In the midst of Turkey's heavily loaded agenda -- which we journalists have a hard time following properly -- he is the one who resolutely pointed his finger in the right direction to dig out and clean up the horrendous mess in Turkey. This mess sits on a legacy of organized crime threatening not only the government but the entire democratic order.
The Man of 2011 is an ex-Special Ops officer, a “dirty warrior,” a hitman, hired by the state after a series of critical, secret decisions at the highest level. What he took part in, knew about and witnessed in the early 1990s (mainly between 1991 and 1996) was of such magnitude that he could no longer bear the burden; his scarred conscience burst. When hearing the confessions he made, one after another, I -- as a journalist who tried to cover that period -- have no doubt he is telling the truth. His accounts overlap not only with what a former head of the Counterterrorism Unit within the National Intelligence Organization (MİT) said but also with what I had heard in those times in bits and pieces from a minister who “for the sake of human lives” begged me to remain off the record “until safer times come.”
Now, two brave men of the law, special prosecutors Hakan Yüksel and Mehmet Özgür, are probing the case, like experts with detectors in a huge political minefield. It is very interesting that some parts of the “mainstream” media ignore -- or even try to cover up -- this chase, but considering how they are proceeding, they seem determined to get to the very bottom of this. Good luck to the prosecutors and Godspeed.
One of the key steps Yüksel had taken was to knock on the doors of the very organization that had the memory of the dark 1990s, MİT. What he asked for was a report of an “organized crime” licensed by the state, on summary executions, extortion, torture, bombings and other acts of terror. According to reports in the parts of the press which are vigorously covering the story, he was given a detailed report, confirming -- in essence -- that “there was a terrorist organization structured within the state” and mentioning names indicated in the so-called Susurluk affair, such as Mehmet Ağar, Korkut Eken, İbrahim Şahin and other Special Ops officers. If true, this step taken by MİT may lead to the final crack in the stiffly locked black box and justice for the families of the victims.
What Turkey faces is a challenge in seeing the picture of a grand mafia formation that had overtaken state operations in the name of maintaining “order.” What was this? In an interview with the Star daily published on Dec. 26, 2011, Cevat Korkmaz, a former reporter who is now active in the Voice of the People Party (HAS Party), gives us shocking details. According to him, the key date for the serial killing of mainly Kurds is Nov. 4, 1993, when then-Prime Minister Tansu Çiller said at a Holiday Inn Hotel in İstanbul that “we have a list of Kurdish businessmen who help the Kurdistan Workers' Party [PKK]; we shall make them accountable.” It was the go-ahead for speeding up the horror, he explains.
Korkmaz went further and said: “… at that time, a ‘council' was built in order to organize this thing. Tansu Çiller, [her husband] Özer Çiller, Ali Şener [the brother-in-law of former President Süleyman Demirel], Doğan Güreş [a former chief of General Staff], Ünal Erkan [a former governor during the time of emergency rule in the mainly Kurdish provinces], Korkut Eken [Special Ops] and Sedat Peker [a mafia figure] are involved.”
“Çarkın's conscience is under a burden. There are many examples of this. One cannot sleep, cannot even breathe. That is why he is very important and is doing a very crucial job. He believes that what he did was wrong. Kurds should not see him with prejudice. I also warn that he should be protected.... If tomorrow others come out and show us where 100-150 people were buried once upon a time in Silopi, I will not be surprised.”
The Man of 2011 certainly pulled another genie out of the bottle. He is definitely showing the government the right direction. His moves come at a time when there is a growing sense that the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) has already entered a “rest” phase, with the illusion that it has put the state under civilian control. Çarkın lifted the lid of a snake pit. Turkey's painful past is filled with lessons on “unless you go all the way to protect the rights, freedom and safety of your people, you will be slowly weakened and swallowed.” The lessons from Turgut Özal are fresh. And we all have an idea about what happened during the '90s. The time during which people acting in the name of the state can get away with crimes against humanity and public enmity must come to an end. We shall see if the civilian powers are up to the job.
