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CHRISTIAN MURDERS IN TURKEY AND TUSHAD
by MARKAR ESAYAN
Today's Zaman
July 25 2012
Turkey
The massacre of Christian missionaries in Zirve Publishing House
in Malatya on April 18, 2007, which horrified the whole country and
the world, had come after the murder of Turkish-Armenian journalist
Hrant Dink on Jan. 19, 2007 and the murder of priest Andrea Santoro
in Trabzon on Feb. 5, 2006. In 2004 and 2005, paranoia about a
nonexistent threat posed by Christian missionaries, just like the
fictitious Shariah threat, was systematically being pumped into
the collective subconscious of the general public. And unwittingly,
the Religious Affairs Directorate was playing into the hands of this
conspiracy with Friday sermons it prepared in 2005. The deep state
could easily spread its conspiracies by making use of the fears that
this country would be divided by Christian missionaries.
What went unnoticed at that time was that the primary aim of the
attacks against Christians in Turkey was to give the impression to
the external world that religious fundamentalism was on the rise
in Turkey. In this way, they could attain a number of aims at one
stretch: The ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) derived
its greatest backing first from the general public and then from the EU
and the US in its fight against Kemalist/neo-nationalist (ulusalcı)
tutelage. The AK Party-implemented reforms would secure colossal
support from the external world, which in turn undermined the pro-coup
propaganda. It had to weaken this legitimacy, the deep state reasoned.
The most practical way to do this was to kill Christians in Turkey
and put the blame on Muslims and the AK Party. Although the Council
of State attack had been masterminded by Ergenekon -- a clandestine
organization nested within the state trying to manipulate the
government -- the funeral ceremony of the murdered judge, Mustafa
Ozbilgin, had been turned into a lynching of the AK Party. At that
time, everyone believed that murderer Alparslan Arslan attacked the
secular stronghold, the Council of State, in order to protest the
headscarf ban. Later this act by Ergenekon was taken within the scope
of the case against Ergenekon.
In the murders of Santoro, Dink and the missionaries in Malatya, it
was clear that the magnitude of violence and brutality was gradually
increasing and similar methods were used in all of them -- such as
the hitmen employed being underage and quickly apprehended. We, as
the general public, were convinced that all of these murders were the
acts of the deep state and were orchestrated from the same center,
but we had to prove this through legal actions.
This was not possible with respect to the cases of Santoro and Dink.
For some unknown reason, the government stopped backing these cases.
Despite the facts that the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR)
found Turkey in breach of the Convention in the way it handled
with these cases and that the State Audit Institution (DDK) of the
presidency found that the "state officials were protected and the
evidence was obscured and the investigation was not effectively
conducted," the court held that there was "no criminal organization
behind the attack." However, the prosecutor in the same case said:
"There is certainly an organization involved. How could the judge not
see it?" The trial ended in a sheer scandal. It is currently pending
review at the Court of Cassation.
Concerning the Zirve case, the supplementary indictment submitted
by the prosecutor to the court is of vital importance. Turkey has
to attach utmost importance to this trial because the prosecutors
recorded very significant progress.
As reported by the Zaman daily July 25th, the indictment accepted
by the court notes that the murders were committed as a result of
the field work performed by the National Strategies and Operations
Department of Turkey (TUSHAD), an undercover military unit, and Ä°lker
Cınar. It indicates that a suitable climate was created using the
media outlets for the murder of Santoro in Trabzon on Feb. 5, 2006
and Dink on Jan. 19, 2007.
The people who were killed in Zirve Publishing House were first
mentioned in a symposium held on Oct. 1, 2005, and Col. Mehmet Ulger
was appointed as the gendarmerie commander in Malatya in January 2006.
Following his appointment to the city, Ulger started to hold meetings
concerning the missionaries, a first in the city, at the Provincial
Security Commission. In addition, TUSHAD commissioned a former priest,
İlker Cınar, with the task of contributing to the provocative
reports; a research assistant at İnönu University, Ruhi Abat,
with the duty of further developing the project; Intelligence Branch
Director Haydar YeÅ~_il with the duty of ensuring coordination; and
noncommissioned officer Murat Gökturk with the duty of collecting
intelligence and establishing contacts.
It is of vital importance that we all focus on this trial so that
the scandals we saw in the Santoro and Dink cases will not be repeated.
From: Baghdasarian
by MARKAR ESAYAN
Today's Zaman
July 25 2012
Turkey
The massacre of Christian missionaries in Zirve Publishing House
in Malatya on April 18, 2007, which horrified the whole country and
the world, had come after the murder of Turkish-Armenian journalist
Hrant Dink on Jan. 19, 2007 and the murder of priest Andrea Santoro
in Trabzon on Feb. 5, 2006. In 2004 and 2005, paranoia about a
nonexistent threat posed by Christian missionaries, just like the
fictitious Shariah threat, was systematically being pumped into
the collective subconscious of the general public. And unwittingly,
the Religious Affairs Directorate was playing into the hands of this
conspiracy with Friday sermons it prepared in 2005. The deep state
could easily spread its conspiracies by making use of the fears that
this country would be divided by Christian missionaries.
What went unnoticed at that time was that the primary aim of the
attacks against Christians in Turkey was to give the impression to
the external world that religious fundamentalism was on the rise
in Turkey. In this way, they could attain a number of aims at one
stretch: The ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) derived
its greatest backing first from the general public and then from the EU
and the US in its fight against Kemalist/neo-nationalist (ulusalcı)
tutelage. The AK Party-implemented reforms would secure colossal
support from the external world, which in turn undermined the pro-coup
propaganda. It had to weaken this legitimacy, the deep state reasoned.
The most practical way to do this was to kill Christians in Turkey
and put the blame on Muslims and the AK Party. Although the Council
of State attack had been masterminded by Ergenekon -- a clandestine
organization nested within the state trying to manipulate the
government -- the funeral ceremony of the murdered judge, Mustafa
Ozbilgin, had been turned into a lynching of the AK Party. At that
time, everyone believed that murderer Alparslan Arslan attacked the
secular stronghold, the Council of State, in order to protest the
headscarf ban. Later this act by Ergenekon was taken within the scope
of the case against Ergenekon.
In the murders of Santoro, Dink and the missionaries in Malatya, it
was clear that the magnitude of violence and brutality was gradually
increasing and similar methods were used in all of them -- such as
the hitmen employed being underage and quickly apprehended. We, as
the general public, were convinced that all of these murders were the
acts of the deep state and were orchestrated from the same center,
but we had to prove this through legal actions.
This was not possible with respect to the cases of Santoro and Dink.
For some unknown reason, the government stopped backing these cases.
Despite the facts that the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR)
found Turkey in breach of the Convention in the way it handled
with these cases and that the State Audit Institution (DDK) of the
presidency found that the "state officials were protected and the
evidence was obscured and the investigation was not effectively
conducted," the court held that there was "no criminal organization
behind the attack." However, the prosecutor in the same case said:
"There is certainly an organization involved. How could the judge not
see it?" The trial ended in a sheer scandal. It is currently pending
review at the Court of Cassation.
Concerning the Zirve case, the supplementary indictment submitted
by the prosecutor to the court is of vital importance. Turkey has
to attach utmost importance to this trial because the prosecutors
recorded very significant progress.
As reported by the Zaman daily July 25th, the indictment accepted
by the court notes that the murders were committed as a result of
the field work performed by the National Strategies and Operations
Department of Turkey (TUSHAD), an undercover military unit, and Ä°lker
Cınar. It indicates that a suitable climate was created using the
media outlets for the murder of Santoro in Trabzon on Feb. 5, 2006
and Dink on Jan. 19, 2007.
The people who were killed in Zirve Publishing House were first
mentioned in a symposium held on Oct. 1, 2005, and Col. Mehmet Ulger
was appointed as the gendarmerie commander in Malatya in January 2006.
Following his appointment to the city, Ulger started to hold meetings
concerning the missionaries, a first in the city, at the Provincial
Security Commission. In addition, TUSHAD commissioned a former priest,
İlker Cınar, with the task of contributing to the provocative
reports; a research assistant at İnönu University, Ruhi Abat,
with the duty of further developing the project; Intelligence Branch
Director Haydar YeÅ~_il with the duty of ensuring coordination; and
noncommissioned officer Murat Gökturk with the duty of collecting
intelligence and establishing contacts.
It is of vital importance that we all focus on this trial so that
the scandals we saw in the Santoro and Dink cases will not be repeated.
From: Baghdasarian