We began the day with news of an operation.

Ekrem Dumanlı, the editor-in-chief of Zaman newspaper, and Hidayet Karaca, the head of the STV broadcasting group, were detained.

Was I saddened? Yes, I was saddened.

I was saddened in the same manner that I was saddened when I received the news four years ago when Mustafa Kaplan was taken away in the middle of the night.

I also don’t find the manner in which the operation was conducted to be proper.

I don’t like to twist words.

Just like I thought it was improper when Ahmet Şık, Müyesser Yıldız and Türkan Saylan were detained as part of the Ergenekon operation.

The Ergenekon process was a historic showdown for Turkey. My country, which is one of coups and murders that remain unresolved, for the first time found the opportunity to settle scores with deep-rooted structures like Ergenekon and the perpetrators of unresolved murders.

This lasted until the time that the police officers belonging to the parallel structure (the term used to refer to the Fethullah Gülen-led movement) started using Ergenekon as a weapon. That was when the struggle against Ergenekon was diverted from what it was originally intended for. This was how Turkey wasted the historic opportunity it had been presented with.

We waged a struggle against members of the parallel structure in the same manner that we waged a struggle against members of Ergenekon.

Because what we believed in was the following.

A community would not get involved in carrying out a coup.

A community would also not get involved in an intelligence-based war.

They preferred this dirty war.

That is why we now gather in front of the gates to Zaman newspaper just like we used to gather at the gates of Silivri prison. (The prison where a special court complex was set up to hear most of the Ergenekon-related cases.)

The Hizmet (Service in Turkish, and the term used by the Gülen-led movement to refer to itself) movement was replaced by a criminal structure.

A tragic situation.

The parallel structure started using the power it gained from the struggle against Ergenekon on two fronts.

1-After the targets it would try to take over in the Turkish Armed Forces, the bureaucracy and the business world were determined by the community’s “mastermind;” operations would be launched by resorting to the intelligence services, the counter-terrorism units, the anti-smuggling and organized crime branch of the police force, and with cooperation from within the judiciary.

2-It structure embedded in the police force and judiciary would spring into action to prevent potential criticism of Fethullah the preacher by the media, and particularly by the Nur communities (followers of the Said Nursi).

The Tahşiye operation that led to yesterday’s detentions is linked to this.

The Tahşiye group defines itself as one that interprets and clarifies the Risale-i Nur collection. They adopt as their basis the style of Hulusi Yahyagil, a student of His Excellency Bediüzzamman Said Nursi. The same Colonel Hulusi Yahyagil who had a conscience, and said, “Allah save me” when he was included in the Dersim Operation.

They criticize the Gülen group primarily on its stance toward dialogue between religions, and the form the group’s actions of service takes. But it is not just the Gülen group that they criticize. They have “radical” objections to other Nur groups, particularly the Yeni Asya group.

Let’s come to the operation.

I learned about the Tahşiye Operation four years ago upon receiving a letter from Mustafa Kaplan, which he sent from prison.

In his letter, Kaplan mentioned the injustices he had faced.

They did face injustice. These people faced a lot of persecution at the hands of the parallel structure. They remained in prison for 17 months. It was claimed that they had ties to Al-Qaeda. The claims could not be proved. This was because Al-Qaeda was just used as a veneer to legitimize the operation.

The police officers belonging to the Gülen-led community used despicable methods during the operation against members of the Tahşiye group.

An operation was conducted against a private-tuition course where members of the Tahşiye group would gather to read the Risale-i Nur collection. Two hand grenades, bullets and some sketches were found. A total of 122 people were detained as part of the operation.

The fingerprints, blood and clothing samples taken of the 122 people, however, did not match those found on the grenades. The fingerprints on the grenades matched those of three police officers who participated in the operation, while one set of fingerprints belong to an as yet unidentified person.

Will accountability not be sought in this case?

The people who were inconvenienced have been applying to the judiciary since Sept. 30 on the grounds that they are victims of a conspiracy and that the criminal evidence against them was fabricated.

It is imperative that the chiefs of the Istanbul Police Department’s Counter Terrorism Branch and the Anti-Smuggling and Organized Crime Branch, who contrived this crime, be held accountable, and if guilty tried for those crimes, along with the police officers who planted those grenades, who should be tried as accomplices to the crime.

In the same light, Ali Fuat Yılmazer, who signed off on many illegal wiretaps and ordered wiretaps in this case as well, should be made to appear in front of a judge.

It was Fethullah Gülen who first said that the Tahşiye group represented a threat. In a speech on April 6, 2009, Gülen said, “They invent something called Tahşiye, and arm them whenever they get the opportunity.”

In a TV show titled “Tek Türkiye” broadcast on STV, the Tahşiye group is investigated as a threat. The Zaman and Bugün newspapers print articles and news items similar to the TV show. In the wake of all this, an operation against the Tahşiye group is carried out on Jan. 30, 2010.

It could be claimed that Fethullah Gülen, via his April 6 speech, gave the green light to conduct the operation against the Tahşiye group. It could be said that this operation was conducted on the basis of instructions issued from Pennsylvania. (The name used for Fethullah Gülen, a reference to the U.S. state where he lives in self-imposed exile.)

But what does the detention of the administrators of Zaman and STV mean? Is it right that the police go to the offices of Zaman newspaper and take Ekrem Dumanlı away in a police car? Isn’t this just providing more ammunition to those who raise hell in the world by saying the press is being muzzled? Are those who carried out this operation aware of the type of perception management methods they end up serving? What they did served no purpose other than embarrassing Turkey in front of the world.

In any event, even if no one protests against detaining a journalist in this manner in front of the offices of a newspaper, I will protest against it. What was done was wrong.

What crimes are journalists accused of as long as they have no involvement in acts of violence and are not guilty of fabricating crimes and evidence? Do you go around arresting executives of the TV channel that broadcasts the “Valley of the Wolves” (a Turkish TV series which contains lots of violence) series?

It might have come to your attention that I haven’t been writing articles about the parallel structure for a while now. This is because just like it happened with Ergenekon in the past, a sack named the parallel structure has been opened and everyone wants to fill it with something. I believe this harms the struggle against the parallel structure and I am opposed to such actions.

I want to state very openly and clearly that it was wrong to raid the offices of the Zaman newspaper and STV, and escort Ekrem Dumanlı and Hidayet Karaca off the premises. I protest against wrongdoing regardless of who it is committing the wrongdoing.