One of the documents, titled “Tunç,” included various scenarios detailing reactionary activities in several Anatolian cities. For example, in one of the scenarios an imam in the central province of Çorum would speak to his congregation from the loudspeakers of a mosque, telling them that Islam was growing weaker day by day and urging people to fight against non-believers. The imam would later be taken into custody by a gendarme who would be patrolling the neighborhood “by chance.” Other plans included opening illegal Quran courses, sending young children to those courses, creating “fake clerics” and making people follow these clerics’ advice. The followers of the clerics would be closely monitored, and almost all of their activities would be recorded. The use of religious figures to promote its own ends is not unheard of in the history of the military. Fake clerics were common around the time of the postmodern military coup of Feb. 28, 1997, when the military forced the government at the time, which was led by a conservative party, to step down. The TSK claimed that the coalition government, led by former Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan’s Welfare Party (RP), was engaged in reactionary activities. However, it was later revealed that the clerics of the period were not genuine and had played a major role in the unarmed military intervention of Feb. 28. One of the clerics involved, Ali Kalkancı, was taken into custody in early 2009 on charges of manufacturing drugs when investigators found hundreds of Captagon pills in a factory he was operating in İstanbul’s Haramidere district. Another fake cleric was Müslüm Gündüz. His actions shook Turkey in late 1996 after he was found in bed with a 22-year-old female student, Fadime Şahin. The first indictment into a criminal organization known as Ergenekon claimed this scandal was purposefully created to create distrust in religious leaders among the public. According to another plan detailed on the CD, religious radio stations would be urged to broadcast anti-secularist programs. The programs would claim that Turkey has no religion because no religion can exist in a secular country. The programs would preach that children should be sent to religious courses instead of sending them to schools. A police raid at such courses would find many children being taught to read the Quran and pray, and their administrators would be accused of being engaged in reactionary activities. Another plan would be put into effect after the police raids on the Quran courses. Imams would speak to their congregations from loudspeakers again and tell their followers that Quran courses across nation were being shut down. “Believers, attention! Quran courses are being closed down; my condolences to all of you. We are losing our religion. What kind of Muslims are you?” imams would ask their congregations. Gendarmes would take the imams into custody, and during police interrogation the imams would state that a person could not be a real Muslim unless he sent his children to Quran courses and that the civil code urges people to become non-believers. General Staff denies claims in statement The General Staff posted a statement on its Web site on Tuesday in which it denied the claims put forward in the letter and CD sent by the anonymous military officer. According to the General Staff, the letter was prepared using information found in a folder into which an investigation had been carried out by the Military Prosecutor’s Office of the General Staff and as regards which the office ruled a lack of jurisdiction on June 24, 2009. “It has been determined that a majority of the issues found in the CD in question show a parallel with news reports that made their way into the media in 2008 and before. … We are sorry the public has been kept busy with such reports. All [news] reports are being evaluated, and necessary [legal] actions will be taken against them,” read the General Staff statement. The statement also focused on the timing of the new letter and said the fact that the letter arrived on Nov. 15, 2009, was no coincidence. “The TSK is fully aware of all of the dimensions of activities that have been conducted against it for a long time. No attack against the armed forces will have a negative impact on its determination to fight against them,” added the statement. In the meantime, the İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office announced that it had not received a third letter from the anonymous military officer. The officer had claimed in a letter that reached some press organs that he sent a copy of his letter to civilian prosecutors conducting an investigation into a criminal organization known as Ergenekon, the president, the prime minister and leaders of the opposition parties. | 
