Col. Dursun Çiçek, whose signature is on a document detailing a conspiracy plan against the nation and democracy, didn’t appear in court to testify. The other day, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan stood up against this resistance for the first time in the history of Turkey. Under the roof of Parliament, he called out to the chief of general staff during his party’s group meeting and said: “Do not act conservatively. Hand over the suspects to justice.” The point we have reached is truly a turning point. The junta is trying to fight back and the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) administration is standing strong. Last week, on the 86th anniversary of the Turkish Republic, the prime minister spoke with Başbuğ for 80 minutes. The announcement made after the meeting to “respect the judicial process” created concerns for some people, who started talking about the possibility of a second Şemdinli case. But Erdoğan’s speech during the group meeting was comforting for them as well. For the sake of making an impression on history, let us record these sentences from Erdoğan’s speech.
“As long as the AK party exists, as long as this soul lives in this body, no one can drag Turkey into dark channels. No one can find the opportunity to carry out their dirty ambitions and schemes. A document containing dirty schemes against our party was revealed. We are not going to give up on this document. Nothing can be concealed. Nothing can be left in the dark.”
Whether the junta supporters will understand this message is a subject of curiosity. It is evident that they will face more difficulty if they fail to understand it. Everyone is aware of the existence of a powerful will within the state that is in favor of democratization and against junta supporters.
Former Chief of General Staff Hilmi Özkök’s stance says a lot about this awareness. A chief of general staff cannot resist four coup attempts during his tenure all by himself. Within the army there is a democratic stance that upsets the morale of the coup supporters, constrains their ambitions, confuses their minds and ruins their plans.
There is one more issue. Everyone who is willing to see realizes that the US and the EU have both abandoned the junta’s supporters. It’s impossible that the US was not informed of the documents leaked from inside. Let’s take a look at the portrait before us one more time. The government is determined and the junta’s supporters no longer have foreign support. The EU progress report states that the EU wants military tutelage over the civilian will to end. The junta’s supporters have become trapped in a dead end street.
A series of judicial processes will put them under even more pressure in this street. They are going to have to give an account of many bloody and dirty plans, conspiracies and provocations from unsolved murder cases to the poisoning of late President Turgut Özal. It is not difficult to understand the resistance of these supporters. They cannot accept the national will. They are still following the idea of overthrowing elected governments. For some reason they still can’t accept the fact that Abdullah Gül is the president.
There is one truth they accept, but another truth they fail to see. What they accept is that conditions are becoming increasingly difficult. There is no longer a solid media that bows down to their orders and commands. The number of collaborators in the political, university and business worlds is declining. Their supporters in the media are becoming exposed and these people are becoming a humiliation for their profession’s principles and reputation. They also know that external support is on the decline. America and the EU have been pursuing a dialogue that is “far from sensitivity” for a while now.
The truth they fail to see is that whatever they try to do is meaningless. The TSK can no longer harbor junta supporters. Not just the TSK but neither democracy nor Turkey can carry this junta baggage. There is a new Turkey that is becoming more powerful in the region and more reputable in the world. The rusty junta shackles are an impediment for Turkey.
Esteemed chief of general staff,
Not just 70 million people but the entire world have their eyes on you. You are obliged to do whatever it is that befits a general.
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