MrBishop
Well-Known Member
ISTANBUL (Reuters) - [size=-1]Turkey's army has asked local authorities for information on individuals who could undermine the state, including ethnic minorities, magicians and people who practice meditation, local media said on Wednesday. [/size] [size=-1]In a rare statement to the press, the military General Staff confirmed it had asked authorities to "gather intelligence because it was necessary to makes plans to take effective measures against incidents that could arise." Turkey's largest newspaper Hurriyet on Wednesday published a document from the army command asking for information on people who supported the European Union (news - web sites) and the United States, as well as "the socially elite, members of artistic groups and children of wealthy families." Foreigners living in Turkey and ethnic minorities, including Circassians, Gypsies, Albanians and Bosnians, were on the list. Satanists, freemasons, sympathizers with U.S. white supremacists in the Ku Klux Klan and groups that meditate or congregate on the Internet were also targeted, Hurriyet said. Even necromancers, or magicians who summon spirits from the dead, were included, the paper said. "Writers and thinkers who are working against Turkey" were also to be investigated. The request could raise eyebrows in the EU, which Turkey aspires to join. Among the reforms Turkey must make before opening entry talks is curbing the role of the military. Despite recent reforms, the military still wields influence over elected officials. The army has staged three coups since 1960 and sees itself as the ultimate guarantor of Turkey's secular democracy.
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