The plot in question, titled the Action Plan to Fight Reactionaryism, was reportedly drafted by Col. Dursun Çiçek and called for the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) to make systematic preparations to damage the image of the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government and the Gülen movement in the eyes of the public, to play down the Ergenekon investigation and to garner support for members of the military arrested as part of the Ergenekon inquest. Ergenekon is a clandestine criminal organization accused of working to overthrow the government. The anonymous officer was also the one to send the original of the document to prosecutors.
In an email sent in November 2009, the unknown sender warned that the military would attempt to open secondary aspects of the document -- such as its shape, type of ink used, etc. -- to debate rather than its contents.
A statement from Chief of General Staff Gen. İlker Başbuğ regarding the document on Sunday appears to be one such attempt. “The verdict is still out on that one,” he insisted during an interview published Sunday, stressing that the investigation by the military prosecutor is still ongoing. In the interview Başbuğ said, “We still do not know whether what we have is the original document,” despite evidence indicating otherwise. Following tests conducted by the İstanbul Council of Forensic Medicine (ATK), the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TÜBİTAK) and the İstanbul Police Crime Laboratory, the Gendarmerie General Command’s Criminal Investigation Department has also confirmed the authenticity of the document. Experts say that the original document might be damaged as Başbuğ said they are considering conducting fingerprint tracing tests on the document, which is now in the hands of the General Staff. General Staff Legal Counsel Hıfzı Çubuklu said in a recent statement that the “authentic signature” on the document might have been created with a signature machine.
