2 September 2012 / TODAY’S ZAMAN, ISTANBUL Meral Akşener, a Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) deputy and vice president of Parliament, who was interior minister at the time of the Feb. 28 coup, claimed that The National Security Council (MGK) actually discussed a total of 24 decisions, which included the recitation of the call to prayer […]
Mustafa AKYOL Recently, there was a long New York Times story about the matter, which quoted a Turkish journalist who believed that Gülen followers “have proliferated within the police and the judiciary, working behind the scenes to become one of Turkey’s most powerful political forces.” So, as another Turkish journalist, let me also tell you […]
24 April 2012 / TODAY’S ZAMAN, İSTANBUL The Journalists and Writers Foundation released a statement on Tuesday in response to various allegations circulating in the media that Fethullah Gülen, a well-respected Turkish Islamic scholar, supported the Feb. 28, 1997 unarmed intervention, dismissing such claims as a major distortion of the truth. The statement, posted on […]
İHSAN YILMAZ, Wednesday April 18, 2012 With the democratization of Turkey and the new mentality of the judiciary it has created, prosecutors can now tackle past coup attempts and successful coups, the most recent being the Feb. 28, 1997 coup process. I call it a “process” since the toppling of former Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan’s […]
Nazli Ilicak, March 3, 2012 While February 28th is debated these days, a notion has been created as if Gulen was collaborating with “post modern coup.” In fact, Gulen in his interview on Channel-D on April 17,1997 asked Refahyol government to resign. However, these words were spoken in order to reduce the tension in the […]
EKREM DUMANLI March4, 2012 Fifteen years have passed since the Feb. 28 coup, which was said to “last for 1,000 years.” Every year that “postmodern coup” was questioned and criticized, but it never became such an object of scorn and disdain as it did this year. Certainly there are reasons for this year’s rumble against, […]
The anniversary of the postmodern coup of Feb. 28, 1997, has seen much debate as to what happened during the coup, and we continue to discuss it heatedly even though one week has passed since the anniversary. BÜLENT KENEŞ, March 6, 2012 And if they were rewarded with energy, mining and banking tenders amounting […]
Şahin Alpay, Sunday March 4, 2012 In the summer of 1996, a coalition government was formed in Turkey between the Islamist Welfare Party (RP) led by Mr. Necmettin Erbakan and the center-right True Path Party (DYP) led by Mrs. Tansu Çiller, who had declared herself to be the foremost opponent of the RP. This coalition […]
MUSTAFA AKYOL, February/29/2012 Yesterday was Feb. 28, or the 13th anniversary of Turkey’s “post-modern coup.” And it is worth remembering today what this was all about. In June 1997 the generals declared a long list of companies that were “backward-minded” (i.e., too religious) and promoted boycotts of their products. Islamic spiritual leaders such as Fethullah […]
Journalist Nazlı Ilıcak told Today’s Zaman that important steps have been taken to eradicate the remnants of Feb. 28 but Turkey needs to take more steps, via a new Constitution, to achieve overall democratization. However, Ilıcak noted that Turkey needs to take further steps towards democratization and settling its major problems, such as the Kurdish problem, through a new Constitution, which she said would contribute to make democratization permanent.
This is a question no junta general asked his superior or counterpart. It was asked by a “journalist”: Emin Çölaşan. We are in 1997, in the aftermath of the Feb. 28 coup. MARKAR ESAYAN, Friday February 24, 2012 A short introduction for the uninitiated: On Feb. 28, 1997, as a result of a political crisis […]
For some months, the PKK has misinterpreted the remarks of Gülen regarding the solution to Turkey’s long-standing Kurdish problem and is using manipulation tactics similar to those employed during the military intervention of 1997 against Gülen movement. 9 January 2012 / TODAY’S ZAMAN, İSTANBUL Well-respected Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen has said the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ […]
Gülen expressed his grief over the deaths of dozens of security members during terrorist attacks in the country’s Southeast last week. He also expressed his disappointment over the Turkish military’s failure to end PKK terrorism over the past 30 years.