The families of murdered intellectuals came together at the Turkish Parliament yesterday. Victims’ families and aggrieved parents and children have joined hands and are working together. They want Parliament to set up an investigation commission to shed light on the assassinations, which they believe are connected to each other, and to expose the organized structure behind these incidents. This is a critical turning point in Turkey’s democratization efforts. It shows that Turkey has entered a road from which there is no return. For 30 years, people have been insulting these victims with crocodile tears and fake support. Now their coalition will provide the most effective support for the judicial process. They will encourage thousands of families of victims of unsolved murders to come forward. They will also encourage workers in state institutions who know the truth but haven’t spoken out until now to speak out. They will encourage millions of people who want the rule of law, who want everyone, regardless of their title, to be held accountable and who say, “That’s enough.” There will be a louder voice saying, “You are not alone.”But there will be an even more important development. A plausible majority of those who have been placed under pressure and provoked for the sake of secular-religious, Sunni-Alevi and Turkish-Kurdish separation will bring down the walls between them. It will become easier to eliminate prejudices. The dark pro-tutelage structure will not be able to create provocations like before. They will fumble and stumble.
Believe me, no other call for genuine social peace and social compromise has been as strong as the one made by the union of these anguished hearts. Their voices will constantly recall how organized political murders are covered up and how murder cases constantly hit a wall. They are calling out to those who ordered the murders, to those who protect them in the high judiciary, to those who cause judicial proceedings to end because of statutes of limitations and to those who acquitted murderers, from the most powerful place there is: from their tormented hearts. They are saying: “We did not forget you. We are watching you.” They are saying, “We don’t care if a reputable person or an institution is going to be offended, hurt or lose credit.” The media will not be able to ignore their union and the voice saying, “Understand our pain, hear our cries, wipe away our tears.” Those who still don’t understand Ergenekon and military tutelage and those who still have mixed opinions about them are finally going to start to understand the truth. Everyone will see that state powers, the judiciary, bar associations and the media cannot turn a blind eye or cover up truths in this country, where people have constantly been killed.
Indeed the judicial process in the Ergenekon case is very important in removing the obstacles to democratization. But it is as important for Parliament to intervene as well. For example, there was a similar situation in Italy. A case similar to Ergenekon in Italy was the Gladio case. In light of his 10 years of experience in the case, Felice Casson, the prosecutor known to have cracked down on Gladio, warned Turkey when he came to İstanbul two years ago. He underlined four points: political will, social compromise, winning over the public and parliamentary intervention. In an exclusive interview with Today’s Zaman on Nov. 12, 2008, Casson said it was crucial that a parliamentary investigative commission equipped with the power of prosecutors be set up. He said that if the judiciary collaborated with the parliamentary commission, it would be able to yield results and prevent prosecutors and judges heading the case from being undermined.
Yes, anguished hearts have managed to extend the path of democratization all the way to Parliament. Now it is Parliament’s turn to take a test of sincerity.
