Operation And Some Conclusions

It is obvious that the operation carried out against the police divided the people even though the arrests were limited to the police, unlike in the Ergenekon trial.

I had the opportunity to meet two people who were involved in the Ergenekon operations during the reinvestigation of Musa Anter's 2009 murder. When the Ergenekon investigations were started, there was an expectation that the murders perpetrated in the southeastern part of Turkey would also be investigated and solved. But this remained an expectation. Two police officers from the Istanbul Police Department met me in Ankara for this purpose. They took my statement, again.

A police officer who was taken into custody in the recent operation and then released told me that this was a struggle and that if they lost they would be destroyed, so they had to win. This was just how the Ergenekon operation and investigation started.

The people involved in the most recent arrests are now being charged with planning a coup and espionage. The people expect the trial to be fair and the procedure perfect. The painful experiences of the Ergenekon trial should not be repeated. Of course the judges will spend less time on this investigation given that the number of people who were arrested is 30 and that no large criminal organization has been identified in this investigation.

It is not fair to believe or argue in advance that the defendants are heroes or traitors and to make the people believe such an argument. This is not consistent with the principle of fair trial. At this stage, the court has the right to present the argument and the accompanying results clearly. The defendants are entitled to defend themselves against these charges and accusations.

The allegations that the suspects wanted to arrest Hakan Fidan on Feb 7, that there was an operation against the MİT convoy in Adana and that many people including the prime minister and Foreign Ministry figures were illegally wiretapped are serious charges. In any other part of the world, these allegations are taken seriously and investigated thoroughly.

There could be a happy ending for the suspects as we saw in the Ergenekon trial, particularly when the political circumstances change and these investigations are diluted. But this does not lead to exoneration in the public eye. A sense of suspicion and doubt will always remain. My personal view is that the Balyoz and Ergenekon figures are not clean and innocent even if they are acquitted a thousand times. And there are many other people who join me on this.

There is also the allegation that there is a parallel structure within the state that is affiliated with a religious community. We cannot ignore the fact that there are many incidents that would make us take this allegation seriously. Government figures believe that this is a recent development. But the figures who should respond to these allegations act as if nothing has happened. Those who are accused may defend themselves and show that the accusations and doubts are false and ungrounded instead of avoiding judicial processes. If they are innocent, they can be acquitted by the court. But if they do not do this and resort to a discourse of heroism as in the Ergenekon trial, they will not be exonerated in the public eye.

It does not seem likely that this trial will acquire international dimensions and connections. Even if an indictment is drafted and some defendants are convicted in this judicial process, this would not result in the liquidation of a religious community or communities. It is not appropriate for those who oppose the judicial process to see this as a process of liquidation.

The indictment should be drafted immediately and presented to the court. And any action that would endanger the fairness of the trial should be avoided.

ORHAN MİROĞLU (Cihan/Today's Zaman)