On the night of July 15, Turkish Ambassador Arslan Hakan Okcal was dining at his friend’s house in Bodrum, Turkey, a popular vacation spot off the coast of the Aegean Sea.
At around 10 p.m., his wife, seeing ominous developments on social media, alerted Okcal, “Something’s happening.” The couple quickly switched on the television and, to their shock, watched fighter jets skidding dangerously low over the city sky, tanks shelling state buildings and people protesting on the streets.
“The media was immediately reporting on the coup attempt,” the ambassador told reporters last week at the embassy, regarding the failed putsch in his country. “Without any instructions, the press, led by CNNTurk, came out in support of democracy. They demonstrated the strength of our free press to fight against the coup plotters.”
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Turkish Ambassador to Korea Arslan Hakan Okcal (Joel Lee / The Korea Herald) |
In a briefing about the botched mutiny in Turkey that killed over 240 people and violently shook the state’s foundations, the diplomat pointed to the culprits as a “small faction” and “secret sect” of the armed forces, dubbed the “Fethullah Gulen Terrorist Organization.”
There is a “common understanding” within the Turkish society that the revolt was inspired by Gulen to topple “the very foundations of our democracy,” according to the envoy.
The cultish clique, receiving instructions from Fethullah Gulen -- a Turkish Muslim cleric in self-imposed exile in rural Pennsylvania in the U.S. -- has infiltrated the levers of state power for pandemonium, Okcal said.
“The coup plotters operated in sleeper cells, nesting inside our military, police and judiciary until the day of instruction,” he said. “Concealing their true identities, they presented themselves as interfaith organizations offering education and charity. They run a vast network of umbrella institutions worldwide, including in Korea, that finance their antistate activities.”
Over two days, using F-16 fighter jets, aerial refueling tankers, combat helicopters, machine gun-topped armored vehicles and tanks, the mutineers unleashed a reign of terror. They slayed and injured thousands and bombed the Office of the President and the Turkish Grand National Assembly.
“They resorted to brutal violence using the very machinery the state had entrusted upon them,” the ambassador said. “But it was the bravery of our people who stopped the attacks from continuing. Our citizens, faithful to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who urged them to take to the streets to protect government buildings, got on top of tanks, banged and yelled on soldiers to surrender.”
Had the anarchists managed to assassinate the president and legitimate their fifth column, more killings would have ensued, he stressed, adding that the government has declared a state of emergency for three months. The wrongdoers will be brought to justice at Turkish courts following the constitution, he added.
Since the attack, some 6,000 soldiers have been arrested and thousands of judges, prosecutors, professors, teachers and civil servants have been sacked. Altogether some 60,000 are estimated to have been purged, according to the Economist.
Acknowledging that Turkey has been recently hit by a string of terrorist attacks -- claimed by the Islamic State group and the Kurdistan Workers’ Party -- the ambassador underscored that the response cannot be “benign.” The government is considering reintroducing the death penalty, which was abolished in 2004 as part of the country’s bid for European Union membership.
“Whatever happens with the death penalty, it will happen according to our sovereign rights, not under what the EU dictates,” Okcal said.
Despite all the turmoil, Turkey’s ruling and opposition parties have shown unity in defaming the mutiny and defending their hard-won democracy, according to observers. Following the carnage, the opposition party organized a rally in Taksim Square in Istanbul, which was joined by the ruling party, other political groups and over 1 million supporters.
Okcal said the Korean government has expressed solidarity by issuing a statement denouncing the coup attempt and supporting the recovery of Turkey’s democratic and constitutional orders.
“Turkey and Korea have understood each other from the very inception of our relations during the Korean War (1950-53), where we sent over 21,000 troops,” Okcal said. As part of the United Nations Forces, nearly 1,000 Turkish men lost their lives and 1,400 were wounded. “We regard one another as brother nations.”
Turkey is a member of NATO, G20, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, as well as a close partner of Korea through their five-way alliance with Mexico, Indonesia and Australia in MIKTA, the envoy added.
By Joel Lee (
joel@heraldcorp.com)
