We have a republican regime that is based on fear and built upon the foundations of the ideology of the Committee of Union and Progress (CUP). This regime, like the members and supporters of CUP, sees Islam as the primary reason for backwardness in the country and also for the collapse of the huge empire. This ideological structure sees not only Islam but also all faiths as opponents and enemies. But because it was aware of the importance of religion in the formation of a nation-state, emphasis was put on a sterilized Sunni Islam in this ideology, which as a result, Jews, Christians and Alevis suffered a great deal. It should also be noted that members of the military and civilian institutions, academia and the majority of the media still hold views consistent with this ideology.
We have an elitist group in Turkey that remains suspicious of any change that will lead to greater involvement of the people in the political administration and that sees these steps as an eagerness to turn Turkey into an Islamist state. My observations in Washington and New York last week show that this group of people still influences the Western perception of Turkey. This is actually the success of Ergenekon. The members of an organization that drafted coup plans and devised plans on how to arrest thousands of people who would oppose its actions once the coup was staged, leading to the murder of journalists, are seen as victims in the West. The inherent problems of the judiciary in Turkey along with the influence of the propaganda mechanism of Ergenekon have roles to play in this success. And frankly, remarks by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who strongly criticizes writers like Paul Auster, have only reinforced this perception.
Yes, Turkey is still in its infancy in terms of democratization, but it is not a country that deserves being ranked among countries like Kenya in reports on freedom by institutions such as Freedom House. This perception is strongly influenced by the members of the former establishment who have served as the major source of information for such reports over the last decade. If you look at people's perception here, you will conclude that “White Turks” are actually defending the rights of the Kurds. Turkey is one step ahead of states such as Syria, Egypt and Tunisia in terms of what these countries have achieved through their bloody revolutions and Turkey has achieved this by exercising the judiciary to hold criminals responsible for what they have done. In doing this, unlike these Arab countries, Turkey remains under the supervision and inspection of the West.
The reality Western states and some members of the ruling administration are unaware of, I believe, is that Ergenekon has been weakened but not completely destroyed. Otherwise, Fethullah Gülen would have already returned to Turkey.
