Dream interventions vs. Dream country
by
Sevgi Akarçeşme*

It is already known to any student of Turkish politics that the Turkish military considers itself the self-appointed guardian of the regime and justifies its interventions in civilian political life accordingly. Now, thanks to one of the courageous dailies of the Turkish press, Taraf, we not only learn the bleak and depressing details of coup plots, but also that almost every general of the higher echelons apparently has a “dream intervention” that he craftily sets up and waits for the day of action. For example, in his infamous coup diaries dated 2004, Gen. Özden Örnek refers to Gen. Şener Eruygur, who was then the gendarmerie general commander, as someone who is always longing for a revolution (weirdly enough, in Turkish the words revolution and intervention are used interchangeably by some). It is sad that we are not able to hear them from Eruygur himself -- whose name appears widely in the Ergenekon indictment -- because he began to suffer from amnesia following his surveillance.

Apparently, our latest hero, Çetin Doğan, who was ready to sacrifice anything for the unity of the country and protect the nation from the reactionary forces at the expense of the nation itself, made a meticulous plan as the mastermind of the recently revealed plot. The 5,000-page plan that Taraf continues to publish includes “operations,” from bombing two of the most crowded mosques in İstanbul right after the Friday prayer to bringing down Turkish jets over the Aegean in order to undermine the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government in the eyes of the people and create viable conditions for military rule. There is no doubt that the ends justify all means for the junta, and obviously the perpetrators have no respect or mercy for human life, but one at least expects these generals to learn to respect the nation’s historical and cultural heritage during their indoctrination. They could have at least considered keeping the mosques intact as part of the cultural heritage! Unfortunately, the situation is so grave that one either feels compelled to make fun of the details or suffers from learned helplessness given the vicious cycle we are forced to live in. There has to be a third option for our sanity as a nation, though.

Clearly, accountability is imperative for the military as well. Unfortunately though, just on Jan. 21, the Constitutional Court ruled out the possibility of civilian trials for military personnel. In such a closed system, where coup plots remain unpunished, there is always incentive for an aspiring general who wants to “save the country” to topple the civilian rule. The junta should know well that any attempt will be harshly punished even within the institution.

More importantly, a complete supremacy of civilian politics has to be institutionalized. In order to succeed, the military has to denounce its self-appointed guardianship role as it is vague, open to abuse and causes fights against the nation itself. Indeed, to put it better, the military or the distorted minds within the institution (we do not know how much of the military they comprise) have to come to terms with the people of this country. Even the number of plots in the last several years necessitates a new pact between the military and civilians.

Needless to say, pro-junta people do not come only in uniforms. The ones who disguise their militaristic and fascist minds under different labels, especially within the media, are also perceived as potential collaborators by the planners. The Turkish media needs to purge itself of names and institutions whose clear aim is not to inform people but to maximize their profits for the credibility of the media in Turkey.

We have every reason to be appalled by the military intervention plots that keep surfacing, and in the short run, this is all depressing. However, as some generals feel incredibly free to dream up interventions, the democratic-minded people of this country whom they want to blow up have every right to dream about a country worth living in. In the past, they were able to execute their plans. Now, there is a democratic front in Turkey that is not ready to buy the same old arguments. Despite everything, we have reasons to be hopeful…