Sarıkız, Ayışığı, Yakamoz and Eldiven
Encyclopedia
Sarıkız Ayışığı (Moonlight), Yakamoz (Sea Sparkle), Eldiven (Glove) is the name of alleged Turkish military coup
plans in 2004.
weekly published portions of a diary purportedly belonging to the retired general Özden Örnek, indicating that four coup plans were prepared: Sarıkız (blonde girl; idiomatic for 'cow'), Ayışığı (moonlight), Yakamoz (Sea Sparkle), and Eldiven (glove). Admiral Örnek himself called the diary a forgery. The Armed Forces has prevaricated on this issue without denying its authenticity altogether. For his part, general Tolon said he found no reason to object to the publication of the diaries since it contained no false statements about him. The diary was not used as evidence in the 2455 page indictment.
Eldiven indicates a "discord within the Turkish Armed Forces" on the matter of supporting coup plans and proposes remedies to overcome it. The main purpose of Eldiven would be to "shape the TSK, Parliament, the bureaucracy and local governments and rewrite the Constitution, the entire legislation and the National Security Policy Document." According to the alleged plan, cell organizations
of people from different segments of society would be formed. These would be unaware of each other's existence and work without knowing the real aim they serve, although they would all be serving the same ultimate purpose. These guerrilla tactics were earlier employed the Counter-Guerrilla
; the Turkish branch of Operation Gladio
.
The plan calls for psychological warfare
to shape public opinion. The first stage of the plan is to ensure national consensus, shaping decisions taken by the Supreme Military Council
by talking to journalists and having them publish the ideas of generals currently active in the military. The plan also involved then-President Ahmet Necdet Sezer
in shaping the YAŞ.
Eldiven proposes to support and use the media to exhaust opponents (liberals or democrats) and rally public opinion behind the army's plans. Speaking to the newspaper Taraf
, political analyst Ali Bayramoğlu
said that the major newspapers were aware of the coup plans, since they had been approached by the generals for support, but that they did not initially write about it. When the generals realized that the broad support they had sought was not forthcoming, they fell into disarray. Eruygur, in particular, drew up a plan to undertake a coup by himself. He is currently under custody.
Sarp Kuray, a leftist who was sentenced to life imprisonment after the 1971 coup likened these plans to the 9 March 1971 coup attempt, which was also thwarted by intelligence reaching the Chief of Staff, Memduh Tağmaç.
The diary is not referred to in the Ergenekon indictment. Görmüş said this was because the diary was obtained illegally and therefore inadmissible in a court of law.
reproduced portions of the diary:
Coup d'état
A coup d'état state, literally: strike/blow of state)—also known as a coup, putsch, and overthrow—is the sudden, extrajudicial deposition of a government, usually by a small group of the existing state establishment—typically the military—to replace the deposed government with another body; either...
plans in 2004.
Plans
In 2007, the NoktaNokta
Nokta was a Turkish weekly political news magazine launched by Ercan Arıklı on 1 March 1982 as Nokta ve İnsanlar. A year later it became Nokta, and continued thus until 2007 when it was closed under military pressure....
weekly published portions of a diary purportedly belonging to the retired general Özden Örnek, indicating that four coup plans were prepared: Sarıkız (blonde girl; idiomatic for 'cow'), Ayışığı (moonlight), Yakamoz (Sea Sparkle), and Eldiven (glove). Admiral Örnek himself called the diary a forgery. The Armed Forces has prevaricated on this issue without denying its authenticity altogether. For his part, general Tolon said he found no reason to object to the publication of the diaries since it contained no false statements about him. The diary was not used as evidence in the 2455 page indictment.
Eldiven indicates a "discord within the Turkish Armed Forces" on the matter of supporting coup plans and proposes remedies to overcome it. The main purpose of Eldiven would be to "shape the TSK, Parliament, the bureaucracy and local governments and rewrite the Constitution, the entire legislation and the National Security Policy Document." According to the alleged plan, cell organizations
Clandestine cell system
A clandestine cell structure is a method for organizing a group of people in such a way that it can more effectively resist penetration by an opposing organization. Depending on the group's philosophy, its operational area, the communications technologies available, and the nature of the mission,...
of people from different segments of society would be formed. These would be unaware of each other's existence and work without knowing the real aim they serve, although they would all be serving the same ultimate purpose. These guerrilla tactics were earlier employed the Counter-Guerrilla
Counter-Guerrilla
Counter-Guerrilla is the Turkish branch of Operation Gladio, a clandestine stay-behind anti-communist initiative backed by the United States as an expression of the Truman Doctrine. The founding goal of the operation was to erect a guerrilla force capable of countering a possible Soviet invasion...
; the Turkish branch of Operation Gladio
Operation Gladio
Operation Gladio is the codename for a clandestine NATO "stay-behind" operation in Italy after World War II. Its purpose was to continue anti-communist actions in the event of a shift to a Communist party led government...
.
The plan calls for psychological warfare
Psychological warfare
Psychological warfare , or the basic aspects of modern psychological operations , have been known by many other names or terms, including Psy Ops, Political Warfare, “Hearts and Minds,” and Propaganda...
to shape public opinion. The first stage of the plan is to ensure national consensus, shaping decisions taken by the Supreme Military Council
Supreme Military Council
Supreme Military Council may refer to:* Supreme Military Council * Supreme Council of the Armed Forces * Supreme Military Council * Supreme Military Council * Supreme Military Council...
by talking to journalists and having them publish the ideas of generals currently active in the military. The plan also involved then-President Ahmet Necdet Sezer
Ahmet Necdet Sezer
- External links :* , Presidency of the Republic of Turkey...
in shaping the YAŞ.
Eldiven proposes to support and use the media to exhaust opponents (liberals or democrats) and rally public opinion behind the army's plans. Speaking to the newspaper Taraf
Taraf
- External links :*. Website of Taraf ....
, political analyst Ali Bayramoğlu
Ali Bayramoglu
Ali Bayramoğlu is a Turkish writer and political commentator. He is a columnist in the Turkish daily newspaper Yeni Safak, writing from a liberal pro-Islamic viewpoint...
said that the major newspapers were aware of the coup plans, since they had been approached by the generals for support, but that they did not initially write about it. When the generals realized that the broad support they had sought was not forthcoming, they fell into disarray. Eruygur, in particular, drew up a plan to undertake a coup by himself. He is currently under custody.
Sarp Kuray, a leftist who was sentenced to life imprisonment after the 1971 coup likened these plans to the 9 March 1971 coup attempt, which was also thwarted by intelligence reaching the Chief of Staff, Memduh Tağmaç.
Authenticity
The diary agrees with minutes of the meeting on which the diary was based. The minutes were found in the home of retired captain Muzaffer Yıldırım who, along with Tolon and Eruygur, was detained in the frame of an investigation into a conspiratorial organization named "Ergenekon". On this basis, it has been claimed that the diaries are authentic.The diary is not referred to in the Ergenekon indictment. Görmüş said this was because the diary was obtained illegally and therefore inadmissible in a court of law.
Selected quotes
The newspaper Today's ZamanToday's Zaman
Today's Zaman is one of two English-language dailies based in Turkey. Established on January 16, 2007, the newspaper's main competitor is the older Hürriyet Daily News....
reproduced portions of the diary:
...Upon the suggestion of Gendarmerie Forces Commander Gen. Şener Eruygur, we went to the social facilities of the gendarmerie. (...) We decided to form an action plan on our own. We were first going to take control of the media, so I was going to invite M.Ö. for that purpose. We were going to keep in contact with rectors and arrange for students to engage in demonstrations. We were going to act in unison with unions. We were going to get posters hung in the streets. We were going to contact associations and incite them against the government. We were going to do all of this across the country, and it would be known as Sarıkız.
...They all gathered at the headquarters of the gendarmerie, and Gen. Eruygur showed them the preparations I had been shown on Tuesday and had them listen to a number of voice recordings that belong to some high-ranking government officials. Most of them were advisors to the Justice and Development PartyJustice and Development Party (Turkey)The Justice and Development Party , abbreviated JDP in English and AK PARTİ or AKP in Turkish, is a centre-right political party in Turkey. The party is the largest in Turkey, with 327 members of parliament...
and in the recordings they share their ideas on how they are planning to handle the CyprusCyprusCyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...
problem. At the end of the briefing, the commander of the Air Forces (Gen. İbrahim Fırtına) and the commander of the Gendarmerie Forces (Eruygur) started pressing for a revolution on March 10. (...) Eruygur's target is to become the commander of the Land Forces. (...) The current commander of the Land Forces (Gen. Aytaç Yalman) told me how Eruygur is digging a pit for (Chief of General Staff Gen.) YaşarYasar BüyükanitGeneral Mehmet Yaşar Büyükanıt was the 25th Chief of the Turkish General Staff of the Turkish Armed Forces, from 28 August 2006 to 28 August 2008.-Biography:...
(Büyükanıt). To me, the commander of the Gendarmerie Forces was acting a little unfairly and in an overly ambitious manner.
... We gathered in my house with the commanders of the air forces, the navy, the army and the gendarmerie forces at 2 p.m. … The second topic again turned out to be the same one, 'We should topple these fellows,' was what we discussed. Şener and the air guy (Fırtına) are pressing too much for this. Şener can't get it out of his mind; he repeats the same thing every two words. So does the air guy. If we don't want to give away CyprusCyprusCyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...
, our furthest limit is April 9, 2004. Whatever we must do, we should do before that.
Ergenekon charges
These excerpts were later cited as key evidence in the March 2009 indictment of a round of suspects, including retired generals Eruygur and Tolon, arrested in the course of the ongoing investigations into the alleged illegal Ergenekon organization and charged with plotting to overthrow the legal government of the Republic of Turkey.External links
- Full text of coup diaries, as published in