Abundant accusations, little evidence

This article was first published: https://www.turkishminute.com/2016/09/15/opinion-abundant-accusations-little-evidence/

The Turkish media – or what is left of it – has already found Fethullah Gülen guilty of the coup attempt on July 15. When challenged about the evidence, the most common reply is “Come to Turkey and see” or “Everyone in Turkey thinks this way.” This almost unanimous opinion is not a coincidence, and it does imply a monopoly over the Turkish media rather than any objective fact.

Already, the Turkish media has moved on from the coup attempt and nowadays is trying to prove that everything that has gone wrong in Turkey is because of Gülen. TV commentators argue that Gülenists plotted against military officers in the Ergenekon case, but the next day an Ergenekon suspect is arrested for being a Gülenist. One main TV channel even introduced the cheat codes of famous computer game Grand Theft Auto V as secret codes of Gülenist coup planners. However, I will only concentrate on some of the credible (!) arguments.

Military involvement
The argument that Gülen and the Hizmet movement were involved in the coup is shaped around accusations, not evidence. In the first instance, while the coup was still under way Erdoğan accused Gülen of being behind it. Yet, in his own words at that point he had been unable to contact the chief intelligence officer or the chief of general staff. He claimed he had not been briefed before the broadcast he made to the nation, and he didn’t know anything about the coup attempt until his brother-in-law rang him on the evening of July 15. It is hard to pin down when exactly this call happened as Erdoğan gives three different times in three different interviews.

Media channels and TV commentators then started to broadcast this and other accusations, especially in Turkey but also in some foreign media outlets. The most notable accusation comes from Chief of General Staff Gen. Hulusi Akar. He claims that one putschist (Hakan Evrim) offered to put him in touch with Gülen by phone. However, Evrim denies this allegation in his own statement and gives an entirely different story. Is there any evidence at all to support Akar’s claim? Does Evrim have Gülen’s contact details in his phone? Did he ring him? What could be the motive for an officer to try to connect Gülen to the coup at a time when it had already been thwarted (at around 8 a.m. the following morning)?

There are more questions about Akar’s statement. First of all, Akar’s statement is contradicted by three other people who were in the room. Secondly, Akar’s own involvement in the coup is not clear. Thirdly, are the putschists trying to cover their tracks by directing it to a more “convenient scapegoat”? It is plausible that Akar, who is known as a staunch Kemalist, is choosing to comply with Erdoğan’s narrative and clear his own name while supporting further purges of Gülenists.

Levent Türkkan’s confession is also important. He was the aide to the chief of general staff and claims he received orders from Gülenists. However, this “confession” was presented to the media with a photograph in which Türkkan shows signs of having been tortured. Rather than supporting the accusations, the photograph of Türkkan tends to destroy their credibility. If he was indeed tortured, it shows how far some people are willing to go to pin the coup on Gülen.

Türkkan’s photo and reports from Amnesty International raise serious concerns about how reliable accusations can be if the Turkish security forces are using torture to get information or confessions. Also, after the post-coup purge of some 3,000 judges and prosecutors, how fair can the judiciary be? Is it possible that some putschists are being persuaded to cut a deal with prosecutors by giving statements in line with Erdoğan’s narrative in exchange for a pardon?

Brig, Gen. Fatih Celaleddin Sağır’s statement raises still more questions. He says, “I had been going to the [Gülen organization’s] houses and dormitories between 1988 and 1992, attending all their gatherings. I had served the Gülen organization for 10 years. After 2007, especially with the Sledgehammer and Ergenekon operations, I started to move away. I suspended my relationship with them.” First of all, can it be true that a general was able to go regularly to Gülen dormitories and remain within the Kemalist military during a period in which anyone with the slightest inclination towards Gülen or any other religious group would be immediately dismissed? Secondly, even if it is true that he was a Gülen sympathizer in the past, he claims to have left the movement 10 years before the time of the attempted coup. Isn’t the question: So who are you working with now?

Police involvement
It ıs reported that three police officers were captured during the coup. Yet the number of police officers reported to have been purged for Gülenist affiliations before the coup was more than 4,000. If only three of them took part in the coup, then it means that the Hizmet movement did not take part; otherwise, their numbers would have been much greater. Even if we take a close look only at the individuals involved, the accusations do not hold. For example, Mithat Ayrancı was dismissed from the police force for being a Gülenist in 2014, but he took the matter to court, which ruled there was no evidence supporting the accusations against him and ordered his reinstatement. The government did not abide by the court’s decision and he was not reinstated. So there is evidence that Ayrancı justifiably resented his treatment by Erdoğan and the ruling party, but no proof at all that he was a Gülenist.

Questionable link
The most important question mark about the coup attempt concerns a theology professor, Adil Öksüz. He was arrested in a village called Kazancı near the Akıncı air base. The claim is that he is the link between the army and Gülen. However, he said that he was there “to buy land” in the village. He was held in custody for two days and released after his initial statement. Now there is a warrant for his arrest.

At a time when possession of a single book by Gülen or a debit card from BankAsya or even buying credit for your phone from a shop owner known to be a Gülen sympathizer Is enough reason for arrest, it is strange that an individual held to be key to the coup plot can be released and allowed to disappear. It’s even stranger that the judges who ordered his release are not among those purged while so many others have been arrested for having a bank account at BankAsya or subscribing to the Zaman daily.

Missing facts
While accusations are flying about individuals, a great deal of hard evidence is lacking on the actual organization of the coup attempt. Where are the operation plans? Where are the camera records of military HQ and the Akıncı base? What about the phone communications between the putschist generals? What about the GPS traces of all the accused parties such as Adil Öksüz and Akin Öztürk?

It is a stretch to conclude that the coup attempt had anything to do with Gülen or his supporters; if it were, we would have seen many more Gülenists taking part in events.

Very few of the putschists stated any affiliation with Gülen and in fact most confessed to having other secular or Kemalist affiliations. All the important questions still remain unanswered, but the pro-government media goes on rubbing the same few confessions in our face.

*Doctor of philosophy, Director of Centre for Hizmet Studies

Turkish witch-hunt against the Gulen movement lacks one thing: Evidence

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan declares that the 15 July coup attempt was orchestrated by the Islamic cleric, Fethullah Gulen. Yet, there is little concrete evidence against Gulen.

Instead, the government has accelerated purges of public and private sector employees, arrests, and seizures of citizens' property without legal process. In no other country could the practice of guilt by association used in Turkey now be seen as “protecting democracy”. 

The trajectory is not new. In December 2013, when corruption allegations claimed four government ministers and his own family members were directly involved in bribery and corruption, Erdogan called it a “coup to topple the government”.

He accused Gulen of coordinating the investigations, and the police force was purged. Since that event, Gulen has been the scapegoat for every setback, including the failed coup, about which little is known. Who organised it? Who gave the orders? What did they have in mind if they had succeeded?

The Gulen movement and its goals

Gulen’s stated aim is to raise a better educated generation which is able to negotiate and solve the problems of society through peace rather than conflict.

The term he uses is “the golden generation” - borrowed from Aristotle’s “golden mean” - and is used to indicate people able to make ethical, balanced (“golden mean”) decisions for the betterment of society, not for selfish aspirations.

Readers may incorrectly assume that a faith-based movement is opening madrasas - that is not the case

The people in the movement assume that they are responsible for contributing to society by solving the problems of ignorance, poverty and discrimination through education, dialogue and charity activities and to fulfill their responsibility towards God in this way.

Readers may incorrectly assume that a faith-based movement is opening madrasas. But that is not the case. The movement prefers to open secular schools that are inclusive and open to students of all backgrounds and religions with an emphasis on academic excellence.

It began opening such schools in Turkey first and then expanded these schools into central Asia with the collapse of the Soviet Union.

This approach was very much welcomed by Turkish people generally. It also made the Hizmet movement “different” from other religious groups; it created an expectation and capacity to respond to needs in other parts of the world. The learning experience also helped broaden the participants’ horizons and the Turkish public’s interest.

The principle of service to others continues to direct the movement's global drive in education, dialogue, health services and poverty relief, but its global nature forces the movement to be more principle-based - as opposed to nation or culture - so it can operate everywhere easily.

Coming together - and falling out

Gulen has never declared himself an ally of any political party, but he has held some political positions: pro-EU, pro-democracy and for human rights. He believes secular democracy allows Muslims to practice their religion freely.

The Justice and Development Party (AKP) was founded on the idea of rejecting identity politics and embracing EU accession and reform, stronger economy, fewer ideological confrontations and more justice and transparency.

In that, the AKP came closer to Hizmet rather than vice versa. During AKP’s first two terms, it gained the support of many including social democrats, some notable liberals, religious minority groups in Turkey, conservatives and was endorsed by the EU and the US.

Similarly, the majority of Hizmet participants and its media also supported AKP’s democratising policies during this period.

Erdogan promised a civil constitution in his third term, but there was huge disappointment in society in general and in Hizmet when the AKP failed in the task.

Later, when news of the corruption investigations broke, Erdogan blamed the movement, and went for another election. In this election he promised to “eradicate" Hizmet because they tried to “topple the government”.

In the absence of effective political opposition, Erdogan won the elections with an increased share of the vote, and the movement remained a scapegoat.

Politics of fear and loathing

The movement is now trapped in a pincer movement by the so-called religious right and the would-be democratic secularists in Turkey. Both accuse movement participants of “infiltrating” state institutions.

Indeed, “infiltration” is a term originally employed by the authoritarian Kemalist elite systematically to exclude the elements of society viewed by as “marginal” or antipathetic to the Ataturkist vision of the republic from positions of power or responsibility in the state.

The movement is trapped in a pincer movement by the so-called religious right and the would-be democratic secularists in Turkey

Thus their presence, particularly in the military, has always been referred to as “infiltration” - an indication of “enemy” agents secretly penetrating the Kemalist stronghold.

It seems that Erdogan, seeing himself now as the owner of the centre and rule maker for the republic, has adopted the term, so other elements can only “infiltrate” this system.

But in a democracy, all citizens have the right to participate in all state institutions equally. If they are in some way subverting those institutions, failing to abide by their contract of employment, certainly they should be held to account individually in a court of law. If they are conspiring to subvert them, that too is a legal matter.

Furthermore, subversion - which the Gulen and the movement have been accused of - is not terrorism, which is the use of violence for political ends. So the accusations for both must be proven.

So far, there has been no evidence, no investigation and no trial. There have been mass arrests, deaths in custody, torture, death threats, sackings, seizures of property, detention of family members, and, increasingly, the language of genocide used about people in the Hizmet movement.

Ironically, many of the people being dismissed and arrested now were actually appointed or employed by the AKP and their acolytes. They are being purged not for terrorism, but for being unwilling to mindlessly follow the new elite. They are being taught to fear.

And if you want to know how biddable or credulous one must be, take heed of Ahmet Davutoglu, who was deposed by Erdogan a year after winning 50 percent of votes at the general election.

Who was behind the coup?

The chain of command in the attempted coup is still not clear after almost four weeks. Who was the putschists' commander? Who organised the coup? Who gave the orders? If ever we have reliable evidence, we will be able to discuss it meaningfully.

Thousands of police officers, judges, prosecutors, and civil servants have been purged since 2013, and many Gulen-inspired institutions have been seized or closed down; it might be realistic to expect some individuals from among them to have taken part in the coup attempt.

Yet, there was no sign of mass involvement. This tends to support the view that Gulen movement participants are committed to non-violence even in the face of persecution.

The published “evidence” so far is flimsy. There is a confession from General Staff Chief Hulusi Akar's aide Levent Turkkan. It ends: “I have written this in my handwriting while waiting” but the picture clearly shows both his hands are severely injured, his ribs are broken and his face covered with bruises.

All other news has been “filtered” through the few pro-government media outlets left after a thorough media purge.

It is reported that Akar stated that one putschist wanted to put him on the phone with Gulen, but the officer in question denied this. General Akar, whose involvement in the coup remains unclear, is a strong secularist and has a motive to comply with Erdogan’s narrative.

The statements by the rest of the generals are so contradictory that it leads one to believe that at least four out of five are false, if not all.

There is evidence that three engineers who took part in the coup have worked in Gulen-inspired institutions. It is still not clear, however, whether they took part willingly or under duress.

There was also a police officer in military uniform who was dismissed in 2014 because of an alleged Gulen connection. He had been cleared in court, but despite the court order, was never reinstated. He is reported to have “killed himself” in custody.

Erdogan announced Gulen's guilt even before the coup had been thwarted. He was asked about Akar’s situation in the same press conference on the night of the 15th and he replied, “I don’t know”.

How could he be sure who was responsible before he knew who was involved? And what do we expect of a judicial investigation whose central purpose of determining the culprits has already been pre-judged?

Blame game

It is, however, consistent in terms of Erdogan’s narrative. He has blamed Gulen and the Hizmet movement for everything in the past three to four years. This includes the original corruption allegations, rising inflation, interest rates and even the dispute over the downing of a Russian jet. However, he has also been consistent in failing to prove any of his accusations.

Gulen and Erdogan have their differences when it comes to politics and Erdogan abuses the situation to increase his political power. He has used the Hizmet movement as a scapegoat to evade corruption allegations.

Now he is using the same narrative to reform the army, judiciary, bureaucracy, civil society and media in Turkey. By the time the dust settles, Erdogan will have finished transforming society with the help of the controlled and homogenised media in Turkey.

- Ismail Sezgin is the director of the London-based Centre for Hizmet Studies. He has a doctorate on Gulen’s philosophy, follows the Hizmet movement and its work closely as part of his academic interests, and comments about it regularly.

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Eye.

Photo: Supporters of Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan shout slogans over a burning effigy of US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen during a pro-government demonstration at Taksim Square in Istanbul on 20 July 2016 (Reuters)

This article was first publisher by Middleeast Eye
http://www.middleeasteye.net/columns/turkish-witch-hunt-gulen-movement-evidence-erdogan-akp-917242633

My interview with Zeinab Badawi for BBC HARDtalk

Zeinab Badawi speaks to Ismail Sezgin, director of the Centre for Hizmet Studies in the UK, an educational think tank founded by supporters of Fethullah Gulen. The Turkish government is continuing to hunt down people who it claims are followers of the reclusive US-based Turkish cleric. The government blames Gulen for the recent coup attempt and wants the US to extradite him to Turkey to stand trial. He denies involvement. Is the Gulenist movement a threat to the Turkish state?

Was Gulen behind the coup attempt in Turkey? (opinion)

Are there any Gulen supporters in judiciary?

I was asked whether there are Gulen supporters in Judiciary?

Newshour BBC world service

A short description of Hizmet movement

A short description of Hizmet.

What is Hizmet movement?

Who is Fethullah Gulen?