Is AKP –the main supporter of Gülenists- the only innocent party in the current crisis?
As the operations continue in the aftermath of the bloody coup attempt, everyone’s names except AKP officials and supporters are brought up as having a connection to the organization and the attempt. The role of AKP, which is actually the primary factor in the growth and expansion of the Gülen organization, is tried to be covered up.
While operations and investigations continue, the atmosphere in the country after the coup attempt has turned into the days of an actual martial law. The operations have been spread into almost all fields of life and all institutions of the state, from public offices to the army, from media and bureaucracy to schools. Except for one place! And, that is AKP. Though AKP has had close contacts with the members of the Gülen movement for years and been allowing the organizations’ members to be placed in all sorts of positions including the fields of education, bureaucracy, military, and more, there is now not even the slightest intention for the interrogation of AKP members or supporters.
AKP seems to have forgotten that the Gülenists have been allowed to grow this much with the help and support of AKP itself. So, here are some reminders:
Bargaining over the number of MPs
It has been known that there have always been other religious groups within AKP, along with the Gülenists. Gülenists had an ambition to have an effective role within the parliament, as much as they had it in bureacracy. Having viewed the Gülenists as a loaded stock of votes, AKP had gone into bargaining with them for the number of MPs. It was especially visible during the 12 June 2011 elections season, where Gülenists were reported to have asked of AKP to allow them 150 seats at the Parliament. Erdoğan had thought of this number as being too much and kept it a little less. At that time, famous former soccer player Hakan Şükür, along with many other known Gülenists, had held the position of MP.
Partnership in educational institutions
It was also an obviously known fact that Gülenists were getting organized also through educational institutions (Referred to as ‘dershane’ in Turkish) both in the country and abroad. And, so many AKP officials had attended the openings of these institutions. Though these institutions, opened all across Anatolia, were initially receiving the protection and support of AKP, once the partnership between the AKP and Gülenists began to crack, the government announced its decision to shut down these institutions, leading the relations between the two to go down further. Gülenists’ schools and other kinds of educational institutions abroad had also been opened through state funds from Turkey.
Partnership in Constitutional Amendment
The preparations for the 12 September 2010 Referendum were carried out by AKP and Gülenists in partnership. The TV channels of the Gülen movement had broadcasted the meetings for the Constitutional Amendment Referendum all throughout the process. Gülen had given its support to AKP’s referendum campaign, which was symbolized by the motto of ‘Yes’, by asserting that ‘even the deceased ones should vote from their graves.’ Once the constitutional amendment of that time was implemented in partnership, AKP began to have more influence over the judiciary branch. It was found out later on that those within the judiciary were actually Gülenists, not necessarily pro-AKP.
Structuring of the security forces
The Police Force has been known to be the state institution where Gülenists were most effective in. Especially after 2002, the doors of the Police Department had been completely opened to them. Although countless warnings had been given with regards to the strengthening of the Gülen Organization within the Police Force, the AKP administration had never taken an official step about it. In 2014, AKP Deputy Chair Hüseyin Çelik had once used a rather laconic expression with regards to the inflow of Gülenists into the state by saying ‘Even the crows would laugh at that’. Then, the word had been put out that the same kind of structuring was taking place within the army, too. However, again, the AKP officials had always denied this.
Bargaining over land
There had been numerous claims about allocation of land – even through illegal means- to Gülenists by AKP municipalities. This situation was even pointed out openly by certain AKP members. Prior to the 7 June 2015 elections, Bülent Arınç blamed the Ankara Cosmopolitan Municipality for ‘selling out the land of Ankara piece by piece to the Gülenists.’ And, the response of the Mayor of Ankara Melih Gökçek to that was ‘I’m regretful about allocating land to the Gülenists for the sake of a good cause.’ It is now quite eye-catching that the AKP members who had allowed these land allocations, which stand as the key factor for the Organization’s growth, are not being questioned or investigated at all.