FYI
Shawgi Tell
Graduate School of Education
University at Buffalo
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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Date: Fri, 13 Jun 1997 09:14:57 -0700
From: MID-EAST REALITIES <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
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To: Multiple recipients of list MER-L <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Turkey - Military Coup Approaches
Resent-Date: Fri, 13 Jun 1997 11:39:45 -0400 (EDT)
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M I D - E A S T R E A L I T I E S - COUP IN TURKEY APPROACHES
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"News, Analysis & Commentary They Don't Want You to Know"
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For previous MER: http://WWW.MiddleEast.Org
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Cheryl Sadi - 6/13/97
MILITARY COUP IN TURKEY AIDED AND ABBETTED
BY BOTH U.S. AND ISRAEL
[MER - Make no mistake about it. The military coup in Turkey --
already de facto, likely to soon become de jure -- would not
be taking place but for the encouragement and support of both
Israel and the U.S. The most senior military leaders in Turkey
have made both public and secret trips to the U.S. and Israel
in recent months. Egypt is also implicated, hoping to further
stem the tide of its own Islamic/nationalist underground.
In recent months the U.S. has provided the Turkish military
with photo-intelligence secrets to assist their invasion of
Northern Iraq and destruction of the Kurdish insurgency.
The Israeli military has begun working increasingly closely
with their Turkish counterparts, eager to further threaten Syria
and to prevent a coalition of Islamic and nationalist forces
which might present a military challenge to Israeli regional
hegemony.
And the Israeli/Jewish lobby in the U.S. -- including their
allies at the influential Washington Post newspaper -- have been
all but publicly endorsing a Turkish military take-over for many
months now. Lally Weymouth, daughter of Post owner Katherine
Graham and essentially a card-carrying member of the Israeli
lobby, has all but endorsed a Turkish Army coup in her editorial
page columns.
Turkey may be on the road to becoming another bloody Algeria,
which descended into civil war earlier in this decade when the
Algerian military took over and prevented an Islamic nationalist
electoral victory. The dike will probably hold for awhile; but
when the flood comes it will be more violent than would otherwise
have been the case.
This recent AP story gives some useful background but fails to
go into the U.S. and Israeli roles in what is taking place today.]
FEARS OF MILITARY COUP INTENSITY
By Zeynep Alemdar
ANKARA, Turkey (AP) 6/12/97 - Fears of a military coup
intensified in Turkey today, prompted by the harshest warning yet
from the powerful armed forces to the Islamic-led government.
In a rare briefing for journalists, the military declared
Wednesday that a violent Islamic uprising was near and that it was
prepared to use force to stop it.
``Last warning from the army,'' read the headlines today in the
nation's two leading newspapers, Milliyet and Yeni Yuzyil.
``The only thing missing was the date'' of the coup, wrote Derya
Sazak, another daily newspaper.
The military has staged coups three times in this NATO-member
country since 1960. The army, which sees itself as the guarantor of
modern Turkey's secular traditions, has been uneasy since Islamic
Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan's coalition government took power
11 months ago.
The military repeatedly has ordered Erbakan to curb his
pro-Islam policies. But the Islamic leader has remained defiant.
``Radical Islamic activities have gained momentum towards a
civil uprising,'' Gen. Fevzi Turkeri said Wednesday. ``The basic
principles of the Turkish republic cannot be changed, will not be
changed.''
Turkeri added that Turkish law obliges the armed forces to
protect the nation. The Turkish military is ``in a position to
define a mission for itself under these circumstances,'' he said.
The warning apparently shook the government.
Deputies from the pro-Western, center-right True Path held an
emergency party meeting late Wednesday to try to pressure their
leader, Deputy Premier Tansu Ciller, to withdraw from the coalition
with Erbakan's Welfare Party.
``There is a reality of a (pending) coup in the country. We have
to pull out of the government urgently,'' the daily Hurriyet quoted
True Path deputy Osman Sonmez as saying.
Sonmez refused to comment on his reported remarks today, but
other politicians also predicted a coup.
``The soldiers are openly saying ``We are coming,''' said Sinan
Yerlikaya of the opposition Republican People's Party.
Last month, Erbakan agreed to a power swap with Mrs. Ciller in
mid-June, but he has been stalling, saying he is waiting for an
election date to be set.
Apparently failing to convince Mrs. Ciller to give up power, the
party issued an ultimatum to Erbakan late Wednesday and said if the
handover of the premiership did not take place before June 18, the
coalition partnership would come to an end.
But even if Mrs. Ciller becomes prime minister, Erbakan's party
will still maintain key positions in the Cabinet - a situation that
is unlikely to satisfy the generals.
At Wednesday's briefing, the generals showed a video with images
of pro-Welfare rallies where green Islamic flags flew, Welfare
deputies vowed to work for an Islamic regime and Islamic leaders
dined with the prime minister.
Turkey is a predominately Muslim country with an officially
secular structure. The NATO country has a longstanding bid to
become full member at the European Union.
The military is also upset over Erbakan's efforts to get Turkey
closer with the Islamic world.
``Political Islam works closely with Iran and some other Islamic
countries to pull Turkey into an endless darkness ... away from
Western civilization,'' said Turkeri, the chief of counterintelligence
at the general staff.
The tug-of-war between the generals and the government began in
February, when the military told Erbakan to roll back some of his
policies. A key demand was closing religious schools and courses.
Instead of complying, Turkeri said, the government launched a
counteroffensive, at one point rallying more than 100,000 people to
a demonstration.
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