Monday, 15 June 2009
The European Union has begun to react to recently revealed Turkish military plans to erode public support for the country's ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) by launching a smear campaign paired with conspiracies to label the Gülen movement as a "terrorist organization."
Joost Lagendijk, co-chairman of Turkey-EU Joint Parliamentary Committee, said it was shocking news to learn that the Turkish military still expends some of its energy on such plots. Making all his comments on the condition that the documents are proven authentic, Lagendijk called on military authorities to swiftly respond to the allegations.
Despite the fact that Lagendijk did not run in the European Parliament elections, he is still an MEP and the co-chairman of the joint parliamentary committee until mid-July, when the new European Parliament convenes to create a new joint committee.
"If this document is genuine, it is shocking to see that plans like this are still being prepared within the army. I expect the army to make a serious investigation, to bring those responsible to justice and to expel those persons from the military if they are convicted," Lagendijk said. Stressing that the military should react speedily to distance itself from such practices that target democratically elected governments, Lagendijk said it was hard to believe that such plots were still being created within military institutions.
* MEP also shocked over Gulen accusations
One of the few European deputies who follows developments in Turkey very closely, Lagendijk said he was equally shocked to see that plans were being made against the Gülen movement in an effort to present it to the Turkish public as a "terrorist" group. "One can have different views on the Gülen movement. You can debate, discuss and criticize certain elements of the movement. But trying to portray the movement as a terrorist organization is equally shocking, or as shocking as attempts to work against the government," said Lagendijk, repeatedly calling on military authorities to make a public statement to clarify the incident. "The chief of staff should make a clear statement on both issues," he said.
Lambasting the call by military authorities to ban all publication on the leaked plans, Lagendijk said, "It is intolerable." The best thing the military could have done was to come clear from all these allegations instead of banning coverage, according to Lagendijk.
* Liberal leader Watson: This is totally unacceptable
The leader of the third largest group in the European Parliament has said the smear campaign by military against the governing AK Party and a religious movement is completely unacceptable.
ALDE (Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe) leader Graham Watson says that if the documents found are authentic, they clearly demonstrate the need for further reform of the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) and the need for the European Union to offer Turkey every assistance to entrench democracy and democratic institutions.
Watson, a strong candidate for the next president of the European Parliament and a well-known advocate of membership for Turkey, stressed that military action of that sort is wholly unacceptable in any modern democracy.
The Liberal leader said that if the document leaked to Turkish press is indeed genuine, this would not aid Turkey-EU relations. However, Watson added that he needed further information to provide a more detailed reaction.
