Journalism during the time of Ergenekon

Etyen Mahçupyan

The arrests of Nedim Şener and Ahmet Şık have brought a new perspective to the Ergenekon case. Both of these people are award-winning journalists who helped expose a portion of the Ergenekon network and a coup plan.

This is why many people believe that claims about them being members of Ergenekon are absurd and feel there is something else behind their detention. Some people think the two journalists have been arrested because of the book they wrote that contains harsh allegations against the Gülen movement and that they are still interested in probing the activities of the movement. Many felt freedom of the press was being violated and that the Gülen community was using its influence in the judiciary and police to prevent the release of publications that insulted the movement.

But even the intellectuals of the secular segment of society, which is used to pursuing arguments like this, did not occupy themselves with this overly simple assessment for more than a few days. That is because none of the many others who authored books against the Gülen movement have been investigated or arrested and there is nothing that has not already been written about the movement. Furthermore, it is not very convincing that the Gülen movement would take a step that would obscure the Ergenekon investigation because this movement has been working from the very beginning to expose the Ergenekon organization, which describes the Gülen movement as one of its biggest targets.

Underlying the recent arrests is the realization that the Ergenekon case has reached the point of no return and a change in the organization’s priorities. It seems the project to bring down the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) was postponed after defeat in the referendum. In return, it won’t be surprising if the AK Party, which will win a large portion of votes in the elections, uses its political weight to put pressure on the Ergenekon case. This in return might cause some suspects and witnesses to speak out, and everyone knows that once people start talking, the entire Ergenekon project will quickly become exposed. That means the people who are currently in detention will be in jail for many years to come.

In the face of this threat, the organization has changed its priorities. It now seems to be aiming to undermine the case, to spread the conviction that the judiciary is biased and to have those who are being tried get off with minor punishments. Apparently, the organization is implementing a project known as “National Media 2010” to serve this purpose. Odatv.com, where police carried out searches and questioned employees, is being accused of coordinating this new project and having links with Ergenekon via Yalçın Küçük’s connection with Mehmet Haberal.

For now it is impossible for us to know how accurate that claim is, but we must accept that there is evidence that convinced the court. On the other hand, it is impossible for Odatv.com to be able to perform the function the organization wants fulfilled by itself because it is not a TV station, it is a website. Hence one of their methods is having certain people write books that will confuse people and damage the legitimacy of the Ergenekon case. It seems that prosecutors feel some published books were written in connection with Ergenekon, and while they revealed some facts, they were intended to be part of a conscious manipulation. The arrests of Şener and Şık make sense within this context. What we can deduce from this investigation is that the Ergenekon organization is planning on having another former member of the police force, Sabri Uzun, release a book prior to the elections just as Hanefi Avcı released a book prior to the referendum. But these two police officers’ abilities to write a book were limited. They needed help, and it seems prosecutors have reason to believe Şener and Şık provided them with the help they needed.

In a nutshell, the issue is not about freedom of the press; the issue is about journalists being accused of supporting, knowingly or unknowingly, a project that aims to exonerate a criminal organization. Lately “investigative journalism” in Turkey has come to mean writing books based on documents that have been leaked from within the state. This makes them more susceptible to becoming a tool of controversy within the bureaucracy and to being manipulated. On the other hand, some have adopted this type of journalism as an “identity” and have become dependent on these types of documents.

The media in Turkey have also become statist and subversive. Today we are moving away from that point, but some people continue to do journalism by using opportunities that are given to them.
 
Published on Today's Zaman, 11 March 2011, Friday