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FATMA DİŞLİ ZIBAK f.zibak@todayszaman.com Columnists

Military plots seem to have no end


A new document uncovered by the Taraf daily on Thursday revealed yet another series of sinister military plans to destroy the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) through the assassination of prominent non-Muslim figures in Turkey and then putting the blame for the killings on the government.

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The plan, titled “Cage Operation Action Plan,” would be implemented to lend support to the suspects arrested so far as part of the Ergenekon investigation; render ineffective the so-called psychological warfare waged by the AK Party and its supporters (against the military); change the course of the agenda in Turkey; boost the morale of the junta within the Naval Forces Command; and win the appreciation and support of the public. The blame for each of the assassinations by the junta would be placed on the AK Party. Another hair-rising military plan, named “Action Plan to Fight Reactionaryism,” which was discovered earlier and which revealed that the military had a systematic plan to tarnish the image of the government in the eyes of the public, and this latest plan show how dreadful the plans the military make to pave the way for a military intervention are and how it is essential it is to remove the junta structure from the military.

Zaman’s Mehmet Yılmaz, who is terrified by the discovery of dark military plots intended to foment chaos in the country, says it is impossible to know how many such plans -- which threaten domestic peace and prevent the operation of the parliamentary system -- exist, but it is certain that the preparation of such plans by the military shows how much Turkish democracy needs protection and that it is high time for frozen and ossified problems be resolved through democracy. In his view, the two military action plans, which were prepared seven months ago, target the entire country, not only the AK Party government, including the Parliament, political parties, nongovernmental organizations, media and intellectuals. “I hope the relevant bodies will soon understand this reality and take the necessary action against those who dare to prepare plans aiming to drag Turkey into darkness,” suggests Yılmaz.

Comparing two action plans prepared by the military, the Action Plan to Fight Reactionaryism and the Cage Operation Action Plan, Bugün’s Erhan Başyurt says while the first plan aimed to undermine support for the AK Party at home, the second plan intended to weaken international support for the party it by creating the impression that non-Muslims are under threat in Turkey. “An impression that reactionaryism is on the rise in Turkey and that non-Muslims’ lives are threatened was to be created, hence, negative reactions to a possible military coup would be limited. While the first plan aimed to create a Turkish-Kurdish, Alevi-Sunni conflict, the second plan aimed to foster a clash between Muslims and non-Muslims. And it was hoped that all this chaos and turmoil would ultimately pave the way for a coup, with no concern about the loss of lives and property as well as the blow that would be dealt to democracy and the economy. Both plans are hair-raising. We will see what kind of an explanation the General Staff gives, but we cannot help but hope that all these plans are fake,” contends Başyurt.

According to Sabah’s Emre Aköz, the goal of the Cage Operation Action Plan is to portray Turkey as a country where people are easily murdered because the groups which make such plans are against Turkey’s accession to the European Union and they know that the EU would not allow the entry of such a country into the bloc.

21 November 2009, Saturday
FATMA DİŞLİ ZIBAK
   
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Columnists
ABDULHAMİT BİLİCİ
ABDULLAH BOZKURT
ALİ BULAC
ALİ H. ASLAN
AMANDA AKÇAKOCA
ANDREW FINKEL
ASIM ERDİLEK
AYŞE KARABAT
BEJAN MATUR
BERİL DEDEOĞLU
BERK ÇEKTİR
BÜLENT KENEŞ
BÜLENT KORUCU
CHARLOTTE MCPHERSON
DOĞU ERGİL
EKREM DUMANLI
EMRE USLU
ETYEN MAHÇUPYAN
FATMA DİŞLİ ZIBAK
FEHMİ KORU
FİKRET ERTAN
GÜRKAN ZENGİN
HASAN KANBOLAT
HÜSEYİN GÜLERCE
İBRAHİM KALIN
İBRAHİM ÖZTÜRK
İHSAN DAĞI
İHSAN YILMAZ
KATHY HAMILTON
KERİM BALCI
KLAUS JURGENS
LALE KEMAL
MEHMET KAMIŞ
MICHAEL KUSER
MUHAMMED ÇETİN
MÜMTAZER TÜRKÖNE
MURAT YÜLEK
NICOLE POPE
ÖMER TAŞPINAR
ORHAN KEMAL CENGİZ
PAT YALE
ŞAHİN ALPAY
SELÇUK GÜLTAŞLI
SUAT KINIKLIOĞLU
YAVUZ BAYDAR