Ahmet Şağar, who served as the prime ministry undersecretary in 2000, stressed in a written statement that no directive was sent to the TSK for the establishment of such Web sites. “I did not issue such a directive. I do not recall such an issue,” he noted on Monday. A General Staff spokesperson, however, had claimed last week that the Web sites were established following directives from the Prime Ministry in 2000, when the government was led by a coalition under former Prime Minister Bülent Ecevit. The existence of the TSK's Web sites was revealed recently in an e-mail sent by a military officer to a number of journalists and newspapers. The officer, who wished to remain anonymous, claimed that the armed forces established 42 Web sites as part of its psychological warfare against “dangerous” civilian groups, which were categorized as “reactionary,” “separatist,” “pro-Justice and Development Party [AK Party]” and “anti-TSK.”

Following Şağar’s statement, Prime Ministry officials checked the archives at the ministry but failed to find the directive in question, confirming the statement. Therefore, the ministry requested from the General Staff the date and serial number of the directive. The ministry will decide what action to take against the Web sites after the General Staff responds.

Besides establishing 42 Web sites to conduct psychological warfare against civilian groups, the armed forces also monitored the activities of more than 400 Turkish and foreign language Web sites. The Web site plan was devised at the Third Information Support Unit of the General Staff by a number of colonels and was coordinated by First Army Corps Commander Gen. Hasan Iğsız. Chief of General Staff Gen. İlker Başbuğ was also reportedly informed about the plan.

The 42 Web sites in question were used to provoke tension in society over a number of current developments that created uneasiness in the public. One of the Web sites, www.terorveguvenlik.net, for example, featured articles that argued that a Council of State attack in 2006 that left a senior judge dead was launched due to “religious purposes.” Web sites www.irtica.org and www.irtica.net, on the other hand, campaigned against the election of an AK Party member as the new president, claiming that such an election would increase chaos within society. Several other Web sites launched smear campaigns against scholar Fethullah Gülen. The Web sites featured articles by a number of columnists from nationalist newspapers such as Sözcü, Cumhuriyet and BirGün.

A Web site pointed to the AK Party government as the sole source of the headscarf controversy. According to the site, the AK Party was the number one enemy of the regime in the country and worked to undermine the military and judiciary in Turkey. The same Web site threatened the life of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. An article on the site recalled the execution of former Prime Minister Adnan Menderes, saying the end of Erdoğan would be no different than that of Menderes.

Another Web site detailed a plan to support the Milli Görüş (National View) movement in parliamentary elections to divide public support flowing to the AK Party. The site featured several articles that defended the Milli Görüş movement against the AK Party, claiming that the movement backs national policies in every field.

Plan continues to draw criticism

The TSK’s Web site plan continues to draw criticism from observers, who have called for the trial of members of the military who established the sites.

According to Ali Kemal Yıldız, a jurist, the armed forces has no authority to establish Web sites to conduct psychological warfare against civilians. Jurists’ Union President Sinan Kılıçkaya said the TSK committed a crime by setting up such Web sites.

“The Web sites should be evaluated within the scope of an article of the Turkish Penal Code [TCK] that rules against fomenting hatred and enmity in society. In accordance with the TCK, an individual who foments hatred or enmity against an individual on the basis of his social class, race, religion or denomination is punished with three years in jail,” Kılıçkaya noted.

Internet Technology Association (İTD) President Mustafa Akgül said the categorization of civilian groups on Web sites is a crime. “Everyone is categorizing people in our day. The TSK also categorized people. We are against any pressure or ban concerning the Internet. Judicial bodies should take necessary action against the TSK categorization,” he remarked.

According to Füsun Nebil, a manager of Turk.internet.com, a Web site for Internet technology professionals, civilian institutions should be responsible for monitoring Web sites deemed “dangerous.” “State institutions and the General Staff should not conduct these kinds of monitoring activities,” she added.