Sacrificing a legend for a shoebox*


Date posted: January 8, 2014

AHMET HAKAN

The most important action of the AK Party’s eleven-year rule is ending the military tutelage system.

The AK Party accomplished jobs once thought to be impossible:

– Ending the armed bureaucracy’s [army] domination of the selected government.

– Ensuring the elected government’s ability and power.

– Ending the “coup” threats directed against the society and the government.

– Making the question “Are the lights on tonight in the general staff building?” irrelevant.

– Teaching all of us the shamefulness of begging for a military coup.

– Ending the period of adjusting/designing society through military edicts.

In short, what the AK Party has managed to accomplish is legendary.

What should we say [about this graft probe and the efforts to cover it up]?

Should we say “Well done, AK Party?”

No!

No, we should not! Not anymore.

Because for the last few days the AK Party has been saying, “We swear that we did not do this. Someone else did.” Just look at the statement of Yalcin Erdogan, key advisor to the prime minister, about the Gulen Movement : “They manufactured a plot against the national army…”

The sentence “They manufactured a plot against the national army” has two meanings:

– First: We had no idea what was going on. We did not do it; they did it.

– Second: What was done was wrong. It was a trap, a plot, and a dirty trick.

Conclusion

The conclusion is this:

Just to prevent the graft probe…

They declined the honor of ending the military tutelage system and also declared the procedures used to achieve this triumph to be “unlawful.”

Since they sacrificed the most important victory of their eleven-year rule, we can easily say the following:

My friends, this must be one hell of a shoebox!

Muddling around while trying to tidy up!

To tidy up they said, “What did the movement ask that we did not give them?”

But instead of tidying up, they ended up muddling around some more.

Because…

They nailed into society’s memory the questions of “What did they ask for, and what did you give?”

To tidy up they said, “They manufactured a conspiracy against the the national army.”

But instead of tidying up, they ended up muddling around some more.

Because…

The question of “What were you doing as the ruling power while a plot was being launched against the army?” collapsed on them with all of its weight.

To tidy up they said, “The American ambassador planned this.”

But instead of tidying up, they ended up muddling around some more.

Because…

They had to pretend not to have heard calls like “If so, then why don’t you deport the American ambassador?”

To tidy up they said, “The movement has an undercover leader/representative in the Supreme Court, and we knew who he was.”

But instead of tidying up, they ended up muddling around some more.

Because…

They did not consider the question of “You knew it all along and only now you are coming to your senses?” By this statement they cast doubt upon all of the cases before the Supreme Court.

To tidy up they said, “Who bought dollars, infiltrated every organization, wiretapped everyone?”

But instead of tidying up, they ended up muddling around some more.

Because…

They missed the case of “Well, since you are the ruling power you should not ask questions and complain. If you have evidence, produce it and do what is necessary… instead of just moaning.”

To tidy up they said, “They have infiltrated the judiciary and the police.”

But instead of tidying up, they ended up muddling around some more.

Because…

Their answer led to the question of “You have been in power for the last 11 years. How did they manage to infiltrate these bodies? Were you fishing while they were infiltrating?” Thus they risked bringing up the issue of “Can such careless people really govern the country?”

To tidy up they said, “The Sledgehammer and Ergenekon [military attempt] cases were the work of this ring.”

But instead of tidying up, they ended up muddling around some more.

Because…

After these statements were made, these huge cases had to be reconsidered… and that shook society’s sense of justice in a very fundamental – and perhaps fatal – way from top to bottom…

In short…

For the sake of getting rid of the graft probe’s negative effects and to tidy up…

they risked smashing the gearbox.

[Original article is in Turkish] 

* “Shoebox” refers to the shoebox full of money ($4.5 million) found in home of Halkbank’s CEO. The term became the humorous symbol of graft probe launched on December 17, 2013. Four ministers had to resign or be removed from the cabinet as a result of the ongoing investigation into the probe.

Source: Hurriyet , December 31, 2013


Related News

Zaman reporter says won’t leave her job on PM’s orders

Zaman correspondent Tuğba Mezararkalı, who was told by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to change her job and leave the Zaman daily during a press conference held on Friday, has said Erdoğan is clearly intervening in freedom of the press, stating she did not begin her job in Zaman, where she has been working for four years, on the prime minister’s orders and would not leave her job on his orders as well.

Award-winning US screenwriter: Without freedom of speech and media, we’re all slaves

Terry Spencer Hesser, director of the first feature-length movie about Fethullah Gülen and the Hizmet movement, a grassroots initiative inspired by the Islamic scholar, spoke to Sunday’s Zaman at the Strasbourg screening of the biopic titled “Love Is a Verb,”

Kyrgyz president: Those calling Turkish teachers terrorists should see a doctor

Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambayev has said those who view as terrorists teachers working at the Gülen-linked SAPAT educational institutions in the country need treatment and should see a doctor.

Hizmet in Context: Societal Islam Versus Political Islam

The Hizmet movement is according to Ebaugh (2010) a civic movement rooted in Islam that is independent from the state. Others see it simply as a faith- based movement (Esposito and Yilmaz 2010). Agai (2004) describes it as an education network and Hendrick (2009) as a global pressure group to promote Turkish interests.

Moderate Islamic Gulen Movement Builds Bridges of Understanding With Christians, Jews

Jim Buie Gulen Movement is trying to identify youths at risk to join terrorist groups and give them free tuition to private schools and a place in the Gulen communities, in hopes of turning their lives around. I was reading in Today’s Zaman (English language daily newspaper in Turkey) about a conference at the University […]

Bank Asya says raising capital, set for growth

“Bank Asya expects to raise its total capital by TL 300 million to TL 1.2 billion. … We sold an 18 percent stake in the retail chain A101 as part of this plan,” the bank said. Bank Asya said its capital adequacy ratio is 14.8 percent — well above the conventionally accepted minimum level of 12 percent — and that it expects to enjoy further growth in 2014. The bank said it expects the capital adequacy ratio to reach 17 percent, making it one of the five strongest (in capital) banks in Turkey. Previously, the bank held 21.84 percent of the shares in A101.

Latest News

Turkish inmate jailed over alleged Gülen links dies of heart attack in prison

Message of Condemnation and Condolences for Mass Shooting at Bondi Beach, Sydney

Media executive Hidayet Karaca marks 11th year in prison over alleged links to Gülen movement

ECtHR faults Turkey for convictions of 2,420 applicants over Gülen links in follow-up to 2023 judgment

New Book Exposes Erdoğan’s “Civil Death Project” Targeting the Hizmet Movement

European Human Rights Treaty Faces Legal And Political Tests

ECtHR rejects Turkey’s appeal, clearing path for retrials in Gülen-linked cases

Erdoğan’s Civil Death Project’ : The ‘politicide’ spanning more than a decade

Fethullah Gülen’s Vision and the Purpose of Hizmet

In Case You Missed It

Gülen asked government to be more careful on the language they use: Deputy PM Arınç

Erdogan’s Failed Crusade: The World Rejects His War on Hizmet

Anatolia in Los Angeles

Prime Minister Erdogan’s Revenge

Cingöz: Kimse Yok Mu welcomes all auditors from state institutions

Fethullah Gulen: ISIL Actions, Disgrace to Faith

Turkish schools helped start trade with Turkiye

Copyright 2026 Hizmet News