The AKP, Gülen and Feb. 28 coup

Dr. Ihsan Yilmaz
Dr. Ihsan Yilmaz


Date posted: November 29, 2013

İHSAN YILMAZ

The Taraf daily uncovered a secret national security document which revealed that the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government in 2004 signed on to a planned crackdown on the Hizmet (Gülen) movement.

As Today’s Zaman reported on Thursday: “The Taraf daily published a document on Thursday prepared by the National Security Council [MGK] on Aug. 25, 2004, persuading the government to implement a series of measures to curb the activities of the Gülen movement. It advises the government to adopt legal measures that would impose harsh penalties on Gülen-affiliated institutions. …The MGK decision urges the Foreign Ministry, Interior Ministry and National Intelligence Organization [MİT] to closely monitor and report on the activities of the Gülen movement at home and abroad. It advises the government to instruct the Interior Ministry and Ministry of Education to investigate and monitor schools affiliated with the Gülen movement and report their activities to [the Prime Ministry Monitoring Council] BTK. The document states that the government must ensure that the financial activity of Gülen-affiliated businesspeople be monitored thorough the Finance Ministry’s Financial Crimes Investigation Board [MASAK]. The MGK wanted the Ministry of Education to investigate Gülen schools as well. … The document also comments on the psychological aspects of an operation against the Gülen movement, describing the use of defamation tactics.”

I do not think that the AKP government has ever implemented this plan. I am very sure about this. The movement did not have any threat perceptions from the AKP government, especially between 2002 and 2011. Nevertheless, we all know that the AKP was not in control of several institutions up until 2011 and that these state institutions had not only created trouble for the Hizmet movement but the AKP as well. I am not sure if these state organs such as the army, several of its intelligence organizations and MİT have ever put into force the document signed by the Recep Tayyip Erdoğan government. It is likely that they (Ergenekon, etc.) could use this document to prove their innocence in court. In any case, that’s not my main concern here in this piece.

Whenever members of the Hizmet movement criticized the AKP, AKP supporters have always attacked them by alleging that Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen supported the Feb. 28 coup and pointing out that Gülen had called on the Necmettin Erbakan government to resign amid huge military and pseudo-civil society pressure. It is impossible to get these AKP supporters to understand that the Erbakan government signed a document during the Feb. 28, 1997 MGK meeting and then prepared an action plan that was signed by ministers. These documents dictated finishing off imam-hatip schools and all private schools run by “religious” groups and it is no secret that they were primarily aimed at the Hizmet movement. Erbakan, in his own way, was trying to take a conciliatory approach and would most probably have never implemented these MGK orders. But, we, including most people in Erbakan’s party, were concerned that the army could stage a direct coup.

As a result of all this, Gülen encouraged Erbakan to resign and call for early elections. This would serve three purposes. First, the Erbakan government would not have to implement such ridiculous anti-democratic orders that would amount to shooting himself in the foot. Second, he would be able to prevent a coup. Third, he would democratically challenge the army and the nation would be able to decide on these issues. This approach was again taken by Gülen during the April 27 e-memorandum crisis; it is a well-known secret that the Erdoğan government was shocked and was clueless about what to do that first night and that Gülen encouraged them to challenge the army and call for early elections. The AKP duly did so and increased its votes from 34 percent to 47 percent.

My question to the AKP is this: You keep accusing Gülen of being a coup supporter simply because he feared a coup and tried to prevent it by calling on Erbakan to resign and call for early elections. But, when it comes to you, you argue that you feared a coup in 2004 and thus tried to appease the army by signing the document behind closed doors. Who is pro-army and anti-democracy here? I have no further questions.

Source: Today's Zaman , November 29, 2013


Related News

Nigerian youths can excel in Olympiads

Nigerian youths can easily be trained to excel academically on the world stage, says Mr. Sabri Unal, Deputy Managing Director (Academics) at Nigerian Turkish International Colleges (NTIC).

Turkey to pay huge compensation for post-coup rights violations, main opposition says

The main opposition party leader has said Turkey will pay a big price and an enormous amount of compensation for gross human rights violations caused by government decrees issued during a state of emergency declared after an abortive coup. “I saw the March 12 [1971] and Sept. 12 [1980] coups, but I never saw such a picture like today,” he said

Police raid successful Gülen-inspired schools, kindergarten in eastern Turkey

As one of the numerous raids against the schools affiliated with Gülen movement, popularly known as Hizmet Movement, two schools and a kindergarten were raided by police along with inspectors on Friday morning.

Criticism rains down on gov’t for insisting on closing prep schools

In the meantime, BDP Co-chairman Selahattin Demirtaş struck a similar tone to the prime minister regarding the prep schools’ closure, saying that prep courses must be shut down. Demirtaş said the closure is a political as well as commercial issue, casting doubts on the government’s desire but expressing his approval at shutting down prep schools.

Turkey’s Erdogan takes cue from Hitler, Stalin and Khomeini

There is something deeply disturbing about the direction in which Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Justice and Development Party are taking Turkey. Writing in this newspaper last week, John Lyons compared the sweeping purges to McCarthyism in the US in the 1950s. That was altogether the wrong analogy.

Deputy Premier Arinc: We are quite happy of the success of Turkish schools in Yemen

Arinc said: “I give my thanks to all my brothers and sisters who came here from Turkey with enthusiasm to open these schools and who enjoy working here with devotion and pleasure.

Latest News

Fethullah Gülen’s Condolence Message for South African Human Rights Defender Archbishop Desmond Tutu

Hizmet Movement Declares Core Values with Unified Voice

Ankara systematically tortures supporters of Gülen movement, Kurds, Turkey Tribunal rapporteurs say

Erdogan possessed by Pharaoh, Herod, Hitler spirits?

Devious Use of International Organizations to Persecute Dissidents Abroad: The Erdogan Case

A “Controlled Coup”: Erdogan’s Contribution to the Autocrats’ Playbook

Why is Turkey’s Erdogan persecuting the Gulen movement?

Purge-victim man sent back to prison over Gulen links despite stage 4 cancer diagnosis

University refuses admission to woman jailed over Gülen links

In Case You Missed It

Fethullah Gülen’s message to Turquiose Harmony Institute “Peace and Dialogue Awards”

Khamenei representative says will not set foot in paradise if Gülen is there

Kimse Yok Mu to send aid for Syrian refugees with 50 TIRs

Former politicians call on candidates to publicize personal assets

Reach of Turkey’s Erdoğan spreading like fungus across U.S. – analysis

Gülen, the most important figure of tolerance and dialogue

Pak-Turk school teachers to be deported as Erdogan visits Pakistan

Copyright 2023 Hizmet News