Military ‘Coup Document” discovered raises alarm in Turkey

The fact that the military appears to be active in Turkish politics and even advancing a strategy of a coup is not that surprising to those who know a little about Turkey’s history since Mustafa Kemal introduced polices now known as Kemalism. Turkey democracy has always worked until it doesn’t. When such a time arises, the Turkish military has customarily stepped in to restore stability and the principles of Kemalism and to uphold the constitution. The Turkish military has assumed emergency powers since those early days three times, in 1960, 1971, and 1980. After that, they forcefully removed the prime minister and setup his replacement as recent as 1997. 

Kemal himself helped to set that standard as early as 1925 when he enacted a series of emergency powers that lasted four years. But, very importantly he returned control back to civilian authority; however, only after he thoroughly “cleansed” the political system — Turkish style. In other words, Turkish democracy and government has always had a fine balance between civilian control, free elections (for the most part) and a pattern of active and sometimes brutal military intrusion into politics. 

World Politics Review | ‘Coup Document’ Raises Tensions in Turkey

ISTANBUL — Allegations that elements of the Turkish military may have been hatching a plot to discredit or even topple the government of the liberal Islamic Justice and Development Party (AKP) are threatening to raise military-civilian tensions in Turkey and further widen the country’s deep political divide. At the same time, the allegations are also raising questions about how the plot against the AKP fits into an ongoing investigation into another coup attempt, known as Ergenekon.

This latest Turkish political crisis was sparked when Taraf — a hard-hitting liberal daily that has been severely critical of the military in the past — published a document on June 12 entitled, “Plan to Combat Islamic Fundamentalism.” The four-page document, allegedly signed by a colonel in the military’s psychological warfare unit, outlined ways in which the AKP government could be weakened. Among them, the document suggested “mobilizing” moles within the party and stoking anti-Armenian and anti-Greek sentiments in order to strengthen the nationalist opposition.

The plan also called for discrediting the pro-government Gulen movement, Turkey’s largest and most powerful Islamic brotherhood, by planting weapons and ammunition in its members’ homes and even linking it to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

Police found the document while searching the office of a lawyer who is representing a retired colonel linked to the Ergenekon case.