The Politicians' Move in General Staff Plan Controversy

As reactions continue to grow over a General Staff action plan to discredit the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) and the Gülen movement revealed by the Taraf daily on Friday, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on Sunday that his government may take legal action against the plan.

The General Staff has already announced the launch of a military investigation into the document; however, there is widespread belief that the investigation will remain superficial and fail to cast full light on the controversial document. Many fear that the chain of military interventions cannot be broken in Turkey if those responsible for such anti-democratic attempts are not brought to account for their actions.

"It [the General Staff] is obsessed with the AK Party government and the Gülen movement, it again put aside its responsibilities regarding the security of the country and engaged in social engineering and politics. Again it shamelessly set a trap for the democratic state of law without learning from its past experiences," says Yeni Şafak's Hakan Albayrak, voicing his reaction to the General Staff's alleged plan to defame the AK Party and the Gülen movement. Tired of the General Staff's past anti-democratic moves, Albayrak thinks it's high time for Turkey to raise its voice against the tradition of military coups that consumes the nation's energy. "How much longer will the politicians who represent the nation, the statesmen, the prime minister and the president remain silent in the wake of such threats? How much longer will they continue to ignore these attempts? When will the recklessness of 'We cannot let our military, the apple of the nation's eye, weaken' cease?" he asks. In his view, those who turn a blind eye to the military's anti-democratic moves so that the institution will not be weakened actually serve to degenerate this institution. "They fail to see this, they cannot notice or understand this: as long as the current system renders the military's involvement in politics possible and is not overhauled, things will go on like this," says Albayrak.

Bugün's Adem Yavuz Arslan complains about the silence of the political parties in Ankara on the General Staff's controversial action plan. Arslan notes that the action plan insults both the politicians elected by the nation and the government and that nobody has the luxury to close their eyes. He suggests that Parliament should take the initiative and that those responsible for the preparation of this document should be brought to justice. Otherwise, "the saying hanging on the wall of the Parliament, 'Sovereignty unconditionally rests with the nation,' will be meaningless," says Arslan.

Vatan's Ruşen Çakir suggests that if this action plan is proven to have originated in the General Staff, Erdoğan may resort to legal action against the General Staff, an unprecedented move in Turkey's political history.