon gang, former gendarmerie commander Sener Eruygur and former
commander of the 1st Army Hursit Tolon, used to visit Malatya. When
Tolon was arrested, police found a power point presentation prepared
by him on missionary activities and slides that included the
underlined name of Kayra Publishing, which was replaced with Zirve
Publishing, where the Malatya massacre took place.
I can tell you many other things that reveal a connection between
Ergenekon and the Malatya massacre, but I think this is already
enough. The Malatya massacre was an important event in the game of
manipulation that the Ergenekon gang was playing. They, on the one
hand, wanted the Turkish people to believe that there was a serious
`missionary' danger in Turkey and wanted to mobilize nationalist
sentiments. On the other hand, they wanted to send a message to the
whole world by showing that as soon as an `Islamist party' came to
power, Christians were massacred.
I think Father Andrea Santoro, Hrant Dink and the three Christians in
Malatya were killed for same purpose by JITEM/Ergenekon. While these
murders were carefully being planned, I believe the police were also
watching every step, without seeing the big picture. The police were
not concerned with the possibility of the murder of an Armenian and a
few missionaries. In this sense these murders present a quite
thought-provoking picture of the system in Turkey. However, following
recent developments in the Ergenekon case, I am quite hopeful for the
first time. I hope these important and hopeful developments are not
overshadowed by the hunt for Ahmet Sik's book.
From: A. Papazian