Etiket action plan

A first in Turkey: Media demands army chief to resign

Niyazi Dalyancı For the first time in Turkey demands for the resignation of an army chief was publicly voiced this week after the news that the original copy of the so-called “Action Plan” to topple the government of Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan has been received by the public prosecutors, hit the newspaper headlines. Chief Istanbul Prosecutor Turan Colakkadi confirmed that the original copy of the plan which was allegedly drafted at the headquarters of Turkey’s General Staff was posted by an unidentified informer who is said to be a high-ranking officer. The action plan topped the political agenda in Turkey in June when it was published by the Taraf newspaper leading to a heated debate over the role of the army in politics. However, the prosecutors at that time said that they only had a photocopy of the document making it impossible to establish whether it was fake or real. It was again Taraf that published the informer’s letter and broke the news that the original copy of the action plan was in the hands of Istanbul prosecutors. The newspaper has been the source of many such revelations leading to allegations that the government is using it as a medium to leak secret information mainly against the army. The action plan signed by Col. Dursun Cicek, contained measures such as planting weapons at houses used by the Fethullah Gulen sect, which is a politically and financially powerful Islamic sect supporting the Erdogan government, and other steps to discredit the Justice and Development Party (AKP) of the prime minister. Col. Cicek was questioned by the prosecutors during a brief detention but was released later. Turkey’s Chief of Staff Gen. Ilker Basbug described the document “as a piece of paper” and vehemently denied that it came out of his headquarters. He demanded […]

Is the alleged “Action Plan” to undermine AKP government true or fake? One may never know!

Niyazi Dalyancı Whether a document containing plans to undermine the government allegedly written by a colonel at the headquarters of the Turkish General Staff is authentic evidence of the presence of a junta within the officer ranks or a fabrication leaked to the media with the purpose of discrediting the armed forces, dominated the political agenda in the country for the past week. Latest reports indicate that the public might never learn where the truth lies. The public debate over the document was launched in full fervor after the Taraf newspaper published it last week claiming that it was found among the evidence seized at the office of a lawyer who is presently under arrest as one of the defendants of the Ergenekon trial where nearly 200 suspects including officers, university professors, journalists, lawyers and police chiefs are charged with setting up an armed terror organization to overthrow the elected government in Turkey. Scores of defendants including top ranking generals are presently under arrest. The document titled “Action Plan for the Struggle Against Religious Radicalism” and dated as recently as April 2009, targets both the government of Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan and the so-called Fethullah Gulen community, that has become increasingly influential in the country’s social and political scene in recent decades. The alleged plan includes a wide-range of measures, including “planting weapons, documents and material” that would point to illegal activities at houses used by the community, launching a media campaign discrediting the government and claiming that officers arrested under Ergenekon have been imprisoned because of their activities against radical Islam. The campaign plan is also aimed at accusing the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government of leading Turkey towards a society run according to Islamic Sharia law. It also mentions plans to implant agents within AKP to create […]