June 24, 2011

‘Action plan' put into action in propaganda websites

Serkan Sağlam

According to a report sent to the İstanbul 13th High Criminal Court by the İstanbul Police Department around two weeks ago, the Action Plan to Fight Reactionaryism, a suspected military plot to discredit the governing Justice and Development Party (AK Party) and the faith-based Gülen movement, was put into action on a number of websites that are believed to have been set up by the General Staff to support the Turkish Armed Forces' (TSK) propaganda campaigns against civilian groups.

The report states that the content of the websites was chosen in accordance with directives included in the action plan. The action plan details a military plan to destroy the image of the AK Party and the Gülen movement in the eyes of the public, play down the Ergenekon investigation and gather support for members of the military arrested as part of the investigation into Ergenekon, a clandestine organization nested within the state and bureaucracy accused of plotting to overthrow the government. The plot is believed to have been prepared by Col. Dursun Çiçek, who is currently in prison on coup charges.

In order to back a psychological warfare campaign against the AK Party and the Gülen movement, the pro-junta group nested within the Turkish military established 42 websites, according to the report of the İstanbul Police Department. The websites targeted civilian groups deemed “reactionary,” “separatist,” “pro-AK Party” and “anti-TSK.”

Earlier this week, three senior generals testified to a specially authorized prosecutor in İstanbul as part of an ongoing investigation into the notorious websites. The existence of the TSK websites, which are at the center of this investigation, was revealed by an email sent by an officer to a number of newspapers and journalists in 2009.

For example, the Action Plan to Fight Reactionaryism mentioned a plan to disseminate propaganda that the Gülen movement was seeking to destroy original Islam through a project called “Moderate Islam.” To this end, the General Staff established some websites that published articles on moderate Islam and the Gülen movement's alleged ties with the US administration to destroy Islam. In addition, the action plan mentioned a plan to plant weapons in the houses of followers of the Gülen movement. The weapons would be seized in police searches at the addresses.

Published on Today's Zaman, 17 June 2011, Friday

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