Swordsmyth
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A Turkish government memo related to the upcoming mayoral elections in Turkey is causing deep concern among oppositionists throughout the country.
The memo, sent by the Interior Ministry to the country's governors, states that in the March 31 elections, in addition to police and security officials manning the polls and taking the necessary "precautions required for election security," there will also be "volunteer security guards" involved.
The reason this announcement is worrisome to opposition activists, among others, has to do with what they suspect is the nature and makeup of these "volunteers" -- particularly with the rise of unofficial paramilitary groups connected to the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
One dissident author, İnci Hekimoğlu, likened the establishment of these groups to the Village Guards, a paramilitary force established in the 1980s by the Turkish military to combat the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) insurgency in eastern Turkey.
The Village Guards, which are still operating, have committed innumerable human rights abuses against Kurdish civilians. According to a 2006 Human Rights Watchreport, these abuses include: "murders, rapes, robberies, house destruction, and illegal property occupation."
Hekimoğlu warns that similar groups could soon be active across the country.
One such organization, the Ottoman Hearths -- established in 2005 as a publication, then registered in 2009 as an association -- is accused of attacking the headquarters of daily newspaper Hürriyet in Istanbul, an office of the opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) in Ankara and dozens of buildings associated with the opposition Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP). The group's stated aim is to promote "Ottoman civilization and culture," a goal in line with Erdoğan's neo-Ottomanism.
The Hearths' headquarters is decorated with Ottoman paraphernalia and photos of Erdoğan, to whom the organization pledges full loyalty: "Being a burial shroud-wearing soldier for the burial shroud-wearing leader," is one criterion for membership. The "shroud-wearing leader" is a reference to Erdoğan, who often reminds audiences during his speeches that he began his political journey with his shroud on -- symbolizing that he is ready to be a martyr for his cause. A video of a Hearths swearing-in ceremony shows new members using the same shroud reference. After an AKP election victory in Istanbul, several Ottoman Hearths members reportedly wore shrouds to greet Erdoğan.
On January 12, Kadir Canpolat, the head of the Ottoman Hearths, declared: "The great chieftain Erdoğan, who saved our nation in every respect, is our mutual honor. Those who betray him, betray us."
Canpolat was briefly detained in November 2006 as one of six suspects involved in a plot to kill Pope Benedict XVI during his visit to Turkey. Another suspect was Mustafa Öztürk, a friend of Canpolat's, who was also arrested during the investigation into the murder of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink.
In 2015, Furkan Gök, the head of Ottoman Hearths' youth branches in İstanbul, tweeted praise for the ISIS suicide bomber who carried out an attack that killed 33 people in Suruç.
More at: https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019...fficial-paramilitary-groups-monitor-elections
The memo, sent by the Interior Ministry to the country's governors, states that in the March 31 elections, in addition to police and security officials manning the polls and taking the necessary "precautions required for election security," there will also be "volunteer security guards" involved.
The reason this announcement is worrisome to opposition activists, among others, has to do with what they suspect is the nature and makeup of these "volunteers" -- particularly with the rise of unofficial paramilitary groups connected to the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
One dissident author, İnci Hekimoğlu, likened the establishment of these groups to the Village Guards, a paramilitary force established in the 1980s by the Turkish military to combat the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) insurgency in eastern Turkey.
The Village Guards, which are still operating, have committed innumerable human rights abuses against Kurdish civilians. According to a 2006 Human Rights Watchreport, these abuses include: "murders, rapes, robberies, house destruction, and illegal property occupation."
Hekimoğlu warns that similar groups could soon be active across the country.
One such organization, the Ottoman Hearths -- established in 2005 as a publication, then registered in 2009 as an association -- is accused of attacking the headquarters of daily newspaper Hürriyet in Istanbul, an office of the opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) in Ankara and dozens of buildings associated with the opposition Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP). The group's stated aim is to promote "Ottoman civilization and culture," a goal in line with Erdoğan's neo-Ottomanism.
The Hearths' headquarters is decorated with Ottoman paraphernalia and photos of Erdoğan, to whom the organization pledges full loyalty: "Being a burial shroud-wearing soldier for the burial shroud-wearing leader," is one criterion for membership. The "shroud-wearing leader" is a reference to Erdoğan, who often reminds audiences during his speeches that he began his political journey with his shroud on -- symbolizing that he is ready to be a martyr for his cause. A video of a Hearths swearing-in ceremony shows new members using the same shroud reference. After an AKP election victory in Istanbul, several Ottoman Hearths members reportedly wore shrouds to greet Erdoğan.
On January 12, Kadir Canpolat, the head of the Ottoman Hearths, declared: "The great chieftain Erdoğan, who saved our nation in every respect, is our mutual honor. Those who betray him, betray us."
Canpolat was briefly detained in November 2006 as one of six suspects involved in a plot to kill Pope Benedict XVI during his visit to Turkey. Another suspect was Mustafa Öztürk, a friend of Canpolat's, who was also arrested during the investigation into the murder of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink.
In 2015, Furkan Gök, the head of Ottoman Hearths' youth branches in İstanbul, tweeted praise for the ISIS suicide bomber who carried out an attack that killed 33 people in Suruç.
More at: https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019...fficial-paramilitary-groups-monitor-elections
