Today's Zaman
The confessions of a secret witness, referred to as “Deniz Uygar,” are reported to be behind the latest operation in the Ergenekon investigation into suspected links with the 2007 Zirve Publishing House murders, in which three people who sold Christian literature were killed.
On Wednesday police searched the homes and offices of several theology professors as part of the operation. According to news reports in some Turkish newspapers, the operation followed the confessions of Uygar, who testified to civilian prosecutors earlier this month. Uygar was a former agent who pretended to convert to Christianity and received regular payments from JİTEM, an illegal network inside the gendarmerie that is believed to have been responsible for thousands of unsolved murders in eastern and southeastern Turkey in the 1990s.
The secret witness reportedly told prosecutors involved in the Ergenekon investigation that he was ordered to write books and give conferences about missionary activities in Turkey by military superiors. He also noted that some theology professors contributed to the military’s anti-missionary activities. The witness also provided the names of those professors to the prosecutors, according to news reports.
April 1, 2011
Marching towards elections
Kerim Balcı
Turkey is approaching some very fateful elections. Whatever happens in these three months before the elections will have to be interpreted with the elections in mind.
This is not to say that everything that happens is done specifically to influence the elections; but anything that happens will have an influence on the outcome. This is also true for anything that does not happen when it should. This gives analysts the right and duty to add an “election dimension” to their thinking.
One particular issue that “happened when it might not” was the Ergenekon investigation expanding to media outlets. The courts arrested two journalists who were allegedly involved in a plan to water down the investigation and the judicial process related to Ergenekon. One of the arrestees had already published a book about the Hizmet Movement (aka Gülen Movement) and the other was working on the draft of a new one. Nedim Şener’s book was titled “Fethullah Gülen and the Movement in the Ergenekon Documents” and Ahmet Şık’s was to be titled “The Imam’s Army,” where “imam” allegedly refers to Gülen.
Turkey is approaching some very fateful elections. Whatever happens in these three months before the elections will have to be interpreted with the elections in mind.
This is not to say that everything that happens is done specifically to influence the elections; but anything that happens will have an influence on the outcome. This is also true for anything that does not happen when it should. This gives analysts the right and duty to add an “election dimension” to their thinking.
One particular issue that “happened when it might not” was the Ergenekon investigation expanding to media outlets. The courts arrested two journalists who were allegedly involved in a plan to water down the investigation and the judicial process related to Ergenekon. One of the arrestees had already published a book about the Hizmet Movement (aka Gülen Movement) and the other was working on the draft of a new one. Nedim Şener’s book was titled “Fethullah Gülen and the Movement in the Ergenekon Documents” and Ahmet Şık’s was to be titled “The Imam’s Army,” where “imam” allegedly refers to Gülen.
March 31, 2011
Fethullah Gulen: ‘We’ll kiss the hands of those who tell us our shortcomings’
Hüseyin Gülerce
I have been a guest of the esteemed Fethullah Gülen for one week. I am visiting not just as a friend, but as a journalist as well. Being here in this place as a writer is very exciting.
You are in the same place, breathing the same air as this person who has embarked on a journey in the name of universal peace, love and tolerance in this war-torn world. As a journalist, it’s very hard to control the urge to share what he says with readers.
I have been a guest of the esteemed Fethullah Gülen for one week. I am visiting not just as a friend, but as a journalist as well. Being here in this place as a writer is very exciting.
You are in the same place, breathing the same air as this person who has embarked on a journey in the name of universal peace, love and tolerance in this war-torn world. As a journalist, it’s very hard to control the urge to share what he says with readers.
March 30, 2011
Ergenekon, Fethullah Gülen and media freedom
Abdullah Bozkurt
The latest brouhaha over the prosecutors’ investigations peeling another layer off Turkey’s Ergenekon terrorist network is a clear indicator that the vicious hate-mongering organization, with plots to kill Christians and Jews in a Muslim-majority country, still has operational capabilities to wage a propaganda campaign to try and inflict damage on what many described as the “trial of the century” to rid the country of the shadowy ultranationalist network long nestled in the Turkish state.
The recent arrest of half a dozen journalists with regard to the case was presented by some as an issue concerning “freedom of the press” when in fact none of the accused was charged with a violation that has anything to do with freedom of speech but rather for allegedly being involved in aiding and abetting the terrorist network. The well-orchestrated campaign of slander, distortion and lies to discredit the Ergenekon case mobilized hardcore Ergenekon activists to attack the police, the judiciary, the army, the government and popular civic groups in this country using whatever means they deemed necessary.
The latest brouhaha over the prosecutors’ investigations peeling another layer off Turkey’s Ergenekon terrorist network is a clear indicator that the vicious hate-mongering organization, with plots to kill Christians and Jews in a Muslim-majority country, still has operational capabilities to wage a propaganda campaign to try and inflict damage on what many described as the “trial of the century” to rid the country of the shadowy ultranationalist network long nestled in the Turkish state.
The recent arrest of half a dozen journalists with regard to the case was presented by some as an issue concerning “freedom of the press” when in fact none of the accused was charged with a violation that has anything to do with freedom of speech but rather for allegedly being involved in aiding and abetting the terrorist network. The well-orchestrated campaign of slander, distortion and lies to discredit the Ergenekon case mobilized hardcore Ergenekon activists to attack the police, the judiciary, the army, the government and popular civic groups in this country using whatever means they deemed necessary.
March 29, 2011
Fethullah Gülen denies role in operation against Şık's book
Today's Zaman
In the wake of the emergence of claims that he ordered the blocking of the publication of a book by a jailed journalist, Ahmet Şık, Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen, known for his widely lauded messages of tolerance, intercultural dialogue and mutual understanding, issued a statement through his lawyer, Orhan Erdemli, in which he denied the accuracy of the claims. Statement as follows:
“Over the past few days, there have been unjust publications with regard to certain proceedings being conducted by the İstanbul Chief Prosecutor's Office against my client Fethullah Gülen that have amounted to execution without trial. For this reason, the Distinguished Fethullah Gülen has felt it necessary to release the following statement:
 |
| Fethullah Gulen |
“Over the past few days, there have been unjust publications with regard to certain proceedings being conducted by the İstanbul Chief Prosecutor's Office against my client Fethullah Gülen that have amounted to execution without trial. For this reason, the Distinguished Fethullah Gülen has felt it necessary to release the following statement:
March 28, 2011
Seized documents suggest Ergenekon’s hand in Şık’s book
Today's Zaman
Documents seized at the offices of the odatv.com news portal and the house of journalist Ahmet Şık indicate the Ergenekon terrorist organization has links to the draft version of “İmamın Ordusu” (The Imam's Army). An İstanbul court recently ordered that all copies of the controversial book be seized.
Police confiscated a large number of documents at Odatv in a search last month and in Şık's house in early March. Şık is currently under arrest on charges of membership in Ergenekon, an alleged clandestine criminal organization accused of working to overthrow the government. Some of the documents were linked to a well-known plan of Ergenekon, titled “Ulusal Medya” (National Media), which explains ways of creating a “national media center” that will fight against the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) and the faith-based Gülen movement and “unite the Turkish public under the Kemalist ideology.”
Documents seized at the offices of the odatv.com news portal and the house of journalist Ahmet Şık indicate the Ergenekon terrorist organization has links to the draft version of “İmamın Ordusu” (The Imam's Army). An İstanbul court recently ordered that all copies of the controversial book be seized.
Police confiscated a large number of documents at Odatv in a search last month and in Şık's house in early March. Şık is currently under arrest on charges of membership in Ergenekon, an alleged clandestine criminal organization accused of working to overthrow the government. Some of the documents were linked to a well-known plan of Ergenekon, titled “Ulusal Medya” (National Media), which explains ways of creating a “national media center” that will fight against the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) and the faith-based Gülen movement and “unite the Turkish public under the Kemalist ideology.”
March 27, 2011
‘Turkey’s Africa approach not one-sided, based on mutual benefit’
Today's Zaman
President Abdullah Gül has said Turkey always had an approach towards Africa that has prioritized benefits for both parties, and that Turkey recognizes that nations on the continent have suffered a lot as a result of centuries-long colonialism.
Gül addressed Turkish and Ghanaian businesspeople attending a business forum organized by the Turkish Confederation of Businessmen and Industrialists (TUSKON) in the West African country’s capital Accra on Thursday. “Relations that are based on one-sided profit are wrong and mostly aimed at colonialism. We, however, give priority to mutual benefits in our relations [with Africa]. We do not only want to trade, we also attach substantial importance to investment. I firmly believe that the best contribution to Africa’s development is investing in these lands,” he said at the forum.
President Abdullah Gül has said Turkey always had an approach towards Africa that has prioritized benefits for both parties, and that Turkey recognizes that nations on the continent have suffered a lot as a result of centuries-long colonialism.
Gül addressed Turkish and Ghanaian businesspeople attending a business forum organized by the Turkish Confederation of Businessmen and Industrialists (TUSKON) in the West African country’s capital Accra on Thursday. “Relations that are based on one-sided profit are wrong and mostly aimed at colonialism. We, however, give priority to mutual benefits in our relations [with Africa]. We do not only want to trade, we also attach substantial importance to investment. I firmly believe that the best contribution to Africa’s development is investing in these lands,” he said at the forum.
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