Ergenekon report

Only one fourth of the report relates to the indictments

“There is concern that the case may turn into a big step taken towards an authoritarian single party administration, not a big step in the direction of institution of pluralist democracy in Turkey as claimed.” The introductory part of the Report by British Journalist Gareth Jenkins, who has become the last hope of the opponents of Ergenekon Case, titled: “Between Fact and Fantasy: Turkey’s Ergenekon Investigation, concludes with a quite familiar allegation, which has become a motto of a segment in the political debate in Turkey.

Contrary to what is thought, only 22 pages of the 83 page report relate to the initial two indictments for Ergenekon, one of which is 2455 pages and the other, 1909 pages. Still, the report appears to provide a solution to the need for “reading” by the Turkish opinion leaders and journalists, which put out substantial resistance as to the issue of not reading the Ergenekon indictments.

The global public opinion, which is unable to have first hand information on the issue of Ergenekon Case having its entire proceedings in Turkish, is the basic target of the report, which would serve as “Ergenekon for Beginners” for an ordinary Turkish reader.  It has the qualification as the first source containing initial assessment for the world not knowing Turkish about the issue of Ergenekon. And it is highly unfortunate for the world to learn about Ergenekon through this report in the beginning.

Myth of objectivity

Certainly, the fact that the report has been penned by a British journalist, who is thought to be ‘objective’ on Ergenekon Case, which has divided Turkey into supporters and opponents in Turkey, underlies the substantial interest enjoyed by the report both locally and internationally.

But, those reading the report come up with the truth in surprise that this British journalist living in Turkey for 20 years has already taken “his side”.

A biased political language, which has probably affected the entire report, is what must be dealt with in the first place before dwelling on the material mistakes, omissions and oversights by the report.

Jenkins is a journalist – writer living in Istanbul since 1989, who has worked for several newspapers ranging from the UK’s The Sunday Times to Egypt’s Al-Ahram and written reports and books on the issues of intelligence, military – civilian relationships and terrorism.

As it is understood from his writings in his two books published, which are titled: Political Islam in Turkey: Running West, Heading East, and Context and Circumstance: Turkish Military and Politics, as well as from other articles by him, Jenkins is a Westerner concerned about Turkey’s breakage from the West and heading for an Islamic country rather than the military guardianship regime in Turkey.

The report is a study made upon an order, not a product of journalism prepared upon Jenkins’ own initiative. The ordering party is a thought organization called A Joint Transatlantic Research and Policy Center, which has been formed by a merger between the Central Asia -  Caucasus Institute and Silk Road Studies Program having offices in Washington and Stockholm.

The center, which is defined by Şahin Alpay participating at a meeting held in Sweden as “Western Kemalist”, has a unit having studies on Turkey since 2006. Ergenekon report, which has been prepared by Jenkins under its commission, is the last study by that unit. A glance at the titles of its previous studies related to Turkey would suffice to understand the concern of the center as regards Turkey:

Rhetoric and Truth: AKP’s Liberal Vision, Is AKP Heading Towards a More Frightening Version of Semi-Autocracy, Turkey is Keeping Away from the West, Turkey’s Secular and Unitary Future, Turkish Elections: Democratic Islamists? A New Form of Kemalism May Become More Friendlier.

The publications issued by the center include a speech by Zeyno Baran in the US Senato, titled “Don’t Misread the Generals in Turkey”, who once enjoyed public attention for her projections for a coup in Turkey.

In the past, the center also commissioned Gareth Jenkins for preparation of reports on Turkey. In his report, “Turkey vs. EU”, Jenkins points out in conclusion that “AKP actually does nothing for the EU, has an Islamist agenda and is breaking away from the West”. The title of another report by him would suffice: Third Ergenekon Indictment Deepens Concerns on the Legal System in Turkey.

“Sevres: the Last Cry of the EU”

The studies of the center on Turkey in Sweden are headed by Halil Mangus Karavel, a Turkish expert. Karaveli is the son of  the pro-Ataturk journalist – writer Orhan Karaveli, who lives in Sweden. Some may remember the name, Karaveli, who is behind the studies on Turkey, which include Jenkins’ Report, from the articles written by him on page two of Cumhuriyet Newspaper. For those not remembering it, quoting the titles of his several articles would be self-explanatory: Second Sevres the Last Cry of the EU, Why the West Does Not Like Ataturk and Liberalism and Real Archaism.

The line by Karaveli, who is the chief columnist of a newspaper in Sweden, is not one step further than that of Kemal Kerinçsiz regarding Orhan Pamuk.

It still might be possible to work out an objective study through honest and technical  research despite all the political baggage behind the report. However, Jenkins seems to have spoken in a political language:

Against the ‘poor’ army

In Jenkins’ Turkey, there are pro-AKP media (and Taraf is cited among the most contentious opponents of the army); there are anti-army circles comprising Kurds, AKP followers and a group of leftists but there is no mention of any anti-AKP media and pro-army circles.

The Turkey in the report is the one where five military coups did not take place and military guardianship is not a permanent threat to governments. The coup plans of 2003 – 2004, which are one of the major subjects probed under Ergenekon Case is analyzed by the report on the basis of “an approach treating them as the youth error of the generals”. And the memo of April 27, which is not precisely defined therein, is dubbed Büyükanıt’s childish behavior which finally paid off into AKP hands.

Ergenekon is portrayed as a counter-attack by pro-AKP, Islamist and leftist columnists and television commentators who have restored their self-confidence in the wake of the elections of July 22 in Turkey where the army is so weak and incompetent.

According to the report, there are the followers of Gülen, “who intend to seize the State and establish an Islamic state” and their plotting mentality, as well as the statements by Tuncay Güney, who receives a wide coverage of his strange history from “an Islamist office boy to a rabbi”, behind Ergenekon. And of course, the mentality of the Islamists and Kurdish nationalists favoring the theories of conspiracy, who think that “even Hesbullah is connected with the deep State”…

And when the lack of information is added up to all of this, it would not be necessary for one to be a Briton living Turkey to think that Ergenekon is merely a fantasy.

The following sentence would alone suffice to have an understanding of the viewpoint dominating the report:

“Ergenekon investigation is not the first effort of the opponents of the Turkish army to discredit the army by using their influence on the judiciary.” Şemdinli Case, which starts being narrated after this sentence, is the first event where the army was discredited through the judiciary.

THIS IS NOT ERGENEKON

The criticisms entirely selected from among the anti-Ergenekon samples in the 83-page report by Gareth Jenkins titled: “Between Fact and Fantasy: Turkey’s Ergenekon Investigation” may be divided into two: inconsistencies and material errors. And distortions, manipulations, which do not look quite innocent.

Nobody claims that Ergenekon’s indictments are a bed of roses with no thorns. It is apparent that there are many unfounded allegations among thousands of pages as well as many aggrieved persons among hundreds of suspects. But, it is not a method of assessment quite innocent to cause confusion over major allegations by concentrating on the problematic fields of such an investigation which is attempted to be maintained in Turkey’s conditions subject to the Turkish judicial culture.

“Ergenekon would cause the murder of Ergenekon manager”

The most popular among the claims in Jenkins’ report, which were covered by the Turkish media is the following: Şener Eruygur and Tuncay Özkan, who are included in the hit list by Ergenekon under the first Ergenekon Indictment come out to be Ergenekon managers under the second indictment. “Could it be possible”!

Under the first Ergenekon Indictment, the prosecutors do not have any claims and accusations that Ergenekon would plot assassinations against the persons such as Şener Eruygur and Tuncay Özkan. This claim is quoted as part of a sentence in a letter sent by Osman Yıldırım to a friend when he was in jail, as stated by him in his testimonial in the indictment. Apart from this, no comments and accusation have been made by the prosecutors in connection with this claim. Even Yıldırım says that he had written the letter in which he claimed that assassinations would be made against the persons including figures such as Orhan Pamuk and Lagendijk apart from Eruygur and Özkan, just to attract the attention of the prosecutors. As it is understood, Jenkins’ mind is confused by the Turkish style of writing indictments where the allegations of the prosecutors are mingled with the files of evidence dumped by them into the indictment.

8.5-page sentence

Kemal Alemdaroğlu’s sentence lasting 8.5 pages is another example of his misinterpretation of the Turkish style indictments, which was repeated by him on TV programs where he appeared as an example for bad writing of the indictment. As a matter of fact, the discussions held by Alemdaroğlu with 32 different persons in connection with Ergenekon, which are a single sentence as thought by Jenkins, merely comprises the writing of such discussions in a consecutive order linked by “as he said”. And this is a situation frequently encountered in the Turkish indictments.

There are other examples by which Jenkins reveals the “absurdities” in the indictment by having confusion over the allegations of the prosecutors and the fully quoted testimonials in the files of evidence.

For instance, the quotation on Page 58 of the report by which the prosecutors said that Ergenekon organized its structure “like Masonic Bilderberg, German Nazis, British intelligence service and some NGO’s in the west”, something leading him to think that the prosecutors revealed ‘their conspirator world’ to the West is actually incorporated in the document called “Lobby” allegedly pertaining to Ergenekon.

The quotation which is claimed by him to have been said by the prosecutors and reads “Ergenekon changed strategy after 1999, controlling the non-governmental organizations such as ÇYDD and ADD” does not actually belong to the prosecutors  and it is directly from the document called Restructuring of the State, which is one of Ergenekon’s documents…

Contrary to what is thought, the allegation in the report that “Ergenekon plans to generate funds by producing and selling chemical weapons” is not the one made by the prosecutors but it is from the document Lobby which is fully quoted as part of the evidence.

Did they meet with Cheney?

Because the report is penned for the Western audience, the ‘weird examples’ from the indictment are selected accordingly. The report points to the discussion held by Ergenekon with Dick Cheney as one of the most ‘absurd’ allegations. But this allegation has a concrete source: phone conversation between İlhan Selçuk and Cumhuriyet Editor in Chief İbrahim Yıldız. The conversation is quoted: “Cumhuriyet Washington Representative Elçin Poyrazlar met with Number One and Two Advisors to Dick Cheney, discussing the scenarios of an alternative to AKP”.

Bomb on Cumhuriyet from Emek

The issue of similarities between the bombs thrown on Cumhuriyet Newspaper and the bombs found at Ümraniye is one of the subjects on which Jenkins focuses in his report. There are different stories about this subject. Jenkins is right in saying that the final news that the bombs had the same series had not later proven correct. It is apparent that there is disinformation. And it is a major shortcoming for Jenkins, who incorporates this into his report rightfully, not to notice the allegations even covered by Cumhuriyet Newspaper that there is similarity between the bombs found at retired officer Fikret Emek’s house in Eskişehir and the bombs thrown on Cumhuriyet.

And then, did the bar-goers bomb Cumhuriyet?

The quotation of the name of Cumhuriyet chief columnist İlhan Selçuk in the incidents involving the bombing of Cumhuriyet Newspaper in May 2006 as a potential culprit is actually a hard-to-believe allegation. Jenkins rightfully incorporated this in his report, but shouldn’t he have also included a hard-to-believe story that Cumhuriyet Newspaper was bombed three times in a week (is it because the initial two bombs failed to receive adequate coverage by media?), that some of the persons throwing bombs were hired from the bars on payment and that several days after this incident, the same persons went to Ankara, storming the building of the Supreme Court?

Supreme Court decision is not that, too!

In the meantime, Jenkins also has misinformation on the actual cause of the murder on which the indictments read by him are built; he thinks that Alparslan Arslan stormed the building of the Supreme Court because of the latter’s decisions supporting the ban on wearing head scarves in universities. The said Supreme Court ruling which is quoted as justification for the murder was a decision in connection with the bad influence caused by a pre-school teacher wearing a head scarf upon leaving the school after classes on her students. No one must be surprised by Jenkins’ mistake. Even the murderer, Alparslan Arslan claimed in court that he committed the murder “because they did not allow the pre-school teacher wearing a heard scarf into school.

Still calling Arslan Islamist Nationalist, Jenkins fails to make any references to the amalgamation of the Supreme Court Case into Ergenekon Case pursuant to a ruling by the Supreme Court of Appeals (although it coincided with the timing of the report) although he compiles any opposite news articles refuting the allegations under Ergenekon.

A familiar comment: weapons are pipes

The issue of the abundant numbers of weapons uncovered and seized in their hidden deposits is attempted to be justified by the comments: “Weapons are so easily available to anyone in Turkey. After all, weapons are now available at the black markets due to the war in the Southeast”. But there is no mention of the trial of both Fikret Emek and Mustafa Sönmez by the Military Prosecutors under the Office of Chief of Staff for weapons captured at their houses. Regarding the arsenal discovered at Poyrazköy in April, Jenkins just speaks like the Chief of Staff: “They are all pipes”.

‘Rabbi’ pinpointed…

One of the widest parts of the report is devoted to Tuncay Güney under the title, “From an Islamist office boy to a rabbi in exile”. Although it is noted that it would not be possible for him to have written such documents seized on him, it is repeated that Ergenekon investigation started upon the allegations by Tuncay Güney.  By omitting the fact that there was no need for Güney, who is frequently referred to for his testimony in the initial indictment where there was little evidence, as a witness as the investigation went deeper and deeper and the forthcoming indictments had almost no mention of him.

According to the report which describes the President of the Santa Claus Foundation, who is an opponent of the Patriarchate and a defendant under Ergenekon, as a man of heart fighting for Saint Nicholas; Turhan Çömez is a dissident who resigned from AKP upon his protest of the Prime Minister’s authoritarian policies; Ferda Paksüt as an ordinary housewife, not someone leaking information to CH from inside as his spouse was involved in the hearing as part of the legal proceedings to dissolve AKP; Atabeyler gang, which was arrested for attempted assassination against the Prime Minister, as an amateur group; the followers of the Süleymancılar sect as Nakşi, and Prime Minister as “Prosecutor for Ergenekon” although he makes no references to Baykal who says that he is an advocate of Ergenekon.

Şemdinli: A plot by the government against Büyükanıt

The remarks on Şemdinli Case are the most striking example by which the not so good intention of the report makes its existence uncovered with a heavy political introduction that “Ergenekon investigation is not the first effort of the opponents of the Turkish army to discredit the army by using their influence on the judiciary.”

According to Jenkins, the Şemdinli investigation is actually “an operation by AKP to defame Yaşar Büyükanıt because it did not want him to succeed Özkök as the Chief of Staff”. According to the report, those putting the allegations about Büyükanıt’s Jewish origins into circulation are “the pro-AKP circles failing under the Şemdinli Case”.

Considering that the most radical nationalist circles in Turkey have not even voiced such allegations publicly, Jenkins appears to have surrendered to the theories of conspiracy he complains about throughout his report.

The section where it is noted that because the soldiers involved in the Şemdinli incident were not members of the Special Warfare Department, one may not conclude that this incident was not a work of the deep state brings to light Jenkins’ definition of the sterile deep state on his mind. JITEM and confessors do not fall in Jenkins’ deep state.

By hiding the fact that Şemdinli Prosecutor Sarıkaya requiring a probe on the then Land Forces Commander, Yaşar Büyükanıt, was removed by the Supreme Board of Judges and Prosecutors from his profession in the wake of the declaration issued by the Office of the Chief of Staff, Jenkins makes more serious mistakes as he attempts to the Şemdinli Indictment was already defective from the very beginning.

According to Jenkins, the prosecutor prepared his indictment so inattentively that he phrased Büyükanıt’s remarks: “I know him, he is a good guy” three times differently throughout the indictment. However, the first of such usages quoted by Jenkins involved the remarks directly written by the prosecutor; the other two usages just comprised excerpts from the two letters of information incorporated in the indictment. As these two letters of information were typed in the indictment in Italic and large titles, it is so meaningful for Jenkins, whose Turkish is quite clear, to cite this as an example for inattention of the prosecutor.

Şener Eruygur; his mistake is tolerable…

The report’s criticisms of the second indictment is really very surprising. The documents prepared upon Şener Eruygur’s instructions when he was the Gendarmerie Commander, personal information compiled about a number of figures including the Prime Minister, memoranda, political contacts and meetings as covered by the second indictment focusing on the alleged coup are just lightly treated as “Eruygur’s mistakes not connected with Ergenekon”. The Republican Working Group” (Cumhuriyet Çalışma Group) is merely portrayed as some sort of an association of retired officers founded by Eruygur, which proclaims its objective as “organizing any necessary actions and activities which are objectionable for performance under an official position and setting the social reflex into motion” and which only organizes campaigns of letters, arranges the printing and distribution of Ataturk posters and holds conferences. A much larger witch hunt would be probably launched in Britain upon discovery of a group similar to the one which illegally compiled confidential data on almost all the entities and persons and directed rectors and non-governmental organizations in Turkey.

WE BRIEFLY CALL IT ERGENEKON

Under Ergenekon investigation expanding its range from the attempted coups to the action plans, Turkey settles accounts with not only a terrorist organization but also military guardianship. This is what Jenkins cannot see.

Ergenekon not emerging out of the deep state

The part of the report on the history of deep state in Turkey is the one penned with ultimate care.

Although Jenkins confuses the Gladio Investigation and “Clean Hands Investigation” in Italy and fails to remind the reader that Turkey is one of the countries in Turkey which have not officially wind up their own Gladios, his reference is noteworthy that the debate over the deep state had been triggered by the Mobilization Review Board (Special Warfare Department) set up within the Office of the Chief of Staff in the wake of Turkey’s accession to NATO in 1952.

What is more important than this is his note that the Turkish deep state has not served NATO interests exclusively, that its unique tradition of state such as the Committee for Union and Progress and ‘Karakol’ Society has intertwined with this structure and that those working for the Special Warfare Department feel being a part of a highly respected tradition of patriotism rather than some sort of conspiracy. All this is quite enlightening for a foreign eye unfamiliar with Turkey.

But as noted by the report, some things happened to the deep state, which organized the Turkish Resistance Organization in Cyprus, boldly asked Ecevit for funds, had a part in the incidents of terror prior to 1980 and was finally uncovered at Susurluk, in the 90’s, as it concentrated to safeguard secularism.

There is now a deep state, which does not use terror in combating anti-secular forces other than getting involved in illegal personal data compilation, manipulation and applying pressure through bureaucratic and political instruments on desk top in contrast to the deep state which used to make recourse to terror and had 100 years of the spirit of the Committee for Union and Progress in the background. Thus, the report falls short of linking the deep state with Ergenekon.

Skipping the 90’s

Therefore, the report fails to make any references to the assassinations by the Special Warfare Department of secular figures such as Uğur Mumcu, Bahriye Üçok, Muammer Aksoy, Ahmet Taner Kışlalı and Necip Hablemitoğlu following the rising sensitivity of secularism, the post-modern coup stage of February 28, intervention by the military with politics throughout the 90’s and 2000’s, MGK (National Security Council), the red booklet which remained as the secret constitution of the state until the EU process and memoranda.

It notes that the Special Warfare Department changed its name to get rid of its bad reputation but fails to say that this new name is the Information Support Department and that the Plan for Control of Fundamental Reaction uncovered by Taraf on June 15 was prepared by this team (The report is dated August 2009).

Thus, Ergenekon operation, which is isolated by the report from history and Turkey’s realities, turns into a fantasy fabricated by AKP to oppress its opponents.

Organization like a bunch

The reply to the criticism that as noted by the report, there is no adequate evidence as to the existence of an organization called Ergenekon and no organizational link between the figures, which are quite unlike and mutually unfamiliar actually lies hidden in Jenkins’ report.

The report notes as it narrates the role played by the Special Warfare Department in the 70’s: The method of organization in the form of small and autonomous groups, which are not centralized and run by a single center, gives an idea as to the organizations of deep state in the decades that followed.

What is tracked by the prosecutors under Ergenekon investigation is probably this model of organization in the form of a bunch as also found out by Jenkins.

This is exactly where Jenkins’ criticism that the investigation follows a method of induction, that evidence is reached through persons and that the indictments are quite lengthy and confusing.

Memories of the Land Forces Commander

There is a structure which has just been uncovered by the prosecutors during the investigation. The picture, a small part of which could be seen by the prosecutors in the wake of the attack on the Supreme Court, is completed a little more upon each indictment.

That is precisely why there are multiple and quite lengthy indictments in connection with the same investigation.

It is quite obvious that this causes legal problems throughout the investigation. What is never seen in Jenkins’ report extensively dealing with these problems is that any investigation targeting at the top level military figures in Turkey cannot be followed through the eventual end at whatsoever cost. In particular where the extent of an investigation would reach active top ranking military officers. (Refer to the case of Dursun Çiçek). And this difficulty just causes certain allegations in the indictments (such as whether retired generals would stage a coup) to be unsupported.

In his report, Jenkins quotes a former Land Forces Commander interviewed by him in 1999 as saying that the commander learned that a soldier working as one of his aides was a member of the Special Warfare Department, that he had this situation established by getting him followed and that however, that soldier denied this on every opportunity and given this, it would not be unconceivable for Jenkins to be unaware of this condition.

What is really meant by Ergenekon…

Now, careful analyzers can see that what is really investigated under Ergenekon investigation is not the organization, the extent of which has been discovered with the first indictment.

The scope of the investigation for which the fourth indictment is under way covered the coup plans in 2003 and 2004, the illegal organizations within the army such as the Republican Working Group, Headquarters Houses, JITEM members involved in the murders with unidentified culprits, Action Plan for Control of Fundamental Reaction, political reports originating from the Office of the Chief of Staff apart from the junta activities in the Naval Forces Command, illegal personal data compilation, appendices and memoranda. Their relationship with Ergenekon Terrorist Organization is highly ambiguous.

In other words, Turkey questions any illegal activities of the army as a matter of fact. Because the fact that it is the army being investigated cannot be uttered or is not intended to be uttered, the illegal structure we face is called the terrorist organization. Namely, speaking frankly, Ergenekon investigation means the questioning of the military legacy on politics in Turkey and draw all the organs of the state into law. That we are able to do this 793 years after what Jenkins’ homeland, Britain, did (Magna Carta declared in 1215) must not be such an eyesore.

Yıldıray Oğur - Taraf, 1-3 December 2009