Assassination…

While traveling to the United States three days ago, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan talking to journalists on board about the assassination attempt in Kutahya early this week, said, "As a matter of fact, this is the third assassination attempt directed against me, however, the previous ones were not so close."

It is known that during his son Bilal's wedding ceremony in 2003, members of the Revolutionary People's Liberation Party-Front (DHKP-C), an outlawed terrorist organization, had planned to assassinate Erdogan, but we were not informed about the "third" assassination bid. According to a report in the Sabah daily yesterday, the assassination attempt that was concealed from the public, took place 1.5 years ago. A bomb placed 50 meters from the prime minister's home in Istanbul was to be set off by remote control as his official car approached the target area.

A group of columnists, who present themselves as the unofficial spokespeople of the "deep status quo," not only made fun of the assassination attempt in Kutahya, but also said the assassination bid might have been the Justice and Development Party's (AKP) own plan. However, according to yesterday's news, ballistic experts revealed that these were fatal bullets after they were tested against armor plates.

Making fun of an assassination attempt against a prime minister and considering it unimportant are not compatible with Turkey's realities. In 1988, an assassination attempt was directed against the late President Turgut Ozal during a Motherland Party (ANAP) convention and one of the bullets hit the metal part of the microphone. Moreover, we know that a prime minister has been hanged in this country. Since the intricacies over the issue have not been solved yet, suspicions still remain whether or not Ozal was poisoned in Cankaya. If it was poisoning, this means assassinations have reached the presidential palace. The number of US presidents assassinated is not few, either. As a matter of fact, these are not issues to make fun of, but warnings of how people can get off the deep-end in a power struggle.

Is there such a power struggle in Turkey, today? Yes, even its most violent type. The "deep status quo" resists Turkey's European Union (EU) membership with opponents from outside. There is a one-party government in our country they do not like. It appears as if they do not to have the opportunity to undertake social engineering, by playing with the parliament's arithmetic. Now, the goal is to cause a split in AKP. They think that assassinating Erdogan or any other key minister might spark the division process. Don't ask, "Are they so cruel?" I personally do not view the three assassination attempts against Erdogan as threat messages to the government. The goal is to prepare the public for the actual assassination. The aim is to make people say, "Yes they tried to assassinate him before, they did it this time." The power centers preparing the assassinations are disturbed by the Turkey's democratization progress. They cannot digest Turkey's development in a stable environment.

When Fethullah Gülen, who follows developments in Turkey closely and issues warnings from time to time, even though he knows he would be subjected to criticisms, said a few months ago: "Turkey is fraught with bloody events, and those thinking about rivers of blood will take action," the people who expect to play roles in emergency situations said, "Who do you think you are that you are speaking that way? How can you talk about societal secrets? An investigation should be launched immediately against Gülen," as well as an attempt to hand a question motion to parliament. However, Gülen in his warning, was only asking the government to be on alert, and calling on the security and intelligence services to take measures, which would trap the evildoer in his/her nest.

What do you think the drafts being imposed on the government with the recent Counter-Terrorism Act, that will invigorate Articles 141, 142 and 163 and expose everyone to "terrorist" treatment? There are also such assassination attempts.

We just cannot surmount this difficult process, we need more perception, understanding and patience

ZAMAN