Former US Ambassador to Turkey Morton Abramowitz discussed these attempts in one of his articles and wrote openly that some would come to Washington and lobby for support for the overthrow of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party).
Who knows how many such attempts were made in Washington during the past six years? One of them was accidentally made public, and we learned about what was discussed at the Hudson Institute. I am sure you'll remember it, the meeting where shady scenarios, such as the assassination of the president of the Constitutional Court or a bomb attack in Taksim killing 50 people, were evaluated. Some Turkish commanders had "accidentally" attended this meeting, during which the delivery of members of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) to Turkish authorities had been dismissed as an option as it would boost the AK Party's electoral support. If the backstage corridors in Washington could talk, they would tell us about many more horrible scenarios.
Actually, if they could find the time and energy, it would certainly be beneficial for the Ergenekon prosecutors to investigate Ergenekon's extensions in Washington. Perhaps we will read about this issue in the second Ergenekon indictment, which is expected to include the coup diaries and the abortive coups of Sarıkız (Blond Girl), Ayışığı (Moonlight) and Yakamoz (Sea Sparkle).
We must note that these intense lobbying campaigns had managed to create serious hesitation and confusion in Washington. There were even times when the Bush administration acted strangely by maintaining an equal distance from the coup plotters and the democratic government. Nevertheless, a lack of approval from the US was critically instrumental in the failure of the shadowy plots devised in Ankara.
Now, these pro-coup circles are attempting to proceed with their old lobbying campaigns in the face of the Obama administration, despite the fact that they failed to be productive during the Bush administration. The proof of this is that articles that argue that Turkey is being alienating from the West and that the AK Party is now starting to show its real pro-Islamic face have started to appear more frequently in the Western press. Turkey's reaction to the massacre in Gaza, the harsh criticism voiced by the AK Party leadership and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's protest in Davos are used as sweeteners to this end.
However, new US President Barack Obama has recently called both President Abdullah Gül and Erdoğan and told them that he appreciated Turkey's leadership in regional issues, which implies that these lobbying efforts are very likely to end up in smoke. If Obama had been influenced by these lobbying campaigns to some extent, would he still have said to Erdoğan, "I would like to state that your personal leadership is vital in the Middle East process"?
What those who say that the AK Party is a US-backed party, on the one hand, and describe it in Washington as "pro-Islamic," on the other, do not want to see is well noticed by the US administration, the Turkish nation and the intellectuals in the Middle East.
The latest issue of the journal Doğudan (From the East), published by Mehmet Bekaroğlu, who is currently running for mayor of İstanbul from the Felicity Party (SP), gives the opinions of important intellectuals from Egypt, Lebanon, Iran and Syria about Turkey's increased activity and about the AK Party. Not a single scholar expressed a negative opinion. Almost all of them assert that Turkey should be more active. Kaveh Bayat, an Iranian expert on Eurasian studies, seeks Turkey's involvement in the settlement of the problems between his country and the US. Egyptian Professor Nadia Mustafa expects Turkey to contribute to the reform of the Arab regimes and regulate balances in the region. Another Egyptian, Husan Tuman, demands that Turkey foster the economic development of the region and act as a Sunni balance against rising Shiite Iran. Muhammed Nureddin, from Lebanon, stated that Turkey should back Palestine and be loyal to its past, showing close interest in the region. This is how the region views the new Turkey.
How the Turkish nation sees the existing government is well evidenced in public polls, which show an electoral support of 50 percent for the government, and the enthusiasm of the election rallies.
It will be perfectly natural for every player to rationally assess this and act accordingly. For this reason, neither was the Bush administration pro-AK Party in not allowing its toppling nor was Obama pro-AK Party when he praised Gül and Erdoğan: They just act according to what the new Turkey means, as it has started to make peace with itself, its past and its neighbors. This is what those informers and some Westerners who listen to them do not want to understand.
