last week something like a minor judiciary coup happened within judiciary circles. I realize today that I have not emphasized that enough. A prosecutor from Ankara ordered the search of Ergenekon’s Istanbul based prosecutor’s headquarters. The claim was that Ankara prosecutor believed there was illegal phone listening happening in Istanbul prosecutor’s office. So like an ambush, some officials visited the Istanbul office, then began to have a look who was being listened. This is a giant scandal. Some officials were found to be listing those who was being listened. This is a scandal. This is a judiciary intervention to an ongoing trial by another section of Turkish judiciary. I hear that some bureaucrats in Ankara are very anxious because of the Ergenekon trial.
I hear that there are already new ‘understandings’ after the AKP closure case. One shouldn’t be very hopeful any more (!).
Ergenekon: worries and hopes
What will the outcome of the Ergenekon case be? This question alone is sufficient to explain the hopes and worries about the future of Turkey.
Elder brother caught in Dink case
The older brother of one of the main suspects in the murder of journalist Hrant Dink was detained by police yesterday. Osman Hayal was detained for being in Istanbul when a teenage nationalist
Ergenekon questions in Malatya massacre case
The lead suspect in the Malatya massacre case denied any connection with retired Maj. Gen. Levent Ersöz, who was arrested in relation to the Ergenekon case, in a trial at Malatya’s Third Court
A correct response to the Kurdish Gladio
My article titled "Kurdish Gladio" (Aug. 13) focused on the connections between certain groups acting under a Kurdish ideology and the deep state.
Is the PKK trying to fill in for Ergenekon?
So many things have happened in Turkey during the last month that one might have a hard time trying to keep track of them. It seems as if an event that happened one month ago actually happened years ago. Yet we need to be mindful of two important events for Turkey.
[CROSS READER] Terrorist PKK returns to stage
The outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) perpetrated another bloody attack on Thursday, this time in the western city of İzmir.
JİTEM’s existence finally exposed
Retired Col. Arif Doğan, taken into custody as part of an investigation into Ergenekon, confessed to being the leader of a secret and illegitimate military intelligence unit known as JİTEM, whose existence has so far been officially denied.
When will democracy come to Turkey?
The Justice and Development Party (AK Party) expects to garner around 50 percent of the vote in the upcoming local elections. In other words, it aims to increase the amount of votes it swept in last year’s July 22 elections.
Will the AK Party remain silent?
While I was reading the newspapers yesterday, I saw that the allegations of bribery from Republican People’s Party (CHP) parliamentary group deputy chairman Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu against AK Party deputy Şaban Dişli regarding a dirty deal between Dişli and a printing house were continuing.
Democrats proven right
Turkey was supposed to hold presidential elections in the spring of 2007. The primary factor that was expected to determine the new president was the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) due to its overwhelming majority in Parliament.
The profound confusion of the ‘left’
As the Ergenekon terror network and its amazing subplots unfold on a daily basis, there is a developing debate within the left, spanning from whether it is legitimate to lend support to the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) to questioning what is seen as a "hidden intent" behind the whole case.
Ergenekon Timeline
Today’s Zaman has provided a useful timeline for tracking the twists and turns in the Ergenekon case, beginning in July 2008: click here.
Is a civilian constitution a trap?
The most obvious case of political imprudence shown by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) during its second term in government was probably its faltering about the "civilian constitution."
PKK seen as obstacle to Kurdistan – Middle East Times
[CROSS READER] Turkey’s problem with the left
Turkey has an undeniable problem in its lack of a strong opposition to the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party). Leftist parties have been in the opposition since the AK Party swept to power in 2002.
Susurluk mystery already solved!
People have been asking themselves: The Susurluk incident [traffic accident in 1996 in the northwestern town of Susurluk that revealed suspicious links between politicians, the mafia and security forces] was not solved, so will the Ergenekon case be solved?
CHP prepares a program
I read a news report last weekend: "CHP [Republican People’s Party] renews its program" (Aug. 15, ntv/msnbc Web site). According to the report, work to renew the party program was accelerated.
CHP has finally found a proper manner of opposition
Readers will remember the many times I have written articles that accommodate harsh criticism of the main opposition Republican People’s Party’s (CHP) concept of politics and its opposition mentality.
Do we need the gendarmerie?
The Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government has promised to deliver a new democratization package that includes keeping the gendarmerie forces firmly under civilian control.
Yusuf Kanlı: Reform laws…
Article 174 of the Turkish Constitution safeguards a set of laws, often referred to as the “Revolution Laws” which indeed underline the fundamental aspects of the modern Turkish state. One of those Reform Laws is the Law 677 of Nov. 30, 1341 (1925 according to the Roman calendar) on the “Closure of Dervish Monasteries and Tombs, the Abolition of the Office of Kee
per of Tombs and the Abolition and Prohibition of Certain Titles” with which the modern Turkish Republic prohibited religious orders in the country.This ban, however, effectively remained in force for about 25 years but starting with the pluralist democracy in 1950, religious orders that went underground with the 1925 prohi
Two parties to be founded on left
It is undeniable that Turkey is in search of a strong opposition to the Justice and Development Party (AK Party). However, it is unknown how political parties will respond to this search for opposition.
Unfair polemics over Erbakan’s pardon
You may not like a politician; you may not appreciate his opinions. But if you attack him cruelly and unfairly, then you will hurt everyone’s conscience.
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