Even as on the regional scene, in the context of unprecedented events that have shaken the Arab-Muslim political transition that saw Turkey is often presented as an example to follow, several recent episodes of political life this country raise questions about the nature of the changes that are underway.
The order of committal by an Istanbul court of 163 senior military officers involved in the case "Balyoz, February 11 last, and the arrest of over 140 of them confirmed that the demilitarization process the Turkish political system continues and is even now entering a phase of acceleration. 3 years (especially after the case "Ergenekon," the record "Cage" and "action plan against reaction") Case "Balyoz" is the latest manifestation of the conspiracy that the Turkish court has begun address. Revealed by the daily Taraf, in its edition of January 20, 2010 (see our issue of January 21, 2010), it was actually a plan developed by the staff to destabilize the AKP government, some months after arrival thereof to power in 2002. Various provocations have been in the program, the aim of discrediting the new rulers to justify a takeover muscular. He is accused of being the mastermind of the affair, the former head of the 1st Army, General Cetin Dogan, defended himself from the beginning, explaining that it was only to a scenario of school, having nothing to do with any conspiracy. But the organization of bombings in major mosques of Istanbul or the scheduling of aerial incidents with Greece, having appeared as curious school exercises for the armed forces, explanations of General Doğan is obviously not convinced.
plan "Balyoz" had already caused serious tensions, where part of the staff in office at the time of its development in 2003, and many other military officials, had been placed in custody in February 2010, before finally being released, former Chief of Staff Gen. İlker Başbuğ being able to negotiate some sort of agreement with the government (See our editions of 23, 26, 28 February 2010), it no longer seems able to do today. This case also revealed the existence of a list of 137 journalists who have had the confidence of the army, where the latter had decided to take action. In the wake of the revelation of the plan "Balyoz", "Taraf" had published their names in a highly controversial issue (see our issue of January 22, 2010).
Since then, the Army's other cash blows. In particular, during the holding of the Military Council Supreme in August 2010, she saw the government block the appointment of the Chief Army, the prospective person is involved in a conspiracy case as well. This new episode was blocked by backlash over several days, the appointment of the current Chief of Staff, Gen. Işık Kosan, and was analyzed as the input of government in the last preserve of the army : the appointment of its managers (see our editions of 2, 6, 7, 10 and 28 August 2010). The last haul of the trial "Balyoz" is therefore not a new dramatic in the bid (which now seems inevitable) the military to civil power.
But even as the military authority that recorded significant decline, another event has come to revive questions about the nature of ongoing developments. On 14 February, in fact, the police raided the premises of the site of political analysis "OdaTv" before that, a few days later, three journalists from the media that his editor, Soner Yalçın (photo) are detained. The journalists in question are accused of having ties with "Ergenekon," the network nationalist conspiracy and destabilization that the update has been, in 2007-2008, the first major conspiracy case found in Turkey (see, among other issues of our January 25, March 23, July 2, 9 July, October 3 and 1 November 2008).
Soner Yalçın's arrest and his colleagues, known for their anti-government analysis, as they were about to launch a further independent television channel, has revived questions about some excesses of investigations and trials plot, carried out in recent years in Turkey, and elsewhere by pointing to reports annual evaluation of the EU (see in particular our edition of November 13, 2008). Indeed, these cases have led to many arrests, after the use of means which have not always proved very convincing: wiretapping, confiscation of electronic records ... Moreover, the spectrum of the accusations did not only the military, but also many civil society actors secular journalists, leaders of associations or university, suspected of being agents serving the dirty work of the army. This new move net announce, according to some observers, the next call into question Kemalist party officials, hitherto relatively unscathed. The CHP leader, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, denounced the arrest of journalists "OdaTv" as a new maneuver by the government against the secular establishment and opposition, while saying he himself was placed on wiretapping and most members of his family. The opposition press has sharply criticized the arrest of journalists "OdaTv, expressing concern for the freedom of the press. Finally, the new U.S. ambassador en Turquie et un porte-parole du département d’Etat, ont eux aussi fait part de leur préoccupation.
La semaine qui s’est s’écoulée vient donc d’illustrer une nouvelle fois la complexité et les contradictions de la transition que vit actuellement la Turquie. Depuis 2002, et plus particulièrement au cours des trois dernières années, le recul sans précédent de l’armée, a permis une remise en cause de la toute-puissance de l’establishment politico-militaire, et une dénonciation des principaux tabous d’un système de démocratie longtemps contrôlée. Mais, certaines dérives des procès engagés contre les acteurs de ce système raise concerns that the government did take the opportunity to weaken the opposition and a state-AKP succeeds the Kemalist state. In August last, the work of former police chief of Eskişehir, Hanefi Avcı, denouncing the infiltration of the police brotherhood of Fethullah Gülen, has become a bestseller, which shows how point of the restructuring of state and government is currently a hot topic in this country. This bestseller nonetheless seems to have led its author in prison, accused for having covered the activities of an organization of extreme left illegal, a criminal charge rather surprising, in light of the earlier career of police officer ...
In reality, the face-to-face meeting between the army and the government comes daily on multiple fronts: that of media (where the press and the government television rival group Doğan - or what remains of it), that of the economy (where the traditional westernized employers must now reckon with the new Islamic entrepreneurs), that of justice ( where the judicial hierarchy close to the secular media coexists with a justice more responsive to the rank positions government). The outcome of these confrontations will determine the system configuration next. Beyond these major fault lines, the polarization that currently crosses the state and society, borrows additional ways more subtle, which indicate that the Turkish political transition is a complex phenomenon, not yet completely finished ...
JM
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