"Turkish Secularists Begin Resistance"

Prosecutors on Monday charged 86 nationalists, including former army officers and a best-selling writer, of plotting to overthrow Turkey's Islamic-oriented government, escalating a power struggle between the ruling party's supporters and secular forces.

Aykut Cengiz Engin, the chief prosecutor in Istanbul, said the suspects were charged either with forming or belonging to a terrorist organization, or of provoking an armed uprising with the aim of bringing down Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government.

The suspects are believed to be part of a nationalist network called Ergenekon, which takes its name from a legendary valley in Central Asia believed to be the ancestral homeland of Turks.

The opposition says the case smacks of a political revenge against secularist groups — including the military — at a time when the country's top court is deliberating whether to disband the ruling party for alleged anti-secular activity.

Erdogan's supporters on the other hand, say the lawsuit will help strengthen democracy in a country that has experienced several military interventions in the past half century. The military staged three coups since the 1960s and in 1997 pressured an Islamic party out of power.

The indictment accuses the suspects of "attempting to prevent the functioning of the Turkish government or of eradicating it, by using oppression and force," the prosecutor said.

The suspects allegedly devised plans to create a climate of civil unrest to provoke a military coup.

The prosecutor did not name those charged but they are believed to include at least one retired general and an opposition politician, who were arrested over the past year.

Hardline secular Turks believe Erdogan's government is trying to erode Turkey's secular laws and is making too many concessions on national interests to join the European Union.

A court will decide within two weeks whether to open the case.

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk
1st President of Turkey

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk (May 19, 1881 – November 10, 1938) was an army officer, revolutionary statesman, and founder of the Republic of Turkey as well as its first President.

Mustafa Kemal established himself as an intelligent and extremely capable military commander while serving as a division commander at the Battle of Gallipoli. He later fought with distinction on the eastern Anatolian and Palestinian fronts, making a name for himself during World War I. Following the defeat of the Ottoman Empire at the hands of the Allies, and the subsequent plans for its partition, Mustafa Kemal led the Turkish national movement in what would become the Turkish War of Independence. Having established a provisional government in Ankara, he defeated the forces sent by the Entente powers. His successful military campaigns led to the liberation of the country and to the establishment of the Republic of Turkey.

As the first President of Turkey, Atatürk embarked upon a major programme of political, economic and cultural reforms. An admirer of the Enlightenment, Atatürk sought to transform the ruins of the Ottoman Empire into a modern, democratic, secular, nation-state. The principles of Atatürk's reforms are often referred to as Kemalism and continue to form the political foundation of the modern Turkish state.

      The Founder Father of the Republic Of Turkey, Mustafa Ataturk, wanted a secular Muslim republic with freedom from religion. As he was a military commander, he left the Turkish military with the charge to defend the Turkish Republic and constitution. In recent years the majority of Turks have elected moderate Islamist leadership. Currently the Turkish Supreme Court is ruling on the constitutionality of the current Islamist administration. The evidence indicates the secular military is poised to remove the religion oriented President and party in power. It is my hope that the secular republic and constitution set up by Ataturk will hold sway in the Republic Of Turkey, because theocracies will always be ultimately repressive and intolerant, in my opinion. The principle of the separation of religion and State is a sound one, in the governance of freedom loving people.

tags: turkey  middle east  freedom from religion  society  war  violence  mustafa ataturk  

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