It is important that this trial be carried out on solid grounds. The power centers of tutelage are doing all that they can to water down the trial, make it unclear, try to redirect it and stop its completion. They are putting up all the resistance that they can -- and the greatest resistance is coming from the high judiciary. The prosecutors working on the case are being put under pressure from judges, attempting to wear them down and intimidate them.
We haven’t forgotten the elimination attempts at the Supreme Board of Judges and Prosecutors (HSYK) in its decree last summer. The operations of former Justice Minister Seyfi Oktay are under the microscope now. And most recently, the 4th Chamber of the Supreme Court of Appeals’ handing down fines to nine judges -- while the case is still ongoing -- for not releasing Mehmet Haberal… The acts of threats and blackmail, using a female lawyer as bait for the head of the İstanbul court overseeing the Ergenekon trial… There are outright pitch battles being fought on the judicial front. For the proponents of tutelage do not want to lose their authorities, positions and powers.
It is at precisely this juncture that the democracy front must be very careful and wary and act with reason and common sense. As democrats, yes, we see ahead of us an advanced democracy in which our nation lives in prosperity, tranquility and peace. We believe that democracy will raise our people’s income level and ensure their social security while also strengthening our state and armed forces. A strong economy and an advanced democracy also mean a strong and modern armed forces. From this perspective, all democrats, and all those who sincerely believe in the supremacy of law and defend freedoms in this country, must act with deliberateness and not break with common sense. They must be so sensitive that they will never be used as ammunition for those who allege that this case has turned into a revengeful settling of accounts. They must act with such extreme meticulousness and equity that efforts to portray this trial as an operation of the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) to eliminate its opponents will see their aspirations amount to nothing. Extreme caution must be taken to avoid the wheat being mixed with the chaff. Sensitivity in the media in particular is very important. Even if the friends of Ergenekon play every game to influence the judicial process and employ every deception and weapon of psychological warfare, those on the side of bringing the truth to light must take care to avoid even an atom of mud from being slung at those who will be acquitted tomorrow.
The friends of Ergenekon place great importance upon fifth column activities to affect provocations with regard to the court process. From information pollution efforts at the police and judicial levels to erode the seriousness of the trial to pressuring key authorities, there are many such fifth column operations that can be run. And this means that police officers, prosecutors and judges must be very careful.
Today, meticulousness with regard to following the letter of the law, avoiding even the tiniest of mistakes, bears critical importance. It is also very important whether the people working together are on the side of the state or of justice; whether they are trustworthy and whether they have or have not become involved in Ergenekon-related structures. For there is the constant possibility that bait will be cast into their midst and used to ruin the judicial process.
While we’re on the topic, let’s address one more issue. Those who think that they are going to redirect the course of the Ergenekon trial and steer democratization towards failure are dead wrong. This trial will not be left half-completed. Consciences in this nation that follow the truth will step forward sooner or later.
Does the military know that the existence of junta supporters within the military is a reality? Isn’t it true that there are still among their ranks those who make plans for a coup d’état? Could the General Staff be uninformed about those conscienceless ones who wanted to plant weapons and explosives in the homes of innocent students and then invent a “pro-Fethullah [Gülen] terrorist organization”? Isn’t there anybody with enough conscience to think that those who thought up such plans cannot even be considered human beings? There surely must be.
All we need are strong-hearted people who can cast aside their prejudices and say, “This country belongs to all of us; there’s nothing to fight over, enough of this polarization already.”
