A review of secret communications between members of the neo-nationalist group Ulusalcı, allied with Erdogan's government, reveals a xenophobic, anti-Semitic, authoritarian and anti-Western mindset as well as one that supports assassinations.
Members of the group, also called Eurasianists (Avrasyacı), who favor the Russia-China-Iran axis, have long been embedded in Turkey's media, politics and state security institutions. They "survived" criminal prosecutions between 2008 and 2014 and continue to wield significant influence over Turkey's domestic and foreign policy thanks to their alignment with Erdogan over the past decade.
A foreign media outlet presented communications made between Ümit Sayın, an academic and neo-nationalist ideologue, and Lt. Col. Zafer Yener, then a lieutenant working in the military intelligence service. The two were speaking on an MSN chat show in 2005, sharing their thoughts and discussing strategies on how to drive the neo-nationalist agenda in Turkey through conspiracies, assassinations and influence operations.
At the time, Sayın had access to high-ranking neo-nationalist generals, was housed in top security facilities, provided with classified information, and wrote books and reports to shape the national debate in Turkey.
The group is also staunchly anti-EU and opposes Turkey's full membership of the bloc. They have a similar distaste for relations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). "Once the neo-nationalist government is installed, Turkey will cut ties with the EU, abandon the customs union agreement with the bloc and completely cut ties with the IMF," Sayın said.
In a recorded conversation, Sayın wrote that he would submit a report to the National Security Council (MGK), a top advisory body that has been described as a shadow government in Turkey, and said the report would be full of attacks on the United States.
In a conversation, Sayın raised the idea of establishing a secret neo-nationalist network, to hold critical positions in Turkish state institutions, and provided the example of the "Freemasons" as a model to go ahead with the idea. "The organization must be similar to the Freemasons in a very systematic, ritualistic, brainwashed, cell-based and coordinated way," Sayın said.
The neo-nationalists worked closely with Sevgi Erenerol, a convicted criminal and one of the leaders of the Independent Turkish Orthodox Patriarchate, a fake religious group linked to the Turkish intelligence service MIT.
Erenerol also targets Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, and members of the synod for years. After being rescued by Erdogan from legal trouble and avoiding a prison sentence, he stepped up the campaign against the Eastern Orthodox minority in Turkey. In 2019, he filed a criminal complaint against Bartholomew I, accusing the ecumenical patriarch of being separatist and divisive and describing him as a tool of the United States.
Sayın's intercepted communications were later part of the evidence when prosecutors in Istanbul filed a series of charges against the neo-nationalist group and its leaders. They were tried and sentenced to various terms of imprisonment.
Sayın admitted his crimes, became a secret government witness in 2009 to get a reduced sentence under the Repentance Law and shared incriminating evidence with prosecutors about his neo-nationalist associates. However, that didn't stop him from being sentenced to four years in 2013.
When Erdogan formed a new alliance with the neo-nationalists in 2014, Sayın and all the other notorious neo-nationalist "figures" were saved from serving prison time on conviction.
