Developments that appear to be disconnected from one other can be tied to each other if seen in the illuminating light coming from the experience lens of history like pieces of a puzzle falling into their proper places that otherwise appear to be distorted. Time not only heals everything but also disperses the mysterious and shadowy atmosphere created by heinous conspiracies that turn even top state positions into a battleground for dogfights fought for the sake of illegitimate ambitions. Time’s capability of solving all sorts of mysteries enables us to see and realize how those who are burning with the ambition to grab power without paying any respect to the will of the people undertook a variety of conspiracies, plots and traps -- far more intricate and sophisticated than the famed Byzantine intrigues -- behind closed doors.
If anyone wants to see an example of how the perverted political brokers -- who deserve to only be called incompetent ambitious types -- collaborated with the generals who have made social and political engineering their primary duty and with hypocritical physicians -- the mere idea of whom would give nightmares to Hippocrates in his grave -- to overthrow a democratically elected government, he should have a look at Turkey eight years ago.
You will remember some politicians and columnists who rushed to defend the Ergenekon terrorist organization ask with a self-assumed naivety -- as if to make everyone out to be a fool: How could those who engage in all kinds of evil be members of the same organization along with respected Professor Mehmet Haberal? This question, which appears to be plausible at first sight, is sufficient to prove that the network called Ergenekon is so professionally intricate, far-reaching, elusive and comprehensive. That’s why people keep likening Ergenekon to an octopus. But, in light of recently disclosed information, I think the octopus analogy is now simple and insufficient to define Ergenekon. If we are to liken this abominable network, which also accommodates seemingly respectable figures to something, I guess the best description should be a centipede. But the feet of this centipede should be unique, without any connection to the others.
This centipede-like network should include people who are seemingly fundamentalist religious, or Maoist atheist. Thus, this network’s members, who appear to be nationalists, should bicker in public with other members who are seemingly socialists, but they should be arm in arm behind the scenes. The network should employ secret channels between the perverted generals and terrorist organizations that seem to fight each other. This centipede should be capable of orchestrating in harmony all those apparently disconnected feet so that the organization can attain its targets. For instance, these feet should include medical professionals, journalists, politicians and civil society activists. Yes, what we call Ergenekon cannot be an octopus. If anything, it is best depicted as a centipede. A centipede with diverse feet.
The headlines or first page stories of papers this weekend are enough to explain our position. I will give you details about the incident next, but for the headlines, the Akşam daily ran “Ecevit’s disease part of Ergenekon trial,” Milliyet said “Ecevit in Ergenekon,” Sabah wrote “Ecevit report in Ergenekon,” Yeni Şafak had “Hospital coup against Ecevit to be probed,” Vakit reported “Court demands all of Ecevit’s hospital reports,” Bugün said “Horrible suspicion about Bülent Ecevit” and Zaman ran “Court to investigate the operation against Ecevit.” But, in my opinion, the best headline came from Taraf, which read, “Reports of medical assassination of Ecevit in Ergenekon.”
This development, brought to the agenda yesterday and about which you can read in detail the headline story of Today’s Zaman, is really a historically important one. This is because the court hearing the Ergenekon trial decided to probe the claims that there was a conspiracy to overthrow the government led by late Prime Minister Bülent Ecevit. The court demanded that the medical report issued about Ecevit in 2002 by the Başkent University Hospital, owned by Professor Mehmet Haberal, an Ergenekon defendant, be sent to the court. This move is intended to find out whether the therapies Ecevit had gone through in this hospital were designed to heal Ecevit or not.
As you may remember, in the Ergenekon trial, Ecevit was said to have faced a series of conspiracies and coup attempts. It was claimed that the said hospital issued a medical report certifying that he was incapable of working and that, based on this report, he was to be removed from office. Deputy Prime Minister Hüsamettin Özkan, who was known as Ecevit’s chief aide, was to be made the new prime minister. In his testimony, Recai Birgün, who worked as Ecevit’s chief bodyguard for many years, narrated the dubious events of 2002 as follows: “Ecevit is the only person who recovered from his illness after the treatment was stopped. What happened was part of an operation intended to overthrow the 57th government.”
The section on Haberal in the third indictment of Ergenekon includes striking allegations about this conspiracy against Ecevit. Haberal, who is claimed to have acted in harmony with retired generals Hurşit Tolon and Şener Eruygur to overthrow the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) and render Parliament dysfunctional, was, it seems, quite active during the coalition government led by Ecevit. As a remainder, Ecevit had been ill and was hospitalized at the Başkent Hospital on May 4, 2002. After spending 11 days at this hospital, Ecevit was hurriedly removed from the hospital by his wife, Rahşan Ecevit, on May 27, 2002. After returning home, the Ecevit family refused to allow visits by physicians from Başkent University. Instead, Mücahit Pehlivan, working at the Railways Hospital, treated Bülent Ecevit. In the meantime, in May 2002, media organizations, apparently acting under the influence of Ergenekon, started to run headlines or news stories and comments about Ecevit’s illness. For instance, on July 2, 2002, Emin Çölaşan from Hürriyet wrote in his column that Ecevit was “unable to act as prime minister” and could not “get sufficient nutrition at home.” He wrote that Ecevit could not even “take a bath” and was “suffering from stains and swellings on this skin due to neglect.”
Despite Rahşan Ecevit’s rescue operation, the network that we call Ergenekon did not stop meddling with Ecevit. As noted in the indictment, Özkan along with 61 deputies resigned from Ecevit’s Democratic Left Party (DSP) on July 8, 2002 and established the New Turkey Party (YTP) together with İsmail Cem. As noted in the indictment, DSP deputy Birgün explained why Ecevit did not go to an appointment at Başkent University on July 11, 2002, as follows: “If he had gone to that appointment, he would have been issued a medical report certifying that he was unable to work and he would have been removed from office as prime minister based on this report.”
The fact that Haberal is now an Ergenekon defendant has made it possible to bring to the agenda these claims about Professor Haberal, who played a leading role in the medical coup attempt against Ecevit eight years ago. And this is a good development. The 13th Heavy Penal Court in İstanbul put these claims into the judicial spotlight although no previous action had been taken about them. It is our greatest hope that this unethical and heinous operation against Ecevit should be clarified in utmost detail in this process.
