By Erdal Doğan

I believe, like many others, that the recent attacks on Armenian women in Istanbul are the result of an organized action. 

First of all, I must say that since I followed for a while the Hrant Dink case and I'm also following the murder case of three Christians killed in Malatya (the case is called Malatya Zirve Publishing House murder), I know the methods of this organization very well.

This organization is called Ergenekon and originally is based on the Committee of Union and Progress ideology; the executors of the 1915 Genocide. They have been very successful in applying their ideology within the state organization as well as among the society. 

The "Kemalist" people are the heritors of this organization since 1923.  Before this date, Teşkilatı Mahsusa (Special Organization) was the information/intelligence unit that used to organize attacks, organize the society etc. After 1923, with the formation of the Turkish Republic, this mission was transferred to the Turkish Information Organization and the Special War Chamber within the Turkish Armed Forces. The dominant ideology of these structures is to maintain the power /government along with the aim to “Turkify” Turkish society. That's why even a very limited population of Armenian and Christian peoples is still a big threat for them. 

By doing this, on one hand they are terrorizing Christian people, and on the other hand they are isolating the governing AKP, a conservative Islamic party, in the eyes of the international community. Hrant Dink, three Christian persons in Malatya and the Father Sontoro in Trabzon were killed for this reason. 

At the same time, they kept attacking Armenian schools and other structures (such as associations and foundations). The actors are crystal clear and concrete now within the scope of the evidence revealed in Malatya murder case. This organization is called Ergenekon. And the official organization which is working effectively in relation with this organization (Ergenekon) is the Special War Chamber through strictly confidential counter guerilla activities.

In Turkey there are around one hundred thousand civilians making up a part of this structure. They are basically called White Units and Black Units. They are particularly educated. This is a structure that is capable of terrorizing, killing, of lynching their target people that they define as the enemy, of gathering information among the group that they define as enemy, of spreading disinformation within the public about that group, and of committing all type of psychological warfare...This information that I'm giving you is based on very concrete evidence collected in the Malatya case that I’ve been following for 6 years. 

For this organization that is acting with Turkism ideology, all methods are legitimate to reach their objective. Everything is just a detail for them to reach their objective. This is a very dangerous racist and professional war organization.

They are using the very limited Armenian minority as prey. They are using them to discredit the government. On the other hand in this period leading up to the 100th anniversary of 1915, they are trying to grab their properties. The mayor of Fatih (Samatya is located in that district) is known by for his racist ideology about the Armenian minority.

It is significant that the victims are women and they are mostly attacked around the church. First of all they want to spread a desperate feeling through the women who are living alone. This is a strategy. And the church, which is an important part of these women's identity, is an additional factor with which to complete their aim. They want to reach their aim as soon as possible by this effective terrorizing method.

A part of media is correctly commenting on these attacks and they are saying that these are organized attacks by a racist organization. Another part of the press is covering up the facts in order to implicitly support the horror created. Turkey’s Human Rights Association is particularly sensitive on this issue. The attitude of some Kurdish politicians is also remarkable. As you may be aware, some BDP members who are Kurdish and Alevi and also some left-leaning communities, organized a manifestation in Samatya on January 27 with broad-based participation.   

We are trying to clarify the public opinion about the issue and   invite the relevant authorities to investigate the incidences effectively and to prevent again future reoccurrence.

Editor - Erdal Doğan is a prominent human rights lawyer in Istanbul that has represented the family of Hrant Dink and is now working on the Zirve Publishing House case in which three Christians were massacred in Malatya in 2007.

Since 2001, Doğan has been writing about human rights and current events for various journals and daily newspapers. During the same period, Doğan has also been giving lessons on penal law, European Law, defendants’ rights, and advocacy in practice to lawyers and law apprentices at the Istanbul Bar Association Educational Center and Vocational Training Seminars.

Photo: agos.com