Let’s rewind to 60 years ago, for the grounds laid ahead of each coup d’état resemble one another. First, anarchy is resurrected; on the same day, the same gun kills a leftist youth and a rightist youth. Journalists, intellectuals, academics, unionists and politicians are assassinated. Daily life becomes unbearable. People get tired of living. Then, some people begin speaking and writing about the “need for a savior” and finally, the “saviors” take to the stage.This game has been going on, publicly and cruelly, ever since May 27, 1960. Human life is worth absolutely nothing in this game. In the period leading up to the Sept. 12, 1980 coup alone, a full 5,000 people, most of them university students, were killed. The number of unsolved murder cases in the Southeast has reached 17,500 in the last 25 years. We’ve lost 40,000 lives to terrorism.
What kind of a country is this? Why aren’t we as a society learning a lesson from these provocations, plots and games? Because they are very powerful; they have guns in their hands. They direct a strong media that creates and shapes public opinion. They have defenders at high levels and centers abroad that they rely upon. But now an opportunity has been created; an unprecedented situation is at hand. There are alternative media, and courageous people that follow these developments. Many people have tuned in to the fact that a game is under way. There are two factors that enabled people to open their eyes: One is the Ergenekon case and the other is the democratic initiative.
Take, for example, the attack on the Council of State, the court file for which has been merged with the Ergenekon case. Some people tried to blame the heinous attack on religious people. They called it an attack against the secular system and the republic. Now, however, we are aware of the conspiracy. Take as another example the 37 people that were burned to death at the Madımak Hotel in Sivas. The incident was going to be used to incite a Sunni-Alevi conflict, but now our Alevi brothers are starting to ask questions. Four days ago, Alevi Bektaşi Federation President Ali Balkız said: “Maybe Eregenekon was behind Madımak; this must be looked into. Why did it take the brigade hours to arrive at the scene from such a short distance away? Why did soldiers responding to the scene come as close as 20 meters away and then just stand around and watch before leaving?”
The democratic initiative has also helped. For the first time, Kurdish citizens and people in the Southeast have become hopeful and excited. Then, we suddenly saw that some who had seemingly wanted more than anyone for the Kurdish problem to be solved actually stopping the wheel from turning. The Democratic Society Party (DTP) cunningly tried to twist the initiative into a Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) initiative. The “Col. Temizöz case” was launched in connection with all of the unsolved murders; you would expect civil society organizations based in the Southeast and the DTP’s mayors to stand behind this case, right? That didn’t happen. Eventually, Taraf daily columnist Orhan Miroğlu, who served as chairman of the now-defunct Democratic People’s Party (DEHAP) and the Democratic Society Party (DTP) for many years, exploded over the issue a few days ago, saying: “The Kurds are not passing the test in the Ergenekon and Temizöz cases. If the DTP had wanted, it could have done much more to keep both the Ergenekon case and the ongoing [Temizöz] case on the public agenda.”
With each passing day, the foundations of the pro-tutelage system established upon the lies of official history are being shaken. Anything can be expected from those who planned provocations to have their own youth killed, that set them against each other and carried out the 17,000 unsolved murders in the Southeast. It is for this reason that we should not be caught up by provocations. As individuals and as a society, we may be subject to harsher instigation still. They may play bigger games. They may kill more innocents in bigger cities. Then they will turn to us and say, “Turks, what is it you’re waiting for?” while turning to our Kurdish brothers and saying, “Kurds, what is it you’re waiting for?”
Turkey has never been under a stronger threat of civil war. Don’t bite the bait. Don’t act emotionally. Nobody should attempt illegal actions as long as this state has security forces. For the love of God, don’t let provocations fool you.
