The plot surrounding the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) video scandal thickened when MHP leader Devlet Bahçeli accused those “beyond the [Atlantic] ocean” of having a role in the emergence of the scandal where illicit recordings showing senior MHP party members in intimate and compromising circumstances were leaked on the Internet.
Zaman’s Fehmi Koru believes the MHP video scandal is not the sole factor bringing to mind the Gülen movement as the ultimate target in a continued smear campaign in Turkey with the “beyond the ocean” reference, and more significantly, that the campaign is much more far-reaching and global than this. Koru posits that the MHP video scandal, contrary to popular belief, did not in fact wear down the party. “The same process serves to damage the “beyond the ocean” reference due to the direct connection that the MHP leadership made with the videos. It is as though “beyond the ocean” is a bogeyman who intervenes in politics, has a hand in every negative affair and comes out from under every stone. Everyone who knows [the community] will acknowledge what a grave injustice this is,” he says. Koru adds that the matter of journalists Nedim Şener and Ahmet Şık, who were arrested on the grounds of involvement in the clandestine Ergenekon organization, is a clear case in point about the very global nature of this campaign. While critics of the Ergenekon investigation claim that Şık had been arrested for working on a book critical of Gülen, Koru says that the number of books published internationally about Gülen number in the thousands, including some that are against him. “Why would such a person involve himself in a conspiracy that would injure his reputation just to prevent a book from being released? A cursory glance at the publications both within Turkey and abroad since the arrest of two journalists will show that this has become a campaign, and that its aim is so clear as to be immediately understood. However, many of those people associating the video incidents with “beyond the ocean” have become part of this smear campaign; and the “global” basis of the same campaign is the issue of the two journalists.
Stating that politicians in general take pleasure in blaming others for their failures and misdemeanors at the outset of his discussion, Star daily’s Nasuhi Güngör, identifies the MHP video scandal as a clear case in point illustrating how this tendency serves a dual purpose when it comes to political strategy. “As such, [politicians] both exonerate themselves and produce an ‘external enemy’ in order to motivate [their] constituency. The MHP received a heavy blow in the 2010 referendum. An important section of the party’s voter base said ‘yes’ despite [both] Devlet Bahçeli and propaganda that ‘the country was being divided.’ At that point, the party leadership chose to blame the Gülen community. Producing such an ‘external enemy’ was of course much easier than questioning why its own party base made a preference that was in contrast to their own. Devlet Bahçeli’s recent statements demonstrate that he has embraced this approach entirely,” he says. Güngör adds that the MHP leader’s latest comments directed at Gülen, telling him to come back to Turkey, is clear proof that he is resorting to this approach for political gain. “By firstly stressing that Gülen lives in the US and that he cannot return to Turkey, he is attempting to reinforce the ‘external enemy’ image in people’s minds. Secondly, he is trying to strengthen speculation that ‘operations against us’ are being planned abroad,” he says.
Published on Today's Zaman, 13 May 2011, Friday
