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Coup attempt...
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Did you hear? Probably not. Even if you have heard about it, you must have burst into laughter. It is like a joke, but a rather incredible one. Six soldiers; who probably woke up earlier than other soldiers and presidential guards, tried to stage a coup, made their way up to the residence of the president, not the presidential palace, and fired several shots on the building. Moments later other soldiers; who probably woke up because of the noise of the gunfire, intervened and defeated the rebel soldiers. They arrested six of them, but the leader of the rebels, a sergeant, was still on the run and a country-wide hunt to capture him and two other mutineers was still underway on Tuesday.
No, there was no coup attempt in Turkey. The above was what happened in coup-prone Guinea-Bissau. The alleged coup leader on the run was identified as Sergeant Alexandre Tchama Yala, a nephew of former president Kumba Yala. How many guns, hand grenades or other arms the mutineers had or how they hoped to stage a coup with a handful of young soldiers was unclear in reports from the West African country. It was like a comedy.
But what was more important than the attempted coup was the immediate declaration by the Guinea-Bissau military command pledging loyalty to democracy and the civilian elected government. Such a firm statement from the military command may help prevent future coup attempts by some young soldiers who might wake up earlier than others.
Operation democracy!
That was indeed the joke we were making in the 1980s, after the last fully-fledged coup, in Turkey. Not only we, youngsters of the time, but leading comedians as well were condemning military takeovers with plays based on the theme that, "Whoever wakes up first, has the right to stage a coup." There was of course nothing wrong in making such jokes as we were a generation who became witness to three coups in 20 years; the 1960, 1971 and 1980 coups, as well as seeing with our own eyes that nothing good was indeed achieved with such interventions in democracy although all were staged as an, "Operation to restore democracy."
We always had doubts, some of us even beyond doubts, that there was some sort of American involvement in the coups. Was it a coincidence, for example, that late prime minister Adnan Menderes was flirting with the Soviets when he was toppled in 1960? Even today, some people believe that what we have been following as the "Ergenekon gang" was nothing but a liquidation by the United States of some elements of the "Turkish Gladio" or the Turkish deep state that got out of control and instead of following a pro-NATO and pro-United States political line, started becoming "Eurasian."
Or, is it correct that the Ergenekon trial is indeed an operation of the Turkish Gladio and with it the Turkish Gladio is just liquidating some of its unwanted or overused elements? Or, is it correct that the Turkish Gladio is just sacrificing some of its members as a measure to contain possible damage of some bigger probe against it? Or, is it that the Ergenekon trial is just product of a revanchist effort of the ruling Justice and Development Party, or AKP, against the closure case as well as the rampant corruption claims hurting its prestige ahead of the local polls?
In a country adhering to the principle of supremacy of law and thus to the notion that unless sentenced no one can be considered guilty, no one can either say for sure that the accusations in the glossy Ergenekon indictment were just products of a "creative mind" of a "fundamentalist prosecutor" or condemn the defendants before the court gives its verdict; hopefully sometimes this century!
But, what must be clear for all of us without any discrimination is the reality that democracy must be allowed to rub in its own bed without external interventions and manipulations. For a long time we have been of the opinion that the era of, "whoever wakes up first stages a coup," was closed in this country. Past experiences must have shown to all of us that rather than hoping for remedies to existing problems through the intervention of the powerful, that is the military, we have to stick to democracy as the only way out, whether the problem we are facing is separatist terrorism, or a devastating killer quake, or an economic quake.
That is "democratic engagement," for a resolution of the problems must be preferred at any cost to an "Operation democracy."
But what was more important than the attempted coup was the immediate declaration by the Guinea-Bissau military command pledging loyalty to democracy and the civilian elected government. Such a firm statement from the military command may help prevent future coup attempts by some young soldiers who might wake up earlier than others.
Operation democracy!
That was indeed the joke we were making in the 1980s, after the last fully-fledged coup, in Turkey. Not only we, youngsters of the time, but leading comedians as well were condemning military takeovers with plays based on the theme that, "Whoever wakes up first, has the right to stage a coup." There was of course nothing wrong in making such jokes as we were a generation who became witness to three coups in 20 years; the 1960, 1971 and 1980 coups, as well as seeing with our own eyes that nothing good was indeed achieved with such interventions in democracy although all were staged as an, "Operation to restore democracy."
We always had doubts, some of us even beyond doubts, that there was some sort of American involvement in the coups. Was it a coincidence, for example, that late prime minister Adnan Menderes was flirting with the Soviets when he was toppled in 1960? Even today, some people believe that what we have been following as the "Ergenekon gang" was nothing but a liquidation by the United States of some elements of the "Turkish Gladio" or the Turkish deep state that got out of control and instead of following a pro-NATO and pro-United States political line, started becoming "Eurasian."
Or, is it correct that the Ergenekon trial is indeed an operation of the Turkish Gladio and with it the Turkish Gladio is just liquidating some of its unwanted or overused elements? Or, is it correct that the Turkish Gladio is just sacrificing some of its members as a measure to contain possible damage of some bigger probe against it? Or, is it that the Ergenekon trial is just product of a revanchist effort of the ruling Justice and Development Party, or AKP, against the closure case as well as the rampant corruption claims hurting its prestige ahead of the local polls?
In a country adhering to the principle of supremacy of law and thus to the notion that unless sentenced no one can be considered guilty, no one can either say for sure that the accusations in the glossy Ergenekon indictment were just products of a "creative mind" of a "fundamentalist prosecutor" or condemn the defendants before the court gives its verdict; hopefully sometimes this century!
But, what must be clear for all of us without any discrimination is the reality that democracy must be allowed to rub in its own bed without external interventions and manipulations. For a long time we have been of the opinion that the era of, "whoever wakes up first stages a coup," was closed in this country. Past experiences must have shown to all of us that rather than hoping for remedies to existing problems through the intervention of the powerful, that is the military, we have to stick to democracy as the only way out, whether the problem we are facing is separatist terrorism, or a devastating killer quake, or an economic quake.
That is "democratic engagement," for a resolution of the problems must be preferred at any cost to an "Operation democracy."
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