TURKEY: AKP CLOSURE CASE UPDATE (3/24)

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ANKARA 000561 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/24/2023 TAGS: PGOV PREL TU SUBJECT: TURKEY: AKP CLOSURE CASE UPDATE (3/24) REF: ANKARA 550 AND PREVIOUS Classified By: Political Counselor Janice G. Weiner, reasons 1.4 (b,d) ¶1. (C) SUMMARY AND COMMENT. In the wake of several detentions of prominent individuals on March 21, the focus is on connections between the closure case against ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and the crackdown on the Ergenekon gang, a shady collection of leftist ultra-nationalists who allegedly sought to destabilize the country and trigger a coup. Parliament continues to convulse over the prospect of constitutional amendments to obstruct party closures; the nationalist opposition has quietly made clear that AKP will have to go it on its own. AKP is charging ahead with its agenda. Debates are erupting about the extent to which Turkey's judiciary is either independent or ideological; in an environment where insulting the judiciary is a crime, such discussions entail significant legal risk. The stepped up churning in the (often unreliable) press and the politicians' war of words are sowing additional confusion, further intensifying an already polarized situation. END SUMMARY AND COMMENT. The Ergenekon Plot Thickens -------------- ¶2. (SBU) The detention of several prominent figures on Friday in the Ergenekon case has led to intensified focus on alleged connections between the gang and the AKP closure case. Media reports claim that one of the detainees' computers contained a copy of the closure case indictment dated March 12 -- two days before the indictment was announced. Star newspaper reported that one of the detainees, 83-year old Ilhan Selcuk, editor in chief of Cumhuriyet newspaper, was recorded in a wiretap as saying, "Until now an economic crisis did not break out in Turkey. We are getting the closure case initiated. After the closure case, there will definitely be a crisis. We should get rid of AKP." In another conversation, he reportedly gave instructions on what to do following the closure case. Selcuk was released pending further investigation. He and co-detainee, former Istanbul University rector Kemal Alemdaroglu, who was released for health reasons, have been prohibited from leaving the country. A third detainee, Labor Party (IP) leader Dogu Perincek, was formally arrested late March 23, charged with being a high-level administrator of the Ergenekon terrorist organization and possessing secret documents of the state. AKP Ready to Strike out on its Own -------------- ¶3. (U) PM Erdogan responded over the weekend to opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Deniz Baykal, who had said that AKP had packed the state with its own people and was now constructing its own "deep state." Erdogan said, "If there exists a deep state in this country, you know it best and you are the architect of it." ¶4. (C) Opposition Nationalist Action Party (MHP) told reporters it has decided to pursue its own constitutional amendment package aimed at holding individual politicians responsible for illegal actions, and making closure of political parties more difficult. MHP leader Devlet Bahceli is expected to announce the package at the party's March 25 parliamentary group meeting. Vice Chairman Oktay Vural told us that MHP's dilemma is to strike a balance between protecting political parties and protecting democracy (against the Islamicizing influences of AKP). Comparing the arrest of Dogu Perincek to the closure case (an early foreign press report indicated Perincek had been plotting to assassinate Nobel Prize winner Orhan Pamuk),he called AKP's actions "assassination of the state." Although Vural gave some lip service to putting an end to party closures in favor of individual responsibility, his complete disinterest in the details of such a process suggests his party has little intention to work with AKP on this question. ¶5. (SBU) AKP contacts told us they will consider MHP's package before making an announcement of their own. They are ready to move forward quickly if they conclude they cannot reach consensus with MHP. The party reportedly has enlisted a prominent advertising firm to support its efforts with a ANKARA 00000561 002 OF 002 massive public relations campaign that will ask Turks whether they want "stability or chaos?" Post-AKP Discussions Continue -------------- ¶6. (U) Former AKP MP and Deputy PM Abdullatif Sener publicly suggested that he may establish a new political party. Sener told "Milliyet" that he would assess the situation in about three months after he completes an ongoing academic project. "Milliyet" reported that Sener's name has been mentioned as the probably leader for a "National Sovereignty Movement" that would include Baskent University Rector Mehmet Haberal, former Ministers Kamran Inan, Ufuk Soylemez, Sukru Sina Gurel, and retired generals Hursit Tolon and Tuncer Kilinc. (Sener's name is not among the 71 AKPers for whom the Chief Prosecutor has requested a five-year political ban, but his name does come up in the indictment as one of a series of people who were members of AKP's two predecessor parties, both closed by the Constitutional Court.) Commentary -------------- ¶7. (U) Etyen Mahcupyan, editor in chief of Agos newspaper (the late Hrant Dink's paper),writing in "Taraf," criticized those who urge waiting for the judiciary to decide as hiding behind the guise of "judicial independence." Although he was not claiming ties between the military/judiciary and Ergenekon, their common denominator appeared to be a desire for an authoritative regime against AKP. Mahcupyan wrote, "The problem of Turkey is the fact that it has a regime that does not want democracy. The bureaucracy, as the natural owner of the regime, interferes in the system.... A regime that cannot tolerate the difference among political parties is anti-democratic." He noted that in democracies, party closure could be legitimized only if those parties were preventing democracy. AKP now faces a closure case for the fact that it was allegedly against the regime, not democracy. "What if that regime does not have a democratic mentality? Then it means we have a regime that allows as a privilege only state parties to operate and shuts down all the pro-democracy parties.... In Turkey, the judiciary regards itself and behaves as a political actor of the regime. So what really needed to change is the mentality of the regime, something that cannot be done through moderation," Mahcupyan wrote. ¶8. (U) Taner Korkmaz in "Yeni Safak" insisted that the AKP closure case was opened to halt the Ergenekon investigation. ¶9. (U) Ahmet Altan in "Taraf" claimed that if the AKP closure case had not been introduced, AKP would have avoided challenging the top-level Ergenekon officials. ¶10. (U) The front-page editorial in "Cumhuriyet" referred to the Ergenekon and AKP closure cases as the two that would determine the future of the country. The writer accused AKP of declaring war on the independent judiciary. He criticized the PM for taking sides regarding the Ergenekon investigation and thus influencing the judiciary. Visit Ankara's Classified Web Site at http://www.intelink.sgov.gov/wiki/Portal:Turk ey WILSON