Asymmetric war!

"Who and with what purpose this piece of paper, that has no validity at all, was prepared? We want this question to be answered. We have sent the file to the Istanbul Prosecutor’s Office. We are not asking whether this paper is authentic or not, we are asking the authors of it be found ... We want to express that the duty of answering this question rests with the intelligence organizations of the state and the relevant judicial organs. We demand an answer to our question," the top general said, adding that the Turkish military was faced with an "asymmetric war" or "psychological war" conducted through the media. "We want this psychological war to be ended," he said.

This alleged "plan" that the top general said has no value further than "a piece of paper" has hurt the prestige of the military. Indeed, with allegations and unverified claims splashed on the front pages or TV screens, over the past two years the prestige of the Turkish military has been hurt a lot, though even today the military still enjoys the nation’s confidence.

Another of the top general’s important statements was that the military would respect the supremacy of law, undertake whatever was required, but would not launch a witch-hunt against officers alleged to have committed crimes unless there was sufficient evidence supporting the allegations.

Until yesterday, senior commanders of the country were telling news people that the military was faced with a smearing campaign. However, for the first time the top commander said the military was subjected to an asymmetric or psychological war that has been waged "systematically."

This point was as important as the description by Başbuğ of the alleged "military plan" as "nothing further than a piece of paper" because it reflected the frustration of the Turkish Armed Forces and the top commanders with the developments and indeed signaled that the country might be on the threshold of yet another escalation.

The military’s demand is clear. Başbuğ particularly underlined that since there was no date on the "photocopy plan," how could the newspaper that published it have claimed that it was prepared in April? The top commander did not ask how it happened that such a "plan" reported to be in the investigation dossiers of the prosecutors probing the alleged "Ergenekon organization" was serviced to that newspaper, but how the paper knew it was prepared in April. He did not say it so openly, but he indeed implied that the Gülen brotherhood organization and its elements in the police intelligence might be behind this "plot."

Anyhow, the advocate of the detained former military lawyer in whose office the alleged "plan" was found denied over the past two weeks repeatedly that his client ever had such a document in his office. If those statements are correct and since we have full confidence that the top commander was honest in his statement that investigations proved that the "piece of paper" was not written in the military headquarters, is it not obvious that this time the "bomb exploded in the hands of the culprits" - the police intelligence elements of the F-type organization?

With Başbuğ’s remarks a new stage has opened in the controversy.

Sensitivity

The other night American Ambassador Jim Jeffrey hosted a dinner for some 20 guests. The list of the guests, however, was problematic because on it was the names of the Israeli and the Saudi ambassadorial couples. However, Saudi diplomats have been avoiding such occasions not only because there are no diplomatic ties between Israel and Saudi Arabia, but also to protest the continued occupation of Palestinian land and Israel’s oppressive policies toward Palestinians. Of course there was no such sensitivity on the part of the Israeli diplomats.

Thus, seeing the Israeli ambassadorial couple, Ambassador Dr. Mohammed Al Hussaini Al Sharif and his wife walk out of the dinner telling Ambassador Jeffrey that he was required to respect the Saudi sensitivities and inform them that the Israeli ambassador was among the invited also.