Group planned gradual coup in Turkey

Group planned gradual coup in Turkey

www.reuters.com

Documents seized by Turkish police indicate that a shadowy, ultra-nationalist illegal organization planned to trigger a coup to unseat the Turkish government, newspapers reported on Thursday.

The documents detailed a four-point plan, including launching illegal protests on July 7 across 40 provinces, sparking clashes with security forces and publishing fake documents showing a worsening economy.
Police detained 21 people on Tuesday, including two retired senior generals.

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Turkey is currently balancing on razor. One step could turn it into a military dictatorship, another may lead to theocratic country at Europes gate. How serious is this alleged coup attempt?

The conpirators, called Ergenekon, attempted to destabilize Turkey in order to create a favourable ground for a military coup. Plan was clever, as people might have hailed the conspirators as savers of the Nation.

www.reuters.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

[edit on 3-7-2008 by northwolf]

A little Background on Ergenekon aka. Deep Government Aka. Shadow Goverment.

It is a story that has set Turkey abuzz with rumour and speculation.

At its heart is an ultra-nationalist gang known as Ergenekon, exposed when 33 of its alleged members were seized in a police raid in late January.

The claims widely reported in the Turkish press ever since read like a thriller.

They allege the gang was plotting to bring down the government.

It is claimed their plan was to assassinate a string of Turkish intellectuals, including Nobel Laureate Orhan Pamuk, fomenting chaos and provoking a military intervention in 2009.

A "menu" of targets had already been drawn up and a hitman hired when the police swooped, according to the daily Hurriyet.

Sabah newspaper linked the gang to the recent murder of three Protestant Christians and Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink.

Those details - apparently leaked by police - have never been officially confirmed.

The lawyers of several of the accused told the BBC only that their clients have been charged under Article 313 of the penal code for inciting armed revolt against the government.

Those still detained include retired Brig Gen Veli Kucuk, an alleged mafia boss and an ultra-nationalist lawyer who provoked numerous prosecutions against prominent Turkish writers and intellectuals - including Mr Pamuk - for "insulting Turkishness".

From the start, this operation has been portrayed as a blow against the "deep state" - which explains the excitement.

It is a term widely used to describe renegade members of the security forces said to act outside the law in what they judge to be Turkey's best interests.

The phenomenon, much-discussed but never proven, is said to stretch back to Cold War times, when illicit paramilitary gangs were supposedly set up in collaboration with Western intelligence agencies to prevent the spread of communism.

"When the Cold War ended those structures went out of business, but they still existed," claims newspaper columnist Cengiz Candar, who has no doubt a "deep state" exists.

"Then the threat changed. The target became Kurdish insurgents or Asala," an Armenian militant organisation that targeted Turkish diplomats, he says.

For ultra-nationalists today the threats to Turkey include EU accession, Armenian genocide allegations and any talk of a peace deal to end the 24-year-old Kurdish insurgency.

BBC

[edit on 3-7-2008 by northwolf]

its a double edged sword, a nation which is an "oddity", the supposed bridge between east and west, only islamic nation in NATO and "friend" of Israel

The secularism has always had to be "enforced" by the constitution and military throughout it's history- what is worse, the military taking over or an Islamic theocratic state?

In Algeria, the lesser of two evils appeared to be forgoing democracy and crushing the islamists, although it involved much evil on both sides

If Turkey falls from the razor, i suppose it is a clear sign it's not ready to join the European Union. The Deep State seems to be against all influences that could be concidered Un-Turkish, like EU membership.

I assume that a military coup might be better for the average turk and for the stability of the region.