In a parallel move the civilian authority has stood behind the judiciary in encouraging its members to try coup plotters.
Though moving slowly, democratic reforms are on their way.
As a result of a “zero problems” policy with problematic neighbors such as Syria and Iraq, bilateral ties have developed to an extent that the countries concerned are enjoying high-level contacts. Despite serious obstacles ahead, Turkish-Armenian relations are also expected to be normalized as the two countries have signed protocols to this end.
The more tensions are reduced both internally and externally the more the Turkish economy will also benefit from increased stability, although this is one of the most vulnerable areas, with an unemployment rate reaching around 18 percent.
For Turkey to influence its policies externally while creating a peaceful environment, it has to solve its internal problems. This is what the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) has been trying to do by improving democratic standards in general and by solving the Kurdish problem in particular. Another area that the AK Party has been trying to resolve is settling the country’s scores with the deep state.
The Ergenekon deep state investigation launched almost two years ago and under which about 150 people including top retired generals and active duty officers are being tried on charges of fomenting armed action to unseat the government has marked the beginning of government resolve to end the tradition of military coups or indirect interventions interrupting political processes.
The Turkish government has thus taken serious steps paving the way for the installation of democratic standards in the country. Not surprisingly this process will be a long and painful one as we have started feeling the heat in the past several years.
The two main opposition parties’ lack of resolve in turning Turkey into a democratically governed nation has had a serious impact in slowing down the democratization process. Both parties sabotage any democratic initiatives as we have witnessed lately from their stance on the government-initiated Kurdish reform process.
Turkey’s military, on the other hand, has increasingly been losing credibility due to its defensive steps in cases linked to its members instead of helping the judiciary to investigate military-linked illegal activities.
Several papers over the weekend reported that the original document detailing a military plot has reached the Ergenekon prosecutors. The Turkish General Staff’s reaction to this report was bizarre as it has criticized the leaking of the original document to the media. Normally the General Staff would have displayed a more responsible stance and cooperated with civilian prosecutors in uncovering the event.
Liberal daily Taraf published a document last June that contained an action plan to finish off the ruling AK Party and the Gülen movement signed by Col. Dursun Çiçek. At the time Turkish Chief of General Staff Gen. İlker Başbuğ described the action plan as a piece of paper, urging the prosecutors to find the original document. Now the original plan has been found in a letter written to the İstanbul prosecutors by an unidentified officer who stated his readiness to stand as a witness if asked.
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan stated at the weekend in reference to the action plan document that neither the state nor the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) could carry this stain. This is an open challenge to the TSK by the head of civilian authority.
Action plans cannot be prepared without the consent of the second in command at the TSK. And the unnamed officer who wrote the letter to the prosecutors attaching the original of the action plan signed by Col. Çiçek said that both Gen. Başbuğ and then-Deputy Chief of General Staff Gen. Hasan Iğsız were allegedly aware of the plan.
I am not surprised since I was confident from the very beginning that action plans cannot be prepared without the orders of top commanders. This event once again proves that the Ergenekon deep state trial cannot get at the truth if the prosecutors do not have access to the military files that are kept secret from the civilian judiciary.
But overall, these events indicate that the Turkish state has entered into a process of cleansing itself of dirty activities. Though this process is painful, it also tells us that the state is evolving towards democracy.
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