To date, dozens of people have been arrested in the Ergenekon investigation, launched after the discovery of a gang bearing the same name in June 2007, when police found a house full of munitions in İstanbul.
The neo-nationalist Ergenekon gang, suspected of having ties to various individuals and groups within the state bureaucracy and the military, worked to create a chaotic atmosphere in Turkey so people would welcome a military coup against the ruling AK Party.
The multi-step action plan called on TSK members to be watchful about reports appearing in the press regarding links between the military and other groups and organizations.
“The TSK is seen as the only obstacle before the destruction of Atatürk’s principles and the establishment of a new system based on religious tenets. They are publishing documents that aim to weaken the TSK in their own press organs. They are depicting the rallies, which have captured huge public interest, as though they were organized by Ergenekon. They are claiming that the TSK has close cooperation with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party [PKK] and other terrorist organizations under the umbrella of Ergenekon. They are preparing news stories saying high-level members of the military are of Jewish and Armenian origin. They are releasing voice recordings that allegedly belong to TSK personnel,” the document warned TSK members.
The document went on to detail a plan to defame the AK Party government and fight the alleged threat of reactionaryism in society. In accordance with this plan, press organs were to disseminate propaganda against reactionaryism and fundamentalism; TSK staff and their families were to be informed about this threat; and the military was to step up measures to prevent their documents from leaking to external groups.
