The Written Defence of Salih Mirzabeyoglu
Note: The following is a part of Salih Mirzabeyoglu’s answer to the accusation about himself, which he has started to give at the State Security Court in Istanbul. Mr. Mirzabeyoglu is a Muslim thinker and writer who was arrested because he opposes to the regime in Turkey, and is still being judged with the demand for the death penalty. At the moment, he is kept in the Kartal Special-type Prison (Prison with one-person cells) in Istanbul, in a cell completely isolated from the outer world and under extreme pressure. He prepared this written defense under these terrible conditions, still carrying the bruises and wounds of the torture he was treated by the military forces while being transferred to the Kartal Prison from the Metris Prison after a sudden raid carried up in Metris.
With best regards.
Harun Yüksel, The Attorney lawyer of Mirzabeyoglu
1) Regime, “system, order”, and law; these are all the concepts that come on each other within the covering role of the law, also including the social, political and economical components. Based on this view, I need to mention the situation of “the system of justice” and the related organizations in Turkey today, on the 7th of February 2000, when I could start to answer the accusation about me by the Prosecutor of the National Security Court. I was arrested without any reason that can be justified in terms of the law. Moreover, all I have experienced since the 25th of January 2000 and the situation in which I am at the moment clearly show how the system of Justice is made work for some people with the logic that “we put them in jail, let them struggle to get out! ”
2) First of all, let me express my thought beforehand, then I will clarify and exemplify it in due time: -“3000 families living in the Republic of Turkey; the law, the economical and political structure, the army, and the police are all arranged according to their benefit. Beside quarrels among themselves, they form a priviliged class above the law. State is meant for law, and when the law does not exist, that which remains gangs, not a state. In this connection, it is obvious what is the nature of the State Security Court, which judges only in accordance with prescriptions ordered them; the attitude of an official during my questioning at the police station is a typical example of this: He said to me: “They are insisting from the top. You have to acknowledge that you are the leader of the IBDA-C organization!” The prosecutor used this questioning as his accusation.
Is it not very clear why I protested the court and did not appear before it as a natural human reflex, after I had faced with torture and arbitrary questioning method which is carried out according to policemen’s wishes and benefits, and with the attitude of the Prosecutor who adopted the report of the policemen as his accusation.
3) Here I would like to mention the situation of the media as directly related to the subject. The media in Turkey are either the priviliged class itself as mentioned above or an extension of it, and shape all the components of the present order as the public PSYCHOLOGY as they like. A typical example is the contradictions which have been sent to many newspapers several times since 1991, and most of them not printed. Here is one of them, the one sent to the newspaper called “Aksam (Evening)” by my lawyer, Harun Yuksel….
-“There is a heavy breaking of personal rights of my client in the articles “They were to shed blood on New Year” Jan. 1, 1999 page 7, and “IBDA-C Leader in Prison” Jan. 5, 1999, page 9 in your newspaper. Also, THEY CONSIST THE POSSIBILITY OF AFFECTING A CASE WHICH IS STILL IN COURT. Below is the text contradicting your news article. I warn you to print this text in your first issue according to the Press Law, Article 19.
Text of contradiction: SALIH MIRZABEYOGLU IS A THINKER, NOT THE LEADER OF AN ORGANIZATION.
As it is possible to understand easily from the 41 books he has written so far, my client Salih Izzet Erdis (Salih Mirzabeyoglu) is one of the most productive thinkers in the history of the Republic of Turkey, but not “the leader of an illegal organization”. Your newspaper wrote as if my client is “the leader of the illegal IBDA-C organization.” My client denied this accusation definitely and clearly at the Police center, in front of the prosecutor and the judge of the State Security Court. Also, no evidence could be found in this subject against him.
The headlines and the news texts I mentioned above have the capacity of giving the image that “He is the leader of the illegal IBDA-C organization.” This is an assault on my client’s personal rights, and also this situation has the possibility of affecting a case which is still on trial. Because of these reasons, your news texts and headlines need to be corrected.
4) In January 1998, the police arrested me based on “the order of the Interior Ministery saying that IBDA-C is an illegal organization” -I will show you a lot of nonsense in this operation- in spite of the fact that I have never had any illegal association with any organization. They got me in front of my daughter’s school where I used to go and wait for her every day, and I was waiting with my wife and my other daughter the day I was captured, too. But, just to add more to the image of “the leader of an organization”, they mislead the justice and wrote in their report “he was caught in a raid on his house.” Therefore I refused to come to the court in order to protest all the nonsense, in which the media also played a psychologically leading role. A critical situation in terms of law: Now, I want to talk about the operation carried on in the Metris Prison on the 25th of January. It was said to be done in order to take me to the court the next day. It started quite early in the morning (at 4.00 am) without warning anybody about the court. The Gendarmerie began shooting directly on us and it ended up with one inmate dead, 5 inmates wounded. Is this operation lawful? What is its connection with my case, and is it legal in this term? This operation took place just in the morning of the 25th of January, the time when the Prison Prosecutor said he could come to learn whether I would go to the court hearing the next day or not. In fact, it is meaningless to say that ”the prison prosecutor would come to learn if I would go to the court or not”, because nobody has the rigt of making a guess just before the time of my going to the court on the 26th of january. Indeed, they went one step further; seeing the future beforehand, they definetely decided that I would not go to the court, and then the operation was carried out.
Now, please listen to this in order to appreciate the conditions under which I had to write my answer to the accusation of the prosecutor of the state security court: The Colonel who was carrying on the operation said about taking out the wounded inmates and to be surrendered that “Nobody will be treated badly. This is the promise of the State!” If it is the promise of the state, then it is bad! We said, “We are the men of our words, word is an honor for us. We want to trust your words!” It was accepted, and they took my friends one by one out. I was the last to go out. Just then, everything suddenly changed; The Colonel, who had promised he would have gone out with me, said to the soldiers, “That is over, Now!” And a group of men whose faces were covered with fighting masks took me out by the arm. The soldiers with masks formed a corridor and I had to walk through this corridor. The soldiers were said to beat and kick me. But it is interesting! Only a few of them did what they were told to do. One of the men said to me (This is important!): “Your father was a soldier, too; but you always aggrieve soldiers! What is the reason of this enmitiy?” Actually what he said was the news from The Media saying “IBDA-C keeps attacking soldiers.” This media gives everything as they want, everything from the information reports to the law mechanism and public opinion, and the opposing voices stay always low. I said, “I have protested the system of justice but they have sent soldiers on me.” They took me to a room viewing the garden where they lined up my friends. When I saw them, I tried to inform them by gesture that they would beat me, although I knew it would no help. Then the Colonel came out and said: “stop gesturing, let’s talk a bit.” He made me sit on a chair, handcuffed me behind, took me out and gave me to the group wearing masks I mentioned above. They started boxing and kicking me, and then I fell down. After countless blowing and kicking, I fainted.
When I repaired my consciousness again, I realized that they put me on a table in the room and were trying to bring me around. They sutured the cut on my left eyebrow. What I will tell now is enough to describe the violence they did to me: After I stood up, something like a dream happened to me. I talked to a friend of mine whom I had not seen for almost 10 years. And then as if I was recovering from a dream, I saw my friends in a row in the corridor of the soldiers. When I asked my friends later on the way to the prison about what I saw, they said nobody saw me while they were beating me because they were all in the garden. Although it has been a month since this, those blows still cause me to lose my consciousness a few times a day and I still can not understand how I survived after those blows.
As all my body numb and insensible, I was brougt to the Kartal Prison. I could not stand on my left foot. While I was in such a condition, two junior officers and some soldiers took me into a room to beat again. They tried to close my mouth to prevent me from shouting. Meanwhile, the pad on the stich on my eyebrow also came out. Then they took me to the doctor. The doctor seemed quite timid and restless because he had been “warned”. He just asked me; “Did you have any blow on your back?”, and filled in the form. I knew he was in a hurry. I asked,” Is not there anything on my face and head?” He said “no”, as if I asked him about something of which I was not aware. (Whereas all my face, my head and my hands were bruised and swollen and my eyebrow was sutured.) Then, while I was going to the “observation” room of the prison with guardians by my arm, one of them kicked me behind on the right of my hack.
I must say clearly that I AM WRITING ALL OF THESE NOT TO BEG FOR MERCY BY DESCRIBING EVERYTHING DRAMATICALLY, BUT TO SHOW THE SITUATION OF THE SYSTEM OF JUSTICE WHICH FORMS AN INTEGRITY FROM THE POLICE FORCE TO THE PRISON: After this operation which ended up with 1 dead and 5 wounded, Justice Minister said: “The honor of the state was regained!” If they themselves had been obedient to the rules they had made and checked strictly whether these rules had been applied, HE would have shown that the real honor of the State in its name was JUSTICE.
Finally, on the 26th of January, I was in front of you with my left leg swollen and my head and face full of wounds and bruises -by the way, I am not mentioning how I was treated with contempt.- Because of the warning that had come from “the top”, I had the hint of what would have happened if I had not acted according to their wishes. They also took my waist off in your presence so that I could look sluggish while reporters were taking my photo. They said it made me look imposing. On the way back, I mentioned the major in the van, who seemed reasonable to me, what I told you above briefly, and asked “are these treatments lawful?” He replied that “they are not in accordance with law but psychology.”
5) It is known that since all human behaviours are based on psychology, the psychology-based problem-solving method contrasts with the idea of penalty. This contradictory situation has a long history in terms of the Science of Criminal Law… I remember that, in a conference, an Assistant Professor of the Police Academy said “a policeman can not be considered separately from the society in which he lives. He is also a part of the society” about why the policemen apply to people extreme and unnecessary violence in some demonstrations and also torture some under custody. Whereas, with the same reason ones who are accused of being “guilty” can “not be considered separately from the society in which they live. They also constitute some part of the society”. In fact, the problem is that while some are in front of the Law, the others are at the backside of it. And this is determined by the created governing PSYCHOLOGY. The words of an ex-deputy clarify the situation very well: “In this country, two groupings were produced: One consists of those frightened by the police, and the other consists of those who frighten the police.”
6) One of the general principles of the Law says that “people are innocent until they are condemned.” But the media which work for the capitalists acted more than as a prosecutor or judge, flattered each other, and tried to humiliate me in front of the public for the treatment I was given. The despicable language they used can never be approved in the State of Law, and in terms of good manners, even if I had been condemned as guilty. While even the treatment towards a prisoner of war is regulated as an international current law, and this regulation is supposed to be realized as the living reality, what did the media do about my being beaten, my leg being bruised, my hair and long beard being shaved off and my being completely worn out? Their headlines wrote: “He cut off his face while shaving, He turned to a plucked chicken.” These are the kind of men who lived all their lives as chickens and saw the inferiority of their spirit in the mirror of my spirit and described their situation in this way. One need not be a soothsayer to guess that they will only giggle instead of shaking and collecting themselves after they read these words. But what about the Justice Minister, joining this chorus and saying “the honor of the state was regained”? And what about also the psychological atmosphere which was created by ignoring the law?
7) I spent nine days in the “observation” room of the prison, under the disgusting smell of the toilet, as completely worn-out and from time to time fainted. They prevented even my attorney lawyer, Hasan Olcer, from visiting me. He could see me for ten minutes only after talking to the prosecutor of the prison. I told him to bring me the Prosecutor’s Accusation which had been lost in Metris during the raid. At last, I could receive the accusation on the 6th of February in an only 15-minute visit by my lawyer. In accordance with the order of the Justice Minister who wants to experiment the effect of F-type Prisons on me and my friends Ali Osman Zor and Saadettin Ustaosmanoglu for the final decision, I have been trying to prepare my defense in a room completely isolated as being devoid of receiving any information by radio or TV and not having seen any relatives of mine including my wife and children so far, on the 6th of February when I have been writing down these words. These conditions only enhance my hatred. I think those at the top are extremely proud of themselves for the regular working of the Justice system which is a whole with its all sub-organizations by ignoring not only the Law but also the simplest human respect… Here, a tiny reminder: During the Yassiada Trials, an over-thrown deputy complained to the guardian about the cell in which he was put; “How can a human being live here?”, and the guardian said, “well sir, these cells were built with your votes in the Parliament!” A lesson to be taken!
8) As to the Prosecutor’s accusation… Here I refer to a part of an article I wrote in the February issue of the periodical Furkan. This article also enables me to mention about the media which have committed the crime of “inciting someone to commit a crime”, but always stay “above the Law”:
Who am I? What are my role and mission? How much of the appearance did I come out with the Divine instruction? All these questions are of a different subject to talk about. But here is the accusation of the Prosecutor of the State Security Court, which fails in grammar and expression. He says:
«The real aim of the armed terrorist organization IBDA-C is to change the present Constitutional order by force and establish an Islamic state instead.
Although Salih Izzet Erdis, the leader of the illegal organization of IBDA-C, with the code name as Commander, who will be chosen as the commander of the Great Orient Islamic State to be established, could not be proved to involve directly in the actions the members of the organization performed, he directs the members through the books he himself has written, in which how to establish the Great Orient Islamic State has been given place. By making the IBDA-C sympathizers read the books, it is required for them to gain a political and ideological consciousness. It is against the nature of the thing not only to think of an organization without a leader but also not to keep the leader of an organization responsible for the actions the members did.
When the loyalty of the IBDA-C members to Salih Izzet Erdis with the code name Commander, the integrity of the organization called IBDA-C all over the country, the considerable number of the acts performed by them, the seriousness of the acts performed, the fear and anxiety they have caused in the society, the number of the bombs used in the acts and caused many people to die and wounded, and the amount of the damage they caused are taken into consideration, it is evident that the accused Salih Izzet Erdis committed the crime of trying to change the present Constitutional system by force.»
Compared to the dignity of the ideology I represent, this accusation of the Prosecutor of the State, with its superficial description just like “a bird without wings” and with its unproductive reasoning, is nothing but a kind of fanaticism, and is also a crime in terms of the honor of Law. I declare to the public that I will write everything from my being captured and the questioning at the police station to the nature of the Prosecutor’s accusation, as a comic legend in the form of a book.
9) The legend of “the unlawful treatment of those who are supposed to apply and follow the Law”, which I wrote as a book, was lost in the Metris event, which is another case. The problem is: Although I mentioned this when I was brought to the court with my head and face full of wounds and bruises, my clothes covered in mud and totally worn out, some of the despicable media applauded my situation inhumanly, which can not be seen anywhere in the world -of course, I mean the state loyal to law exists-. This media did not only praise an act which is a crime, but also gave my word “I was going to come to the court” as “he turned to a lamb at the court” with contempt and provokingly… The media is leading the events according to their bosses’ wishes because they are puppets of their bosses. Here I want to refer to Mr. Sami Selcuk, the Head of the Supreme Court of Appeal, to his speech at the opening of the New Judicial Year. He says:
“They forced the only reality, which their minds could produce, to the society. They cut off the legs of people if they are longer than their beds, they tried to lengthen the legs of people if they are shorter. Sometimes they put people into pieces, then they joined these pieces in new forms, and tried to create their own people. As all the TOTALITER regimes do, they cut down the whole tree in order to pick only one fruit. The free individual ceased to exist. Only one master survived; it was the State. The rest were the slaves whom all the masters need. The state with no individual has come up as a treacherous creature that biters with the teeth it has stolen.
Mr. Selcuk’s observation is very similar to my observation I mentioned at the very beginning as “the covering role of the law”, only differing in the SOLUTION; I will refer to his speech when necessary… My solution is clear: The system of the Great Orient-IBDA… This observation shows the kind of institutionalism according to the benefits of the class whom I mentioned as “only 3.000 families who owe their existence to the deviations in the society and benefit from these deviations; this is the situation of the institution of the State. In these terms, as can be seen in my case, the media which has ramifications within the State gets its so-called “great” power from those who hire themselves for their benefits, not from their employees. This is the power of those who get the quadrillions and trillions quite easily in human geography where 20 million people suffer in hunger and the rest have been made slaves, servants and guardians, and some of it -for example, the politicians and members of different professions- have been made partners in sharing the benefit.
Regime, “system – order”, and law; these are all the concepts
10) Just as walking of some people to the reverse direction in a train cannot cause to deviate it from its way, so by using some articles telling the truth within a frame allowed by the state, the big press mentioned above pretends as if it itself voices also opposing views. In the context of this criterion, in the indictment, the prosecutor confuses not only IBDA and IBDA-C, but also IBDA-Cs each other regarding the fact that the word IBDA-C refers to attribution and qualification. I want firstly to present Bekir Coskun’s article titled “Whither Media?” (Hurriyet Gazetesi, February 1st, 2000) as an example to make clear the point. Some of it as follows:
«You can see the other Turkey more on pages of daily journals. For instance, that Turkey is a “shining star.”
Or “fly my Turkey, fly.”
This “flying Turkey” is the Turkey where the money allocated to investment is equal to the money those close to the government stole only in 1999. The Turkey that could not prevent even those who ruined five banks from snatching at the money assigned to the citizens suffered from the terrific earthquake.
The Turkey where thieves and robbers are sovereign, and those who rifle the people are treated with honor.
It is the country of gangs.
It is a Turkey that gathers corpses from basements of houses because of the disloyalty and blindness of those who govern the nation.
Here this is “the shining star.”
What do you think you are doing?
Is it possible to fly or be a star while such a media exists?»
The second example is a piece of news that appeared in a daily newspaper called Aksham (January 26th, 2000) with the title of that “There are twenty thousand murder cases unsolved in Turkey”. It reads:
«Eyup Asik, deputy of ANAP from the city of Istanbul said “in the records of the state the number of murder cases unsolved has been around twenty-thousand. Asik says further that Ismet Sezgin, Interior Minister at that time, paid no importance, although he informed him about the existence of Hizbullah through a report while he was executing the duty of chairmanship of the investigating committee for the murders unsolved. Eyup Asik says that “I said that ‘there is an illegal organization called Hizbullah in Batman. It kidnaps and commits murder’ He responded that “there is no such a thing”. Asik told that Hizbullah was protected by the Security Forces because it was used in the battle against the PKK.
Eyup Ashk, speaking in a panel with the topic “Susurluk and the Murders Unsolved” held in Trabzon says that “Hizbullah has committed murders for ten years, but the state has just realized it.” “For Hizbullah was utilized in the struggle against the PKK, it was protected” he alleges and puts those claims forward.
“Those who were killed in the murders unsolved have numbered nearly twenty thousand. The Hizbullah phenomenon has a history of ten years in Turkey. When I was a member of the investigating the murders unsolved committee of the Great Public Assembly, I presented to the committee the result of my researches as a report. I said to Ismet Sezgin, Interior Minister of that time that “there is an illegal organization called Hizbullah in Batman. It is kidnapping and murdering people.” Thereupon he asked me “sure? There is no such thing.” Furthermore, when I asked of this case to the police chief of Batman, he belied me. It was denied for this organization was utilized in the struggle against the terrorist organization.”
After this news, which appeared in an area remote from sight in that journal, a third example, another news which came out again in an area remote from sight, with the title of “shocking accusation from the young prosecutor.” (The daily called Posta, 26th of January 2000)
(The prosecutor of Beyoglu Mehmet Demir claimed that the jurisdiction could not function because those who hold the powers of legislation and execution disrespect law. Demir said that some officers could back a bloody organization like Hizbullah accounting law as nothing.
Mehmet Demir, the prosecutor of Beyoglu voiced the problems of jurisdiction by publishing a statement yesterday. Mehmet Demir, touching on operations to Hizbullah, raised the following questions: “What were prosecutors and judges doing while this organization was being unlawfully formed and used as an illegal force against PKK? Why did not it make necessary investigation about the responsible ones? Or, while committing these crimes why could they act so comfortable that they did not take the jurisdiction into account at all?
Demir alleged that ones who hold the powers of legislation and execution have felt no respect to the jurisdiction for years. According to him, this attitude made the jurisdiction worsen economically, socially and psychologically, and he said that “the jurisdiction no longer considers itself an institution independent and equal to the others. The judges regard themselves as ordinary justice officers. The illegalities committed have been built upon this submission.” Demir called his colleagues “to prevent functionaries of state from doing illegal actions and involving in unlawful connections, and then we must all in cooperation help the jurisdiction stand up economically, socially, physically and psychologically. The young prosecutor finished his words with a warning: “What must be done must be immediately done! Or, some people can arbitrarily help an illegal organization to be established, and then we may encounter with fields of corpses.”
That is the matter; these are words of the chief of the Supreme Court of Appeal, a journalist, a deputy, and a prosecutor, and they can not be accused due to these words. Similarly, because I have quoted their words here as guilty, nobody can condemn them either. Consequently, I, who have produced thoughts and expressed them in books and periodicals since 1975, and have made this work under the name of IBDA since 1984, can not be held responsible anyway for legal or illegal actions because of references attributed to me and quotations taken from me neither yesterday nor today or tomorrow, let alone being accused from my personal activities falling into the crime of conscience. Thus, a document that another prosecutor of Istanbul had sent to the prosecutor general of Adana five months before my detention confirms this point (this document had been presented to the court with the title of “Our Statements On the Indictment and Its Appendix by my attorney Harun Yuksel):
While the guilty was being wanted through a warrant of arrest with a decision of 11th May 1998, the file of him was sent to the prosecutor of Istanbul by the Security Court of State in Adana with the justification that ‘no evidence against him has been found, and in Istanbul he has carried on his illegal actions and published books and periodicals.’ If no evidence has been found against the guilty as stated in the decision of having no-authority of the SCS of Adana, the decision of ceasing to pursuit can be given. Furthermore, any illegal action of the guilty, which has been committed in the field of the authority of the prosecutor general of the Security Court of State in Istanbul has not been established, according to the content of the court file.
Although the interior ministry has stated with a memorandum of 3rd March 1998 that the guilty has been a member and administrator of an illegal organization because of his activities in legal reviews and periodicals, it can not be evidence against him.)
And, Harun Yuksel, my attorney asks: “There is not any different evidence in the file of the SCS in Adana from that of the SCS in Istanbul. And, five months later after the SCS in Istanbul gave this decision, my client has been taken into custody and detained with the claim of administrating an illegal organization, a claim exactly devoid of support and proof, just like the SCS in Adana did. What has changed within these five months?” The sweetest answer to the question that “why I was arrested although there had been no indication, proof, or evidence against me?” is undoubted, after all these happenings, the word of superintendent Bahri who said “Those at the top are pushing for us. Thus, sooner or later, you will have to admit that you are the leader of IBDA-C” in the police interrogation. Just as the number of one hundred includes the numbers 1 to 99, with the same criterion of truth, another scene from the interrogation:
From my answers to their questions, they extracted five-odd questions, including such absurdness that I have to prove that I had never gone abroad. Two policemen (Bahri and another officer who, I think, is almost as old as Bahri, fair and whose name is probably Mehmet) came to the third matter
-OK, we acknowledge you do not see and recognize anybody; so let us consider that leadership matter.”
-When I said “if I do not see and give an order to anybody, how I can be the leader of the organization?”, Bahri told following words which would be much lighter than the fact that twenty-thousand people have been killed without being judged by the state forces:
-We did not harm you; if we had wanted, we would have buried drug packs in your garden, and then we would tell “we found drugs in his garden.” Thus, acknowledge it gently!
When I did not accept this offer, Mehmet broke in on the conversation angrily and told:
“Boo to you! You can not even tell I am the leader of a terrorist organization, you can not show manliness! Lots of people who were brought here for actions of terrorism exalted you very much. You can not chant even a slogan!”
When I said “I had written forty-one books if you wish to comprehend them, read them” in response to the questions they asked only to “comprehend” such as “what is the difference between IBDA and IBDA-C?” and “what is the self-appearance?” Bahri gave that wonderful (!) answer:
“My lion! The prosecutor does not read your books. What he will see is but what we will send him.”
IBDA literally means (in Turkish) “the unique becoming, invention, genesis.” It also means “to give some capital to someone who will process it on condition that the profit which will be gained will belong to the debtor.” The self-appearance means, as may be understood from the words, “to decide by oneself, and then apply it. I have written forty-one books as appearance and meaning of it; however, to be able to understand this subtlety how share should one take from the meal of wisdom and idea? This is something separate of which everybody should think. But you will undoubtedly appreciate that: To someone who asks “what does a judge do?”, and by this way tries to learn all the science of jurisprudence within several hours, you can say nothing but “a judge is one who applies law and judges on cases.” In like manner, nothing but that “a doctor is one who tries to recover and cure the patient” may be said to one who, asking a doctor that “what is the job of a doctor”, requires him to teach the science of medicine within several hours.
As seen from all those I have told, I have been subjected to unlawful treatment such as “prove if you are innocent” since the interrogation at the police. I should add to this picture the role of the media which have tried to direct the public opinion against me since I was detained.
Consequently, with the name of IBDA I express my thoughts on various matters, just like the people to whom I referred above and who have made statements written or orally. I am illustrating the difference between the one who states his idea and the other being addressed, as being valid for all thought schools, in an example: “I make knives, those who wish cut bread, or those who wish to kill men!” As the suffix “ci” in Turkish (in English “-ist”, “-seller”; for example, ekmek-ci means bread-seller in English, and Ibda-ci means Ibda-ist) is meant for relation and attribution, and “ekmekci” (bread-seller) does not mean ekmek (bread) itself, so it is the same for Ibdaists in relation to Ibda. This fact is also valid for Ataturkists in relation to Ataturk, Marxists in relation to Marx, etc. Considering the fact that Ataturkists are described as “the Ataturkist Front” and Marxists constitute “the Marxist Front,” in much the same way there exists the Ibdaist Front. (We can mention here “the Nationalist Front” and “the Leftist Front,” too.) While the word “Front” states separate institutions and formations, this separation also contains institutions and formations opposite to each other. For example, there were different political parties in the “Nationalist Front” before September 12th. Within the description of “the Leftist Front”, there were various legal and illegal political parties, organizations, and publishing activities, and some of them were entirely opposite to each other. Likewise, it is the same for the Ataturkist Front too. I will especially dwell upon it.
11) Now, from my work titled “the Torture” published in 1991, again the issues of IBDA-C and interrogation at the police:
(What is IBDA-C? “The activities that expose the thought of IBDA and are made by others than me; they are movements to which the responsibility, favor and failure of what they have done belong, and which are other than me.” The law of the bureau of Kivam (properness), the Ibda Bookshops, the Bureau of Book-Propaganda, Ak-Dogus (White-Rise-periodical-), the Shadow-Art as a failing deal; what is meant as “Front” are these. This explanation has angered the “ghosts” who have applied to every way from bright promises to threatens, and drubs at that moment only for obtaining the sentence that “IBDA-C is an armed struggle front of IBDA.” This is one of the most important characteristics that I noticed: They strive for acquiring professional achievement rather than founding what is really true, thus the possibility that those taken into custody may be innocent almost worries them. Therefore the person they called “chief” angrily, or pretending as if he was angry, raised me from the chair and then took me to the front of the wall. He bumped me to the wall several times by clasping my shoulders. Then he laid me my face downwards in a delighted state of a new finding, which will make me wretched in his foolish opinion, by saying “fall down and come up on your hands unceasingly while parallel to the ground.” As I will be falling down and coming up while my body parallels to the ground, I will be tired, and he will kick me saying “go on!” A corny trick! Thus, as I will be beaten in any case, after several falling down and coming up, I did not continue to do it in spite of the kicks that the chief struck by using his shoe’s upper. From this behavior, I drew the conclusion that they desired not to remain any mark of wounds and bruises, or fracture. After the kicking chapter, the chief, angering too (!) much, began to trample down my back, hands, feet and waist. Meanwhile, I was unceasingly repeating “La havle vela kuvvete illa billah” (Nobody has power but Allah) as having released myself. The one who spoke fluently broke in with another corny trick: “Do not do it chief, he will acknowledge!”
12) The date is especially important: 1991. In a demonstration to protest the offense of the USA and some other countries against Iraq (namely that well-known Gulf War) by various Islamist groups, there happened a conflict between the police and the demonstrators who had come out from the Mosque of Bayazid, and some of the arrested were Ibdaists. There had not been any illegal armed organization among IBDA-Cs until that time.
Source: Freedom for Mirzabeyoglu http://www.geocities.com/mirzabeyoglu2001 (2001)
