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‘Firm stance against gangs key to democratization’
Erdoğan’s remarks came on Tuesday, the second and last day of his official visit to Washington, where he had talks with US President Barack Obama on Monday.
Turkey has been carrying out fundamental reforms in the fields of democratization and human rights simultaneously with its efforts for contributing to global peace, Erdoğan said in a speech delivered at a meeting held by the German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMF) at the Park Hyatt Hotel, while also refuting claims that the government has been misusing tax fines against media groups as a form of political pressure.
“I underline the fact that we could never have reached the current level either in the economy and domestic and foreign policy or in democratization if we had postponed our struggle against gangs and illegal organizations. The provocations we have witnessed just during our term in office have very clearly shown what kind of a barrier these illegal organizations pose to transformation,” Erdoğan said, noting that certain circles were exploiting these illegal organizations for personal profit and that his government has been resisting threats by those circles, which he declined to name.
“The illegal organization issue is now before the judiciary in Turkey,” Erdoğan added, in an apparent reference to the ongoing trial of Ergenekon -- a clandestine network accused of plotting to overthrow the government. “It would not be true to go into details, but indictments, claims, nasty relations, nasty scenarios and nasty plans which came into the spotlight [during the trial] have revealed that Turkey has faced a huge threat in the past,” Erdoğan said.
The Ergenekon investigation started in June 2007 with the discovery of hand grenades at a house in İstanbul’s Ümraniye district. Dozens of suspects, including members of the military, businessmen and journalists have been arrested for suspected links to the terrorist organization.
Most recently, as part of the investigation into Ergenekon, a plan known as the Cage Operation Action Plan has been revealed. According to the plan, a group in the Naval Forces Command aimed to intimidate the country’s non-Muslim population by assassinating some of their prominent figures and in this way undermine the power of the ruling party. Earlier this week, a defendant in the trial stated to the court hearing the case that some members of the military told him that a secret formation inside the General Staff and the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) was trying to overthrow the government.
In his speech at the GMF meeting, Erdoğan also touched upon speculation over the tax fine on Turkish media giant Doğan Yayın Holding, whose officials and columnists have argued abroad that the tax fine stemmed from its critical coverage of the government, suggesting that the case against the company is politically motivated.
“Our term is the one during which bans [against freedom of expression] have been removed. We don’t believe that this is sufficient and we’ve been struggling to remove current obstacles, too,” Erdoğan said. “However, it is thought-provoking that a tax fine issued to a holding which happens to have some newspapers and televisions is distorted and trying to be reflected as a blow to the freedom of press,” he added.
The tax fine has nothing to do with governmental intentions of controlling media, he underlined, as he said that, as in the United States, nobody in Turkey has privilege or immunity when the issue is paying taxes.
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