Government Should Exert Its Power Without Further Delay

Another alleged plan to finish off the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) as well as the Gülen movement, revealed by daily Taraf last Friday, has once again underlined an urgency for the government to exert its authority and to use its democratic rights to fully ensure the democratic control of the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK). This can only be made possible through a fresh start on democratic reforms.

"I am not surprised by the latest plans allegedly designed by the Turkish officers. As long as Turkey cannot ensure the democratic control of the armed forces, it can never, ever solve any of its problems and in particular the Kurdish question," Ümit Kardaş, retired military prosecutor, told Sunday's Zaman.

Remarks made by Gen. Metin Gürak, head of the Turkish General Staff's communications department, during a weekly press briefing last Friday upon a question on the daily's report, have once again fallen short of satisfying the public.

The General Staff's military prosecutor's office was given orders immediately to investigate all aspects of the story published in Taraf, he said. Upon persistent questioning Gen. Gürak, however, failed to clarify whether the investigation had been launched against those allegedly leaking the report or against the existence of such a plan.

The alleged plan to carry out various activities to unseat the government and to destroy the Gülen movement was prepared for the General Staff operations department and dated April 2009, according to an indictment expected to be publicized as part of the Ergenekon investigation, said Taraf.

This event has once again proven that the government should take more courageous steps to make sure that the TSK is under civilian control and that those involved in illegal activities within the TSK should be sacked by the government, Kardaş noted.

The documents concerning the plan were signed by Col. Dursun Çiçek and found in the office of retired Capt. Serdar Öztürk, an Ergenekon suspect, reported the Taraf story.

There are over 200 suspects in the ongoing Ergenekon investigation, including retired generals as well as active duty officers, accused of preparing the groundwork for an armed incitement to unseat the AK Party government.

Among the alleged plans revealed by Taraf, was one to strengthen the basis for nationalist parties, triggering anti-Armenian and anti-Greek feelings among the public, putting the AK Party in a difficult position. This may explain which circles in Turkey sabotaged the Armenian-Turkish rapprochement provoking Azeri public sentiment against the normalization of ties between Ankara and Yerevan.

Similarly, attempts to revitalize parties such as the Democrat Party (DP), which has no influence in politics at all, as part of plans to widen the coalition of opposition, can be seen as psychological warfare initiated by illegal elements of the deep state to undermine political authority and create chaos in the country.

If the existence of the plan dated April 2009, only one-and-a-half months ago and published by Taraf is proven, Chief of General Staff Gen. İlker Başbuğ bears a great responsibility in explaining to the public whether the TSK as an entity or a group of individuals composed of officers lies behind it. In either case, the TSK should look into ways in which it can restore its credibility while the government should assert its power.