Considering the many steps the government has taken so far to rescue the regime from military tutelage and bring Turkish democracy closer to the standards of democratic nations, many find these allegations ill intentioned and nonsensical, saying that they aim to damage the AK Party and lower public support for it.Star’s Nasuhi Güngör considers the threat these debates pose as he warns that bringing such allegations to the agenda is like sending an invitation to the military to meddle in politics. Indicating that there were similar debates before the May 27, 1960 coup, which ousted the government of Adnan Menderes, he cites Menderes’ son, Aydın, who said: “The same dirty game was played against the Democrat Party [DP] and its leader Menderes between 1950-1960. The aim of these circles is to invite a military coup to replace the democratic regime. They send an implicit threat to the government and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, saying that if you continue the process in this way, your end will be the same as that of the DP and Menderes.” Güngör calls on those who make such allegations to be careful about the threat.
Radikal’s Oral Çalışlar complains that instead of concentrating on criticism of the AK Party’s shortcomings and mistakes regarding democratization, some circles are trying to expand the scope of the military domain against the civilian domain. “Do not be deceived by them saying they are against coups; the straightforward figures of this front openly defend the military coups of 1960, 1980 and 1997. For the past 50 years, we have been taken hostage by some who say ‘this government is so bad that it would be better for the military to take the power.’ The most violent lynchings, the most unfair pressures, the heaviest tortures and executions that have taken place in Turkey thus far occurred either under military regimes or during times of military tutelage,” he decries.
According to Star’s Mehmet Metiner, allegations about approaching “civilian fascism” and a “civilian coup” or “civilian tutelage,” in Turkey do not have any meaning except for being part of a conscious psychological warfare. “There is the goal of creating confusion. This is the essence of the issue. Turkey is not headed toward a ‘single-party regime’ under the AK Party government. Through such allegations, there are efforts to lower support for the AK Party because it makes efforts toward the settlement of a civilian and democratic order. It is a different thing not to like the AK Party’s actions or criticize them or to criticize it by hiding behind notions such as ‘civilian fascism’ or ‘civilian tutelage.’ I see an evil will behind the second one,” suggests Metiner.
Taraf’s Ahmet Altan calls on those who have launched the “civilian fascism” campaign against the government, mainly newspapers belonging to the Doğan Media Group, to forward evidence of corruption in the AK Party, if any exists, to Taraf if they cannot publish it themselves due to the existence of “civilian fascism” in Turkey. “You bring us the file, if we don’t publish it, you can announce it and embarrass us. Then we will give up journalism. If you can criticize the civilian power and publish files about it, then how can you come up with this ‘civilian tutelage’ nonsense?” asks Altan.
