TSK aimed to destroy trust in AK Party through fake surveys

The surveys would be conducted by historians Emre Kongar and İlber Ortaylı and journalists Bekir Coşkun and Ece Temelkuran and would reflect an increase in public confidence in the armed forces and reduced trust in the AK Party government.

One of the planned surveys, for example, was going to suggest that public confidence in the TSK amounted to 93 percent, while suggesting the figure was only 45 percent for the government. The same survey would allege that the number of headscarf-wearing women had increased by 10 percent in the last five years and would claim that at least 65 percent of women who wear the headscarf do so due to family or neighborhood pressure. The survey would also feature articles that had appeared in the foreign press that claimed that Turkey was becoming a religiously oriented society.

Seventy-eight percent of the respondents would voice their demand that Turkish authorities not have contact with Massoud Barzani, president of the Kurdish regional government in northern Iraq, or Iraqi President Jalal Talabani. The survey would also show great public support for TSK members’ statements relating to politics.

The results of similar surveys would be sent to certain press organs and newspapers to be given broader coverage. The press organs would cover the survey in a way that would spark public debate over “diminishing public support” for the government and “high confidence” in the TSK.

On a regular basis, newspapers would feature provocative news with such headlines as “Reactionary capital defrauds the public,” “Sectarian father locks daughter at home,” “Reactionary family marries young daughter to old man” and “Money collected from religious group sent to sheik; sheik spends it on luxurious holiday.”

A document on a CD mailed to prosecutors by the officer exposed that almost all foundations, associations and religious courses were categorized and monitored by the gendarmerie. In a note included in the document, it was stressed that the Kurdish and Alevi population in some villages in central Kırıkkale could be abused (in order to foment chaos in society).

According to the document, people who migrated to Kırıkkale from Yozgat had extreme-right ideologies while those who migrated to the city from Çorum and Kırşehir had extreme-left ideologies. “Kurdish citizens who settled in the Balışeyh district [of Kırıkkale] from Van and Erzurum may lend support to separatist powers,” read another note.

The document also categorized the southern Isparta province and its residents as “reactionary” because Bediüzzaman Said Nursi, a major figure of 20th century Islamic thought, penned some of his books, collectively known as the “Risale-i Nur,” in the area between 1928 and 1952.

Among other associations and foundations categorized by the gendarmerie were those that give financial aid to students, build new mosques and repair old mosques and lend support to needy families.

The gendarmerie also monitored the activities of all cemevis (Alevi places of worship) in the central province of Çorum. Another document showed which cemevis had dedes (religious leaders) and which did not.