LACK OF INFORMATION

This issue has many dimensions to be considered but today, without belittling the significance of these, I want to focus on just one.

Following the Hurriyet article, one of my colleagues met with a top general well known for his pro-Westernism. ‘He’s incensed about the report,’ said my colleague. ‘He said that every army in the world has such policies to collect intelligence. He also asked, how is a state supposed to draw up its security plans without gathering such intelligence?’

Many groups are weighing in on this issue. First, those who know nothing about the issue, second, those using their common sense to interpret the news, and third, some who apparently have ill motives.

The first thing we should do is to tell the people the facts. Under normal circumstances, pro-US, pro-EU or pro-Western citizens should not of course fall under suspicion due to their beliefs or political leanings. However, in this case, the focus of the army’s attention is on individuals who may be working against Turkey’s national interests.

Let’s look at an example from the media. I closely follow the US, French and British press, and I never see journalists there who work constantly against their own countries’ national policies and principles. In Turkey, however, there are some in my profession who write as if they are determined to undermine our country’s national values. This cannot be explained away as mere freedom of expression. You never see such attitudes in developed Western democracies.

Why are certain people so concerned about our army’s vigilance while it’s this country’s key institution for protecting our peace and stability?

In similar cases, when such probes are made public, there are always some who are genuinely shocked due to their lack of information, and there are also others who feign surprise in order to take advantage of the situation for their own ends.

In all democracies, intelligence units are thought to serve proper objectives, though their methods don’t always find public favor. But of course there’s much more we could say about this issue…”