Diplomatic cables released by WikiLeaks to German news magazine Der Spiegel show US diplomats have doubts about Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan’s dependability as a partner.
AFP
LONDON– American diplomats distrust Erdogan and his unrealistic views on the world, wrote Der Spiegel. He gets his information almost exclusively from newspapers with links to the Islamists, and allegedly has little time for the analyses of his ministries, the diplomats believe.
The prime minister, one of the United States’ most important NATO partners, has surrounded himself with “an iron ring of sycophantic (but contemptuous) advisors,” writes a diplomat. Despite his bragging, he is afraid of losing power, according to the dispatches viewed by Der Spiegel. One source is quoted as telling the Americans: “Tayyip believes in God but doesn’t trust Him”.
Erdogan’s advisors, and Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, are portrayed as having little understanding of politics beyond Turkey. A high-ranking government adviser, quoted by US diplomats, describes Davutoglu as “exceptionally dangerous” and warns that he would use his Islamist influence on Erdogan.
A cable signed by the US ambassador in January 2010 says the foreign minister wants to reassert on the Balkans the influence the Ottoman empire used to exert on the region. But the foreign minister overestimates himself and Turkey, wrote the US diplomats. Turkey, sums up a cable translated into German by the magazine, “has the ambitions of Rolls Royce but the means of Rover”.
29 November 2010
The prime minister of Turkey has made a policy, indeed a habit, indeed a rather nasty, sneaky habit, of listening to the private conversations of Turkish citizens. Accordingly, he has destroyed many reputations and killed many careers, all on the basis of circumstantial and ill-gotten evidence. He has done this under the guise of protecting the nation from terrorism. To that end, hundreds of those opposed to his regime have been jailed. Many have become seriously ill from their confinement, some have died. And many more live in fear wondering about just who is the terrorist.
Now it is the prime minister’s turn. Wikileaks has lent more smoke to the fire of what has been well and widely known about the Turkish prime minister. Few aside from his most ardent supporters would quibble with the documentary descriptions of him as willful, arrogant, and harsh. And the dimensions of his newly gained wealth, and that of his loyal followers, and their children is of no surprise to anyone marginally alert and living in today’s Turkey.
One trademark of loud-mouthed bullies is that when they are confronted, physically or otherwise, they shut up. Tonight, in the face of a tidal wave of information indicating how corrupt and morally bankrupt he and his minions may be, the prime minister shut up. But his eager nation awaits and deserves a well-considered response. Perhaps when he returns from Libya after receiving the Distinguished Statesman Award from that distinguished statesman and humanitarian Moammar Gadhafi, a fellow leakee? Perhaps then the Turkish prime minister will bless the Turkish nation with his usual eloquence? Like that master of revenge, the Count of Monte Christo, who summed up all human knowledge in three words, we “wait and hope.”
A leading lawmaker in Flanders deliberately insults Turks and Turkey during a live TV program with unsolicited racist remarks.
President of the Flemish parliament in Belgium, Jan Peter Peumans (59,) causes a scandal with his arrogant and bigoted comments during a quiz show, ”De Pappenheimers,” by VRT (Flemish Public Radio and Television Broadcasting Federated) on Wednesday, December 1, 2010. (watch video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQFqcaqiJi0 )
The question the organizers of the quiz show haplessly considered amusing and proper for a competition watched by general public, including children, was a related to a comment by the famous French philosopher: “Who did Voltaire think was the most disgusting nation?” The potential answers offered were Flemish, Jews and Turks. Peumans replied: “ Turks.”
After a loud laughter, he was reminded that the correct answer was “the Jews”. Peumans said he knew the right answer but was scared to say it because of possibly very strong Jewish reaction. Laughter in the audience grew. When asked “Wouldn’t the Turks do react equally strongly?” Peumans replied with a negative.
Film director Jan Eelen, another contestant, told Peumans later that the Turkish Embassy had been informed of the incident by Güler Turan — a Flemish parliament member of Turkish heritage. Turkish Ambassador Murat Ersavcı called Peumans to convey Turkey’s disappointment by the racist question and comment. The remarks also drew strong reactions from Turks in and out of Belgium.
All of this unfortunate episode took only a few minutes. But its reverberations promise to take more than that… much more!
First, it is, indeed, a sad day in Belgium if a major entertainment industry executive there thinks racist questions are fun for the entire family. A sensitization course in Belgium on issues of diversity and tolerance seems appropriate and even urgent.
Second, it must be especially ironic for such a bigoted question to surface in a country which suffered terribly under the racist persecution the Nazis (perhaps Peumans is too young to remember or too ignorant to know.) Such a question should never have been asked in the first place. How would the audience who cheered on the racist questions and response if the next question in the live quiz show was about the feelings of the German Nazis about Belgians and if the potential answers offered were A) cowards B)cheap skates C) both? Would they consider that to be “family fun?”
Third, if a Belgian politician publicly declares that he deliberately provides false answers for political correctness or expediency, and cheered on by millions in and around Belgium, and arguably around Europe, what does that tell one about the state of affairs and mind in Europe? Are prejudice, humiliation, intimidation, discrimination, and racism accepted norms of thought and/or conduct in Belgium and/or Europe?
Fourth, Voltaire was a crusader against tyranny and bigotry, which is probably why he could not keep out of trouble. Almost every person of importance was Voltaire’s enemy at some period of his life. Voltaire, the Renaissance man of the Enlightenment, was no pussycat , either, as he struck back with bitter, mocking, poignant sarcasm whenever he was attacked.
Voltaire often scrutinized the political and philosophical controversies of the 18th century and campaigned tirelessly on behalf of the oppressed.
You, Mr. Peumans, badly need to learn the tragic plight of Jean Calas, a Protestant in Toulouse, which illustrates the passion in Voltaire. Calas had a son who wanted to study law but he was denied access because he was not a Catholic. The son got very depressed and killed himself, a fatal sin then. His family decided to conceal the suicide as they did not want to see his body dragged in the streets and fed to dogs as was the common practice for those who took their own lives. A rumor started that Jean Calas had murdered his son because he wanted to convert to Catholicism. The old man was convicted of murder on the basis of the flimsiest hearsay evidence by lynch mobs. Rejecting confession even after terrible torture, Calas was tied to a wooden cross, had his arms and legs broken. Then he was strangled by the executioner and burned at the stake. The state confiscated his property, leaving his widow homeless, penniless, and childless, as the latter were forced into Catholic institutions.
Voltaire heard about this and set out to clear Calas. He wrote many letters to powerful people throughout Europe, hired a lawyer, and raised money for the family. eventually securing a unanimous vote in the parliament of Paris declaring Calas innocent. Calas himself was dead but the reversal of his conviction meant that his estate was returned to his family and the children returned to their mother. That was Voltaire!
I told you this story for two reasons:
1) You and your supporters are doing to Turks today what the Catholic Church did to Protestant merchant Jean Calas of Toulouse in 1762.
2) If Voltaire was alive today, he would fight you and your kind for the same reasons he fought for Jean Calas of Toulouse
Last but not least, here is what Voltaire really said about the Turks:
“ The great Turk is governing in peace twenty nations from different religions. Turks have taught the Christians how to be moderate in peace and gentle in victory.”
It is never too late to learn new facts and proper manners.
Federe yapılı Belçika’da Flamanca yayın
yapan devlet radyo ve televizyonu VRT’nin birinci kanalında “De Pappenheimers” adlı bilgi yarışmasına katılan, bağımsızlık yanlısı Yeni Flaman İttifakı (N-VA)
partisinin Başkan Yardımcısı ve Flaman Parlamentosu Başkanı Jan Peter Peumans (59), doğru cevabı bildiği halde “Yahudilere bir şey söyleyecek cesareti olmadığı
için” Türklere hakareti tercih etti.
Yarışmada ünlü Fransız düşünür Voltaire’in, “Dünya yüzündeki en iğrenç halk” olarak hangi milleti tanımladığı sorusunda bildiğini itiraf ettiği doğru
şık “Yahudiler” yerine “Türkler” şıkkını tercih eden Peumans’la sunucu Tom Lenaerts ve diğer yarışmacı olan Yönetmen Jan Eelen arasında şu diyalog yaşandı:
Lenaerts: “Türkler cevabını verdiniz ama doğrusu Yahudiler idi. Bunu gerçekten biliyor muydunuz?”
Peumans: “Gerçekten biliyordum ama Yahudiler hakkında yeni birşey söyleyecek cesaretim yok. Çok hassas insanlar. Bir zamanlar onların sözde
liberalizmi hakkında bir şeyler söyledim ama çok çektim. Bu nedenle..” Eelen: “Fakat Türkler hakkında söylemek meğer sorun değilmiş”
-BÜYÜKELÇİLİKTEN TEPKİ-
Skandal yarışmaya tepki gösteren Türkiye’nin Brüksel Bürükelçisi Murat Ersavcı, rahatsızlığını ilettiği Peumans’tan Türk toplumuna yönelik açıklama sözü
aldı.
Büyükelçilikten yapılan yazılı açıklamada, “Bir bilgi yarışması programına yakışmayan bu tür bir sorunun sorulmuş olması ve verilen yanıttan
duyduğumuz memnuniyetsizlik Büyükelçi Ersavcı tarafından Peumans;a telefonla iletilmiştir. Peumans, ön bilgisi dışında gelişen bu durumun amacını aşan
sonuçlara yol açmasından üzüntü duyduğunu; sitayişle bahsettiği ve hiçbir şekilde rencide etmek istemediğini vurguladığı Türk toplumuna bir açıklamada
bulunacağını; anılan televizyon kanalı nezdinde de gerekli girişimi yapacağını ifade etmiştir” denildi.
-SKANDALLARLA GÜNDEMDE-
Belçika’da cumhuriyetçi olduğu gerekçesiyle Kral’ın resepsiyonlarını boykot etmesiyle tanınan ve saldırgan uslubu nedeniyle Fransızca konuşan Valon
toplumunun tepkisini çeken Peumans, eşiyle gezintiye çıktığı Valon sınırındaki Vise kasabasında, “Yeni Flaman İttifakı üyesi bir politikacının Valon bölgesinde
ne işi olduğunu sorgulayan” bir gençten dayak yerken polis ekiplerince kurtarılmıştı.
Bako Sahakyan, President of the Republic of Artsakh (Nagorno Karabagh), just completed his third visit to Los Angeles. Unlike his previous two visits, he was received last week by prominent political figures as a Head of State, even though his country is not officially recognized by the international community.
Pres. Sahakyan was in California for 10 days on the occasion of Armenia Fund’s annual Thanksgiving Day telethon that raised over $20 million to provide humanitarian assistance to the villages of Artsakh.
In addition to visiting the local Armenian community and meeting benefactors, for the first time Pres. Sahakyan was welcomed by the City Councils of Los Angeles and Montebello, asked to speak before the World Affairs Council of Orange County, and invited to a State Luncheon held in his honor by Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.
The Los Angeles City Council received Pres. Sahakyan and his entourage on November 19 and honored him with a proclamation and city resolution, highlighting his commitment to the independence of the Republic of Artsakh. Council member Paul Krekorian warmly saluted the President: “It is my distinct and proud honor to recognize Pres. Sahakyan, a true champion of freedom, justice, and liberty. He is a warrior who fought and paid in blood for the freedom and independence of his homeland and his countrymen.” The President was officially welcomed to Los Angeles, the second largest city in the United States, by Eric Garcetti, President of the City Council. Pres. Sahakyan thanked the Council members for the honor and invited them to visit the Republic of Artsakh. Several other Council Members also made welcoming remarks. It was heartwarming to see the flag of the Republic of Artsakh for the first time alongside the U.S. flag in the City Council Chambers during this special ceremony.
Later that evening, Pres. Sahakyan addressed the World Affairs Council of Orange County, during a banquet in his honor at the Pacific Club in Newport Beach. This unprecedented event took place without a hitch, despite demands for its cancellation by Elin Suleymanov, the Consul General of Azerbaijan, the US Azeris Network, and a handful of Azeri and Turkish demonstrators.
Pres. Sahakyan was next honored by Mayor William Molinari and the City Council of Montebello on Nov. 22. The Mayor welcomed the President and presented him a Proclamation. In response, Pres. Sahakyan expressed his gratitude for the sister-city relationship between Montebello and Stepanakert, the Capital of Artsakh. Later that evening, the President attended a reception in his honor organized by the local community at the Montebello Armenian Center.
The following day, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa gave a State Luncheon at the Getty House for the President of the Republic of Artsakh — a special honor for visiting Heads of State. Before the luncheon, the Mayor met privately with Pres. Sahakyan and discussed bilateral relations between the Republic of Artsakh and Los Angeles, a sister city with Yerevan. In expressing his gratitude, the President invited the Mayor to visit Artsakh and Armenia. The luncheon was attended by the President’s delegation, Consul General of Armenia Grigor Hovhannissian, Councilman Paul Krekorian, City Council President Eric Garcetti, and Armenian community leaders.
In a gracious gesture, Mayor Villaraigosa made an appearance on Thanksgiving Day at the telethon broadcast live on November 25, and urged viewers worldwide to contribute generously to the Armenia Fund’s humanitarian project of providing drinking and irrigation water to 200 villages in Artsakh.
On November 24, Pres. Sahakyan met with a group of young professionals who made a commitment to support the opening of a special office to represent Artsakh in Los Angeles. The President welcomed the group’s initiative, stating that a formal announcement would be made shortly.
Overall, Pres. Sahakyan’s visit to California was a resounding success, not only in raising a substantial amount of money for Artsakh’s humanitarian needs, but also in establishing valuable political ties with the cities of Los Angeles and Montebello, and the Orange County World Affairs Council, thereby strengthening Artsakh’s prospects for recognition by the international community as an independent state.
While the Consulate of Azerbaijan in Los Angeles spends hundreds of thousands of dollars annually on high-powered lobbyists to carry out anti-Artsakh propaganda, Pres. Sahakyan, with the assistance of the Armenian community, succeeded in effectively countering the Azeri campaign, without spending a single dollar!
Turkish Energy Minister, Taner Yildiz, welcomed the recent progress in Turkey’s first nuclear power plant project that will be built by Russia and underscored Ankara’s determination to develop nuclear energy through foreign partnerships. Yildiz told reporters that Russian President, Dmitry Medvedev, signed the inter-governmental agreement, which was recently ratified by both houses of the Russian parliament (Anadolu Ajansi, November 29).
After various futile efforts to issue a license for the construction of the country’s first nuclear plant in Akkuyu-Mersin on the Mediterranean coast through competitive bidding, Ankara opted for a more controversial method. Instead of an open tender, Turkey pursued a bilateral cooperation route and signed an inter-governmental agreement with Russia in May during Medvedev’s visit to Turkey (EDM, May 20). Under this agreement, Rosatom will build, own and operate the Akkuyu-Mersin plant comprising four 1,200 mega watt (MW) units. Rosatom will also raise the finances for the project and will posses 100 percent equity in the $20 billion project company undertaking the construction and operation of the plant. In the long-term, the Russian side will likely retain at least 51 percent of the company. A Turkish firm, Park Teknik, and the Turkish state electricity generation company –EUAS– may take significant shares in the project, while the state company will provide the site, and the state electricity distribution company, TETAS, will buy a designated proportion of the electricity generated at a fixed price of $12.35 (www.worldnuclear.org, November 29).
Through the completion of this project and other subsequent nuclear plants, the Turkish government hopes to bolster Turkey’s energy interdependence. In the new energy strategy document published in April, Turkey vowed to reduce its heavy dependence on imported fossil fuels, through greater utilization of Turkey’s renewable resources and nuclear energy. The construction of the first plant is expected to begin by 2014 and 5 percent of Turkey’s total electricity consumption will come from nuclear plants by 2023 (EDM, April 29).
Eager to see the construction work start, the Turkish government finalized the ratification process for the inter-governmental agreement this summer. However, the debates in the Turkish parliament reflect how the government’s energy policies and nuclear policy continue to evoke criticism from opposition parties. Representatives from the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), junior opposition Nationalist Action Party and the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party criticized the government for failing to protect Turkish interests. Overall, they maintained that under the current agreement, Turkey would be unable to receive nuclear technology transfers and will remain a sole consumer of “Russian” electricity produced on Turkish soil. CHP representatives went as far as accusing the government of “betraying the country and insulting the Turkish nation… [succumbing to Russian plans]” (Anadolu Ajansi, July 15). Thanks to its majority, the government managed to secure the ratification of the agreement in parliament.
Speaking of Medvedev’s approval of the agreement, Yildiz noted that it will accelerate the work on the project. Yildiz expects to meet Russian Deputy Prime Minister, Igor Sechin, in Istanbul in mid-December to discuss the details related to forming the project company. Once those issues are resolved, Yildiz expects the project to proceed at a much smoother pace and overcome licensing issues, and obtain permission for the construction to commence (Cihan, November 29).
Ankara believes that from its partnership with Moscow, it will also receive help in developing its own nuclear technological know-how and infrastructure. Unlike its critics, the government believes that foreign partnerships will not hinder this objective. For instance, responding to questions in parliament, Yildiz referred to the experience of South Korea, noting that while that country relied upon imports to start building its nuclear plants in the 1970’s, it is now one of the countries which has developed its own nuclear technology.
Perhaps, in appreciation of the South Korean success story, Ankara held talks with the South Korean Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO) over the construction of the second plant in the Black Sea coastal city of Sinop. This coincided with South Korea’s new strategy of expansion in a bid to construct nuclear plants overseas (EDM, March 24). After an optimistic start, marked by various bilateral meetings and an exchange of high level visits, it was revealed that due to conflict over prices, state purchase guarantees and the share of state ownership in the nuclear plant, the talks had broken down. Yildiz argued that Turkey had a “plan B” if it proved unable to reach an agreement with South Korea and it will remain committed to its objective of having two plants by 2023 (www.usak.org.tr, Today’s Zaman, November 10). Quite expectedly, it was announced during Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s, visit to South Korea that the talks came to an inconclusive end (Anadolu Ajansi, November 13).
After the failure of the talks with South Korea, Yildiz said that Turkey would continue its quest for a second agreement. Yildiz also ruled out the possibility that Ankara may grant the second site to Moscow. “Neither Russia, nor Turkey are considering [a second agreement],” Yildiz said. Yildiz announced that the Japanese Toshiba would be invited to Turkey for negotiations on the planned construction of the second plant. Although Tokyo has wanted to enter into such talks with Ankara for some time, the Turkish government has avoided this, “out of courtesy for the ongoing talks with South Korea,” as Yildiz put it (Anadolu Ajansi, November 15, November 25).
Nonetheless, it is instructive to note that, although no official contact with Japan on nuclear cooperation had taken place, the Turkish energy ministry and the Japanese New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization signed a letter of intent to cooperate on clean energy, energy productivity and the use of renewable energy in Ankara (Anadolu Ajansi, November 9). Therefore, the “plan B”’ Yildiz referred to was evidently the Japanese option. Turkey seems determined to consider seriously the diversification of its nuclear partnerships, by exploring, and perhaps pitting against each other, all options on the table.
The prime minister of Turkey has made a policy, indeed a habit, indeed a rather nasty, sneaky habit, of listening to the private conversations of Turkish citizens. Accordingly, he has destroyed many reputations and killed many careers, all on the basis of circumstantial and ill-gotten evidence. He has done this under the guise of protecting the nation from terrorism. To that end, hundreds of those opposed to his regime have been jailed. Many have become seriously ill from their confinement, some have died. And many more live in fear wondering about just who is the terrorist.
Now it is the prime minister’s turn. Wikileaks has lent more smoke to the fire of what has been well and widely known about the Turkish prime minister. Few aside from his most ardent supporters would quibble with the documentary descriptions of him as willful, arrogant, and harsh. And the dimensions of his newly gained wealth, and that of his loyal followers, and their children is of no surprise to anyone marginally alert and living in today’s Turkey.
One trademark of loud-mouthed bullies is that when they are confronted, physically or otherwise, they shut up. Tonight, in the face of a tidal wave of information indicating how corrupt and morally bankrupt he and his minions may be, the prime minister shut up. But his eager nation awaits and deserves a well-considered response. Perhaps when he returns from Libya after receiving the Distinguished Statesman Award from that distinguished statesman and humanitarian Moammar Gadhafi, a fellow leakee? Perhaps then the Turkish prime minister will bless the Turkish nation with his usual eloquence? Like that master of revenge, the Count of Monte Cristo, who summed up all human knowledge in three words, we “wait and hope.”
Family Relations are very close among Turks. They respect their elders and support each other in every way possible. Parents do support their children financially until they get married. When the child gets married the financial support may continue but it is expected that the new family could earn enough to take care of themselves. Children care very much about their elders. They take care of their elders and support them when they get old or sick both financially and emotionally. This close relationship is a kind of boomerang, elders support children when they are young, children support their elders when they are old..
The question the organizers of the quiz show haplessly considered amusing and proper for a competition watched by general public, including children, was a related to a comment by the famous French philosopher: “Who did Voltaire think was the most disgusting nation?” The potential answers offered were Flemish, Jews and Turks. Peumans replied: “ Turks.”
