Turkey surely is in an important situation with the Ergenekon Case. This case, regarded as the most important in the history of the Turkish Republic, has long captivated the public attention with buried guns and grenades, links with the previous staggering assassinations, and plans for further assassinations. This is common for terrorist organizations.  In order to overthrow the government or at least share the power sources, terrorists use such violent attacks. Terrorist organizations use symbolic, violent, and shocking attacks in order to prove their existence and voice their goals; they terrorize and suppress the society to attain their goals in the shortest way.

The Ergenekon Trial indicates that the organization adopts this kind of method and –if proved- was planning to use these weapons for such purpose. Thus, most experts explain the custodies through the violence factor. Some attempted to criticize the trial process beforehand, as how such a group could overthrow the government without guns, or after the guns were found how it could happen with such small number of guns. We scrutinized the violence and the process of trial in another work; in this study I will focus on the blackmailing method of the organization through sex and how it uses blackmail to terrorize and suppress.

The Scenes for Blackmail

The Ergenekon trial develops as new waves of evidence enable new custodies and access to new documents. In these waves of the trial the focus is on the weapons found and, interestingly, some CDs and DVDs. These CDs and DVDs include two types of documents: written and audio & video documents. The written documents contain information pertaining to the basic tenets of the organization, such as how its definition, why the use of the name Ergenekon, and the goals and activities of the organization. These CDs and DVDs also include some records of the political views and private lives of some high-ranking bureaucrats. A great deal of these DVDs consists of the adulterous videos of the high-ranking bureaucrats at hotels or saunas, intended for blackmail. It seems that there are quite a number of people used these means to blackmail Ergenekon members.

Due to their involvement in these videos, high-ranking politicians and bureaucrats cannot confront Ergenekon or oppose the trial process; thus the organization uses this type of blackmail to gain power rather than propagating itself with corpses, as do common terror organizations. Therefore, there are clues that propose a different kind of terrorist organization that is greater that the other terrorist organizations and uses diverse methods. In this regard the organization causes fear and terror with its violent attacks and at the same time uses the blackmail DVDs to suppress the judiciary, politics, media and academia.

Use all the Means

In the process of the Ergenekon trial some substantial evidences were found that endorse our proposals. Before the Ergenekon trial in 2007, in the Kure Operation we dealt with videos recorded in the saunas for blackmail, and they were a product of organized crime. But, the blueprints of some tunnels, supermarkets, and bridges did not make sense solely without the organization. In these operations, along with the videos of the celebrities in Turkey, they found uncertified guns, kalashnikov rifles, TNT, and A4 plastic explosives.

Jack-of-all-Trades

The suspects of the Kure Operation asserted that “they acted through the orders of the high ranking military officials, they are a part of the Special Forces, and they observe and lead the social movements.” Yet the scope of the trial was not broad enough to include such claims in that particular trial. Similar to the Susurluk trial, the Kure trial did not reveal most of the questions about the issue. The case was closed without a broader investigation to prosecute these claims. Nonetheless, the documents acquired from one of the suspected retired colonels, especially DVD number 51, are linked to the Kure Operation and clarify the previous operations. Moreover, one of the suspects in Ergenekon confessed that one of the generals wanted sex videos of a well-known anchorman and the claims that a retired major general, one of the prominent faces of Ergenekon, has a collection of 120 blackmail tapes is not a coincidence. Further evidence of using these videos for blackmail comes from one of the suspects that had possession of these tapes and was using them to blackmail the politicians, businessmen, and bureaucrats.

Another interesting piece of evidence is that the documents were discovered during the arrests of the two colonels taken into custody in Kayseri and two lieutenants. In the private houses of these military officers police found sex videos of high-ranking bureaucrats and also found evidence they had been used for blackmail.

It is possible to present other proof for such a claim. According to the evidence some of them, such as the “Sauna Gang” captured in the Kure Operation and Ergenekon, are similar organizations with the same goals. The similarity of the bombs, the CDs, and the building plans, and the links between the members of the two organizations help us to understand these issues. Accordingly, the “Danistay (State Council) Attack” and the “Sauna Gang” are included in the Ergenekon Trial.

A Different Suppression-Deterrence Organization

It is obvious that Ergenekon is a more sophisticated organization and uses diverse method in order to attain its goals. Primarily, classic methods and tactics are used and the evidence of such attacks is being found. Secondarily, another method of sex tapes is used against the high-ranking bureaucrats, media bosses, and businessman in order to terrorize and suppress them.

The Ergenekon Organization has as much as faith in the sex tapes as the C4 explosives and believe in blackmail DVDs as assassinations weapons. It is a quite well-equipped and capable organization. According to these abilities and its different methods, we need to distinguish the Ergenekon administration from the others, for it is impossible to examine the Ergenekon Organization according to the classic criteria for terrorist organizations. Up to this point, it seems that most of the commentators did not believe in the existence of the organization, and the ones that did are having problems in categorizing it. This is not a surprise development.

Neither Mafia, nor Gladio, nor Deep State

It has been especially common to try to explain and make sense of an organization like Ergenekon during the last year. However, it has to be known that the Ergenekon organization is similar to any terrorist organization, mafia, gang, or deep state. Moreover, the Ergenekon organization is a modern criminal enterprise, which came into existence over all these structures. As a matter of fact, Ergenekon organization is not an exact gladio, a deep state, or a mafia.

The closest definition of Ergenekon, according to the known evidence, is “an organized new-age terrorist organization whose aim is to coerce the state authorities, suppress the society with armed acts and sex tapes, and overthrow the government.” It is likely to have objections against the definition. Nevertheless, while such a wide organization, with many definite facts, occupies the agenda, a concrete step needs to be taken regarding what happened, not what did not happen, and contradiction in terms should be eliminated. The definition, proposed above, is made by depending on the captured materials of the organization and the tactics and strategies linked to those materials. No wonder that there would be endeavors to make a new definition, which may change or enrich this definition. However, Turkey does not have endurance for spoliation, underestimating of Ergenekon, or defining what Ergenekon is not. Any effort except such attempts would be applauded and will contribute to the democratization and enlightenment of Turkey.   

İHSAN BAL
Translated by Salih Doğan (JTW)
Edited by Kaitlin Mackenzie(JTW)

USAK - 03.02.2009