Pelikan (organization)

Pelikan is a group in Turkey, which became known publicly after the 'All Hail!' (Selam Olsun!) article published at a website named as 'Pelican File' (Pelikan Dosyası) on 1 May 2016,^[1] and during the period that resulted with resignation of Ahmet Davutoğlu.^[2] Hilal Kaplan,^[3] Melih Altınok, Süheyb Öğüt, Cemil Barlas, Kurtuluş Tayiz, Selman Öğüt, and Haşmet Babaoğlu has been claimed to be group members. The 'All Hail' (Selam Olsun!) text - which was inside of a newly opened blog site and exposed the existence of Pelikan group - was shared by Cemil Barlas, Merve Taşçı, Atifet Ulusoy, Elif Şahin and Filiz Gündüz from personal Twitter accounts on 1 May 2016.^[4][5] Berat Albayrak and his brother Serhat Albayrak is being stated as at the center of group structure.^[6] The memo has been claimed to portray not only Davutoğlu as target but also other people serving inside the government^{[clarification needed]} as the target, and even it has been claimed that the memo accuses Hakan Fidan as being Davutoğlu's man.^[7]

An old member of the group, Fırat Erez, defined the group's purpose during foundation process 'creating AKP's social media team' and said that the fake sharings made by the group at social media was disclosed.^[8][9][10] The sharings of Erez was interpreted as "reopening old wounds" on the press.^[11] Pelikan group shares messages to the public opinion that wanted to be conveyed by the group, with different social media accounts. This kind of accounts named as "troll accounts" by some people^[who?]. Occasionally, some social media collaborations and advertisements are also made by the group.^[12][13][14] In addition to those, the group has been stated to have been funding some people like İnci Sözlük founder Serkan İnci.^[15][16][17]

Other than Pelican File of @BosphorusGlobal from Pelican Mansion (Pelikan Yalısı) in Üsküdar, the group also is claimed to have produced social media projects such as @gununyalanlari and @TAM_Olsun, and is claimed to operate with 1 million 724 thousand Turkish lira supplied by Berat Albayrak.^[18] The account named as @BosphorusGlobal operated on Twitter; is the account of a civil society organisation named as 'Boğaziçi Küresel İlişkiler Merkezi' (Bosporus Global Relations Center, or simply Bosporus Global).^[19] President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdoğan visited the mansion for 1.5 hours in 2019 to get information about research on Bosphorus Global's social media accounts and their abroad activity.^[20] In October 2020, public benefit association status was given to Boğaziçi Küresel.^[21] The organization has been seen as backing the organisation named as Pelikan, on the mails between Berat Albayrak and Süheyb Öğüt which leaked to WikiLeaks.^[22]

The group has also gotten reactions from inside of AKP. Old deputy Aydın Ünal, shared a statement which was later deleted: "Let's record that to the history while there's enough time for precaution: The organisation also named as 'Pelikan' is slyly poisoning AK Party. Their aims were causing to rotting of the party from inside; they're successfully progressing. If a boldly measure wouldn't be achieved, our movement will be wasted, lots of price will be paid.".^[23] Ünal has also made a statement in 2020, saying ''Pelikan is the new FETÖ''.^[24][25] The group which also called as 'new parallel structuring' by others^[who?],^[26] has drawn attention with election fraud claims after the Turkish local elections on 31 March 2019.^[27][28]

Abdülhamit Gül was allegedly targeted by Pelikan group during a change on the cabinet has been brought to the agenda.^[29] On 17 September 2019, Sabah newspaper writer Dilek Güngör, implicitly criticized the Minister of Justice by saying ''As you see, history is repeating itself, but nobody is able to notice the size of danger on the judiciary. Now I'm asking: If a plot lawsuit opens like like that one in 17-25 by FETOists who infiltrated those organizations which are currently capturing the judiciary, who can say what at that time?'' on her column titled as ''Do you aware of danger on the judiciary!'' (Yargıda tehlikenin farkında mısınız!).^[30]

It is also claimed that group also had an impact on resignation of Süleyman Soylu on 12 April 2020. Old AKP deputy Aydın Ünal described the resignation as "A coup to AK Parti made by Pelikan".^{[31][32][33][34]} This resignation was rejected by Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.^[35]

According to the documents at WikiLeaks and leaked emails that was sent to Berat Albayrak; the main financial sources of Pelikan organisation are Berat Albayrak and Istanbul Medipol University.^[36] It is also claimed that the group is also funded by businessman Can Paker.^[37][38]

Resignation of Ahmet Davutoğlu from prime ministry

Ahmet Davutoğlu said about the memo that resulted with his resignation: "Each of us are coming across with such stuffs. No longer the ideas are clashing, who has how many trolls and how much does they damage to opponent side? During my breakaway process, something named as 'Pelican file' emerged. Each of them are slanders for the people who knows me a little bit. Well, who created that; they're unknown. I know but the society doesn't know. They hid theirselves. They did many insults."^[39]

References

1. . 1 May 2016. Archived from the original on 19 April 2020.
2. . Timeturk.com. Archived from the original on 7 July 2019. Retrieved 10 April 2019.
3. . odatv (in Turkish). Archived from the original on 10 April 2019. Retrieved 10 April 2019.
4. "Hilal Kaplan: Madem haindim niye bana 4 yıl yazdırdınız?". Cumhuriyet. 8 May 2016. Retrieved 11 July 2020.
5. . AKP'de 'pelikan savaşı' başladı. Davutoğlu'na destek veren bir grup pelikan yalısı' diye açtıkları bir blog üzerinden karşı saldırıya geçti. Cumhuriyet. 8 May 2016. Archived from the original on 15 June 2020. Retrieved 11 July 2020.
6. . birgun.net (in Turkish). Archived from the original on 10 April 2019. Retrieved 10 April 2019.
7. . MİT'e yeni başkan istiyorlar. T24. Archived from the original on 9 January 2020. Retrieved 13 May 2020.
8. . Fırat Erez. Archived from the original on 20 May 2020.
9. "Kim bu "yeni paralel" Pelikancılar | Ulak News". ulak.news (in Turkish). 5 April 2019. Archived from the original on 28 November 2021. Retrieved 2 June 2020.
10. . Fırat Erez. Archived from the original on 19 April 2020. Retrieved 2 June 2020.
11. . soL Haber Portalı (in Turkish). 24 April 2017. Archived from the original on 20 August 2019. Retrieved 10 April 2019.
12. . birgun.net (in Turkish). Archived from the original on 27 February 2020. Retrieved 22 December 2020.
13. . Hürriyet (in Turkish). Archived from the original on 27 June 2017. Retrieved 22 December 2020.
14. . Diken. 4 May 2016. Archived from the original on 8 May 2016. Retrieved 22 December 2020.
15. Barış Terkoğlu; Barış Pehlivan (2020). CENDERE. Kırmızı Kedi Yayınevi. pp. 40–41. ISBN 978-605-298-734-6. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
16. "Gözaltına alınan İnci Sözlük'ün kurucusu Serkan İnci, serbest bırakıldı". www.cumhuriyet.com.tr (in Turkish). Retrieved 22 December 2020.
17. "İnci'nin Pelikan'da ne işi var: 'Yüklü miktarda para aldı iddiası'". birgun.net. Retrieved 22 December 2020.
18. . Medium. 3 October 2016. Archived from the original on 29 April 2020. Retrieved 2 October 2020.
19. . Bosphorus Global. Archived from the original on 6 February 2016. Retrieved 12 July 2020.
20. . Başkan Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Boğaziçi Küresel İlişkiler Merkezi'nin (Bosphorus Global) Üsküdar'daki merkezini ziyaret etti. Sabah. 3 August 2019. Archived from the original on 12 July 2020. Retrieved 12 July 2020.
21. "Pelikan yapılanmasına, 'kamu yararına dernek' statüsü verildi: Vergi kolaylıkları sağlanacak!". Eski başbakanlardan Ahmet Davutoğlu'nun görevden alındığı süreçte yayınlanan bildiri ile kamuoyu tarafından yaygın olarak tanınmaya başlanan ve "Pelikan" yapılanmasının grubu olarak bilinen Boğaziçi Küresel İlişkiler Derneği'ne (Bosphorus Global) 'kamu yararına dernek' statüsü verildi. Cumhuriyet. 21 October 2020. Retrieved 28 December 2020.
22. Murat Ağırel (March 2020). Sarmal. Kırmızı Kedi Yayınevi. pp. 313–317. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
23. (in Turkish). Archived from the original on 10 April 2019. Retrieved 10 April 2019.
24. . www.sozcu.com.tr (in Turkish). Archived from the original on 18 December 2020. Retrieved 22 December 2020.
25. . www.cumhuriyet.com.tr (in Turkish). Archived from the original on 17 December 2020. Retrieved 22 December 2020.
26. . gozlemgazetesi.com. Archived from the original on 10 April 2019. Retrieved 10 April 2019.
27. . www.cumhuriyet.com.tr (in Turkish). Archived from the original on 29 November 2019. Retrieved 10 April 2019.
28. . www.gazeteduvar.com.tr (in Turkish). Archived from the original on 2 April 2020. Retrieved 10 April 2019.
29. . Birgün. birgun.net. Archived from the original on 26 September 2019. Retrieved 15 May 2020.
30. . Sabah. Archived from the original on 5 December 2019. Retrieved 13 May 2020.
31. . Yeniçağ. 13 April 2020. Archived from the original on 20 April 2020. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
32. . Milli Gazete. 12 April 2020. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
33. . Cumhuriyet. Archived from the original on 20 April 2020. Retrieved 13 May 2020.
34. . T24 Ankara Bürosu. T24. Archived from the original on 16 April 2020. Retrieved 13 May 2020.
35. . BBC Türkçe. 13 April 2020. Archived from the original on 16 May 2020. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
36. Murat Ağırel (February 2020). SARMAL. Kırmızı Kedi Yayınevi. pp. 313–316. ISBN 978-605-298-613-4. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
37. Barış Terkoğlu; Barış Pehlivan (October 2020). Metastaz 2: Cendere. Kırmızı Kedi Yayınevi. pp. 56–60. ISBN 978-605-298-734-6. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
38. . soL Haber Portalı (in Turkish). 3 May 2017. Archived from the original on 6 May 2017. Retrieved 23 December 2020.
39. . Yeni Çağ Gazetesi (in Turkish). 7 December 2018. Archived from the original on 2 June 2020. Retrieved 2 June 2020.