This two-steps-forward-one-step-back form of walking is called "Mehter marching." This phrase has come to describe the projects that advance at a snail's pace, sometimes backtracking and showing unstable progress. It fits like a glove for the progress the Ergenekon investigation is making.The prosecutors who are conducting the Ergenekon investigation and the judges who oversee the case are doing their jobs dutifully and without making much fanfare as with elsewhere around the world. When new evidence is uncovered or new detentions are made, people led by media organizations rush to make a flurry of comments or criticisms. Ergenekon, it seems, represents an axis for political polarization in Turkey. As the media organizations are divided into two opposite camps, the country's agenda is filled with opposing comments. On one front are the opponents of the Ergenekon trial who have been suggesting since the beginning that nothing will come of this trial. On the other front are the people who tend to describe the investigation as the "biggest trial of the century" and who believe that the investigation is unearthing a big terrorist organization. Generally, the second group consists mainly of the people who attach importance to the Ergenekon investigation. Sometimes, a contrary wind blows and the opponents of the trial make a fuss. So it appears that the investigation has gone one step back. But the forward progress is always made more aggressively and quickly. The Ergenekon investigation continues to move on in its course. But this appearance is entirely psychological. How the Ergenekon investigation is perceived by the general public is utterly different from what its prosecutors or judges are doing in reality. The general public perceives its progress as Mehter marching, but the judiciary is making progress in a straight line.
12th wave of operations
In the 12th wave of operations in the Ergenekon investigation, mainly university lecturers and executives were detained. Among the detained people are university rectors and famous professors. Two people were given special coverage: Professor Mehmet Haberal, who is the president of Başkent University, and Professor Türkan Saylan, who is the chairwoman of the Support for Modern Life Association (ÇYDD). The first was arrested while the second was only interrogated.
The 12th wave seemed to be a one-step-back move of the Mehter band. Saylan is a person who is respected even by liberal circles, who are against military coups. "She is revered by us and she is [represents] our honor," wrote Yıldırım Türker in the Radikal daily, referring to Saylan. Saylan draws respect as a person who managed to secure civilian solidarity among secular people and who is helping needy people. Her age and illness further add an edge to her being investigated.
Haberal is a professor of medicine who specializes in liver implantation. With the university he has established and the web of contacts he has developed, he has managed to transform his fame into an impressive power. The support that former President Süleyman Demirel, a politician who made his impression on Turkey's political arena for the last 45 years, gave to him is the most profound proof of this power and his contacts. Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Deniz Baykal voiced his opposition to the arrests, basing his arguments mainly on Saylan's interrogation; his stance shows the involvement of political representation in reactions to this case.
In backward steps of the Mehter marching, the government faces harsh reactions and criticisms. It is claimed that the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) is behind the Ergenekon investigation and these arrests. However, the one step back mood -- as well as the accusations targeting the AK Party -- signifies only a psychological illusion. The government lacks instruments capable of exerting influence on the investigation. The judiciary is doing its business independently and without getting instructions from anyone.
Armed military coup attempt
The Ergenekon trial is a trial of an armed military coup. Even if the psychological mood worsens at times, no one can conceal the fact that an armed organization made plans for overthrowing the government. The assertive attempt by a shady organization to seize the government is proof of the widespread network it established. Those detained in the 12th wave revealed this widespread organization's involvement in universities. Ergenekon is likened to an octopus. It is perfectly plausible that one of the arms of this octopus is in the university.
The main point is that this military coup plan consists of sabotages, assassinations and armed attacks. The weapons and ammunitions found in land that belongs to the İstek Foundation of Bedreddin Dalan, a fugitive defendant in the Ergenekon trial, help us to remember this occasionally forgotten reality. Land is excavated to find arsenals. The types of the weapons give us insight into the details of the plotted coup. The light anti-tank weapons (LAWs) found buried in the ground imply only one thing. Normally used to destroy tanks, these weapons can be used against armored cars. These weapons would be used to target the important politicians who travel in armored cars and who are protected at the highest security level. Similarly, explosives and other weapons for assassinations show that the attempted coup, currently being tried in the Ergenekon trial, was a comprehensive plan for violence.
Diverse Ergenekon members
The problem stems from the complicated composition of Ergenekon. The weapons are there to conduct a coup and overthrow the government. Professors, media figures and trade union and nongovernmental organization leaders are needed to mobilize support for a coup and to maintain the government established after it.
If a classification of the offense of overthrowing the government is made, four distinct categories emerge. The first group consists of the military and civilian leaders of the crime organization. The network is ruled by these leaders, who draft the coup plots and promote organization. The second group consists of the people who pull the triggers to assassinate certain public figures to create provocations and incite fear and panic in people in order to pave the way for the coup, as seen in the bombing of the Cumhuriyet newspaper and the Council of State attack. The third group consists of civilians who consciously and willingly lend support to the coup organization and who conduct the duties assigned to them in this respect, like some media figures and professors. The last group consists of the people who lend ideological and philosophical support to the idea of overthrowing the government. This group represents the public support to the coup plotters. These people are supportive of coups purely on a theoretical basis.
The most important group is the last group of people, who are in the minority and who are passive supporters of coups. This minority is formed by the elites who do not like the egalitarian ideas of democracy. They lend support to coups since they can establish easy contact with coup plotters and because coups will reinforce their elitist positions. This last category also includes people who support coups without having knowledge about the consequences of coups.
The fact that the Ergenekon trial is made the subject matter of a political debate and that there are political sides involved affects the general public. This last group is perhaps the one that requires the most attention. For many years, intense propaganda from the state organ has managed to create a group of people who believe that secularism and the republic are in danger. These people have been manipulated to believe that the manifestation of piousness in apparel is a threat to secularism and they are under the influence of the secular rhetoric of coups. Yes, but is there a real danger against secularism? This danger is like the beast of Lake Van, which had once become very famous in Turkey. Many people would describe even the finest details of this beast, but never could we see it in the flesh.
In harmony with economic integration at a global scale, Turkey is transforming into a pluralist society. Those who oppose military coups are aware of the benefits of this pluralism. Democracy is creating a social structure that develops and makes progress in its own sound course. The only elections in which debates about secularism were not conducted were the last local elections. As no damage was done to secularism by not discussing it, there is not a danger or a threat to secularism.
The public image of the Ergenekon investigation, making its progress by moving one step forward and two steps back, is purely psychological. The investigation is moving on its course as it should be. Even prosecutors are doing their business without paying heed to these moods. The uncovered weapons show that a violent organization that aimed to overthrow the government has collapsed.
