Sabah's Emre Aköz disagrees with those who think Turkey's unstable political environment is a simple, everyday political conflict observable in any country. He says Turkey has been witnessing recent interventions in civilian politics since the Council of State attack that left a senior judge dead in May 2006, adding that the desire and preparations to meddle in civilian politics were also present in 2003, as revealed by the coup diaries of a retired general. "The problem is not a conflict among political actors. Nor is it defending a political party, a party leader or a certain policy. The problem is totally different: Will civilian politics continue to exist or not? Will democracy settle in Turkey or not? Or will we be ruled by an authoritarian/fascist regime?" says Aköz. What he finds most unfortunate about those who try to meddle in politics is that they conceal their plans under masks such as Kemalism, secularism and modernism. "They pretend to be defending such high values while the real defenders of such values are accused of pursuing their interests by supporting the government. This is not a you-me conflict. On the one side, there are the defenders of a state of law, national sovereignty, civilian politics and Turkey's EU membership process, while it is obvious who is there on the other side. They have already revealed themselves," claims Aköz.
Zaman's Mümtaz'er Türköne dismisses allegations that the government seeks to suppress its opponents with the Ergenekon crackdown. He says that such accusations can only have one goal, which is to prevent facts about this gang from being exposed, by creating psychological pressure on the investigation. Pointing to the documents revealed regarding Ergenekon and the detentions and information about the gang leaked to the press, Türköne says they all demonstrate that the group is not a simple terror organization and it has a broad and effective network within the state. Türköne believes current developments in Turkey show indicate the state of law is renewing itself by eliminating a crime network within itself, preventing lawlessness and leading to a new conviction about the use of sovereignty. "What falls into our part is only to defend and support the law," says Türköne.
Milliyet's Hasan Cemal describes the ongoing political fight in Turkey as a fight between the supporters and enemies of democracy. Talking about the coup process he says began in 2002 in Turkey, Cemal contends that the process formed a chain of which the Ergenekon gang is an important part. "I do not know what the court will say about the Ergenekon gang. But I know something for sure: As long as Turkey does not reject coups, punish coup perpetrators and hold coup plotters to account, it will not achieve democracy and peace. It has not achieved these values so far," complains Cemal.
