Corruption or spies?

İhsan Yılmaz

It is crystal clear that Erdoğan will use his majestic media and state power to continue his psychological war campaign to dodge questions about alleged corruption cases related to some of his ministers, very close friends and even relatives.

He wants the nation to believe that there is an international conspiracy against his very “successful” government and these international actors -- such as the CIA, Mossad, the Jewish lobby, the interest rate lobby, etc. -- have been using a Hizmet-movement-affiliated gang nested in the state. His media outlets have been fabricating news stories on a regular basis. We can easily understand that they fabricate almost all of these news stories for two main reasons: First, those who are being libeled and accused of crimes vehemently deny these fabricated news stories, and these outlets cannot provide satisfactory evidence to back up their claims. Second, instead of firmly standing behind their fabricated news, Erdoğan's media outlets move on to other newly fabricated stories. It seems that they will continue in this manner, but with a fiercer attitude.

During the Gezi Park protests, Erdoğan tried to present the problem as being secularists -- represented by the Republican People's Party (CHP) -- versus practicing Muslims -- represented by him. He also gave the impression that he initially liked the tension. While on a foreign trip to North Africa with Erdoğan, Nagehan Alçı, who is very close to him, even wrote that Erdoğan's inner circle was evaluating the Gezi tension as beneficial, since it was increasing the votes of the Justice and Development Party (AKP). That is why, after returning back from the trip, Erdoğan reignited the chaos that was fading away as a result of the messages of President Abdullah Gül, Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç and some of his ministers. Out of the blue, he even stated that he would demolish and rebuild the Atatürk Cultural Center (AKM) in Taksim and that he would build a mosque next to it. These two issues were very sensitive ones for the secularized sections of society. He went further and kept claiming that the Gezi protesters had been consuming alcohol and kissing in a mosque near Taksim. He even said that they did even more "inappropriate" things. Erdoğan repeatedly and very confidently kept saying that they had video footage of everything that had happened in the mosque. A few weeks ago, a prosecutor submitted his indictment regarding Gezi to the court and, guess what, there was no mention of the inappropriate activities that allegedly took place. But just after Gezi, I visited several places in Anatolia and almost all of Erdoğan's voters were thinking that these inappropriate things had happened in the mosque. Since Erdoğan was so powerfully and repeatedly advocating these allegations, they believed him.

He is trying it again. First, Cem Küçük of Yeni Şafak, a staunchly pro-Erdoğan daily, implied that the Journalists and Writers Foundation (GYV) -- whose honorary chair is Mr. Fethullah Gülen -- has been receiving confidential security documents of the Turkish state from the “Hizmet junta” in the state and handing them over to foreign intelligence agents. Küçük wrote that very soon a judicial case will be launched against this junta-gang-spy ring. Then, Erdoğan started voicing these allegations, but with less detail. He referred to the GYV's recent meeting with EU ambassadors in Ankara. The photos of this meeting were posted on the website of the GYV. The EU ambassadors had such meetings to understand Turkey, and they had them with others, including Erdoğan's own ministers. But, who cares? Many of his voters heard only his allegations and not the denial of the GYV and the EU ambassadors. Erdoğan also told his followers in several cities that the US ambassador was behind the recent plot against his government. He was simply repeating a huge headline of Yeni Şafak. Later, it emerged that the Turkish Foreign Ministry communicated to the US government that the Turkish government does not believe in this rubbish. Yet, again, Erdoğan's audience only heard his side of the story. As the Gezi incidents very convincingly have shown, Erdoğan only cares about the 50 percent and does not care what the rest thinks. So this is what he is now doing.

Nevertheless, the panic his government is currently exhibiting suggests that his voters may not be convinced this time.

Published on Today's Zaman, 08 January 2014, Wednesday