It has stimulated a re-examination of the goals and ideology behind this curse. Is terror related to a social ideology? Is it an ideology based on leftist views? These are the kinds of questions that come to mind and it is certain that the public has serious concerns regarding these questions. After each terror incident, it becomes clearer that such efforts are carried out simply to be able to influence Turkey's politics. The fact that the assailant, identified as Orhan Yılmazkaya, who was killed in the hideout, had spoken over the phone with four Ergenekon suspects reinforces this opinion. The chief aim of terror and those who control the process of terror is to attack the government of a country and make it ineffective. In 1980, it was terror events that ultimately made the country unsafe and uncontrollable, forcing the military to take control on Sept. 12. Periodic terror attacks have been going on in Turkey for the past 35 years. At certain times when pressure needed to be put on the government, terror was invoked and the terror activities were intensified. Turkey has never been able to cut loose from terror. Is terror supported by society? With the exception of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), the answer is a big fat NO! We all know that the PKK prepares demonstrations according to the needs of its status quo.
The initiatives of past and present terror structures have always been to have an impact on politics. Protecting its power is sine qua non for the government. But the most basic problem of Turkish politics has been that elected officials have failed to adequately protect the ruling power. Timid officials have made timidity a habit in politics. The indifference to the military and the external intervention in politics prevented the balances in the country from being settled.
The failure to find and punish the unknown perpetrators of terror activities -- which caused instability in the country -- undermined the power and control of leaders. One of the main causes that prevented a government from functioning was that the people that constantly incited chaos in the country were not being exposed. Monday was the second anniversary of the government's memorandum that was released on April 27, 2007. This memorandum was a turning point in Turkish politics. The stance that was taken against the military memorandum -- the author of which is still unclear -- that was published on the General Staff Web site was one of the most important activities that brought the government closer to becoming a ruling party. This strong but not unsympathetic stance was supported by the public. The government that stopped the habit of being timid won 47 percent of the public vote in the elections immediately following the release of the memorandum. It was perhaps the first time that elected officials had protected their ruling power.
Now there are criticisms that the Ergenekon operation was part of efforts to suppress opposition to the government. These criticisms clearly overlook the discovery of arms caches and the murders that were supported by Ergenekon.
The one point it would be good for everyone to finally understand is that the government can no longer be overthrown by illegal means. Everyone must get used to this idea. In order to be the ruling power, the government will have to react to every formation that poses a threat to itself. The Ergenekon investigation is actually a judicial operation, but there is nothing more natural than the government to stand strongly behind it.
The lesson from the raid conducted on 60 hideouts on Monday is that a terror organization was getting ready to incite instability in the country. What important is to understand is that the same men are behind these structures and every effort is carried out to hunt them down and limit their activities.
