11 DIC 2009 - US Meddles in Turkish Domestic Affairs

http://www.keghart.com/Ergenekon_Gladio
US Meddles in Turkish Domestic Affairs
While Turkish progressive forces are struggling to expand Turkish democracy and getting rid of Ergenekon/Turkish 'deep state', the United States is reportedly contemplating to save the neck of Ergenekon criminals who, for decades, brutalized the Turkish people.
Don't U.S claims of spreading democracy sound trifle hollow?
Keghart readers are invited to contribute their comments on this critical issue, bearing in mind that the acknowledgment of the Genocide of the Armenians by the civil society in Turkey --if not by the state --is linked to the expansion of democracy, and not by letting loose members of Ergenekon.
Readers may surf the net for extensive information about Ergenekon and Operation Gladio. Introductory notes are presented here. They are extracted from Wikipedia.
Ergenekon Organization Wikipedia
"Ergenekon" is the name given to an alleged clandestine, Kemalist ultra-nationalist organization in Turkey with ties to members of the country's military and security forces. The group is accused of terrorism in Turkey. It is named after Ergenekon, a mythical place located in the inaccessible valleys of the Altay Mountains.
Its agenda has variously been described as Eurasianist, and isolationist. The defendants portray themselves as defenders of secularism, and national sovereignty. According to the indictment, the group's claim to legitimacy is that it allegedly protects national interests, which the defendants believe are incompatible with the rule of the democratically elected government of Justice and Development Party and are harmed by Turkey's alleged concessions to the West. In Turkey, the extensions of the state—the establishment—that are considered responsible for this are referred to as the "deep state". The existence of the "deep state" was affirmed in Turkish opinion after the Susurluk scandal in 1996.
Alleged members have been indicted on charges of plotting to foment unrest, among other things by assassinating intellectuals, politicians, judges, military staff, and religious leaders, with the ultimate goal of toppling the pro-Western incumbent government in a coup that was planned to take place in 2009. This follows allegations published in Nokta that several abortive coups with the same intent were planned a few years ago. The proximate motive behind these false flag activities is said to be to discredit the incumbent Justice and Development Party and derail Turkey's accession process to the European Union.
Turkey has already been through four "successful" military coups since democratic elections were first held in 1950. At the first coup d'état in 1960, the junta executed the first democratically elected Prime Minister of the country, Adnan Menderes and two of his ministers. There were more coups in 1971, in 1980 and in 1997, with additional numerous attempted "un-successfull" coups all through these years.
Ergenekon's modus operandi has been compared to Operation Gladio's Turkish branch, the Counter-Guerrilla. It has been said that the people who constitute the "deep state" are members of, or make use of, this covert organization, which was established at the beginning of the Cold War to contain communism. Furthermore, Ergenekon is allegedly a derivative of the Counter-Guerrilla.
Over a hundred people, including several generals, party officials, and a former secretary general of the National Security Council, have been detained or questioned since July 2008.Hearings began on 20 October 2008, and are expected to continue for over a year.
Commentators in the Turkish press have called Ergenekon "the case of the century".
Operation Gladio Wikipedia
Gladio (Italian for Gladius, a type of Roman short sword) is a code name denoting the clandestine NATO "stay-behind" operation in Italy after World War II, intended to continue anti-communist resistance in the event of a Warsaw Pact invasion of Western Europe. Although Gladio specifically refers to the Italian branch of the NATO stay-behind organisations, "Operation Gladio" is used as an informal name for all stay-behind organisations, sometimes called "Super NATO".
Operating in many NATO and even some neutral countries, Gladio was first coordinated by the Clandestine Committee of the Western Union (CCWU), founded in 1948. After the creation of NATO in 1949, the CCWU was integrated into the Clandestine Planning Committee (CPC), founded in 1951 and overseen by the SHAPE (Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe), transferred to Belgium after France’s official withdrawal from NATO's Military Committee in 1966 — which was not followed by the dissolution of the French stay-behind paramilitary movements.
The role of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in sponsoring Gladio and the extent of its activities during the Cold War era, and its relationship to right-wing terrorist attacks perpetrated in Italy during the Years of Lead and other similar clandestine operations is the subject of ongoing debate and investigation. Italy, Switzerland and Belgium have had parliamentary inquiries into the matter.

Annette Melikian