SİVİL HÜKÜMETİN SAVAŞ TAMTAMLARI- WAR DRUMS OF A NON-MILITARIST GOVERNMENT

TÜRKÇE (For English text, please scroll down.)

Aşağıdaki yazı (ve resim) 6 Eylül 2012 tarihli Aydınlık gazetesinden alınmıştır.

“Başbakan Tayyip Erdoğan, dün yaptığı konuşmada, ‘Kısa zamanda Şam’a gideceğiz ve Emevi Camisinde namazımızı kılacağız’ dedi.”

“Başbakan Tayyip Erdoğan AKP Genel Merkezi’nde genişletilmiş grup toplantısına katıldı. Erdaoğan burada yaptığı konuşmada ‘İnşallah en kısa zamanda Şam’a gidecek, oradaki kardeşlerimizle kucaklaşacağız. İnşallah Emevi Camisi’nde namazımızı da kılacağız. Bilali Habeşi’nin, İbn’i Arabi’nin türbesinde, Süleymaniye Külliyesi’nde, Hicaz Demiryolu İstasyonu’nda dua edeceğiz’ dedi...”

Bu saldırgan sözler, Türkiye’yi Suriye üzerine salmak isteyen ABD’nin Genelkurmay Başkanı Martin Dempsey’in Türkiye ziyaretinden sadece birkaç gün önce. (Ve ABD dışişleri bakanı Hillary Clinton’un ziyaretinden birkaç hafta sonra!)

Yukarıdaki haberin yayınlanmasından üç gün önce ise (3 Eylül 2012) aynı gazete AKP iktidarı döneminde kurulan ve başka ülkelerdeki rejim karşıtı militanları eğitmeyi amaçlayan SADAT (Uluslararası Savunma Danışmanlığı) isimli “yasal” ve “ticari” bir kuruluşun fotoğraflı haberi çıkmıştı. (28 Ocak 2012 tarihli Ticaret Sicil Gazetesinde yayınlanmış, sicil no. 809300/0.) Kurucuları 28 Şubat sürecinde irticai faaliyetler nedeniyle TSK’dan çıkarılmış olan eski askerler! İrtica tehlikesine karşı 28 Şubat sürecini gerçekleştirmiş olan eski komutanların şu sırada mahkemede süründüklerini hatırlatmama gerek yok herhalde.

Komşumuzda olan çatışmaya katkıda bulunuyor, hükümetlerine başkaldıran silahlı militanları eğitiyoruz. Başbakan Osmanlı padişahlarının ağzıyla dine bulandırılmış fütuhat söylemlerinde bulunuyor.

Alın size seçimle gelmiş sivil hükümet. Hayrını görün!

ENGLISH
The footnote links do not work; you will have to scroll down to to the footnotes for expanded information. Opening the blogsite on two seperate windows and keeping one on the footnotes will make it easier to go back and forth. Sorry for the inconvenience, I'm no expert!.
Other links should work.

The Aydınlık newspaper of September 6th, 2012 reports Prime Minister Erdoğan as saying, in a speech delivered to AKP party members: “Allah willing, we will shortly be going to Damascus, and embrace our brothers there. Allah willing, we will perform our namaz[1] in the Ummayad mosque. We will offer prayers in the tombs of Bilal Habesh[2], Ibn-Arabi[3], the Suleimaniye complex[4], and the terminal of the Hedjaz railway.[5]”

Prime Minister Erdoğan is not talking about a neighbourly visit- certainly not with relationships strained to breaking point. Our good civilian, democratically elected prime minister, his vendetta against the Turkish military nonwithstanding, is talking war, of conquest, with Islamic overtones (albeit against a Muslim neighbor) in the most obnoxious expansionist Ottoman fashion. 

As coincidence would have it, this speech was delivered just days before the arrival of the US Chief of Staff Martin Dempsey, and just weeks after the visit of US Foreign Secretary Hillary Clinton.

It was a few days before this speech, the same newspaper reported the existence of a shadowy organization called SADAT (Aydınlık, Sept. 3rd, 2012). Created under the AKP regime as a legal trading company (as published in the Trade Register on Jan. 28th 2012, reg. Nr. 809300/0), this agency for “International Defense Consulting” offers training to militants abroad who have bones to pick with their governments. The founders of this company are ex-officers expelled from the Turkish Armed Forces for seditious reactionary activity after the famous resolutions of February 28th.[6] I need not point out to anyone that the commanders who passed the resolutions at the time are being hauled before the judges over and over again while the disreputable officers that were then sifted out of active service are now heading this government- endorsed subversive organization.

Our country is actively meddling with the internal affairs of a neighbouring country. What we are doing is no longer humanitarian aid, and certainly not mediation. What we are doing is subversion. And the Prime Minister is talking war and conquest, in a style that blends Ottoman imperialism with religious fervor.

Aren’t you glad this democratically elected civilian government is ushering in a non-militaristic age?

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[1] Ritual prayer of the Muslims.

[2] Literally, Bilal the Ethiopian, one of the earliest followers of the Prophet Mohammed.

[3] 13th century Islamic mystic; a monumental tomb was erected for him by Ottoman sultan Selim I when he took the city in 1516.

[4] The 16th century mosque and adjoining buildings that are known as the Suleymaniye complex was built by Sinan, the most acclaimed architect of Ottoman Turkey. It was restored by Turkey some years ago. Prime Minister Erdoğan and Syria’s Bashar Assad visited it together,.

[5] The Hedjaz railway was built by the Ottoman government between 1903 and 1908.  The Prime Minister’s speech is meant to excite religious fervor as well as imperialistic Ottoman nostalgia.

[6] Sensing a mounting anti-secular tide in the political climate, the National Security Council, a military institution advising the government on security matters, passed some resolutions on February 28th, 1997. With a fundamentalist government in power, the officers responsible for the resolutions have been arrested and are being tried by not impartial judges. For more information see footnote 3 of  my article “Balyoz- The Sledgehammer”, 6 September- Eylül 2012.

BALYOZ- THE SLEDGEHAMMER

TÜRKÇE (English text further below)

Meşhur Balyoz davası nihayetine eriyormuş. Sanıklar son savunmalarını yapıyorlar. Taraf denen ve başlıklarına her gözüme iliştiğinde tansyonum çıkan paçavranın 20 Ocak 2010 tarihli sayısıyla başlayan, emekli- muazzaf sayısız onurlu subayımızı tevkif edilmesine, bitmeyen duruşmalarda tekrar tekrar hakim karşısına çıkartılmasına, ordumuzun kumanda kademesinin tasfiyesine ve sebep olan süreç bir çeşit neticeye ulaşacak; en azından böyle bir beklenti var.

Taraf, 20 Ocak 2010.

Aydınlık gazetesinin 4 Eylül 2012 Salı tarihli sayısının 9. sayfasından Selim Özadalı'nın yazısını aynen naklediyorum.

 

"TSK’nın durumu ülke güvenliğini tehdit ediyor"

"Silivri Cezaevi’ndeki büyük duruşma salonunda İstanbul 10. Ağır Ceza Mahkemesi’nce görülen Balyoz davasının dünkü duruşmasına sanıkların esasa ilişkin son savunmalarıyla devam edildi. Savunmasını yapan Hakim Albay Onur Uluocak, Türk Silahlı Kuvvetleri’nin değil darbe yapmak, açıklama yapmaktan bile çekinir olduğunu belirterek 'İçine düşürüldüğü durum ülke güvenliğini tehdit eder hale gelmiştir' dedi. 

"Uluocak kamu vicdanının bu yargılamayı kabul etmediğini dile getirdi ve şunları söyledi: 'Bu dava suç ve cezaların şahsiliği ilkesinin bilerek ve isteyerek ayaklar altına alındığı, geçmişteki darbe, darbe girişimleri ve 28 Şubat benzeri süreçlerin hesabını sormak ve TSK’yı tasfiye ve terbiye etmek maksadına hizmet eden her türlü hilenin mübah görüldüğü, duruşmaları bir cezaevinde yapılan çok önceden planlanmış bir siyasi davadır. Ordu değil darbe yapmak, açıklama yapmaktan bile çekinir olmuş; içine düşürüldüğü durum ülke güvenliğini tehdit eder hale gelmiştir. Terör, vur-kaç stratejisinden kurtarılmış bölge yaratma stratejisine ilerlemiş, iç savaş nedeniyle yıkılmak üzere olan bir ülke, savaş uçağımızı düşürme cesaretini gösterebilmiştir. Koskoca Türk Ordusu, beyni yıkanmış, zavallı bir suç örgütünün tüylü, siyah bir örümceğe benzeyen elinde cinayete kurban gitmektedir. Heyetinize düşen sahteliği onlarca defa kanıtlanan sanal yazıları bir kenara iterek bu komploları kuran aşağılık terör örgütünü ortaya çıkarmaktır. Kararınız bu yönde olmasa bile, tarihin şaşmaz adaleti bu cinayeti ve işbirlikçilerini er geç ortaya çıkartacak, işkence ve milli müdafaya ihanet suçundan yargılayacaktır. Zira kusursuz cinayet yoktur.'”

"Komplo ürünü dava"

"Davada tutuklu yargılanan Kuzey Deniz Saha Komutan Yardımcısı Koramiral Abdullah Can Erenoğlu da 'Savunmanın tek tanığının dinlenmediği ve 2 yıldır tek bir tutuklunun bile tahliye edilmediğiancak toplu tutuklama ve toplu yargılamaların yapıldığı bu komplo ürünü davada haksız olarak tutuklanmam ve yargılanmam insan hakları ihlalidir' diye konuştu."

Aşağıda: 12 Eylül 2010'daki referandum'da sözümona "Darbe Anayasası" tasfiye edildi, ben gerçek darbecilerin yeni anayasayı pompalayanlar olduğuna inandığım için "hayır" denmesi gerektigine inanıyordum. Bu düşüncemi aşağıdaki animasyonla paylaşmaya çalıştım. 

Above: The government conducted a referendum on September 12th 2010, ostensibly to abolish the "undemocratic militarist constitution" of the 1980 coup in favour of a "democratic" one but really to clear the way even further for its own agenda, the dismantling of the secular state in favour of a theocratic, fundamentalist one. The "Balyoz" ("Sledgehammer") arrests and trials were already in effect, so I made the above short animation to point out that the real coup was being staged by government itself, and shared it on the net. The captions say "Now it is in the hands of the voter- a civilian response to a civilian coup- No!- for your response, go to the ballot box!"

 

ENGLISH

On January 20th 2010, the newsrag Taraf, famously a mouthpiece of “the community” headed by emigré Islamist guru Fethullah Gülen, hit the newsstands with a hardly credible accusation: the Turkish Armed Forces, longtime opponent of radical Islamism, was preparing a coup of proportions unseen in the history of the Republic, involving the bombing of mosques and the shooting down of our own planes. The alleged codename forthe plot was “Balyoz” (“Sledgehammer”).

Taraf, January 20th, 2010.
"The Fatih Mosque was going to be bombed."
"We were going to shoot down our own plane."

Chief of Staff General İlker Başbuğ denied the whole thing as patently absurd, and even dared to use the threatening words “don’t try our patience!” He is now one of the 250 suspects awaiting verdict  in a seemingly endless series of trials launched by that article (the number does not include the officers held suspect in other cases such as “Ergenekon” and “February 28th”, and of course not the journalists, authors, academicians, and students who are incarcerated and tried in similarly large numbers). At one point their lawyers of the Balyoz cases, in protest of the unfair practices of the courts, refused to appear in the courtroom. The trials continued unabated, and the lawyers have found themselves indicted.

Frustrated by such treatment of personnel under their command, the commanders of the Three Forces, Army Navy and Air Force, resigned in 2011, leaving no candidate for the position of Chief of Staff. The government cooly promoted the commander of the Gendarmerie and appointed him to the position. Now General Necdet Özel is widely considered to be the government’s  willing stooge.

After two and a half years of far-fetched allegations, dubious evidence, and almost indiscriminate roundups, the  Balyoz trials are supposedly coming to a close. Many high ranking officers are disdaining to make a defence.

Yesterday’s Aydınlık, the most vociferous of the anti-government newspapers, reported these daring statements from the courtroom, from honourable men who refuse to bow to the whims of a kangaroo-court:

(from Aydınlık, Sept. 4th 2012, p.9)

“In making his defense, Col. Judge[1] Onur Uluocak... declaring that his conscience could not accept such a trial and went on ‘...the judicial principle that each suspect’s case must be evaluated individually, according to evidence pertaining to it, is consciously and willingly trodden underfoot. These are political trials, conducted in a prison[2], planned in advance, wherein every kind of trickery is seen as fair play in the quest for avenging past coups, coup attempts, and processes like “the 28th of January”[3] and the purging and taming of our Armed Forces. The Armed Forces no longer dare make a statement, let alone stage a coup, being reduced to such a sorry state that the very security of the nation is now under threat. Terrorism has moved from hit-and-run tactics to creating its own “liberated areas”.[4] A country on the brink of collapse in its own civil war has dared to shoot down our warplane.[5] The great Turkish Armed Forces is being murdered by the hairy, black, spider-like hands of a pitiful, brainwashed criminal organization.[6] The real duty of your committee is to push aside these documents, which have been proven over and over to be forgeries, and expose the detestable terror organization that has hatched these plots. Even if your verdict is otherwise, the unerring judgement of history will sooner or later expose this murder and its conspirators and try them for torture and treason against national defence. There is no perfect murder.’”

“Vice-Admiral Abdullah Can Eroğlu, second in command of the Northern Marine Area, tried in custody, has declared: ‘It is a violation of human rights that I should be tried in this case, hatched through a plot, where not a single witness for the defense has been heard, where not a single aquittal has occured in two years, where people have been rounded up and tried en masse.’”

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[1] Judge in a military court.

[2] Silivri prison near Istanbul, where most of the suspects of the “Ergenekon”, Balyoz”, and similiar “conspiracy” suspects are held and tried.

[3] In the 90’s the Turkey was led for a time by a two-party coalition which had as its members the right wing D.Y.P. and the Islamist  R.P., with Necmettin Erbakan as prime minister. Suspicious of the direction the country was taking, the military made its presence known with tanks rolling through the streets of an Ankara suburb where fundamentalist activities were particularly pronounced. The National Defence Council- a military council concerned with national security and meeting once a week with the government, reached some important resolutions during its sitting on 28th of February 1997, all aimed at curbing fundamentalist İslamist  influences. The government was compelled to comply with these resolutions. Prime minister Erbakan resigned shortly after that. Since coming to power the A.K.P. has officially  labeled  the incident a ‘coup’, bringing the number of military coups in the history of our republic to four in ther reckoning. The participants, since retired, have been rounded up and are now standing before the judge in a seperate series of trials.  The National Securithy Council has long been dissolved by the A.K.P.

[4] PKK insurgents in the sutheast are attacking military outposts almost at will, raiding government buildings in towns, conducting their own spot-checks on the roads, abducting soldiers, citizens and even government officials, and setting vehicles on fire.

[5] On June 22nd 2012 a Turkish F4 E disappeared over the Mediterranean. There was speculation that it was hit by a Syrian missile, Syria claimed to have shot it over its own territorial waters with anti-aircraft guns. Under the A.K.P. regime, guided by U.S. interests, Turkey has taken a strongly belligerent attitude against  Bashar Assad’s government in Syria, welcoming and allegedly even training Syrian insurgents- ironic, considering Turkey’s own complaints regarding PKK insurgents slipping in from northern Iraq. Naturally, relations with Syria were already strained at the time and it is not clear what our fighter jet was doing in the area. Today's Aydınlık reports Prime Minister Erdoğan's inner pary speech, expressing hopes for a speedy conquest of Syria with "prayers in Damascus". Civilian government for you!

[6] Fethullah Gülen’s “community” (“cemaat”),  head  residing in the U.S., reaching not only into Turkey but spread out across the world.

YAZLIKTA ZAFER BAYRAMI-VICTORY DAY AT A SUMMER RESORT

TÜRKÇE (For English text please scroll down.)

Bu sene 30 Ağustos Zafer Bayramı Türkiye’de kutlandı. 19 Mayıs’ta başbakanımızın “...tanklı toplu bayramlara son verdik” söylemine rağmen Ankara’da stadyumda askerlerimiz yürüdü, tanklar  toplar ve hatta jetler geçti, başbakanımız da şeref locasından seyretti. Ülkemizin her yanında askerlerin de katıldığı törenlerle Atatürk anıtlarına çelenk bırakıldı. İlk bakışta her şey Türkiye Cumhuriyeti’nin geleneklerine uygun bir şekilde gelişti.

"...kamuflaj rengine bezenmiş 1940 modeli törenlerle kutlamaya son...Artık tanklar, toplar yürümüyor" diyen Başbakan Erdoğan şeref tribününde askerin selamını alıyor ve tankların, topların geçişini izliyor!

Ama televizyon ve yazılı basın herşeyin tam da eskisi gibi olmadığını ulaştırdı bize. İzin verilen birkaç kurum dışında yine çelenk ve çiçek koymak isteyenlere yasak getirilmiş- ana muhalefet partisi bile buna dahil edilmiş (onlar da bu yasağı delişlerini güzelce propaganda malzemesi olarak kullandılar tabii!)  Halktan insanlar çelenk, çiçek koymak, kendileri kişisel olarak ya da gruplar halinde sayygı duruşunda bulunmak istedikleri zaman görevliler tarafından engellenmişler-  tepkilerini hiç de sessizce dile getirmeyen vatandaşlarımızı ekranlarda gördük. Ve dikkatinizi tekrar çekeyim, bunlar anarşist  kılıklı insanlar değil, düzgün ve kendi halinde görünümlü amcalar, teyzeler ve temiz yüzlü gençler.  

 Taksim'den basına akseden "çelenk krizi" görüntüleri

Cumhurbaşkanımız  “başkomutan” kimliğliğiyle 30 Ağustos resepsyonununun ev sahipliğini Genel Kurmay Başkanından aldığından beri ilk resepsyonu verecekken kulaklarındaki rahatsızlıktan dolayı hastaneye yattı, pek gönüllü üstlendiği bu işi hiçbir vekile devretmeye kıyamamış olmalı ki bu sene de resepsyon iptâl edildi. Böylelikle kendisinin de kulaklarını çınlatmış olduk.

Görülen şu ki AKP’nin ve kuklalığını yaptığı güçlerin beklentisinin aksine Türk halkı o kadar  da koyun çıkmadı. Atatürk ve cumhuriyetinin değerlerini hiç benimsememiş olan kesimin büyüklüğü bizi ne kadar şaşırttıysa, onlar da o değerleri benimsemiş olanların sayısı ve direnci karşısında şaşırdılar.  Şaşırsınlar, şaşırmaya devam etsinler!

Biz şu sırada ailecek güney sahillerimizde bir tatil sitesindeyiz. Güneş, deniz, rehavet içinde insanlar. Hepsinin burada konut sahibi olacak kadar ya da en az bir süre kiralayacak kadar hâli vakti yerinde. Çoğunun yurtdışıyla ilişkisi var, bazıları zaten yurtdışında oturuyor  ve yazın buraya geliyor. Kulaklara sık sık yabancı dil çalınıyor. Eşi yabancı olan az değil. Tesettürün pek uğramadığı bu ortamda Türkiye’nin gündemlerinden uzak yaşamak zor değil. Türkiye batsa zaten çoğunun yurtdışında bir evi ya da en az kaçacak yeri var. Yani 30 Ağustos heyecanını bekleyeceğiniz  en son yerlerden biri.

30 Ağustos akşamında bir feneralayı yürüyüşü yapıldı. Orada çektiğim görüntüleri takdirlerinize sunuyorum! Video Türkçe makalenin bittiği yerdedir.

Kalabalığın içinde bir kadının bana dönüp İngilizce olarak “this makes me so proud!” (“bu beni o kadar gururlandırıyor ki!”) demesi bile o gecenin güzel anılarındandır.

Ve İngiltere’de oturan bir Türk bayanın yabancı eşinin “I am proud to be associated with the Turkish Nation” (“Türk milletiyle bir bağlantım olmasından dolayı gurur duyuyorum”) sözlerine kulak misafiri olmam!

Teşekkürler  sayın Başbakan, sayın Cumhurbaşkanı, sayın AKP vekilleri,  biraz rehavete düşmüştük, Atatürk’ün kurduğu cumhuriyeti kaybetmenin eşiğine getirerek onun bizim ne kadar önemli olduğunu bir defa daha hatırlamamızı sağladınız!  Siz yasakladıkça milli bayramlarımız daha coşkulu oluyor!

Şimdi sıra 29 Ekim’de!

Gündüz-gece!

Day and night!

ENGLISH

This year Victory Day celebrations were indeed held on the 30th of August. The Prime Minister’s statements on May 19th to the effect that they had put an end to “militaristic celebrations with tanks and cannons” nonwithstanding, tanks, cannons and marching soldiers were all present at the stadium in Ankara and the Air Force executed fly-pasts as the Prime Minister dourly looked on. Soldiers were present in wreath-laying ceremonies at all monuments to the Atatürk, the nation’s founder, across the land. The first impression is of a return to the country’s national traditions.

Only months ago Prime Minister Erdoğan proclaimed "Let us be done with commemorating these meaningful days with.... 1940-style parades in camouflage colours... No more tanks and cannons rolling by. " That's him, front row second from left, taking the salute as tanks and cannons roll by.

However, if the news media is to be believed, not everything has reverted to the way it was before. There has been a recurrence of the wreath-laying crisis of 19th of May- only authorized officials have been allowed to lay wreaths, other groups and private citizens wishing to lay wreaths and flowers have met official obstruction, to which they have objected in no uncertain terms. Among those obstructed were the various regional representations of the opposition party (CHP), which has naturally made good propaganda use of its defiance of this strange government policy.

Strange it is indeed- these citizens shouting in frustrated protest at governors, security forces and other assorted authorities look nothing like anarchists or revolutionaries- all respectable middle aged men and women and clean faced young people (indeed, the sort of people the government has crammed into prison!)

 Citizens protesting the ban on laying wreaths and flowers at the Taksim Square monument, Istanbul.

Last year President Gül, in every aspect Prime Minister Erdoğan’s crony in the grand scheme to destroy Atatürk’s Republic (he recently stated that he and the P.M. are “closer than brothers”... not words for an impartial President!) took over the role of host of the 30th of August reception- until then a traditional duty of the Armed Forces Chief of Staff- basing the decision on the symbolic position of the President as the Commander in Chief. Then the 30th of August celebrations for 2011 were cancelled altogether! This year, Mr Gül, the host, was taken to hospital for a problem with his ears. The reception was cancelled again even though the invitations were already distributed. Apparently it did not occur to anyone to appoint a deputy.

So looking at the picture today, it seems that, contrary to the expectations of the AKP and whatever puppetmaster behind the scenes, the Turkish People is not such a herd of sheep after all. Just as we were taken aback by the sheer proportion of compatriots who were never won over by Atatürk’s republic and its principles, the AKP, its sympathizers and its supporters seem to be caught off guard by the still great numbers and stubborn dedication of the Kemalists. (Just because we were quiet and didn’t make a big show of it in calmer times!) Well, here’s hoping they never regain their smug composure!

At the moment we are enjoying a pleasant seaside vacation in a holiday village somewhere on our south coast: sun, sea, easy going people living a relaxed life. Everybody here is affluent enough to own a home here, or at least to rent one for a time. Most have connections abroad, some actually live in another country and come here on vacation. One keeps hearing bits of other languages mixed with Turkish. A good number are espoused to foreigners. Away from Fundamentalist influences, people here can easily isolate themselves from occurences in the country and move abroad if things get too uncomfortable. It is the last place you would expect any excitement for a national cause.

A torchlight march was organized for the night of August 30th. I present some video footage I shot that night for your evaluation. The videoclip is at the beginning of the English version of this article.

Among the many positive memories of the night is a woman who turned to me and said, in English: “this makes me so proud!”

And the non-Turkish husband of a Turkish woman living in the U.K. whom I overheard saying: “I am proud to be associated with the Turkish Nation”

Thank you, Mr. President, Mr. Prime Minister; by bringing us to the brink of losing our Republic, you have reminded us how much we are devoted to it. The more you try to surpress our national celebrations, the better and livelier they become.

And next, October 29th, Republic Day!