bilgi- Ergenekon

so it has been a week since my last post and about two weeks since a post with real substance. but i have been coming to the site and adding news articles related to the happenings in Turkey, and i'll take this post to discuss some of them.

after increased warfare with the militant-separatist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in the last 3 weeks, Turkey expanded its military missions in Iraq and the PKK has increased violence in South-Eastern Turkey against civilians and the military. later, reports that Abdullah Öcalan, the founding leader of PKK, was being abused in prison (where he serves a life sentence) led to protests in Istanbul and many cities in South-Eastern Turkey.

what has led in the headlines though is the mysterious Ergenekon, a supposed ultra-nationalist group known sometimes as the "deep state." some ninety presumed members have been indicted and were set to go on trial last Monday, but the hearings were postponed amidst a chaotic courtroom and will resume sometime this week. those accused of being part of the group, which is sometimes characterized as a terrorist organization, include academics, journalists, and high-ranking military and government officials. some are claiming that this is the biggest court case in Turkey's history.

the story of Ergenekon is interesting as it deals directly with age-old debates and factions in Turkish politics (mainly the relationship between a secular state and an Islamic majority), reflects the variety of perspectives and opinions in the Turkish press, and will test the democratic function of the current conservative government. Ergenekon has two recent charges, first for planning an assassination against Kurdish leaders and Orhan Pamuk (the nobel prize winning Turkish novelist) and next for plotting to overthrow the current government (there have been 3 military coups in Turkey's history, so the fear is justified). newspapers supporting the AKP, the Justice and Development Party that has been in power since 2002, report on links between Ergenekon and decades of terrorist attacks, military coups, and assassinations. they claim, for instance, that both Hezbollah and the PKK either have ties with or are sub-sections of Ergenekon. seemingly more objective sources reference plenty of misinformation in these charges against Ergenekon, citing contradictions in the farcically long 2,500 page indictment and the investigative dossier approaching 10,000 pages (as a reference, the Nuremberg Trial had an indictment of 70 pages). conflicting charges name past leaders of the PKK both as members of Ergenekon and as assassination targets by Ergenekon.

in my research of the story and history, the existence of Ergenekon is rarely contested, but it may be a name for individuals or small groups of influential secular-nationalists, perhaps linked more by a shared ideology than an administrative structure, that occasionally carried out violent acts to support their ideological goals. but it is likely that the AKP, which barely staved of its dissolution for being theocratic, is now tying its political opponents to Ergenekon and creating a series of specious links to do so.

i feel odd sometimes writing about Turkish political events but thought that some people back home might be interested. and the news story seems to represent a lot of the current tensions. i'm intersted in Turkish perspectives, from those watching this blog and the events in Turkey. i'll post some more as things happen-the trial will likely take months.