a classic black op from one of NATO’s secret armies

Naval forces junta planned to undermine
AK Party with non-Muslim assassinations
Iraq-War.ru, Nov 21 2009

An anti-democratic formation within the Turkish Naval Forces Command planned to destroy the governing Justice and Development Party (AK Party) by assassinating prominent non-Muslim figures in Turkey and putting the blame for the killings on the party, Taraf daily reported in its headline story yesterday. The plan was detailed in a CD seized in the office of retired Maj. Levent Bektaş, who was arrested in April for suspected links to a large cache of munitions unearthed during excavations on land owned by the İstek Foundation in İstanbul’s Poyrazköy district. That discovery came as part of the investigation into Ergenekon, a clandestine gang whose suspected members are currently standing trial on charges of having plotted to overthrow the government.

Police raided Bektaş’s office shortly after the discovery and seized a large number of documents and CDs. A technical analysis showed that a sinister plan against the country’s non-Muslim population was detailed in one of the CDs, called the “Cage Operation Action Plan.” The plan was signed by Lt. Col. Ercan Kireçtepe and was planned to be put into operation by a team of 41 members of the Naval Forces Command. The hoped-for result from the assassinations of prominent non-Muslim figures and propaganda and would be an increase in internal and external pressure on the AK Party, leading to its demise in politics. The action plan would be implemented to lend support to the suspects arrested so far as part of the Ergenekon investigation; render ineffective so-called psychological warfare waged by the AK Party and its supporters (against the military); change the course of the agenda in Turkey; boost the morale of the junta within the Naval Forces Command; and win the appreciation and support of the public. The blame for each of the assassinations by the junta would be put on the AK Party.

The plan was divided into four phases; “Preparation,” “Raising Fear,” “Shaping Public Opinion” and “Action.” As part of the “Preparation” phase, the names and addresses of the country’s prominent non-Muslims would be determined. Then it would be ascertained to which newspapers and magazines they subscribe; which schools non-Muslims work for or send their children to; which associations or foundations they are members of; which places of worship they frequent; and where they hold their religious celebrations and rituals. Then the action plan would jump to the second phase, which consisted of posting the subscribers of a Turkish Armenian biweekly, Agos, on a number of Web sites, especially the “reactionary” ones. The editor-in-chief of Agos, Hrant Dink, was shot dead in 2007 by an ultranationalist Turkish adolescent. Letters that included threatening messages would be sent to Agos subscribers, and they would also receive threatening phone calls. Similar messages would be written on a number of walls of buildings in the Adalar district, which is home to hundreds of non-Muslim families.

In the “Shaping Public Opinion” phase, the list of Agos subscribers would make its way into some newspapers, and fabricated reports on the list would feature in those newspapers. TV debates would focus on the reports and columnists would be urged to write columns on them. The AK Party government would be accused of ignoring the “approaching threat” to the country’s non-Muslim population in the debates. Media would recall the Sept. 6-7, 1955 incidents, a state-sponsored campaign designed to transfer capital from minority businessmen to Muslim Turks and to intimidate non-Turkish communities into leaving their homeland to clear the way for a homogeneous Turkish state. Several Web sites would be established to disseminate propaganda against the AK Party and criticize its domestic policies. The Web sites would have such names as “We are under threat” and “Let’s protect Agos”.