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New owners of Turkish 'deep state'
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/new-owners-of-turkish-deep-state.aspx?pageID=449&nID=37921&NewsCatID=409
MURAT YETKİN
[email protected]
According to Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdoğan, despite his
government's efforts of more than ten years now, the Turkish 'deep
state' is still active. The term has been popular in Turkish politics
for decades in order to explain a hypothetical formation within the
state apparatus that has its own agenda other than the coming and
going elected governments, and tries to achieve its goals by forcing
the limit of legality and violate it, if necessary.
Süleyman Demirel, the former Turkish president who was overthrown by
the military two times in 1971 and 1980, had defined it once in one
word: Military. It was the military who had overthrown the Menderes
government in 1960 and assumed widespread influence over civilian
bureaucracy, judiciary and universities along the way.
Erdoğan changed the rules of the game through a series of legal
changes and - especially after being threatened by the military in
2007 over the presidential elections - he enjoyed the successive court
cases, with indictments accusing scores of army officers, academics,
lawyers, writers and journalists of conspiring to overthrow the
government. Evidence based on police intelligence efforts like tapping
telephones or obtaining digital records from computers helped a new
generation of prosecutors to write the indictments for a new
generation of judges.
The return of the 'deep state' was voiced by Erdoğan in the same
statement where he revealed that some bugs had been found in his
office by intelligence organizations. It was later understood that an
attempt to interrogate Turkey's intelligence chief, Hakan Fidan, in
February 2012 by prosecutors acting upon police intelligence, was
after the incident. That was followed by a surge among prosecutors,
judges and police forces, which Turkish media claimed was close to the
U.S.-resident theologist Fethullah Gülen.
Yalçın Akdoğan, a deputy for the ruling AK Parti and Erdoğan's close
aide on security matters, told Radikal newspaper on Dec. 28 that there
was no rift between the government and the Gülen group, since "they
are complementary to each other." On the other hand, Akif Beki, a
former official spokesman for Erdoğan and now a columnist, told CNN
Türk on Dec. 27 that "Those who played an important role in clearing
the influence of the military from the deep state might be trying to
fill the gap themselves." He particularly mentioned the police and
judiciary, without saying who "those" might be.
A very interesting debate is going on in Ankara in the last days of
the year, signaling a lively debate in 2013.
December/29/2012
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/new-owners-of-turkish-deep-state.aspx?pageID=449&nID=37921&NewsCatID=409
MURAT YETKİN
[email protected]
According to Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdoğan, despite his
government's efforts of more than ten years now, the Turkish 'deep
state' is still active. The term has been popular in Turkish politics
for decades in order to explain a hypothetical formation within the
state apparatus that has its own agenda other than the coming and
going elected governments, and tries to achieve its goals by forcing
the limit of legality and violate it, if necessary.
Süleyman Demirel, the former Turkish president who was overthrown by
the military two times in 1971 and 1980, had defined it once in one
word: Military. It was the military who had overthrown the Menderes
government in 1960 and assumed widespread influence over civilian
bureaucracy, judiciary and universities along the way.
Erdoğan changed the rules of the game through a series of legal
changes and - especially after being threatened by the military in
2007 over the presidential elections - he enjoyed the successive court
cases, with indictments accusing scores of army officers, academics,
lawyers, writers and journalists of conspiring to overthrow the
government. Evidence based on police intelligence efforts like tapping
telephones or obtaining digital records from computers helped a new
generation of prosecutors to write the indictments for a new
generation of judges.
The return of the 'deep state' was voiced by Erdoğan in the same
statement where he revealed that some bugs had been found in his
office by intelligence organizations. It was later understood that an
attempt to interrogate Turkey's intelligence chief, Hakan Fidan, in
February 2012 by prosecutors acting upon police intelligence, was
after the incident. That was followed by a surge among prosecutors,
judges and police forces, which Turkish media claimed was close to the
U.S.-resident theologist Fethullah Gülen.
Yalçın Akdoğan, a deputy for the ruling AK Parti and Erdoğan's close
aide on security matters, told Radikal newspaper on Dec. 28 that there
was no rift between the government and the Gülen group, since "they
are complementary to each other." On the other hand, Akif Beki, a
former official spokesman for Erdoğan and now a columnist, told CNN
Türk on Dec. 27 that "Those who played an important role in clearing
the influence of the military from the deep state might be trying to
fill the gap themselves." He particularly mentioned the police and
judiciary, without saying who "those" might be.
A very interesting debate is going on in Ankara in the last days of
the year, signaling a lively debate in 2013.
December/29/2012