COMMENTARY ERGENEKON: AN ILLEGITIMATE FORM OF GOVERNMENT Ergenekon: An Illegitimate Form of Government MARKAR ESAYAN* ABSTRACT On August 5th, 2013, an Istanbul court reached its verdict in the Ergenekon coup plot trial, handing down various prison sentences to 247 defendants, including the former Chief of Mili- tary Staff and several high-ranking members of the military’s com- mand. Although the Supreme Court of Appeals has yet to make a final decision on the 6-year legal battle, the Ergenekon trial has al- ready become part of the country’s history as a sign that anti-dem- ocratic forces, many of whom date back to the final years of the Ottoman Empire, no longer have free reign. Notwithstanding its limited scope and other shortcomings, the court’s decision marks but a humble beginning for Turkey’s acknowledgement of the dark chapters in its history, as well as a challenging struggle to replace the laws of rulers with the rule of law. he Ergenekon coup plot trial, ditional two defendants were “leaders the first serious judicial inqui- of a terrorist organization” as 32 de- Try of Turkey’s long tradition of fendants were sentenced for “plotting military coups and ‘deep state’ activ- to overthrow the government.” While ities, reached an end on August 5th, 21 out of 275 defendants were acquit- 2013. Istanbul’s 13th High Criminal ted of all charges, the Court post- Court reached its final verdict (whose poned its verdict on four fugitives. short form consisted of 503 pages) Another three defendants have lost following over 600 hearings, about a their lives over the course of hearings. total of 22 indictments. The Court is due to publish its detailed ruling in Consequently, the Court sentenced a upcoming months. The most import- total of 247 defendants, including for- ant element in the Criminal Court’s mer Chief of Military Staff Ret. Gen. verdict was its recognition of the Er- İlker Başbuğ, on charges of plotting genekon criminal network as a “ter- to overthrow the government, mem- * Columnist, rorist organization” and the sentenc- bership in a terrorist organization, Yeni Şafak ing of 193 defendants on the charge possession of explosives, unlawfully Insight Turkey of “membership in a terrorist organi- acquiring personal information, and Vol. 15 / No. 4 / zation.” The Court ruled that an ad- seizing confidential state documents. 2013, pp. 29-40 2013 Fall 29 COMMENTARY MARKAR ESAYAN genekon terrorist organization and The Ergenekon coup plot trial, subsequent judicial proceedings that spanned over the next six years. the first serious judicial inquiry of Turkey’s long tradition Initially, public opinion focused on of military coups, recognized the grenades, as media outlets dubbed the ongoing investigation as the Üm- the existence of a criminal raniye probe. Chief Prosecutor Zeker- network iya Öz, however, engaged in a deeper investigation into the discovery that eventually led to complex relation- ships, military coup plots, and action The Supreme Court of Appeals is due plans within Turkey’s deep state. to approve the Istanbul court’s ver- dict. While the defendants also have The prime suspect in the investiga- a constitutional right to apply to the tion was Retired Junior Officer Oktay European Court of Human Rights, Yıldırım who had brought the chest the legal marathon is effectively over. of grenades to the Ümraniye apart- Now let us take a look at the Ergene- ment over a year prior to its ultimate kon trial’s history and develop a more discovery. Şevki Yiğit, who saw the detailed understanding of this con- bombs while visiting his son’s Ali’s troversial court case. After all, the apartment in Istanbul and was dis- Ergenekon trial marks the beginning satisfied with Ali’s explanations, in- of a new era in Turkey’s political and formed the authorities. legal history. Ali Yiğit’s interrogation at the Police June 12th, 2007: A man by the name headquarters revealed that Meh- of Şevki Yiğit called the Gendarmerie met Demirtaş had links to Muzaffer headquarters in Trabzon Province Tekin, who was detained as part of to report that he discovered C4 ex- the Council of State’s investigation plosives and grenades on the ceiling and single-handedly blocked further of his former rental apartment in judicial inquiry, and Oktay Yıldırım, Ümraniye, a neighborhood on Istan- whose personal computer contained bul’s Asian coast. The Gendarmerie a document titled Lobi (Lobby) –a forwarded the report to the Istan- document that became public seven bul Police Department and police months later and offered detailed units raided the apartment to find, accounts of the Ergenekon terrorist as the caller claimed, 27 grenades in organization’s civilian connections. a chest. The police took Ali Yiğit, the Police units found the same docu- apartment’s last known resident, and ment with the title Ergenekon-Lobi Mehmet Demirtaş, the apartment’s on Muzaffer Tekin’s personal com- registered owner, into custody. The puter. This was the first instance in discovery marked the beginning of the investigation that the name “Er- a series of investigations into the Er- genekon” came up. 30 Insight Turkey ERGENEKON: AN ILLEGITIMATE FORM OF GOVERNMENT The prosecutor’s office filed a writ- prosecutor’s initiating of the inves- ten request with the Chief of Mili- tigation. Before engaging in a more tary Staff headquarters and asked the detailed discussion of the Ergenekon military command to clarify whether trial, however, let us take a brief tour the hand grenades were property of of the deep state’s history and analyze the Armed Forces. The headquarters the striking pattern of continuity be- did not respond. The Mechanical and tween Turkey’s deep state operations. Chemical Industry Corporation that manufactured the grenades, however, Having received a mandate from determined that they matched the ex- President Abdullah Gül to investi- plosives used in a 2006 attack against gate the Hrant Dink assassination, the offices ofCumhuriyet daily news- the State Monitoring Board (Devlet paper that took place several months Denetleme Kurulu) published its final after the explosives were delivered to report in February 2012. Believing the Ümraniye apartment. that it would contribute to readers’ understanding of the matter at hand, The prosecution located confiden- I would like to share one of my op-ed tial information regarding various pieces from that period below. Here, meetings at the Chief of Military Staff I pointed to the day when Turkey’s headquarters on a Compact Disc that deep state became institutionalized: belonged to Muzaffer Tekin. Tekin confessed to having duplicated the “In January 1913, the Gladio organi- contents from Fikret Emek, a retired zation led by Enver Pasha and Talat member of the Special Forces Com- Pasha invaded the Sublime Porte to mand. A police raid at Emek’s Es- perpetrate a military coup d’état. This kişehir residence discovered a second was when a Unionist assassin by the Ergenekon arsenal with long-range name of Yakub Cemil shot Minister weapons, hand grenades, explosives, of War Nazim Pasha between the eyes and bomb setups. and Enver Pasha put a gun to Grand Vizier Mehmed Kamil Pasha’s head. Over the course of the Ergenekon in- It was shortly after this military coup, vestigation, the police discovered a on February 13th, 1913, that the mil- total of five such arsenals across the itary junta circumvented the Parlia- country. ment of Representatives to institute a Temporary Law on the Trying of Civil Public Prosecutor Zekeriya Öz’s dil- Servants” that granted government igent work revealed deep state struc- officials immunity before the law. tures over a short period of time that several previous judicial inquiries According to the State Monitoring had failed to identify. It would be no Board, “the lack of restrictions result- exaggeration to state that the Ergene- ed in lengthy investigations that often kon investigation and trial steadily became subject to the statute of lim- remained a highly controversial issue itations” and that “legislation intend- over the six-year period following the ed to protect civil servants harmed 2013 Fall 31 COMMENTARY MARKAR ESAYAN society’s sense of justice due to its Ottoman defeat in the Balkan War practical implications.” and right before the first World War? The new government elite clearly had Thus the Board continued its striking serious plans in mind and sought im- observations: munity before the law. “The Temporary Law remained in Surely enough, the history of Turkey’s force for a total of 86 years between deep state networks represents a pat- 1913 and 1999. The law remained in tern of continuity and the aforemen- force even though the country tran- tioned Temporary Law played a cen- sitioned from a constitutional mon- tral role in constructing such an un- archy into a republic and five con- interrupted tradition. The governing stitutions, including the Ottoman elite utilized the state apparatus as a Constitution, have been replaced. criminal instrument and, depending Meanwhile, legislators included the on the specific temporary circum- Temporary Law’s contents in Article stances, perpetrated criminal acts 24 of the Law No. 657 on Civil Ser- either directly and openly or through vants and even granted civil servants the proxy of criminal gangs and or- immunity before special tribunals ganizations. When Mustafa Kemal such as military trials, jurists’ courts Pasha founded the Republic, he in- hearings, academic hearings among others. The regime of administrative herited the Unionists’ “experienced” reassurance that the Temporary Law bureaucratic class and granted them established attained constitutional control over all strategic government guarantees as Article 129 of the 1982 institutions and agencies, including Constitution stipulated: “The opening the Armed Forces and the Intelli- of a criminal investigation regarding gence Agency to this group of bu- alleged offenses perpetrated by civil reaucrats.