The decision by a high criminal court in Ankara yesterday to merge the file on the Council of State Attack into the Ergenekon case has paved the way for prosecutors to investigate whether suspected members of the ultranationalist Ergenekon terrorist organization used a hit man to pursue their alleged goal of creating unrest in the country.
During his trial, the convicted perpetrator, lawyer Alparslan Arslan, said he carried out the attack, in which a prosecutor was killed, because of a court verdict banning headscarves at a kindergarten in Ankara. He repeated his stated motive during yesterday's court hearing, but this did not stop the Ankara court from ruling to merge the two cases.
The first indictment in the Ergenekon case, released last year in July and accepted by an İstanbul court, argued that the attack on the Council of State was carried out on orders from retired Gen. Veli Küçük, an Ergenekon suspect currently in jail on charges of being among the leaders of this clandestine organization.
Both the first and second Ergenekon indictments have alleged ties between ultranationalists and Islamic groups, cooperating to trigger an armed overthrow of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party).
The merging of the two files has given the public the opportunity to see whether the İstanbul court will be able to prove concrete collaboration between people and groups with differing ideologies for the common purpose of creating chaos in Turkish society.
Prior to this most recent development, operations last week against some academics and NGOs as part of the Ergenekon investigation highlighted possible links between Turkey's powerful Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) and certain nongovernmental organizations.
It is no secret that there are links between some of the Ergenekon suspects and some of these NGOs.
In 2007 the now-closed Nokta newsweekly revealed documents indicating close cooperation between the TSK and NGOs aimed at preparing Turkish society to accept a military overthrow of the government.
The TSK-NGO link was the cover story of Nokta's 23rd issue, just before it was closed down when a military prosecutor's office filed a complaint against it.
Nokta revealed a smear campaign launched by the TSK against journalists, categorizing them as anti and pro-military, and followed this with documents that highlighted two separate failed coups.
On July 18, 2008 the liberal Taraf daily ran another document, taken from the Ergenekon indictment, in which military officers stressed the importance of Ergenekon establishing its own NGOs while taking control of all NGOs operating in Turkey.
"NGOs are regarded as organizations that fulfill the needs of humanity both inside and outside. NGOs' areas of access and influence cannot even be met by diplomacy. The image of NGOs is respectful, sacred and innocent. For these reasons, the masses are behind NGOs in every country. World public opinion can also be influenced and taken under control through NGOs." This was one of the paragraphs that Taraf quoted from a document in the Ergenekon indictment.
However, the latest operation against NGOs such as the Support for Modern Life Association (ÇYDD), headed by Professor Türkan Saylan, has created unease even among those who have long believed in the existence of an illegal organization with close links to influential figures within the state and who supported the political authority in its attempt to settle the score with the deep state.
This fear and unease those stemmed from the worry that Ergenekon case may have been diverted from its original purpose of purging illegal elements from the state and society for the sake of enhancing stability in the country.
Minister of Culture and Tourism Ertuğrul Günay said in a written statement over the weekend that the investigation and the court proceedings against Ergenekon remain an extremely important legal process for the establishment of democracy and the rule of law in Turkey. However, he said such an important legal process should not be derailed from its original purpose, indirectly criticizing searches of the headquarters of NGOs such as the ÇYDD.
Thus, last week's Ergenekon operations risk missing a chance to establish democracy in Turkey.
