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Yilgun, I found this for you: from the ultra conservative Turkish newspaper Zaman:
NEO-Nationalist books: Part of a greater plan?
Intellectuals in Turkey have begun to suspect that a surge in the sales figures and popularity of books published in Turkey with neo-nationalist content in the past few years could be the fruit of a secret plan of a group in the military, after a newspaper released a document allegedly written by members of the military to "shape" society in accordance with the generals' ideology.
Two weeks ago, the Taraf daily claimed in a report that the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) had devised a comprehensive secret plan of action to intervene in politics and civilian life, basing its story on a leaked military document. According to the document, the plan was put into effect in September 2007 in the hope of taking a series of "measures" against the government, which the plan defines as the source of a "religious reactionary movement." Although the military denied that "such a document is part of General Staff records," it did not completely deny the existence of the mysterious document, which Taraf said was saved in the spreadsheet program Excel.
The document devises social and psychological strategies, including using books, TV series, celebrities and whatever means necessary to propagate an ideology the authors of the document defend with the ultimate aim of "bringing public opinion into line with the TSK on issues the TSK is sensitive about, preventing the development of incorrect opinions about the TSK [and] ensuring the unity and solidarity of opinions and actions within the TSK." The introductory chapter issues a caveat, stressing the need to avoid "conflict with other state agencies" and also avoid "the image of intervening in daily politics." The plan focuses on "protecting Turkey from the Islamization efforts of the [Justice and Development Party] AK Party government, and this same government's attempts against the 'unity' of the nation-state," such as drafting a new constitution that could lead to "separation" of Turkey's Kurdish minority.
Promoting nationalism
Some were very happy that the document at last explained the curious growth of sales of books with strong neo-nationalist and secularist content. Taraf's story was a most welcome revelation for Today's Zaman columnist İhsan Dağı, who wrote in his Monday column: "Another interesting piece of information disclosed by Taraf is the activities of the military to solicit books praising not only nationalism but also militarism and anti-Westernism. This satisfies my curiosity regarding the reasons behind the recently growing numbers and popularity of anti-Western and anti-American books in Turkey. Now I ask: Who is behind those books, such as the 'Metallic Storm,' which generated a storm in Turkish-American relations a few years ago? The financial resources behind some propaganda books on sale everywhere at incredibly cheap prices should be investigated. Then we will see who is plotting against Turkish democracy as well as Turkey's Western alliance."
"Claims directed against the 'Metallic Storm' are completely baseless," Burak Turna, one of the co-authors of the book in question, responded, when asked by Sunday's Zaman about Dağı's stated suspicion.
Although it is very difficult to get book sales figures on nationalist books, according to Turkey's National Library President Tuncel Acar, 105 new books were classified under the categories of "nationalism and Atatürkism," in the National Library, while that figure was 158 new entries in the five years between 2000 and 2005. The National Library's database is limited, but it can be a useful indicator of what categories of books are gaining more popularity throughout the country.
Nevertheless, a large number of books were created as the military's project to foment public opinion against the government, insists Şamil Tayyar, the Ankara bureau chief of the Star daily, who has authored numerous books on the subject of illegitimate groups within the state and military hierarchy.
"'Şu Çılgın Türkler' [These Crazy Turks] was just such a project," he told Sunday's Zaman, when asked for an example. "The soldiers [i.e., military] supported it," he said. Indeed, some high-ranking generals, including Chief of General Staff Gen. Yaşar Büyükanıt, publicly praised the book. The students of the Land Forces Academy staged a play based on the best-selling book, which provides an epic account of the heroic moments of Turkey's War of Independence against occupying Western powers after World War I.
Books distributed free of charge
Tayyar noted that the Çankaya Municipality mayor, who is a member of the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) -- known for its staunch secularism and making no effort to distance itself from the military -- forced newlyweds to purchase the book as part of the legal wedding ceremony package. In other places, CHP municipalities distributed the book for free.
"I can only laugh at these claims," said the author, Turgut Özakman, whose "These Crazy Turks" book sold more than a million copies. "I started compiling my notes in the '80s, everyone who knows me knows this," he said recalling that Taraf's alleged military plan had gone into effect only last year. "I've been working on that book for 50 years. I started gathering the basic notes for the TV series 'Kurtuluş' (Liberation), which I have been writing for so many years. It is not a book that you could write in three days," he said, denying the alleged militaristic support.
Tayyar stated that a series of books recently published by nationalist journalist Hulki Cevizoğlu, Yaşar Nuri Öztürk's "Allah ile Aldatmak" (Deception Using God's Name), which criticizes the AK Party for its alleged use of religion for political interests, all books written by Ergun Poyraz -- currently under arrest pending trial for alleged membership in a gang called Ergenekon that allegedly sought to work with insiders in the military to topple the AK Party government -- claiming that Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and President Abdullah Gül are a pair of instruments for the "Zionist" Greater Middle East project, and a book by journalist Behiç Gürcihan are all part of the military's plan. Tayyar noted that CHP leader Deniz Baykal has also publicly praised both Öztürk's and Özakman's books.
Bilgi Publishing is one of the oldest publishing houses in Turkey and is the publisher for Özakman's books, books by sensational nationalist journalist Emin Çölaşan and recently "The AK Party Should Have Been Shut Down Long Ago," by secularist and nationalist former top prosecutor Vural Savaş. The company is furious over the allegations of military support.
"Army-sponsored books? How can that be?" asked Biray Üstüner, Bilgi Publishing editor. "For the past 50 years, we have always printed books that clearly reveal our line. No government, no coup d'état has ever changed our line. Just a look at the books we have published in the past will show that such a claim is nonsense," she said.
Tip of the iceberg
Mümtazer Türköne, a political scientist who also contributes regularly to the dailies Zaman and Today's Zaman, shared his opinion on the phenomenon of growing sales and popularity of nationalist books and the alleged militaristic promotion of these books.
"Psychological warfare is a concept that was implemented everywhere during the years of the Cold War against the Soviet threat. When the Soviet Union collapsed, these units were eliminated everywhere, but this special warfare concept remained in existence. An extension of it remained, waging ideological warfare, including distributing books. Instead of concentrating on the country's protection from foreign powers, the army concentrated on 'inner' threats and fighting them with this special warfare method," he explained, saying the military-sponsored books or Taraf's document were only "natural consequences" of the dominance of that mentality.
Noting that all the world's armies had transformed structurally into more operative and region-based organizations in smaller units, Türköne said because of the TSK's displaced focus, it had fallen behind in the changes observed in most militaries, which is not only damaging for democracy but also for its external security.
Türköne said unless Turkey manages to make parliamentary inspection and democratic administration the most powerful institutions for the country, it could be a long time before this mentality changes.
Star's Tayyar noted, however, that people are more aware of illegitimate intervention into social and political life. The covert psychological tactics to shape public opinion are no longer effective, he said. "While it is true that they made good use of the increasingly chaotic state of the Middle East after the US occupation of Iraq and a potential attack on Iran to polarize the nation, psychological operations are not as influential as they were in the past. The common sense of the people has won this time," he noted.
Nationalist writers at fair attract attention
İsmail Sönmez, a writer for daily Radikal, in his evaluation of Turkey's largest book fair, TÃœYAP, last year, wrote that the presence of neo-nationalist and nationalist book and magazine stands was overwhelming. "The longest line was in front of the stand of [nationalist journalist] Hulki Cevizoğlu, who literally couldn't find the time to chat with his readers because of all the signing. [Nationalist journalist] Emin Çölaşan's latest work is being promoted at two separate stands in towers made out of many copies of the book. In the stand of the Remzi Publishing House, [secularist and nationalist] Emre Kongar's 'Our Democracy Struggle' is selling like hotcakes. The [neo-nationalist] magazine Turkish Left's stand, decorated with posters that read 'We are all Turks. We are all Mustafa Kemal' is cramped like a wedding hall." Sönmez said the book fair was literally "filled to the brim with neo-nationalists."
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