Now it is plots and Turkey. For anyone who hasn't noticed, 86 prominent Turks were charged in July 2008 with plotting to foment unrest with the ultimate aim of toppling the (mildly Islamist) AKP government of Turkey, as part of an ultra-nationalist network called Ergenekon. Opinion seems divided--some see Ergenekon as an attempt by a secularist group or even a "deep state" to finish off the AKP, while others see the charges as an attempt by the AKP to finish off some leading secularists and frighten off some others.The latest twist in the story is the allegation that key Ergenekon members were closely associated with Russia, and that the link was Alexander Dugin. Those who see the charges as being mounted by the AKP against patriotic secularists naturally see these allegations as a further and baseless attempt to discredit those charged. Those who see contemporary Russia as having returned to the most aggressive practices of the old Soviet Union naturally see these allegations as yet another element in a worrying pattern.
Dugin has certainly met some of the Ergenekon figures, and there may even be some overlap of ideas. Whether there is any more truth to the allegations than this may become clear with time, since Turkish prosecutors are reported to be preparing to introduce evidence of Dugin's role in court at some stage.
1 comment:
Dugin's main Turkish partner is Doğu Perinçek, leader of the "Workers Party". However, this alliance came about in spite not because of Dugin's affinity to traditionalism. Perinçek is a former Maoist which now wxposes a extremely nationalist version of Kemalism. He ca rathe be considered as pursuing the Young Turk affinity to "vulgar malterialism" (Büchner, Haeckel). Traditionalism is in Turkey quite popular among some of the more "intlellectual" Islamic movements such as the Nurcus.
Post a Comment