The Fascist Virus: The Deep State

[Cain]

"I don't agree with those who say the deep state does not exist. It does exist. It has always has - and it did not start with the Republic; it dates back to Ottoman times. It's simply a tradition. It must be minimized, and if possible even annihilated."
-  Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, current Prime Minister of Turkey

On 22 January, Turkish police arrested 33 individuals, some connected with the military, in the largest concerted action against the "deep state" ... Some were accused of belonging to an ultranationalist group, Ergenekon, that was allegedly "preparing a series of bomb attacks aimed at fomenting chaos ahead of a coup in 2009 against Turkey's center-right government."
-  Chris Deliso, for Antiwar.com

The "Gray Wolves" of Turkey, based in the northern part of Cyprus who are under the protection of the regime, continue to be a threat to peace on this island and you can see them not only in the street, blocking a peace carnival but also writing articles threatening to use violence against those who are working for peace, issuing "last warnings" and saying "one night we might come to you."
- Investigative reporter Sevgul Uludag

Turkey is not often considered as place where fascism has flourished historically, or could do so again.  Partially because of its Muslim heritage and distance from European politics historically, the country is often considered outside of the trends and ideologies that afflict the Continent.  Yet, the fact I'm even discussing it suggests this is not exactly the case.

Turkey and Germany have a long history, much longer than many people recognize, even if they are aware of the current intertwined relationship the two countries share.  When the Ottoman Empire attempted to assert control over central Europe in the 16th and especially late 17th century, they left behind many troops in their retreats from Vienna.  Along with the prisoners already caught, these stragglers formed the core of an early Turkish community in Germany, one which did quite well under the enlightened despotism of Frederick the First, and even better under his son Frederick the Great.  In the 18th century, this community was helpful in creating diplomatic and trade links between Prussia (later Germany) and the Ottoman Empire.  This was ultimately reflected in the Ottoman Empire siding with Germany in World War One, primarily hoping to recover lost territory from the Russians, but also planning to take a bite out of the distracted British Empire, by seizing the Suez Canal.

The Ottoman Empire of course lost the war, and shared the fate of Germany in many respects.  Allied powers insisted on the breaking up of the Ottoman Empire, creating the modern Arab world and the Republic of Turkey as a response.  From the very start, the Turkish republic was based around the military, with the legendary war hero Mustafa Kemal, also known as Atatürk, reforming much of the system of government and education.  It was also heavily nationalistic, with non-Turkish minorities such as the Kurds and Armenians heavily persecuted.

Turkey escaped the horrors of World War Two by remaining neutral, but as the Cold War started up, Turkey's western leaning and cosmopolitan leader, Adnan Menderes, joined NATO in 1952.  In 1960, Menderes was deposed by a military coup, whose plotters had him executed for violating the principles of the Constitution.  Power was restored to civilian government 17 months later. The following settlement was fractured and politically unstable however, which led to the direct rise of the Turkish nationalist movement as a power in the nation's politics.

In the aftermath of the coup, the influential Justice Party, which had operated under traditionally Kemalist principles, started to move to the centre-left, taking advantage of the fragile coalition of the Peoples Republican Party, as well as to look more favourable to the Turkish military, since the previous coup had been planned and carried out by officers with left-wing sympathies.  

This shift left the traditional constituency of the Justice Party, the Anatolian small businessmen, feeling betrayed, as well as unable to compete with the Istanbul corporations that bankrolled the Justice Party's campaigns.  Violence also increased between left and right wing factions in the country, and religious groups who felt slighted by the strictly enforced Turkish secularism, attempted to manipulate the chaos to their own ends.

Out of this maelstrom, the Nationalist Movement Party was born.  Founded by a former officer in the Army, Alparslan Türkeş in 1969, this soon became the focal point of fascism in Turkey, fusing Pan-Turkish nationalism, racism religious mysticism, expansionist aspirations and violence into a single coherent whole.

Türkeş already had a bad reputation in his home country, well before his founding of the MHP.  As far back as 1945, he'd been charged by the Turkish military of being involved in racist and fascist activities, charges which were eventually dismissed, but in all probability accurate, not least since he was the chief contact of the Nazi regime in the country.  He also played a key role in the 1960 coup that deposed Menderes, before eventually being ousted by the left-wing faction that came to dominate the coup, and being sent to New Delhi as military attaché.

The CIA sought, of course, to exploit his violent Pan-Turkism as a bulwark against possible Soviet expansion, and so cultivated Türkeş well before he became involved in politics.  According to Daniele Glasner's authoritative NATO's Secret Armies, in 1948 Colonel Türkeş was given orders to set up a stay-behind network in the country, along the same lines as the one which existed in Italy and, as was eventually revealed, virtually every European state not under Communist control.  In Turkey, this took the form of an organisation called Counter-Guerrilla, run by the Special Warfare Department.  And like with Gladio units in other countries, this was quickly subverted from a strictly military purpose to a politically involved psychological warfare unit, complete with the assassinations and bombings that are frequently the unspoken elements of such operations.  In 1955, agents of Counter-Guerrilla bombed the Mustafa Kemal Museum in Thessaloniki, Greece, and left evidence implicating Greek groups.  Counter-Guerrilla then fired up nationalistic groups in Istanbul, who destroyed hundreds of Greek homes and businesses in the city, killing 16 Greeks and raping over 200 Greek women in the process.

When Colonel Türkeş returned from India in 1963, he tried to instigate another coup, failing, but nevertheless managing to cover up his involvement enough to avoid execution, unlike his unlucky partner in the endeavour, Talat Aydemir.  It was after this attempt that he entered politics, entering and ultimately subverting the Republican Peasants' Nation Party until it became the Nationalist Movement Party.  He took as the party's symbol the head of a grey wolf, a reference to the legend which states the Turkish people were lead to Anatolia by such animals.  It was also the name he gave to the feared "youth movement" of the MHP, the terrifying Grey Wolves.

The Grey Wolves were unashamedly fascist in orientation, claiming that "the Turkish race and the Turkish nation are superior. What is the source of this superiority? The Turkish blood", and that "[W]ar is a great and holy principle of nature. We are the sons of warriors. The Bozkurtcu believe that war, militarism and heroism should receive the highest possible esteem and praise."  Counter-Guerrilla members were largely recruited from these ranks.  The leader of the Grey Wolves boasted, not without cause, that his organisation was better at collecting intelligence than the Turkish state's own services (which were mostly reliant on the CIA, as it later turned out).  

By 1971, the country was a complete mess.  Workers, students and left wing organisations frequently carried out acts of violence, such as kidnapping American servicemen or robbing banks and staging riots.  The violence carried out by the Grey Wolves was even worse, with bombings, assassinations and torture being frequent tools.  Islamists openly rejected the Kemalist principles of the state, infuriating the armed forces and precipating yet another military takeover of the country.  The officers involved in this coup placed the blame for the violence entirely on the students and striking workers, thus giving the Grey Wolves a free hand to terrorize the populace.  By 1978, there were over 3,300 recorded fascist attacks, resulting in 831 dead, and over 3,100 wounded.  And that was just for that year.  Previous years had also been bloody, though they did not reach the levels of violence recorded in 1978.  In the same year, Deputy State Attorney Dogan Oez, after reporting on the links between the Grey Wolves, MHP, Counter-Guerrilla and the Secret Warfare Department which tied them all together, was assassinated by the Grey Wolves member Ibrahim Ciftçi.  A true untouchable, Ciftçi was found guilty of the assassination several times, but every time the military courts overruled the civilian ones responsible for his conviction, and freed him.

1978 was a benchmark year for the Grey Wolves for other reasons too.  Their second in command, Abdullah Catli, had been somewhat...overzealous in his application of violence against his ideological enemies, and left the country to avoid the attentions of the Turkish civilian police, who wanted to ask him about all these dead left-wing activists that seemed to appear around him.  Catli left the country and decided to travel to South America with the Italian fascist Stefano Delle Chiaie, who has been mentioned previously.  Exactly what they got up to will be mentioned in another essay on this subject.  

Haluk Kirci, nicknamed 'Idi Amin' by his Grey Wolves colleagues, carried out the Bahcelievler massacre on the eight of October 1978, killing seven students of the left-wing, but non-militant Turkish Worker's Party.  He described it as follows: "I went and took the two out of the car and put them face down on the floor. Then I fired three bullets each through their heads. Then we went back to that apartment. There the other five were lying without conscience on the floor... First I had tried to strangle one of them with a wire, but this did not work. Then I choked him with a towel."  When Catli died in a suspicious car crash in 1996, Kirci inherited the leadership of the Grey Wolves from him.  

The single most famous member of the Grey Wolves though is undeniably Mehmet Ali Ağca, the would-be assassin of Pope John Paul II.  On May 13th in 1981, the same date as the Nazi invasion of France, he shot the Pope several times in Saint Peter's Square in Rome.  His attempt failed though, and the Pope survived.  The pistol he used was supplied by Catli, as were the fake IDs that got him into Italy.  Ağca has often been considered a Soviet agent (or, at best, a mercenary) due to CIA disinformation designed to protect Counter-Guerrilla, but nothing could be further from the truth.  Ağca was infamous in Turkey, to the point that several of the more violent left-wing groups made numerous attempts to assassinate him.  Along with Catli, he is known to have participated in the assassination of Turkey's most prominent newspaper editor, Abdi Ipekci on February 1, 1979.  Ağca was caught, and confessed to the murder, but he threatened to reveal the existence Counter-Guerrilla if convicted, by suggesting to a civilian court he may name those who were "truly responsible" for the murder.  The message was made clear enough, and the next day a group of Grey Wolves smuggled him out of his maximum security prison.  

Ultimately though, the Grey Wolves and MHP were just tools, like the fascist contingent of Gladio in Italy.  And like all tools, they were means to an end and, when no longer needed, were put away.  In 1980, yet another military coup erupted in Turkey.  The pretext this time was the violence that had been created by the Grey Wolves, the same violence the intelligence services and military had originally supported.  By the end of the decade, over 5,000 deaths were attributed to the Grey Wolves, with almost ten assassinations every day.  The Turkish leftists and democratic organisations had been weakened and intimidated into uselessness.  On September 12th 1980, under the pretence of NATO military exercise, the armed forces once again seized power.  The particular General behind this coup was Kenan Evren, the Army Chief of Staff.  However, unknown at the time to most, he was also the General in charge of the Special Warfare Department which coordinated the actions of Counter-Guerrilla and the Grey Wolves.  As Evren swapped his soldier's uniform for a President's suit, the violence associated with the last decade came to a not very mysterious end.  In fact, a Grey Wolves member on trial later claimed that the terror of the 70s had been designed precisely to bring Evren to power: "The massacres were a provocation by the MIT [Turkish intelligence]. With the provocations by the MIT and the CIA the ground was prepared for the September 12 coup."

The Grey Wolves and MHP were outlawed by the military government, and 220 MHP members were charged with responsibility for 694 murders.  But even this was only a means to another end.  While in prison, these Grey Wolves were given an offer they couldn't refuse by the MIT.  They would be pardoned for all their crimes, if they were willing to fight in south-east Turkey against Kurdish militants and in particular the PKK, which had started large-scale guerrilla operations in 1984.  Counter-Guerrilla rose again from the ashes.  Over 25,000 died on both sides of this conflict, and the racist brutality of the Grey Wolves must certainly be considered a factor in the high casualty rate.  For example, Counter-Guerrilla carried out black flag operations by disguising its own people as members of the PKK, and randomly attacking Turkish villages, killing and raping with impunity.  Equally, these paramilitary units became rich by controlling the heroin trade into Europe, taxing drugs coming in from Afghanistan.  The man who revealed these last two details, Major Cem Ersever, paid a high price for telling his story: he was tortured, then had his hands tied behind his back and was shot in the head, a classic Counter-Guerrilla punishment.  

Counter-Guerrilla activities continued well into the 1990s, as did the Nationalist Movement Party's, the latter having been unbanned in 1983, with Colonel Türkeş still the unopposed leader of the organisation. His influence spread into the Caucasian region, when Türkeş went to Azerbaijan to support Soviet dissident Abülfaz Elçibay in his successful attempt to become President of the country.  Elçibay eventually appointed a member of the Grey Wolves, Isgandar Hamidov, to be Minister of the Interior.  Hamidov was unapologetic in his belief in creating a 'Greater Turkey', which would extend from the Republic itself through northern Iran and the Caucasian mountains into Serbia and central Asia.  He also infamously threatened Armenia with a nuclear strike, despite Azerbaijan having no nuclear weapons.

It is also worth paying attention to the Nagorno-Karabakh War, which took place between Armenia and Azerbaijan between 1988 and 1994.  In the early 90s, both had fairly unimpressive militaries, but Azerbaijan decided to capitalize on its Islamic heritage by importing Mujahideen from the Afghanistan conflict.  Most Mujahideen found the post-Soviet conflict, between varying Afghan warlords, uninteresting, and so sought out jihad in other lands (ably helped by the Pakistani ISI, who wanted to use them to augment their own regional influence).  Using the Afghan Arabs as a Special Forces unit, they held positions the pathetic Azerbaijani army would have found impossible to maintain, giving their host country a better position for negotiation of a cease-fire in 1994.  Once the cease-fire was signed, the Afghan Brigade was dissolved, so that Azerbaijan could use them for deniable terrorist operations in Armenia.  

However, the Afghan Arabs made contact with separatist groups in Dagestan and Chechnya instead, who were fighting to establish independence from Russia.  And the rest, as they say, is history.  The Islamification of the Chechen conflict had begun.  It was revealed in 1997, when Türkeş died, that he had embezzled over 2 trillion Lira from the European Turkish Federation, which had helped fund the war in Chechnya.  Chechen guerrillas were also trained in Northern Cyprus, by army officers sympathetic to the Grey Wolves.  Weapons were also flown out of Turkish Kurdistan where, of course, Counter-Guerrilla forces made up of Grey Wolves members were still fighting the Kurdish PKK.  It would not be irresponsible to believe that Türkeş was in part responsible for bringing the members of the Afghan Brigade and the Chechen leaders in contact with each other.  Thus we also have a weak connection between Pan-Turkish fascists, Al-Qaeda and the global Salafist jihad, a link which will be explored in further detail later.  

With the discovery of the secret Ergenekon organization, it is obvious that Counter-Guerrilla and the Turkish fascist movement have survived even the 1990s.  It would not be foolish to presume that Prime Minister Erdoğan's attempts to break up the group have not been entirely successful, and he has only partially disarmed one tentacle of the deep state.  The current Ergenekon is said to be a "splinter" of the original, Counter-Guerrilla one, and closely linked to the Northern Cypriot government.  While this may not seem important, Cyprus is the strategic pivot on which the entire eastern Mediterranean turns.  A crisis there would not only engulf Turkey and Greece, but the entire European Union and probably the United States as well.  Cyprus is also, beyond the potential ruin of the Common Agricultural Policy and suspicions of American toadyism, the chief stumbling block to Turkish entry to the EU.  Given the recent decline in US influence in Turkey, and subsequent improvement in French and German attitudes, it is entirely possible that Turkish fascists related to the Grey Wolves and Ergenekon may use their Cypriot ace in the hole to prevent entry into the hated EU.  

We are in a very dangerous situation.

[P3nT4gR4m]

An education, as ever, Mr Cain. Please explain, tho, for us slow readers, exactly what the phrase "Deep State" is referring to? There was way too much info there for me to work it out clearly.

[Cain]

Thanks.  The "Deep State" is essentially the nickname for a group of influential anti-democratic coalitions within the Turkish state, whose members are high-level elements of the intelligence services, Turkish military, judiciary, and organized crime, not to mention paramilitary groups.  Everything I described above could be considered the "Deep State".  Its also where Turkish fascists most easily wield power, hence the relevance to the topic.

[Shai Hulud]

Nice work Cain!  Fascinating stuff.  One question, you mention that Cyprus is the pivot point of the eastern Mediterranean, I'm not disputing this, but I'm wondering if you could provide some historical examples for those of us who aren't aware of this.   I think it's the role that Cyprus plays in this that confuses me the most. 

[MMIX]

Damn, but that was enlightening and depressing in almost equal measures . . .  minus the mirth

[P3nT4gR4m]

Damn, but that was enlightening and depressing in almost equal measures . . .  minus the mirth

If you don't get the funny side of a bunch of assholes squabbling over who controls all the dirt then you're going to have a real miserable next century.

[Rumckle]

Nice work Cain!  Fascinating stuff.  One question, you mention that Cyprus is the pivot point of the eastern Mediterranean, I'm not disputing this, but I'm wondering if you could provide some historical examples for those of us who aren't aware of this.   I think it's the role that Cyprus plays in this that confuses me the most. 

I'm not Cain, but Cyprus at the moment is split into two parts, the Greek portion and the Turkish portion. In the past there has been much fighting over the island, in the recent past mostly by Turkey and Greece, but it was previously taken over by the British.

There are still a lot of tensions between the Turkish and Greek communities in Cyprus, though it is in a state of relative peace at the moment. I'd say that if something were to happen in Cyprus it would force a split between those who support Greece and those who support Turkey.

But I'm sure Cain could clear it up better than my small amount of knowledge. Also I'm interested if there was much Deep State involvement in Cyprus.

[Shai Hulud]

Thanks Rumckle, I appreciate the crash course!

Also I'm interested if there was much Deep State involvement in Cyprus.

Seconded.

[Cain]

Nice work Cain!  Fascinating stuff.  One question, you mention that Cyprus is the pivot point of the eastern Mediterranean, I'm not disputing this, but I'm wondering if you could provide some historical examples for those of us who aren't aware of this.   I think it's the role that Cyprus plays in this that confuses me the most. 

Cyprus is important for a number of reasons.  During the Cold War it was, along with Greece and Turkey, seen as part of a geostrategic "Northern Tier" that could prevent Soviet aggression into the western Middle East.  In fact, even before the Cold War, both France and the UK considered Cyprus (which was held by the British) along with the new Republic of Turkey, to be such an asset. 

Even with the end of the Cold War though, it still has its uses.  It has the sixth largest fleet registry in the world, boosting EU world shipping shares from 16% to 20% of all trade.  Cyprus is working with Syria to create a natural gas pipeline which would allow Cyprus to sell gas to vital Western European markets.  Also, with continuining tensions in the Middle East, the UK military bases there are of importance, as they could theoretically intervene in any conflict in Egypt, Libya, Israel, Lebanon or Syria at a moment's notice.

I'm not Cain, but Cyprus at the moment is split into two parts, the Greek portion and the Turkish portion. In the past there has been much fighting over the island, in the recent past mostly by Turkey and Greece, but it was previously taken over by the British.

There are still a lot of tensions between the Turkish and Greek communities in Cyprus, though it is in a state of relative peace at the moment. I'd say that if something were to happen in Cyprus it would force a split between those who support Greece and those who support Turkey.

But I'm sure Cain could clear it up better than my small amount of knowledge. Also I'm interested if there was much Deep State involvement in Cyprus.

This too.  The state is split between an ethnically Greek south, the legitimate government of Cyprus, and an illegitimate Northern Cypriot Republic, which was established by force of arms.  Normally in most history books it is just mentioned that the Turkish Army was responsible for the 1974 invasion, but, as Rumckle seems to suspect, the invasion was approved of and carried out by hardliners working in Counter-Guerrilla.  The time of the invasion, during the extremely violent and unstable 1970s period was, of course, something of a clue.

But yes, it was created by Counter-Guerrilla and even now is considered to be one of the places that the Turkish "Deep State" still has effective control over.  That Grey Wolves and Ergenekon both seem to have a foothold on the Northern Republic's politics does not bode well.

Also, consider the concept of the "sovereign", in the terms I am about to define it.  According to the legal theorist, international relations scholar and Nazi Carl Schmitt, the "sovereign" is the person who can create and determine a "state of emergency".  In national law, this is fairly uncontestable, the state executive or legislature defines a state of emergency and so is sovereign.  However, in international situations, where there is no defined legal hierarchy between states, where is the "sovereign"?  Its the group who can cause an international state of emergency.  And in this case, the group who can do that are the fascistic Counter-Guerrilla and Grey Wolves elements who control Nothern Cyprus.  Things are peaceful, right now.  But they could throw everything into a massive mess at any time they chose to do so.  Fortunately, Greece and Turkey are on the same page right now, as far as the fallout from Counter-Guerrilla is concerned.  But that might not always be the case.  Hell, there was nearly a military coup just last summer.

[Cain]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jan/24/cyprus-reunification-talks

Cyprus could become another Czechoslovakia, splitting in to two separate states unless Britain and its international partners move to prevent the collapse of crucial reunification talks, officials in Turkish northern Cyprus have warned.

With the negotiations, which began in 2008, resuming tomorrow, fears are growing that dialogue between the Turkish Cypriot leader, Mehmet Talat, and Demetris Christofias, the Greek Cypriot leader, is on the brink of failure.

Turkish Cypriots are pessimistic about talks, with up to 85% believing a reunification deal is beyond reach, a recent poll revealed.

[Rumckle]

I asked my Cypriot friend about the reunification talks, and she said:

Separation, what is being now discussed between the 2 communities is the reunification but more like two almost independent provinces considered as one country internationally. A kind of confederation I guess. Presidentship in alternation and stuff like that. But of course the split is also an idea. We don't want a sp...lit because we still consider that the occupied 34% of the territory is illegally occupied and we shouldn't give legal validation of that occupation. But of course the split is a possibility, because Turkey is pretty strong as a country, and it's pretty much supported by the UK and US etc. Greece supports the Greek Cypriot arguments, France is not really nice with Turkey with Sarkozy in power so some times supports us as well, but in general we are much weaker (plus our politicians don't know how to do politics and use their legal weapons) than Turkey so what they want to do could happen despite what we want.

So if you are right in the Grey Wolves and  Ergenekon having a foothold in the political circles of Northern Cyprus, it would seem that reunification may be not on the cards for a long time.

Am I reading this right?

[Cain]

Yeah, thats pretty much it.  Your friend has it down perfectly, including the political support difference between the two. 

Also, of interest, I discovered that Ergenekon has apparent links with Russian Eurasianism movements.  In particular, Aleksandr Dugin, who is a major supporter of the group, acts as a connection between them and the Russian fascist scene, since Dugin is connected to the National Bolshevik and Eurasia parties.

[Cain]

One more link, and I'll leave this thread alone

http://www.turkishgladio.com/index.php

This is a brilliant resource for up to date articles on Ergenekon, including English language translation of Turkish news articles and even evidence presented in court.  For instance, last month two military officers were arrested on a charge of planning to assassinate the Deputy Prime Minister of Turkey.  Naval officers were allegedly planning to attack non-Muslim minorities in Turkey to discredit the (very mildly) Islamist ruling party.  Things like that.