Who will be most affected by the secrets emerging from the ‘cosmic room’?

 All of the parties aside from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) stand to be deeply affected by the results of the cosmic rooms searches -- especially the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP).

The opposition seems tense following the beginning of the cosmic searches: The leader of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), Deniz Baykal, recently stated that early elections are inevitable this year, citing interagency conflict at the state level; the MHP suddenly decided to renew its party program, adding a clause about the duty to protect the military, and also said early elections were necessary.

The search at the Special Forces Command’s most secret documents archive began following allegations of a planned assassination of Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç by members of the military. While the course of the investigation into these claims led to the cosmic rooms, there was staunch opposition to allowing the unprecedented move of members of the civilian judiciary entering the archives to search. Initially, prosecutors were denied access to the cosmic rooms, until Chief of General Staff Gen. İlker Başbuğ stepped in, allowing Justice Kadir Kayan alone to search the rooms and documents. After six days of searching, Kayan has completed his work in the rooms, and now all eyes are on him, awaiting the completion of his report.

The report is likely to stir even further controversy over the searches -- even the smallest bit of evidence that sheds any light at all on a number of dark events that have taken place in the last 50 years of the history of the Turkish Republic can have major repercussions for many individuals and institutions.

General Staff tense

While the General Staff said in a statement on Dec. 26 that the searches taking place at the Special Forces Command were in full compliance with Article 125 of the Code on Criminal Procedure (CMK), on Jan. 2 it applied to the Ankara 11th High Criminal Court running the search, requesting that the search be halted and all copies of documents made as part of the search be destroyed. This alone shows the extent of the dread with which the General Staff views the airing of the secrets contained in those buildings.

There are many reasons for the military’s tension. Even the slightest piece of evidence indicating military plans to overthrow the government will put the General Staff into an even tougher spot in terms of the ruling administration; as it is, it’s already known in Turkey that there are a number of shadowy deep-state structures responsible for dark events.

It is thought by some that traces of intelligence and information on the connections behind disappearances, unsolved murders, assassinations of intellectuals and journalists and massacres can be found in the cosmic rooms. These suspicions are strengthened by the General Staff’s request for the destruction of documents from the rooms, a sign that the military has a lot to lose if too much is unveiled.

A large number of private citizens and civil society groups have already begun applying to the courts for the disclosure of the secrets in the cosmic rooms. The first among these was attorney Rasim Öz, who filed to have any documents in the rooms relating to the bloody events of May 1, 1977 released.

Following Öz’s move, a group called Cumartesi Anneleri (Saturday Mothers) acted similarly, asking Justice Kayan to reveal whether there was any information in the cosmic rooms pertaining to 1,246 missing persons and nearly 5,000 unsolved murders. Some have claimed that the cosmic rooms may contain information relating to the murders of Vedat Aydın, Musa Anter, Abdi İpekçi, Muammer Aksoy, Çetin Emeç, Turan Dursun, Bahriye Üçok, Ahmet Taner Kışlalı, Uğur Mumcu, Necip Hablemitoğlu and Hrant Dink.

In particular, information regarding events in the 1990s, during which there were many unsolved murders, may emerge. The Kahramanmaraş and Çorum massacres. which stirred Alevi-Sunni tensions, the Madımak massacre, the events in Gaziosmanpaşa, the Susurluk and Şemdinli incidents -- the list of things the cosmic searches could shed light on is seemingly never-ending.

Speaking to Sunday’s Zaman about the cosmic room searches, International Federation for Human Rights Vice President Yusuf Alataş said the General Staff stands to be the most affected by the search findings. “The system can be shaken up by even the smallest findings with regard to Gladio, contra-guerilla and other deep state formations whose existence has long been known of but never proven. More than just causing discomfort, such findings would spark an earthquake. And the General Staff would be the most affected by this. It would do anything to stop this from happening,” he said.

MHP looking out for itself, not the army

The CHP and MHP are, of course, also high on the list of those who stand to be affected by the cosmic search results. The MHP may sustain a serious blow if any secrets are released with regard to secret state operations, says independent deputy from İzmir Recai Birgün, who was the late Prime Minister Bülent Ecevit’s head bodyguard.

Recalling that in the period leading up to the Sept. 12, 1980 military coup Ecevit had asked Special Forces Commander Gen. Sabri Yirmibeşoğlu whether the MHP’s Kars provincial head was part of the deep state, to which he had received the response, “Yes, but he really loves his homeland,” Birgün opines that the secrets in the cosmic room have the potential to spell the end for any number of institutions and personalities.

“The search could decode all of the state’s secret operations, and all of those who played a role in them. Such a situation could put the state in a tough spot,” he said.

It is already known that the late Alparslan Türkeş -- the founding leader of the MHP, who during the pre-Sept. 12 coup period took part in the anti-communism struggle as part of the ultranationalist youth group of the MHP -- received private education in the US along with Special Warfare Unit founder Daniş Karabelen in 1948.

With the arrests of MHP and MHP youth branch members as part of a court case following the coup, the MHP was connected directly to a number of events. The assassination of İpekçi, the massacres in Çorum and Maraş, the Susurluk scandal -- the names of MHP members are implicated in them all. It is also known that prosecutor Doğan Öz, assigned to research Ecevit’s contra-guerilla activities, was killed by an ultranationalist youth.

It seems that by adding a clause to its charter about protecting the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK), the MHP is actually trying to protect itself in the face of the danger of early elections.

CHP-military cooperation may be documented

The CHP also stands to be affected by the cosmic rooms’ secrets. During the 1950s, when the Democrat Party (DP) was in power, it is known that the CHP played an important role in the period leading up to the Special Warfare Unit’s May 27 coup. During this time, CHP leader İsmet İnönü had threatened DP administrators, warning, “Even I can’t save you.”

It is also well known that the CHP was in deep collaboration with the military in the periods leading up to the March 12 memorandum, the Sept. 12 coup, the Feb. 28 postmodern coup and the most recent April 27 e-memorandum, and engaged in attempts to speed up these processes. CHP leader Baykal’s recent sarcastic statement that “cosmic potatoes have emerged from the cosmic rooms” has been evaluated as another CHP attempt to trivialize important developments. Yet it was the same Baykal who 19 years ago submitted an investigatory motion to the Parliament Speaker’s Office for permission to enter the Special Warfare Unit.

There are many in Turkish politics who may be affected by the unveiling of any cosmic room secrets. The leading ranks of the True Path Party (DYP), which came to power after 1980, and the Motherland Party (ANAVATAN) are among these people. The things that emerge will also concern the terrorist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

Emre Uslu, a columnist for the Taraf daily, is another who has highlighted the wide-reaching potential implications of the cosmic room searches. In one of his statements on the topic, he said: “Anyone could emerge from the cosmic rooms; we have to be ready for this. Members of the press, politicians, businessmen. The panic at the General Staff, the panic in some segments of the media -- the reasons for this panic are understandable.”