ANF, — The Turkish press recently published news items regarding the Turkish state’s acceptance of the counter-guerrilla organisation JITEM.
They had been denying the existence of the Special War organisation for many years. The editorials run by the Turkish media and especially the AKP media portrayed this development in an exaggerated manner, as if they had ‘rediscovered America.’
It is doubtless an important development that the existence of a murderous organisation such as JITEM, which has claimed the lives of thousands of Kurds, be accepted. However the situation we are in far surpasses this. JITEM’s existence has been common knowledge for 20 years, especially for the Kurdish people and press, and for Turkish state representatives to make a coy admission regarding its existence is too far behind current developments.
Despite countless confessions made by the founders and assassins of this organisation what has the AKP government and the state done in regards to JITEM? How many extrajudicial killings have been solved and how many people who conducted these massacres been convicted? In general nothing has been done. The AKP has not taken one sincere step in bringing about justice. However just by examining the confessions of JITEM founder Colonel Arif Dogan and triggerman Abdulkadir Aygan they could arrest and try the murderers of thousand of people. So let us try to go deeper and see what the AKP are trying to achieve.
Although the Turkish media have analysed the acceptance of JITEM as being a major development, it is important to look at other aspects of the case to get a better understanding of what the AKP government and state are aiming for.
Initially the manipulation within these editorials aims to clear the state and state officials who supported JITEM, especially in the early to mid nineties. These details are very important and are a clear indication that the AKP are attempting to cover and clear the state of all responsibility by accepting only certain aspects and surface of the JITEM complex.
This tactic has been employed by the AKP government on many occasions and its history goes as far back as the Ottoman Empire. In this respect the AKP is the most ingenious government to have taken power in Turkish history; they are masters at ‘Ottoman tricks’ and conspiracies.
Following the confession by Colonel Arif Dogan that he had founded JITEM, the Specially Authorised Ankara Deputy Public Prosecutor’s Office began a ‘supposed’ investigation into the existence of this organisation.
Specially Authorised Public Prosecutor Hakan Yuksel’s office wrote to The Interior Ministry, The Office of the Chief of Staff, The Gendarmerie General Command Headquarters, the National Intelligence Organisation Council (MIT), and The Directorate General of Security. The replies stated that “this organisation was formed to combat terror.” The reply from the Gendarmerie General Command Headquarters claimed that JITEM had been disbanded in 1990.
Prosecutor Yuksel concluded that JITEM had been formed without the knowledge of the Interior Ministry and without the support of the Office of the Chief of Staff and formed within The Gendarmerie General Command Headquarters by its own initiative. Yuksel then sent the file to the Diyarbakir Public Prosecutor’s office with the decision ‘lack of authorisation.’
The reply sent to the Specially Authorised Public Prosecutor from The Gendarmerie General Command Headquarters regarding the existence of JITEM is especially important.
The reply claims that JITEM was formed with their own initiative and without the knowledge of the state’s other organs and was disbanded in 1990, this reply in itself exposes the real aim of the AKP government and its agreement and consensus with the state’s other organisations.
JITEM was formed with the knowledge and agreement between the National Security Council, President, Prime Minister and Chief of Staff of the period. This has been documented on many occasions.
The acceptance of JITEM’s existence is being used to cloud the involvement of state organs and officials who brought it about and led to the torture, death and massacre of thousands.
By revealing some of the unusable elements within JITEM, and arresting and trying them under the banner of the Ergenekon case the AKP government and state are attempting to cover up the growth and hegemony created by the AKP’s own JITEM; the police force.
The fact that the massacres and murders carried out by JITEM reached its peak in the early and mid nineties further disproves the claim by The Gendarmerie General Command Headquarters that JITEM was disbanded in 1990.
It is evident that all these lies are being told as part of a consensus between the AKP and other state organs to save the remains of the Turkish state.
From this we can see that the AKP are not sincere in bringing about justice where JITEM is concerned. To believe that the AKP, who have now formed their own JITEM (its existence has been documented and linked to the USA-Utah) within the Police Academy, are going to illuminate the massacres carried out by JITEM is nonsense.
The Kurdish people did not believe this before and they will not be fooled now. The twin of JITEM is the AKP and its Turkish Prime Mınister Tayyip Erdogan. Forget combating and bringing to justice the old JITEM, they are now erecting an even more devious and dangerous Police JITEM against the Kurdish people and democracy forces.