Who is losing in Ergenekon?

Losing in not exactly objective terms. Hard to quantify but I believe Kurdish nationalists and Turkish leftists are big time losers. This is of course a generalization. There are exceptions but in broad terms these two groups are dethroned in their oppositionary capacities.

DTP, the political representative of Kurdish nationalist movement decided to be neutral in the Ergenekon case. The claim is that this is an internal issue of Turkish elite circles and it has nothing to do in unravelling crimes in Kurdish lands. On the other hand, liberal-leftist intellectuals best represented in Radikal daily first raised suspicions and then began to explicitly attack Taraf, who published Ergenekon related documents. Radikal had deserved a real trust when it campaigned for the Susurluk case. However, times passed, balances changed. In a case which is more fundamental and disruptive many Radikal columnists decided to back down. Now Taraf is accused of being a tool of Fethullah Gülen group or accused of publishing controversial stuff etc.

If one takes Kurdish nationalists literally, then one has to declare that they are politically stupid. Ergenekon case reached unprecedented dimensions and if anyone can really be sentenced this will necessarily lead to the dirty operations in Kurdish lands. One likely explanation is there might even be some Kurdish elements of Ergenekon which is not a totally insane idea. Violence needs violence in both sides. These dirty connection happened before and it can happen again and PKK is notariously connected.

On the other hand, our left-liberals who are mostly located in Radikal a) just cannot go beyond their ideological beliefs and once again prove the inherent and implicit links with the official ideology and Kemalists-as the game now is not any more an in-house game, b) cannot believe that their monopoly on explaining the truth is threatened by other social forces c) are trapped in ideological cliches such as 'this is an intra-elite struggle'. Neutrality based on this cliché proves the non-existence their impact. Ergenekon may change power balances for good. And this group just cannot believe this is happening and instead offers indirect support to anti-Ergenekon forces...

Pro-secular demonstrators chant slogans during a protest against the government policy on secular groups in front of a giant poster of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk in Istanbul. Several thousand protesters thronged Istanbul Saturday, media and business figures, local media reported.

(AFP/Bulent Kilic)

Istanbul's daily headaches

Mithat MELEN

Rights and wrongs on Ergenekon

Cengiz ÇANDAR

bitterlemons-international.org

Middle East Roundtable
Edition 28 Volume 6 - July 17, 2008

Turmoil in Turkey

Radicalization of a national dialogue - Steven A. Cook

It is entirely unclear who would govern Turkey if AKP is closed and its leaders banned.

"Chaos" in Turkey - Fadi Hakura

Turkey could be on the cusp of a novel style of politics.

Lawfare in Turkey: Ergenekon versus the AKP - Ersin Kalaycioglu

The AKP initiatives precipitated a confrontation that fell on this cultural division of the Turkish polity.

The deeper problems - Soli Ozel

The Ergenekon case is ultimately a more promising one for Turkey's political future.

Ergenekon terror vis-à-vis Kemalism

We cannot understand the Ergenekon terror organization, its ideology and mentality without re-examining the Kemalism that is Ergenekon's root ideology.

Military professionalism vs. civilian militarism

Finally the Ergenekon indictment has been formulated and a case has been initiated into this putschist organization, labeled by the prosecutor as a terrorist outfit at the High Criminal Court, which sees crimes against the state.

The road from Hitler to Ergenekon

The picture becomes clearer when one puts together the facts about the gangs whose purpose was recently revealed and the information disseminated following the attacks against the Council of State and the Cumhuriyet daily.

Or do they not want unsolved murders to be solved?

In a sense, Turkey is such an incomprehensible and enigmatic country that one doesn't know what to classify under which category.

Optimism, cold logic and reality

Is the tide turning? I receive questions more frequently these days from foreign colleagues and others asking whether the Justice and Development Party’s (AKP) chances of “surviving” the closure case have increased lately.

Overview of the Turkish Situation

By Jenny White

Excerpts from The Economist article on Turkey (for full article, click here)

… Many see the campaign to topple the AKP as part of a long battle pitting an old guard, used to monopolising wealth and power, against a rising class of pious Anatolians symbolised by the AKP. Others say it is mostly about an army that believes soldiers, not elected politicians, should have the final say over how the country is run.

More Ergenekon Indictment Leaks

By Jenny White on Ergenekon indictment details

Two suspects in the Ergenekon case have fled abroad, former Justice and Development Party (AKP) deputy Turan Cömez and retired Major General Levent Ersöz.

Last week, one of the three prosecutors in charge of the investigation, Zekeriya Öz, was threatened first in a letter and then in telegraphs by a prison warden who described himself as a friend of retired major general and Ergenekon suspect Veli Kücük, who is under arrest.

Gang Structure:

Why am I against AKP's closure?

Mehmet Ali Birand

Turkey's role between Iran and the US

Barçin YİNANÇ

The radicalization of Turkey's national dialogue

Steven A. COOK

Polarization and two lawsuits

İlter TÜRKMEN

Tick tock, tick tock...

Was it a blessing? Or, was it a manifestation of how severe the situation has become in the fight against the tick and the Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever, or CCHF, which is spread through tick bites. A statement by an opposition deputy, Sevahir Bayındır of the pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party, or DTP, that a Parliament worker was bitten by a tick in the garden of Parliament and was under medical treatment created panic in the Turkish legislature where because of a smoking ban deputies are more often in the garden to enjoy a puff of cigarette on the green grass, rather than attending the rather boring debates inside.As only this summer over 40 Turks have lost their lives to CCHF – an Ebo

Is Turkey a 'mistaken republic?'

Mustafa AKYOL

Polarization and two lawsuits

İlter TÜRKMEN

Ergenekon remains hidden in the shadows

The indictment for the Ergenekon investigation refers to ties between the gang and many unsolved crimes in the past but the connection is at most flimsy because the air of secrecy surrounding

Ergenekon case

The indictment that the chief prosecutor prepared received a great deal of attention both inside and outside of the country. It is being closely followed not only by domestic actors but also by the entire world.

A different approach?

What a difference a few days can make! The closure of the ruling Justice and Developmetn Party (AKP) was widely seen as a foregone conclusion, but a subtle change of atmosphere is now taking place, largely due to the Ergenekon investigation.

Is the target the US or the police?

The attack against the policemen who were serving at the US Consulate in İstanbul led to pretty vague comments; no finding has so far satisfied the public.

AK Party isn’t going to be banned

In a column I penned a month ago, I noted that there was a 1 percent possibility that the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) could end up being shut down, adding that it could well be closed down despite this very small possibility.

A lot of theories going round

There is a theory going round (it's there on the front pages of Hürriyet newspaper, and I've even heard it broadcast via broadband on BBC domestic radio) that the current Ergenekon trial is mean-spirited retribution for the Constitutional Court case to shut down the governing Justice and Development Party (AK Party).

Turkey meets 'Kemalist terror'

Mustafa AKYOL

Surviving the Turkish political minefield

Diba Nigar GÖKSEL

Yusuf Kanlı: Can there be a draw?

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has reportedly instructed his Justice and Development Party, or AKP, deputies to give up any holiday plans and stay on in Ankara “until a further instruction” in anticipation that the Constitutional Court may issue its verdict in the closure case against the ruling party sometime in early August. Expecting a verdict by the end of July, the premier had asked his deputies earlier not to leave Ankara by the end of this month.The opposition parties, particularly the Nationalist Movement Party, or MHP, is rather angry with the decision of the premier to keep Parliament open during these roasting summer months – presumably to legislate an early election decision

Ergenekon or neutrality in 'civil war'

Cengiz ÇANDAR

A way to prevent military coups

Türker ALKAN

Three viewpoints within the military

Mehmet Ali Birand

This is a turning point

By HASAN CELAL GÜZEL, RADİKAL

The Turkish military was the most respected state organ in Turkey. Actually, it is still. However, never in the past has the coup planning been so weak and ineffectual.

Being more civic-minded and democratization

By SOLİ ÖZEL, SABAH

In the post-Ergenekon case era, the urge to be more civic-minded will find much more room in Turkey. A grave flaw in the current debate is to identify being more civic-minded with democratization.

Where was the state?

By AHMET TAŞGETİREN, BUGÜN

My mind is revolving around the question, "Are the people accused in connection with the Ergenekon case the true agents and masterminds?"

The CHP of Ergenekon

By MÜMTAZ’ER TÜRKÖNE, ZAMAN

Everyone should come to their senses. There is a corpse whose bad odor has spread throughout the entire neighborhood. Ergenekon is dead.

Coup plot against Ecevit sparks debate

Relying on parts of the Ergenekon indictment leaked to the press, newspapers reported yesterday that the Ergenekon gang, a crime network suspected of plotting to topple the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party), tried to overthrow the coalition government of the late Prime Minister Bülent Ecevit, who served between 1999 and 2002.

Ergenekon and coup support

By MEHMET METİNER, BUGÜN

For some reason, the same factions that were anxious to get to the bottom of the Susurluk case have changed course when it comes to the Ergenekon investigation.

Provocateur

By ŞAMİL TAYYAR, STAR

Journalist Can Ataklı, who appears to have forgotten his journalism uniform somewhere in the coatroom of the Vatan newspaper, signed off yesterday on a very dangerous piece of writing in his column.

Who is Turkey's strongest political actor?

By MAHMUT ÖVÜR, SABAH

Even if the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) is forced to close down and a ban is placed on leader Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the prime minister will still remain the strongest political actor around in the coming period.

Will optimism trump pessimism in AK Party closure case?

After Constitutional Court rapporteur Osman Can submitted his report to the top court last Wednesday on the closure case filed against the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party), all eyes have turned to the court, which will make the final ruling on the case.

Turkish déjà vu

By Soner Cagaptay
If Washington were to pursue a military solution in its efforts to halt the Iranian nuclear program, Turkey - the only NATO country bordering Iran - must be a part of its planning. Likewise, if the United States and its European allies were to implement tighter economic sanctions against Iran, Ankara would have to play a key role because much of Iran's trade with Europe goes through Turkey."

Showdown: the two Turkeys

EBRU KAYA

Toronto -- While the Middle East's only Muslim democracy may be losing focus on EU membership, your editorial (Losing Focus - July 17) ironically misses the point. The battle between secularists and the AKP is a confrontation between two Turkeys whose outcome will shape the future freedoms of that nation's society."

Dumb and dumber: Crushing Turkey's AKP

MARCUS GEE

The most hopeful democratic experiment in the Islamic world is at risk. Members of Turkey's secular establishment are threatening to shut down the country's popular six-year-old government. In a case before the Constitutional Court to be decided within weeks, they claim that the Islamic-rooted Justice and Development Party (AKP) is trying to violate the strict ban on religion in public life and impose Islam on Turkish institutions."

Turkey's Turmoil

By Aliza Marcus and Andrew Apostolou on Middle East

Turkey's political crisis has taken a turn for the worse. The chief prosecutor, who has accused the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) of anti-secular statements and actions, has presented his argument to the Constitutional Court. The court is expected soon to bar Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan from politics and disband his party. The only result this struggle can produce is political instability in an important U.S. ally.

The Battle for Turkey -Times Online

“I cover my head, not my brain,” the Turkish First Lady tells The Times, her head swathed in white silk. But Harunisa Gül does not believe headscarves should be forced on women, and it would be hard to find anyone in Istanbul who disagreed with her - at least in public."