(USASABAH)
Abdullah Karatash*
There has been much buzz in the international media of late about the detention of journalists in Turkey.
What is really going on?
Without a doubt, the rule of law is on the march in Turkey.
There have been four formal coup d'etats in Turkey and countless more attempted coups.
By definition, each coup d'etat is a crime against the constitution and the rule of law, not to mention a travesty against the will of the Turkish people.
In each coup, the mainstream Turkish media played an integral and well-documented role aiding and abetting the coup plotters by planting false stories to try and sway public opinion in favor of the coup.
Oftentimes media barons agitated for coups when it happened to serve their diverse business interests; after each coup, certain media barons would receive generous economic concessions in industries ranging from banking to petroleum as well as tax subsidies from the newly installed military-backed government.
In this context, the recent detention of journalists in Turkey could be interpreted as a healthy sign; it is a sign that not even journalists are above the law in the new Turkey.
As Turkish Ambassador Namik Tan clearly explained in a letter to the Washington Post, "Turkey's legal system enshrines the cardinal principle of "innocent until proven guilty," and this process is unequivocally and unsparingly accorded to all those accused in this case." After the investigation is complete and accusations toward these journalists are clarified, they will be released if found innocent. Otherwise judges will mete out their punishments in accordance with each case.
Investors have recognized and acknowledged this development more so than the international media.
Foreign direct investment into Turkey has sky-rocketed over the past few years: foreign investment over the past ten years has exceeded the cumulative total from the inception of the Republic up until a decade ago.
Businesses and investors like stability and the rule of law in order to ensure that business contracts are enforced uniformly and fairly.
The political stability and fiscal discipline in Turkey over the past decade contrasts sharply with the political anarchy and economic malaise of the 1990's.
A broad consensus emerged out of the chaos of the 1990's, similar to the process in Brazil, to root out criminal elements within the military, bureaucracy, judiciary, and media.
Sadly certain quarters remain incapable of publishing objective research when it comes to issues pertaining to Turkey.
Through skewed coverage, there are some who attempt to undermine the popularly elected Turkish government and the smooth development of democratic institutions, most importantly the rule of law.
One cannot incessantly try to pit the military and judiciary against a popularly elected government and an elected parliament and simultaneously claim to be a democrat.
Some have even gone so far as to lend support to acts of terror perpetrated by the alleged Ergenekon Organization.
The Ergenekon investigation is an independent judicial process, long overdue, that aims to uproot a well-entrenched and well-funded "deep state" network.
The investigations have unearthed military-grade arsenals sufficient to wage a full-blown war against the Turkish people and state.
The Ergenekon network's attacks have cost the lives of many thousands of innocent Turkish citizens; victims include prominent Turkish-Armenian intellectual Hrant Dink, Turkish-Jewish businessman and industrialist Uzeyir Garih, a German missionary and two Christian converts in Malatya, an Italian priest in Trabzon, as well as a senior sitting judge on the Turkish Supreme Court, who were all murdered in cold blood by "secularist" Ergenekon operatives, not to mention the countless victims whose bodies were dumped into death-wells in Southeastern Turkey or the hundreds of other unaccounted victims of the Ergenekon network.
The Ergenekon network's false-flag attacks aimed to sow chaos inside the country and create a "bloody" image abroad in order to justify a military intervention to "restore order."
The United States has pledged to support Turkey's efforts to root out all causes of terror and the European Union has unequivocally lent support to the Ergenekon investigation.
Turkey has been undergoing a dramatic slew of reforms aimed at increasing economic competition and transparency and strengthening the institution of the rule of law.
In an era of flux throughout the Middle East, citizens of countries like Egypt, Tunisia, Libya, Yemen, and others increasingly look to Turkey for political inspiration and guidance.
One remains hopeful that the international media will recognize these achievements and not provide a platform for attacks on the march toward democracy.
*Abdullah Karatash, a graduate of the Yale School of Management, is a writer living in Manhattan and a Wall Street executive with Natixis. The views expressed are his own and do not necessarily represent those of Natixis. Karatash can be reached at abdullah.karatash@aya.yale.edu.
