[Event of the week]
Controversial covert protocol EMASYA abolished

“We have made the decision to revoke the protocol. Lt. Gen. Mehmet Ersöz, the head of the General Staff’s operations department, and Interior Ministry Undersecretary Osman Güneş have signed off on the decision, which has been circulated to the General Staff and all governors’ offices,” he said.

The move against EMASYA came shortly after Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan publicly vowed to do away with the covert protocol. In a televised interview with journalists on Sunday, the prime minister pledged to take all the required steps -- both legal and administrative -- to eliminate EMASYA.

The controversial protocol was signed by the General Staff and the Interior Ministry on July 7, 1997 and empowers the military to intervene in social incidents on its own initiative. EMASYA gave the military the authority to gather intelligence against internal threats.

Debates over EMASYA erupted last month after a retired general confessed to having drafted an alleged military plan to overthrow the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government in accordance with the protocol. The plan, titled the Balyoz (Sledgehammer) Security Operation Plan, includes a subversive Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) plot to take control of the country through a series of violent acts.

Israel should contemplate the results of losing an ally like Turkey, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan cautioned, while highlighting that the continuation of bilateral cooperation in several fields would not be possible in the absence of mutual trust.

The leader of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), Deniz Baykal, stated that a recent row over an apparent military plot to overthrow the government was political and commercial. “Though there is no demand or plan for a coup d’état, what we are witnessing is politics over coups. This is an abuse of coups and a commercialization of coups,” noted Baykal on Saturday, denying claims that the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) were engaged in plans to topple the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government.

The İstanbul 13th High Criminal Court decided to release three defendants in an ongoing case against Ergenekon, a clandestine criminal organization accused of working to overthrow the government. Academics Ümit Sayın and Emin Gürses and retired Sgt. Muhammet Yüce are accused of membership in Ergenekon.

Jan. 31 Sunday

In the clearest message yet, Prime Minister Erdoğan vowed to get rid of a controversial covert protocol that allows military operations to be carried out over internal security matters, saying all necessary steps -- both legal and administrative -- would be taken to abolish the document.

Halis Toprak, an industry mogul who was recently in the news following his controversial marriage to a woman a fraction of his age, said he regrets marrying 17-year-old Nazlıcan Tağızade because the marriage has brought shame to his name. “I should have never gotten into that marriage. I killed my career. I made a show of myself,” Toprak said in an interview with the Sabah daily.

Feb. 1 Monday

A group of lawyers from the İstanbul Bar Association gathered in front of the Bakırköy Courthouse in İstanbul to protest the Sledgehammer plan, an alleged military plot to foment chaos in society to lay the groundwork for a coup d’état.

The pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) held its first extraordinary congress in Ankara on Monday, electing Selahattin Demirtaş as the new leader of the party, with Gülten Kışanak as the co-chair. The congress was held amidst propaganda for the terrorist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and calls for freedom for its leader, Abdullah Öcalan. Öcalan is currently being held in an island prison near İstanbul. More than 450 delegates cast votes for the election of the party’s new leader. Members of the party’s council were also elected during the vote.

Former Chief of General Staff retired Gen. Hilmi Özkök said he was not presented details of an alleged plot to overthrow the AK Party in 2003. In an interview published in the Star daily, Özkök said he had not seen the Sledgehammer Security Operation Plan, which included a list of steps to be taken to stage a coup.

Journalist Abdi İpekçi, who was assassinated on Feb. 1, 1979, was commemorated on the 31st anniversary of his death at the Zincirlikuyu Cemetery in İstanbul, where he is buried. Family, colleagues and friends were present at the commemoration ceremony.

Feb. 2 Tuesday

President Abdullah Gül said Turkey is no longer in need of the Protocol on Cooperation for Security and Public Order (EMASYA), which authorizes the military to conduct operations and intelligence gathering in cities without the approval of the civilian administration. “EMASYA is a protocol signed between the Interior Ministry and the TSK. It has its own logic and legal ethics. I am of the opinion that Turkey no longer needs that protocol within the scope of its legal understanding and judicial standards,” the president told reporters after a joint press conference with Kosovar President Fatmir Sejdiu.

The difficulties Turkey has faced in the past few years are closely related to its transition from being a country with a powerful military that has too much influence over politics to a modern state with higher civilian control over the military, European Union term president Spain’s ambassador to Ankara, Joan Clos, said.

Listing religions on identity cards, whether obligatory or optional, is in violation of human rights, the top European human rights court ruled on Tuesday in a case filed by a Turkish citizen who is a member of the Alevi community.

Supreme Court of Appeals President Hasan Gerçeker said he does not support party closures in a democratic state and suggested legal changes in that regard in addition to reforming the legal system by removing the military court of appeals.

Prime Minister Erdoğan directed harsh criticism at CHP leader Baykal for his efforts to downplay the Sledgehammer Security Operation Plan, an apparent military plot to topple the government. “Baykal’s sole target is not the AK Party. His target is Turkish democracy and civilian politics. … I advise him to leave aside cheap calculations [to come to power] and defend democracy, the rule of law and civilian politics for the first time in his life,” stated Erdoğan on Tuesday during his AK Party’s parliamentary group meeting.

Deputies in Parliament exchanged harsh words and punches on Tuesday over the Gülhane Military Academy of Medicine’s (GATA) refusal to allow Emine Erdoğan, the prime minister’s wife, to enter the facility to visit an ailing thespian in 2007. Osman Durmuş, a deputy from the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), drew the indignation of AK Party deputies when he made fun of news reports over GATA’s refusal to allow Prime Minister Erdoğan’s wife to enter the hospital and visit thespian Nejat Uygur in 2007 because she wears a headscarf.

Feb. 3 Wednesday

After the closure of the pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP), its chairman, Ahmet Türk, and former Co-chairman Aysel Tuğluk, stripped of their parliamentary immunity, appeared in court yesterday to testify in cases in which they are charged with promoting the cause of a terrorist organization.

A group of lawyers affiliated with the Universal Jurists’ Platform filed a criminal complaint yesterday against individuals who allegedly prepared and were to implement the suspected Sledgehammer coup plan.

Excavations began on land near the Habur border gate in the southeastern province of Şırnak as part of an investigation launched following statements from a long-time military translator, Yıldırım Beğler, who claimed that individuals executed illegally had been buried there.

İstanbul Fashion Week (IFW), an international fashion event bringing together designers, couturiers, stylists and companies in the ready-to-wear and apparel sectors, opened its doors with a large turnout from both the country and abroad, raising expectations that İstanbul will become a center of fashion just like Milan, Paris, London and New York.

According to Consumer Price Index (CPI) data released by the Turkish Statistics Institute (TurkStat), the index increased by 1.85 percent in January compared to December and rose 8.19 percent over the same month of last year. Tax hikes on fuel, alcohol and tobacco at the end of the year created upward pressure on prices, as reflected in the January increase in the CPI.

Feb. 4 Thursday

The Interior Ministry announced that the Protocol on Cooperation for Security and Public Order (EMASYA), which had been harshly criticized for allowing the military to conduct operations and intelligence gathering in cities without the approval of the civilian administration, was annulled.

NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said he was not concerned about Turkish foreign policy changing direction, adding that he believed Turkey can and should play an important role as a bridge between Central Asia and the Middle East and Europe and North America.

A group of lawyers affiliated with the Universal Jurists’ Platform held a demonstration in support of democracy along Atatürk Street in Ankara’s Sincan district, the street which several tanks rolled down as a warning to the government during the February 1997 unarmed military intervention.

Following a decision by labor unions on Tuesday to hold a strike on Feb. 4 in support of workers dismissed from Tekel, Turkey’s alcohol and tobacco monopoly, workers from various labor unions participated in demonstrations in the provinces of İstanbul, Ankara, Edirne, Mersin, Batman, Denizli and Antalya. Prime Minister Erdoğan said the government would maintain its stance regarding the Tekel dispute and would not take a step back following a one-day strike which, observers argued, failed to be as successful as some of the unions had anticipated.

Feb. 5 Friday

Lt. Col. Mustafa Dönmez, who was arrested in connection with weapons and ammunition found in his home during a search carried out as part of an investigation into Ergenekon, a clandestine gang charged with plotting to overthrow the government, was sentenced to four years in prison yesterday and expelled from the military on charges of concealing equipment belonging to the TSK.

Reiterating Ankara’s long-held position on Afghanistan, that using military means to bring stability to the war-torn country will not work unless these efforts are supported by strong civilian assistance to the country to enable it to stand on its own two feet, President Gül said on Friday that terrorism in this country could be isolated only by winning the hearts of the Afghan people.