Turkish court finds 330 military staff guilty of attempted coup

[muriel_volestrangler]

A Turkish court has convicted 330 former and current military officers of plotting a coup to overthrow prime minister Tayyip Erdogan's government.

The court earlier sentenced three former generals to life in prison, which was reduced to 20 years each because the coup plot was unsuccessful, and two serving and one former general to 18 years.

Sentencing is still to come for the remaining 324 defendants convicted of a role in the plot.

The court earlier acquitted 34 officers in the case, which has underlined civilian dominance over the once all-powerful military in Turkey.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/sep/21/turkish-court-military-guilty-coup

[patrice]

1. "has underlined"? Does that mean that the plot is over? No longer viable?

Just curious and I don't know much about Turkey.

Apparently the "civilian dominance over the once all-powerful military" didn't? or did? represent a valid cross-section of the Turkish people/civilians?

I mean, the people are supposed to run the military aren't they, that is, unless it isn't really the people and maybe something more like special interests posing as the people?

[muriel_volestrangler]

2. Yeah, the apparent plot was some time ago

and nothing came of it, which is why it's been flying under the radar, so to speak. Here's a Q&A, from April:

What is the background to the alleged plot?

Ergenekon is the name given to what prosecutors claim is a shadowy network of ultra-nationalists and secularists in Turkey with high-level military and security connections, deemed to be hostile to the ruling Justice and Development (AKP) party because of its perceived Islamist roots. The network is accused of allegedly plotting to undermine and topple the AKP government.

The Ergenekon investigation dates back to 2007 when a cache of explosives was found in the home of a former military officer and tied by state prosecutors to what they said was a much larger conspiracy. It led to the arrest of some 200 people, including senior military officers.
...
What has been the Turkish public's reaction to this?

The public reaction has been mixed. Some commentators argue there is a real threat from the so-called "deep state" of the shadowy military elite which governed Turkey from behind the scenes for decades and must be stopped from returning to power.

Others warn that the current government, though it enjoys popular support and a comfortable majority in parliament, is falling into the very trap it seeks to avoid, of using the judiciary for political ends, undermining Turkish democracy.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-16447625

[MinM]

3. Seems appropos coming from the Country that coined the term 'Deep State'

Peter Dale Scott: The term “Deep state” comes from Turkey. They invented it after the wreck of a speeding Mercedes in 1996 in which the passengers were a Member of Parliament, a beauty queen, a local senior police captain, and an important drug trafficker in Turkey who was also the head of a criminal paramilitary organization – the Grey Wolves – that went around killing people. And it became very obvious in Turkey that there were a covert relationship between the police who officially were looking for this man – even though a policeman was there with him in the car – and these people who committed crimes on behalf of the state. The state that you commit crimes for is not a state that can show its hand to the people, it’s a hidden state, a covert structure. In Turkey, they called it the Deep state, [1] and I had been talking about deep politics for a long time so I used the term in The Road to 9/11. This is why I have defined deep politics as all those political practices and arrangements, deliberate or not, which are usually repressed rather than acknowledged. So the term “Deep state” – coming from Turkey – is not mine.

It refers to a parallel secret government, organized by the intelligence and security apparatus, financed by drugs, and engaging in illicit violence, to protect the status and interests of the military against threats from intellectuals, religious groups, and occasionally the constitutional government...

http://www.amazon.com/Peter-Dale-Scott/e/B001IGJXJO