Ergenekon’s Turkey and fake patriots

Ergenekon is not only a terror organization, as shown in the 2,455-page indictment prepared by the prosecutors; it is also a very widespread and terrible mindset. And this mindset is not monopolized by the Ergenekon terrorist organization alone. We can see its traces in every corner of the country. I suggest you wander around top bureaucratic circles in Ankara or walk in venues mostly frequented by former and current generals, or visit university campuses to find the most representative samples of what is the Ergenekon mindset -- or meet with journalists and columnists from laicist media groups, etc. You would find many elitist figures over there who share the same mentality with Ergenekon, and they have great sympathy for what Ergenekon has done so far. They also greatly pity that part of Ergenekon which has been arrested.

The main idea of all these ultra-laicist Ergenekonists is that democracy is nothing and that it is useless in countries like Turkey. According to them, democracy is nothing because the majority of the nation is unable to make a correct decision for themselves and for the country. Since they think democracy is nothing, the results emerging from ballot box is not enough to legitimize a certain party to rule the country, according to them. This elitist approach is quite widespread among the ranks of the bureaucracy and the military, and it affects the entire administrative body like a cancer. Therefore, we have a problem of democracy in this country despite the fact that the overwhelming majority of Turks have reached democratic maturity.

The Ergenekonist mindset never wants to release the nation from the chains put on it by elitist/Jacobinist/Kemalist/statist/militarist/laicist circles. In order to keep the nation where it is, this mindset uses all kinds of means, irrespective of whether they are legitimate and legal or not. As the analysis in Sunday’s Zaman correctly noted, this mindset is Machiavellian and thinks its “noble” cause justifies any kind of means. It is no problem for them if these means include assassinations, provocations, chaos, promoting hatred among people, terror, smear campaigns against certain circles of society, psychological warfare, warfare itself, etc.

When we look at the components of the Ergenekon mindset more closely, we can see that many of them have a dark history, and we can see their footprints wherever a heinous plot has been found. We know that some of them have been incessantly campaigning against liberal democratic ideas and circles on TV and in papers, accusing all except themselves of betraying the nation and the country. We know these seemingly ultranationalist, neo-nationalist fake patriots quite well. Those who were once the biggest supporters of the separatist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) terrorist organization, like Yalçın Küçük and Doğu Perinçek, have now turned into fervent patriots and accuse all of us of selling the country, of betraying the nation, etc. They did not even shy away from having their photographs taken nor from being video recorded as they met with PKK chieftain Abdullah Öcalan and PKK terrorists in their hideouts just a few years ago.

Despite all kind of traps, blocks and plots stemming from Ergenekonist circles, I believe the Turkish people will be able to cope with all problems and get over all the barriers erected before them by the Ergenekonists. However, I want to suggest one thing to those Ergenekonist circles that have apparently lost their reasoning: Wake up to reality; you have no chance of winning against the people. Give up this meaningless and unproductive struggle against the well-being of your own nation. Accept the merit of democracy. Opt for the rule of law. Take the people’s will seriously. Abandon the Ergenekon mindset. Quit Ergenekon!