Organized Affairs 2

Following the March 31 elections, a process dubbed normalization began. Aside from the release of the elderly generals, some nearing 100 years of age, who had been left to die in prison due to the February 28 Case, no memorable gains have been achieved over these months.

For an army whose founding dates back to 209 BC, the sword-crossing ceremony of lieutenants at the August 30 Military Academy graduation should have been accepted as a routine celebration. Moreover, the President had previously watched and applauded these celebrations. The top graduates of all three military academies were female officers, and the success of Turkish women should have been the topic of discussion. After a brief silence, the President said at the 21st Imam Hatip Graduates Congress, "It is impossible for them to remain in the army; we will clean them out." Along with the footage of the celebration, rumors of a coup were brought to the agenda. To date, no action has been taken against the lieutenants; some gave statements as witnesses, and other than an ongoing investigation and the dismissal and reassignment of senior instructor officers, no further action has been taken. I have not found a way to explain the removal of Kemalist officers from the army without risking imprisonment, which is why I am continuing on this topic.

On August 21, a little girl named Narin Güran went missing in Bağlar, Diyarbakır. Despite there being thousands of people missing in this manner in the country, Narin was searched for everywhere—in the water, at every street corner—and was eventually found. These days, diabolical scenarios are being discussed, such as Narin being deliberately murdered by her entire family, an attempt to dispose of the body in an organized, syndicate-like fashion after the murder, and the search and rescue efforts being sabotaged with malicious intent. During the process, AKP Diyarbakır MP Ensarioğlu made headlines with his words, "There are things we know that we should not say."

Then, on October 1, at the opening of the Judicial Year in the Turkish Grand National Assembly, MHP leader Bahçeli shook hands with DEM Party deputies and said, "The President's speech moved me to action." Suddenly, rhetoric about stopping the bloodshed, laying down arms, and achieving peace began. It was discussed that progress was being made through negotiations between Öcalan and Kandil, without involving the DEM Party at this stage. Given the weight of the subjects and the individuals involved, this must be a second peace process attempt that has been ongoing for months and has seen some progress.

This week, the Newborn Gang investigation became the agenda. Clearly, some people had been profiting from the lives of babies for many years. These were people whose eyes were so blinded by greed that they could easily make a family's newborn 1-2 day old baby sick and kill them. Inhuman expressions such as "It's a hassle to keep them alive, and it's a hassle to kill them" were entered into the case file as evidence. The prosecutor of the investigation was openly threatened in his office, and a contract killer was hired for 100,000 Dollars to assassinate him. Turkey is not a country with a tradition of killing prosecutors. Aside from Doğan Öz and Mehmet Selim Kiraz, we have not had any martyred prosecutors, and those two murders were political. Then, the background of Dr. Fırat Sarı, who is said to be one of the leaders of this gang, was released. His 12-year 6-month sentence, finalized in 1998 for being a member of the PKK's youth organization YCK and for aiding/abetting the PKK-YCK terrorist organization, had been reduced to 2 years 6 months following the Social Reintegration Law that came into effect in 2003, and further reduced to 1 year 6 months 22 days after the Turkish Penal Code No. 5237 came into effect. After the final decision was finalized on 26.01.2010, he was appointed as a doctor by the ministry.

Also, the investigation into Rojin Kabaiş, who went missing while traveling from Diyarbakır to Van for university education and whose body was found, and the maps showing the combined regions where Kurds live in Turkey, Iran, Iraq, and Syria, are currently on the agenda.

It is clear that a second opening process is not possible without purging Kemalists from the army—that is, without carrying out a second Ergenekon/Balyoz. If the terrorist organization is to lay down its arms, it naturally wants the enemy army to be liquidated as well. On July 15, 2016, it was the Kemalist officers and non-commissioned officers who resisted the FETÖ coup plotters spontaneously, without waiting for orders. The purging of the lieutenants also means the purging of the army's national character. We cannot read the way those in power and the cliques within them handle these issues independently of one another. From the very beginning, those who know everything keep certain investigation files on the agenda until we learn about them too. In the last 40 years, blood and countless imperial states have already come between a thousand-year-old brotherhood. It is not yet clear who is with whom. If it continues like this, this process, like the others, could end with a detonator. After all, war is nothing but deception.