Operation Cage Action Plan ( Turkish: ''Kafes Operasyonu Eylem Planı'') is an alleged coup plan by elements of the Turkish military (specifically, within the Naval Forces Command), which became public in 2009. The plan forms part of the Poyrazköy case of the

Ergenekon trials The Ergenekon trials or the Ergenekon conspiracy, were a series of high-profile trials which took place in 2008–2016 in Turkey in which 275 people, including military officers, journalists and opposition lawmakers, all alleged members of Erge ...

, as the munitions found at

Poyrazköy Poyrazköy is a neighbourhood in the municipality and district of Beykoz, Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its population is 889 (2022). Poyraz lies at the exit of the Bosporus into the Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal sea, marginal M ...

in 2009 are alleged to have been resources belonging to the same group. The indictment listed retired Admiral Ahmet Feyyaz Öğütçü along with two other admirals as the lead organisers.

Events

Prosecutors allege that one of the contributors to the plan is the West Study Group (BÇG) - a group allegedly formed as part of the 1997 "post-modern" coup.

Today's Zaman ''Today's Zaman'' (Zaman is Turkish for 'time' or 'age') was an English-language daily newspaper based in Turkey. Established on 17 January 2007, it was the English-language edition of the Turkish daily '' Zaman.'' ''Today's Zaman'' included dom ...

, 29 January 2010
Cage plan mentioned in Poyrazköy indictment
According to an Istanbul Police report, the plan was masterminded by

İbrahim Şahin İbrahim Şahin (born 20 August 1956) is a Turkish ultranationalist and co-conspirator in the murder of the Armenian journalist Hrant Dink. He led General Directorate of Security's special forces unit, the Special Operations Department () and, ...

and was devised by

Ergenekon Ergenekon is a Turkish term that may refer to: *The Epic of Ergenekon, the founding myth of Turkic and Mongolic peoples * Necabettin Ergenekon (1926-2020), Turkish officer *Ergenekon, Turkish name of Agios Chariton, a village in Cyprus *Ergenekon ...

, and has links with the Zirve Publishing House massacre. ''

Yeni Şafak ''Yeni Şafak'' ("New Dawn") is a conservative, Islamist Turkish daily newspaper. The newspaper is known for its hardline support of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and the AK Party and has a very close relationship with the Turkish government. ...

'' claimed in 2010 that according to documents retrieved by police,

Şener Eruygur Mehmet Şener Eruygur (17 June 1941 – 20 February 2023) was a Turkish army general. He was general commander of the gendarmerie from 2002 to 2004, and was later head of the Atatürk Thought Association. He graduated from the Turkish Military ...

had attended Cage Plan meetings. The plan first came to light when prosecutors were told anonymously of the

Rahmi M. Koç Museum The Rahmi M. Koç Museum is a private industrial museum in Istanbul, Turkey dedicated to the history of transport, industry and communications. Rahmi M. Koç, member of one of the wealthiest families in Turkey and retired chairman (currently the ...

finding explosives in the bottom of an exhibited submarine in December 2008. The plan itself was found on a CD seized in the office of retired Major Levent Bektaş. The document was published by Mehmet Baransu in the ''

Taraf ''Taraf'' ("Side" in Turkish) was a liberal newspaper in Turkey. It had distinguished itself by opposing interference by the Turkish military in the country's social and political affairs. It was distributed nationwide, and had been in circula ...

'' newspaper on 19 November 2009. An English translation of it exists. The plan allegedly calls for political

terrorism Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of violence against non-combatants to achieve political or ideological aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violence during peacetime or in the context of war aga ...

and

assassination Assassination is the willful killing, by a sudden, secret, or planned attack, of a personespecially if prominent or important. It may be prompted by political, ideological, religious, financial, or military motives. Assassinations are orde ...

s to be enacted against various groups of

Eastern Orthodox Eastern Orthodoxy, otherwise known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity or Byzantine Christianity, is one of the three main Branches of Christianity, branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholic Church, Catholicism and Protestantism ...

Armenians Armenians (, ) are an ethnic group indigenous to the Armenian highlands of West Asia.Robert Hewsen, Hewsen, Robert H. "The Geography of Armenia" in ''The Armenian People From Ancient to Modern Times Volume I: The Dynastic Periods: From Antiq ...

Kurds Kurds (), or the Kurdish people, are an Iranian peoples, Iranic ethnic group from West Asia. They are indigenous to Kurdistan, which is a geographic region spanning southeastern Turkey, northwestern Iran, northern Iraq, and northeastern Syri ...

Jews Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

and

Alevis Alevism (; ; ) is a syncretic heterodox Islamic tradition, whose adherents follow the mystical Islamic teachings of Haji Bektash Veli, who taught the teachings of the Twelve Imams, whilst incorporating some traditions from shamanism. Differing ...

. The plan apparently originates from

secret societies A secret society is an organization about which the activities, events, inner functioning, or membership are concealed. The society may or may not attempt to conceal its existence. The term usually excludes covert groups, such as intelligence a ...

within the

Turkish military The Turkish Armed Forces (TAF; , TSK) are the military forces of the Republic of Turkey. The TAF consist of the Land Forces, the Naval Forces and the Air Forces. The Chief of the General Staff is the Commander of the Armed Forces. In wartime, ...

. Other documents allegedly relating to the Cage Plan were found at Gölcük Naval Command in 2010. It has been suggested that the plan had already begun to be put into effect when it was exposed: in mid-2009 colored stickers had appeared (and just as suddenly, disappeared) on the doors of hundreds of non-Muslim households in

Kurtuluş Kurtuluş is a neighbourhood of the Şişli district of Istanbul that was originally called ''Tatavla,'' meaning 'stables' in Greek (). The modern Turkish name means "liberation", "salvation", "independence" or "deliverance". On 13 April 1929, si ...

, an incident that remains unexplained. Mıgırdiç Margosyan linked the Cage Plan with previous conspiracies, including the provocation of the 1955

Istanbul riots The Istanbul pogrom, also known as the Istanbul riots, were a series of state-sponsored anti-Greek mob attacks directed primarily at Istanbul's Greek minority on 6–7 September 1955. The pogrom was orchestrated by the governing Democrat ...

, 14 December 2010
Gölcük Naval Base revelations prove all shady plans interconnected

References

{{Military coups in Turkey Action plans 2009 in Turkey Politics of Turkey 2000s coups d'état and coup attempts Alleged coup attempts in Turkey