US documents disclose: Washington intervened in Turkish elections

By Serdar Üsküplü *

During the March 28, 2023 session of the US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, Damon Wilson, President of the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), admitted under oath that they had interfered in the May 14, 2023 elections in Türkiye. He said that they were engaged in a covert organization and provided financial assistance to certain organizations whose names they kept confidential.

These sworn statements have been published on the official website of the US Congress.

In the session, Democratic Party Senator Chris Van Hollen, a member of the committee, asked NED President Wilson about the projects related to the upcoming May 14 elections:

“Question. Elections in Turkey: Elections are scheduled to take place in Turkey on May 14. In the lead-up to the elections, the Government of Turkey has intensified a media crackdown and sentenced a leading opposition figure—the Mayor of Istanbul—to prison. The state media agency has begun to heavily sanction and fine Turkish television stations for their coverage of the earthquake and has continued to stifle social media, including banning Twitter and a popular forum site. There are also concerns over the past performance of the Turkish Supreme Election Council, which has not addressed irregularities that favor Erdoğan, and annulled elections not in his favor.”

So, the US Congress scrutinizes and supervises the National Endowment for Democracy, which receives an annual fund of 315 million dollar from the Congress, whether it is fulfilling its duties.

And NED President Damon Wilson provides the following answer:

“Answer. In Turkey, NED supports civil society-led programs that aim to increase voter participation and enhance electoral integrity. Out of NED’s 15 active grantees, the work of seven of our partners—which include independent media outlets, human rights organizations, and think tank and policy centers—directly focuses on the upcoming general elections. In addition, three of NED’s core institutes—the International Republican Institute, the National Democratic Institute, and the Center for International Private Enterprise—also have election-related programming.”

Aware of their crime

NED President Wilson further noted, “NED does not publish or publicly share the names of most partners in the Turkey portfolio, as the revelation of those partners could put them at risk of harassment and harm. If you would like more detail on partners in this portfolio, please contact NED and we will arrange a secure briefing.”

The NED president is fully aware that their actions constitute a crime and is therefore concealing the identities of their collaborators. These confessions reveal how extensive NED’s covert operations are.

The National Endowment for Democracy, on behalf of the US, using funds provided by the US Congress and under the oversight of the US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, has evidently interfered in the May 14, 2024, Turkish Presidential and Parliamentary General Elections.

Mission: Overthrow Erdoğan

NED has conducted election campaigns on behalf of the US’s strategy in Türkiye as explicitly stated in the 2020 RAND Corporation report: Removing Erdoğan from power, who has been deviating from US’s demands and building a new government friendly to the US, centered around a Republican People’s Party (CHP) and PKK-affiliated HDP.

To achieve this goal, as told in NED President Wilson’s speech, NED launched an extensive election propaganda and defamation campaign:

• The primary target group was identified as young people and undecided voters.
• Projects to control national and local media were implemented.
• Special organizations were established for monitoring the ballot boxes.
• NED propagated for candidates and parties, especially for the CHP.

NED researched, analyzed and reported on party programs, polls, presidential and parliamentary candidates. They produced live broadcasts and short videos. In addition, they regularly published infographics and text content on social media accounts, aimed at encouraging youth participation in political developments.

NED is a government institution

NED is an official government agency established on November 22, 1983. Its annual budget, which amounts to $315 million, is provided by the US Congress. NED operates under the supervision of the US government and is required to report to the US Congress and the President.

In other words, NED is not a non-governmental organization, but an official institution of the American state. The US Department of State determines in which countries and how NED operates. Its activities in target countries are managed and controlled by the US Embassy in those countries.

NED is the second CIA

NED was established as a foundation for distributing funds. Previously, bribes secretly distributed by the CIA would now be openly distributed by NED under the guise of “supporting democracy”.

NED is a critical instrument of US foreign policy. Especially for funding the color revolutions. NED has been the planner, executor and financier of numerous color revolutions, from the Velvet Revolution in Serbia in 2000 to the Orange Revolution in 2004 and the Maidan Revolution in 2014 in Ukraine.

Today, NED still operates in more than 90 countries.

Who is Damon Wilson?

Parallel to the characteristics of the NED, Damon Wilson is not an independent human rights advocate or activist, a high-ranking government official who has held significant positions in US security and intelligence agencies since 2001.

He served as Deputy Director of the Office of the NATO Secretary-General from 2001 to 2004. In 2004, he became the Director of the National Security Council under the US President, coordinating US interagency policy on Ukraine during the Orange Revolution. He also served as the Chief of Staff at the US Embassy in Baghdad and was Vice President of the Atlantic Council for ten years.

Frailty of Turkish state and government

The NED Türkiye office has been operating in Ankara since 1997. So the bribes flowing from American imperialism have been used for decades by collaborative organizations in Türkiye. Looking at their list of partners, we see a massive network of hundreds of organizations: LGBT organizations, women’s rights groups, city associations, organizations fighting economic hardships…

NED has subversive activities in Türkiye in political parties, the press, universities, NGOs and think tanks.

All this reveals the frailty of the Turkish state and the Erdoğan government for permitting imperialists to distribute bribes.

It is a crime under Turkish Penal Code to involve in an action of a foreign state to interfere in elections in Türkiye. The collaborative organizations in Türkiye that receive bribes from the US are agents of influence. Therefore, NED’s offices in Türkiye, such as NDI and IRI, should be immediately shut down and their officials should be deported.

* Deputy Chairman of Vatan Party (Türkiye)