If Ergenekon was a plot, what about the Dec 17/25 coup attempts?
The heroic public resistance to the Gülenist coup attempt on July 15 brought a new breath of fresh air to Turkish politics and gave birth to the "Yenikapı spirit." From the very beginning, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has drawn attention to this new spirit and insistently reiterated it on all occasions. He touched on the significance of this new era between parties in the speech he gave at the celebration of the Justice and Development Party's (AK Party) 15th anniversary a couple of days ago. It was significant, as Turkey not only overcame the trauma of a coup attempt, but also repelled an invasion of sorts.
Therefore, while looking to the past, all political parties and actors must focus on the common ground instead of differences. This is because all of them made mistakes in the past. It is enough to just look at how the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ) has reached today.
Who could say that they did not support this structure, which has been organized since the early 1960s? Everyone in Turkey, including intelligence officers, politicians and businessmen, supported it.
Why could this reality not be seen? Everyone must sincerely answer this question. Following the July 15 coup attempt, the victims of the Ergenekon and Balyoz (Sledgehammer) cases have frequently appeared on television.
There is a common opinion in society that they experienced serious victimization.
However, victimization in Turkey's recent history is not limited to these cases alone. Both before and after them, millions of people were victims of a pro-coup mindset, including the FETÖ.
Would it be fair to see one of these mindsets and ignore the others? A new leaf was turned in this area after the Dec. 17 and Dec. 25 coup attempts in 2013.
Many AK Party-affiliated political actors and media who supported the case realized their past mistakes, corrected them and apologized for them. This was an important beginning.
Did those who created the political crisis during the 2007 presidential elections argue that the votes of 367 deputies were needed to elect a president, instead of the previous 276, do the same thing?
The same question also goes for those who tried to close the AK Party despite receiving 47 percent of the vote in the 2007 elections and those who said "411 hands in the air for chaos" during the 2008 parliamentary vote on lifting the headscarf ban at universities.
Let us go one step further: If the Ergenekon and Sledgehammer cases were plots, then what about the Dec. 17 and Dec. 25 coup attempts?
What about the National Intelligence Organization (MİT) trucks that were illegally stopped and searched while carrying humanitarian aid to Syria in early 2014? More importantly, are those who formed a political alliance with the perpetrators of the Dec. 17 and Dec. 25 coup attempts and those who released the tapes of that plot for months as if they had been true, and Republican People's Party (CHP) members who voiced them in Parliament and rallies less guilty? Will they not apologize?
Therefore, while looking to the past, all political parties and actors must focus on the common ground instead of differences. This is because all of them made mistakes in the past. It is enough to just look at how the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ) has reached today.
Who could say that they did not support this structure, which has been organized since the early 1960s? Everyone in Turkey, including intelligence officers, politicians and businessmen, supported it.
Why could this reality not be seen? Everyone must sincerely answer this question. Following the July 15 coup attempt, the victims of the Ergenekon and Balyoz (Sledgehammer) cases have frequently appeared on television.
There is a common opinion in society that they experienced serious victimization.
However, victimization in Turkey's recent history is not limited to these cases alone. Both before and after them, millions of people were victims of a pro-coup mindset, including the FETÖ.
Would it be fair to see one of these mindsets and ignore the others? A new leaf was turned in this area after the Dec. 17 and Dec. 25 coup attempts in 2013.
Many AK Party-affiliated political actors and media who supported the case realized their past mistakes, corrected them and apologized for them. This was an important beginning.
Did those who created the political crisis during the 2007 presidential elections argue that the votes of 367 deputies were needed to elect a president, instead of the previous 276, do the same thing?
The same question also goes for those who tried to close the AK Party despite receiving 47 percent of the vote in the 2007 elections and those who said "411 hands in the air for chaos" during the 2008 parliamentary vote on lifting the headscarf ban at universities.
Let us go one step further: If the Ergenekon and Sledgehammer cases were plots, then what about the Dec. 17 and Dec. 25 coup attempts?
What about the National Intelligence Organization (MİT) trucks that were illegally stopped and searched while carrying humanitarian aid to Syria in early 2014? More importantly, are those who formed a political alliance with the perpetrators of the Dec. 17 and Dec. 25 coup attempts and those who released the tapes of that plot for months as if they had been true, and Republican People's Party (CHP) members who voiced them in Parliament and rallies less guilty? Will they not apologize?