Category: Authors

Is Netflix a Tool for Propaganda or an Entertainment Platform?

TV shows and movie platforms Without looking into the script’s content, Netflix has blatantly decided to serve as a propaganda weapon for Greek and Greek Cypriot interests.

Press reports state that Andreas Georgiou’s television series “Famagusta,” in which he plays the protagonist, would premiere by the end of September.

The Greek Cypriots, who maintain that the Cyprus issue originated in 1974 and have rewritten history to suit their needs, are currently attempting to convince the world that they were the victims of 1974 by using false information and fantastical stories that they cling to.

The Greek Cypriot Administration sponsored and produced the series, although it omits the internal strife that followed Greece’s coup on July 15, 1974, which led to Makarios’ overthrow. The terrorist group EOKA B slaughtered leftist Greeks, and they designate terrorist commander Nikos Sampson as the head of the coup.

There is no claim that the island of Cyprus, which was thereafter governed by the Hellenic Republic of Cyprus, was annexed by Greece or that the Republic of Cyprus, of which Turkey, Greece, and England were the guarantors, was destroyed and replaced by the “Hellenic Republic of Cyprus.” Of course, the television show “Famagusta” did not address these issues.

Turkiye intervened as the guarantor state after it was announced that the island of Cyprus had been taken over by Greece, and that the terrorist organisation EOKA B and the Greek National Guard had begun shooting at the Turkish Cypriots, in accordance with the internationally recognised Republic of Cyprus Constitution, Annex I, the Treaty of Guarantee and Alliance.

As per Annex I, Article 4, the guarantor powers possess the jurisdiction to step in and restore the 1960-declared Cyprus Republic if there is a status shift in the Republic of Cyprus.

Based only on falsehoods, the news about the allegedly televised series suggests that it is a work of fiction.

Assuming you are going to deceive everyone, how will you deceive us?

I took part in the July 20, 1974, military action that was authorised by international law. That “Turkish troops fired at people and the Turkish army bombarded civilian communities” is something I have never seen or heard of.

This is a totally untrue accusation meant to harm one’s reputation.

Turkish soldiers are obligated by custom and belief to “help the enemy even if they are soldiers in need of assistance” and “not shoot unarmed citizens.”

I saw and participated in many of these selfless deeds during the 1974 Peace Operation involvement.

Those included bathing, feeding, and handing over to the authorities the mentally handicapped Greek Cypriot child whose parents had abandoned him, chained him to a tree in their backyard. When he saw us, the the young boy cried and asked for ice cream. In addition, unlike the Greek Cypriots, this story was firsthand seen rather than recorded at a desk.

It appears that these stories need to be told, documented, and disseminated to the public since TV shows with a propagandist bent are now more successful than military conflict. The world, the Greek Cypriots who carried out the genocide, and our own youth are unaware of the genocide against us Turkish Cypriots between 1963 and 1974 since there has been a dearth of publicity and promotion.

Not even the Greeks knew until the latter week of August 2024 about the massacre of 103 Turkish Cypriots in the villages of Muratağa, Atlılar, and Sandallar, fifty years ago on August 15, 1974. The victims ranged in age from 3-month-old newborns to 93-year-olds, and they were cruelly massacred by the Greek Cypriots.

We have witnessed atrocities like the Türkeli, Taşkent, and Kumsal massacres in addition to massacres like Muratağa, Atlılar, and Sandallar. From six months to ninety years old, our people were burnt and dumped into dry wells. Our instructors in the classroom lamented the death of the pupils they were supposed to be teaching. Our cars disappeared on the roads. Our buses and passenger cars were buried with the passengers alive inside.

For eleven years, we were restricted to three percent of the island. Our communities were plundered and set on fire. Not to mention the economic strains, the Greek takeover of the government, and the forced migration of the Turkish Cypriots.

With great success, the Greek Cypriot Administration of Southern Cyprus has been able to conceal these massacres and the genocide against the Turkish Cypriots in Cyprus between 1963 and 1974 from both its own people and the global public opinion. They have also been able to keep these events off the agenda for newspapers, media, press, and television.

Propaganda put the Greek Cypriots in the victim position, while we, the Turkish Cypriots, were the victims and victims of genocides.

It is therefore imperative to produce television shows that will demonstrate our innocence, rightfulness, and victimization—particularly with regard to the “Cyprus issue”—and convince the world that we are the ones who are being victimised, not the invaders.

Making television shows and films that reveal what was done to us and releasing them on Netflix is what we need to do. Subsequently, we shall comprehend if Netflix and similar sites serve as propaganda weapons or genuine entertainment venues. (Yes, but let us double check)

Academic: Prof. Dr. (Civ Eng), Assoc. Prof. Dr. (Int. Rel) Ata ATUN

First Term Deputy of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus Assembly;

Member of the Advisory Board of the TRNC President

September 2, 2024
Khachigian’s Memoirs: How a Farmer’s Son Became Speechwriter for Nixon and Reagan

Ken Khachigian, the son of a farmer in Visalia, California, just published the captivating memoirs of his years in the White House as a speechwriter to two prominent U.S. Presidents, Nixon and Reagan. Titled, “Behind Closed Doors: In the Room with Reagan and Nixon,” the book’s cover page describes Khachigian as a “speechwriter, confidant and strategist to political legends.”

Khachigian’s book has attracted keen attention. The Wall Street Journal published a very positive review by Tevi Troy. Quin Hillyer, a popular Washington columnist, wrote two laudatory reviews in the Washington Examiner. Khachigian’s memoirs was ranked #2 in pre-sales of all the titles for the publisher’s new releases in mid-summer. The publisher is now planning a second printing.

Khachigian grew up in a struggling farmer’s family deprived of a shower and other basic necessities to become one of the most influential men in the White House. He started his involvement in politics as a volunteer for the Nixon presidential campaign. After the election, he became Nixon’s speechwriter. He then joined the Reagan administration as the president’s chief speechwriter. He also served as senior advisor and principal strategist for California Governor George Deukmejian in the 1982 and 1986 elections.

In an interview with the Armenian Mirror-Spectator, Khachigian related a memorable episode that happened while he was working for Nixon, when his father passed away in 1975. The President wanted to know what he could do to honor the memory of Khachigian’s father. Since his father was from the Armenian village of Chomaklou in Turkey, Khachigian made the unusual request of asking Pres. Nixon to donate to the Chomaklou Compatriotic Society. Nixon obliged by writing a personal check for $500 to the Armenian society.

Among the hundreds of texts Khachigian wrote for the two presidents, I must isolate two important documents he penned. Up until 1981, no U.S. President had described the Armenian Genocide as genocide. On April 22, 1981, Reagan issued a presidential proclamation in which he mentioned the Armenian Genocide. The text was written by Khachigian. This was 40 years before Pres. Biden finally issued a statement in 2021 officially recognizing the Armenian Genocide.

While Turkish denialists try to dismiss Pres. Reagan’s 1981 proclamation by stating that it was written by the President’s Armenian speechwriter, Khachigian counters the Turkish accusation by saying that all Presidential Proclamations carry the President’s signature; therefore, the 1981 Proclamation is an official statement by the President of the United States.

In his interview with the Mirror, Khachigian explained that since he was aware of the controversy regarding the mention of the Armenian Genocide by the White House, he checked with the Deputy National Security Advisor, Bud Nance, who said that he saw no problem with the reference. “Well that’s a fact, isn’t it?” Nance asked. Khachigian replied, “as far as I am concerned it is a fact.” Nance then said, “well, it is okay with me.”

Khachigian then decided to make sure that there will be no problems with the reference to the Armenian Genocide in the Proclamation, so he checked with Richard Allen, the White House National Security Advisor. “I want to show this to you. I’d shown it to Bud Nance. Here, please read this proclamation,” Khachigian told Allen who replied: “well, that is an historic fact.” Khachigian told him, “well, yes it is.” Allen then said, “well, as long as it is an historic fact, there is no reason why it shouldn’t be in the proclamation.”

Khachigian related another important Armenian-related episode in his book. He wrote that an Armenian friend, Jim Renjilian, invited Khachigian to accompany him to the Arlington Cemetery for Armenian Genocide Day Remembrance on April 24, 1985. During the commemorative program, Khachigian recalled the stories he had heard as a young boy about the tragic experiences of his family during the Armenian Genocide. His father was a survivor of that Genocide which Khachigian described as “the coerced exile from their homes when the Turks murdered the [Armenian] population of Anatolia by arms, starvation, pestilence, and forced march.”

Khachigian then quoted from Aris Kalfaian’s book about Chomaklou, describing the suffering and hellish experiences of the deported Armenians. Khachigian disclosed that, as a result, his father “at age sixteen, lost his mother, his brother, and sister.”

Khachigian, grief-stricken, described his emotions at the Arlington Cemetery: “The music and prayers in Arlington jolted me with reminders of my heritage and brought back those plaintive memories from my childhood. In 1915, there was a Bergen-Belsen in the Syrian desert that history had forgotten, and the pain and suffering endured by the victims and the survivors of the Armenian Genocide suddenly made my mission very real during our quiet ride back to the White House.”

Khachigian described how the commemoration of the Armenian Genocide at the Arlington Cemetery inspired him to write what many have described as Reagan’s greatest speech which he delivered days later during his visit to the former concentration camp of Bergen-Belsen in Germany.

Khachigian concluded, “the clattering of the keys on the IBM typewriter began shouting through me the story I absorbed that morning and the one the president — and I — needed to tell.”

August 30, 2024
Turkish Textbooks Brainwash Students By Denying Genocide Against Minorities

Turkish investigative journalist Uzay Bulut published on the Gatestone Institute’s website an article titled, “Turkish Textbooks: Turning History on Its Head.”

Bulut wrote: “Turkish government authorities have targeted their own indigenous peoples of Anatolia, namely the Pontic Greeks and Armenians. In the twentieth century, Ottoman Turkey largely exterminated these peoples through a genocide.”

Bulut explained: “The government of Turkey, however, refers to the genocide as the ‘unfounded claims’ of Greeks and Armenians. The titles in the Turkish history textbooks were previously called the ‘Pontus Issue’ and the ‘Armenian Question.’ They are now changed to the ‘Unfounded Pontus Claims’ and the ‘Unfounded Armenian Claims.’”

Turkey also denies that Armenians, Assyrians and Greeks are indigenous peoples of the land where Turks settled centuries later, occupied the land and exterminated those already living there.

“Muslim Turks from Central Asia arrived in the Armenian highlands and Anatolia, which was the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire at the time, only during the 11th century. Through military invasions, Muslim Turks seized the towns and cities where indigenous Christians had lived for centuries. Ottoman Turks finally invaded Constantinople (today’s Istanbul) in the fifteenth century, bringing the destruction of the Byzantine Empire. After that, abuses against Christian religious and cultural heritage became widespread,” Bulut wrote.

The sad part is that young Turkish schoolchildren, who have no idea about the real history of their country, are brainwashed with falsehoods about their country’s origin, and fed hatred about the remnants of the minorities. Consequently, these children become adults parroting the lies taught to them in their schools by denying that the Ottoman government committed genocide against indigenous Armenians, Assyrians and Greeks. These Turkish children have no fault for not knowing the true history of their country nor the facts about the genocide committed against the minorities. They are fed the lies that the minorities lived happily in the Ottoman Empire for centuries until European powers instigated them to rebel against their government. On the contrary, minorities living in the Ottoman Empire were always oppressed, enslaved, attacked, robbed, kidnapped, raped, and massacred, culminating in the genocide of 1915. These minorities were not even considered to be second class citizens. They had no rights whatsoever and were at the mercy of their brutal rulers. Bulut correctly described the education of the Turkish schoolchildren as “misinformation, willful distortion, and historic revisionism.”

This is not just a dispute between Armenians and Turks. The Turkish government knows better than anyone that the accusations of genocide are factual, since the Ottoman archives in its possession reveal the truth, even after being selectively cleansed of any incriminating evidence.

In 2007, the International Association of Genocide Scholars issued a resolution, which said, in part: “It is the conviction of the International Association of Genocide Scholars that the Ottoman campaign against Christian minorities of the Empire between 1914 and 1923 constituted a genocide against Armenians, Assyrians, and Pontian and Anatolian Greeks.”

According to Dr. Gregory H. Stanton, President of Genocide Watch, denial is the last stage of genocide: “Denial is a continuation of a genocide because it is a continuing attempt to destroy the victim group psychologically and culturally, to deny its members even the memory of the murders of their relatives.”

More importantly, I suggest that the proud citizens of Turkey listen carefully to the truthful admission of the founder of the modern Republic of Turkey, Kemal Ataturk, who told the Los Angeles Examiner newspaper in an interview published on August 1, 1926: “These leftovers from the former Young Turk Party, who should have been made to account for the lives of millions of our Christian subjects who were ruthlessly driven en masse from their homes and massacred.” I hope no Turkish citizen would be foolish enough to call Ataturk a liar, otherwise they will be jailed immediately if they live in Turkey and if they are currently outside the country, they will be promptly arrested upon returning home.

The Turkish government, at long last, should face the truth and teach the innocent Turkish students the tragic facts of history about the massacres and genocide for which neither today’s young generation nor the current Turkish government were responsible for since they did not even exist during these murders. All nations have dark stains in their history, but instead of hiding them, they come clean and face their true history, including both the tragic and glorious episodes. Only then nations can overcome their shadowy pasts and move forward. Look at the example of Germany which accepted its guilt for the Holocaust and made amends. Otherwise, future generations of Turks will grow up trying to deny and lie about their ignominious past and will always have a guilty conscience for something they played no part in. However, their lies and denials make them accomplices of these crimes after the fact.

August 30, 2024
The intention is different, the outcome is different!

Prof. Dr. Ata Atun

As a person who knows and recognizes the Greeks and Greek Cypriots, their family structures, cultures, beliefs, education, humor, mindset, religious beliefs and feelings, I started to do research in the British Archives on the economic embargo, threats and arrest attempts that the Greek Cypriots and Greeks wanted to implement in Cyprus.

The subject I researched was who incited Greece to land troops in Izmir on May 15, 1919, without looking at its size, “with the aim of occupying the Western half of Anatolia and invading its lands”.

You can understand who encouraged Greece and why after reading historical documents related to Greece and a few other countries in a parallel and synchronous manner. You don’t even need to read all of them. When you read eight or ten documents, the mystery and uncertainty emerge.

The summary of the incident is as follows; The founder of the First World War is the Great British Empire, in other words, today’s England.
His eyes are on the oil fields in the Middle East.

The big goal is to break up the Ottoman Empire, which the Western states have managed to wear down and weaken after years of joint efforts, to seize the Middle East and North Africa, and to prevent it from getting back on its feet and getting stronger.

In line with the goal drawn from the First World War, which was started with a fictional event, when the Ottoman Empire is defeated, it is time for the second stage and to seize the lands of the Empire. And it is time to do so, but for this, the British Empire needs another million soldiers, weapons and ammunition.

The British Empire has limited resources, its army is tired and some of them are deployed in many parts of the world for exploitation purposes. Since recalling its soldiers from the colonies would mean losing the colonies, another solution must be found. The most ingenious, applicable and not a burden on the British treasury solution would be to have the allies occupy Anatolia and keep the Ottoman army busy with these invaders.

The idea is immediately put into practice. The Greeks, Italians, French, Armenians and Russians descend on Anatolia.

Those who know know. When the Greeks feel that there are powerful people behind them, they think of themselves as lions, the kings of the forests, and in a state of power drunkenness they attack those they consider enemies. They gain courage, in a way… Their mindset has been like this for centuries.

Indeed, their dreams of occupying Anatolia and annexing it to the lands of the Kingdom of Greece, which began with a great show and ostentation by setting foot in Izmir on May 15, 1919, resulted in their having to flee Izmir, where they had set foot 3 years earlier, on September 9, 1922, leaving eighty percent of the Greek army buried underground in Anatolia.

They made the same mistake in Cyprus.
Thinking that they were the owners of the island, they attacked the Turkish Cypriots on the morning of December 21, 1963, in order to become the absolute ruler of the island of Cyprus and to annex the island to Greece. The Atlantic Alliance was behind them.

On March 4, 1964, with the decision taken by the United Nations, a subsidiary of the Atlantic Alliance, they believed themselves to be the legal government of the island and launched armed attacks on the Turkish Cypriots on August 6, 1964 and November 15, 1967, ending in disappointment, while the coup they launched on July 15, 1974, with the aim of annexing the island of Cyprus to Greece, ended in a great defeat and a national disaster for them.

It is clear that the Greeks and the Greeks have still not learned a lesson from the past.

With the Atlantic Alliance as their back, they have launched an economic and legal attack with the aim of financially destroying the Turkish Cypriots and making them dependent on them, and they are applying all the pressure they can. One of these is making an agreement with tour operators not to cross into the TRNC. However, it is certain that they will be under this mindless attack again at the end of the process.
They still do not even realize that they are forcing the Turkish Cypriots to annex to Turkey and become part of the Motherland in order to escape all kinds of isolation, embargo, economic pressure and restrictions that they are trying to impose.

Prof. Dr. (Civil Eng.), Assoc. Prof. Dr. (UA. Relation.) Ata ATUN
TRNC President Advisory Board Member
TRNC Republic Assembly 1st Term Deputy

August 27, 2024
Erdogan Is Said to Have Divine Attributes:“Absolute Power Corrupts Absolutely”

In his article in the Nordic Monitor, Abdullah Bozkurt wrote about Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan shrouding himself with the attributes of God, or Allah. Erdogan’s subservient inner circle reinforces that self-aggrandizing and exaggerated view by claiming that he has divine powers. The article is titled, “Turkey’s president suffers from a God complex, revered for attributes belonging to Allah and the Prophet.”

Bozkurt starts his article by describing Erdogan as “a leader who believes he possesses superior abilities and apparently suffers from a God complex… Erdogan has decimated the opposition, imprisoned his critics and opponents, consolidated all levers of power in his hands, destroyed checks and balances and become the sole decision-maker on all matters in his own country. His inflated view of his abilities and infallibility, coupled with the presence of yes-men surrounding him, reinforces his narcissistic personality and shores up his superiority complex. He considers himself the caliph, the leader of the entire Muslim community worldwide, and therefore believes he deserves special consideration.”

Bozkurt recalls that after Erdogan’s party’s (AKP) defeat in the March 2024 parliamentary elections, he said on April 17: “Ladies and gentlemen! Let everyone see and know this: nothing is over until we say it’s over.” This innocent sounding statement turns out to have “shocking ramifications… in the context of political Islamic circles, [challenging] the divine will of Allah, one of the six main pillars of Islam, which means Allah is the ultimate decision-maker and everything happens only according to His divine will. The remark reflects Erdogan’s inner thinking as he has become accustomed to being the final arbiter in Turkish matters after a long rule of near-absolute power. Erdogan did not utter these words in a vacuum; he has a long track record of seeing himself in such a godly manner. The worshipful praise from his followers has certainly contributed to shaping the president’s psyche.”

While speaking at a campaign rally in March 2024, Erdogan said, “We have come for mercy, not for wrath. Our mercy will prevail over our wrath.” By describing his government’s reaction to his critics and opponents in such a manner, Erdogan made “a direct reference to Allah’s unique attribute in the conventional Islamic school of thought, which was described in a saying of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad: ‘When Allah decreed the creation, He pledged Himself by writing in His Book which is laid down with Him: My Mercy prevails over My Wrath.’ Milli Gazete, the newspaper of the opposition Islamic political Saadet Party wrote: Erdogan ‘associating himself with the attributes of Allah astonished the audience.’”

Erdogan’s associates and senior members of his ruling party, engaging in sycophancy, make exaggerated statements reinforcing his claim of possessing superior powers. Here are some of the examples Bozkurt provided:

“In July 2011, the AKP’s then-Bursa deputy Huseyin Shahin stated after talking and visiting Erdogan that ‘even touching our esteemed Prime Minister [Erdogan], I believe, is an act of worship. I’m saying this because even his presence energizes us.’”

“Fevai Arslan, another lawmaker from Erdogan’s ruling AKP, said in January 2014, ‘There is Mr. Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a leader who embodies all the attributes of Allah. They wanted to thwart him.’”

“Zulfu Tolga Aghar, a long-time AKP lawmaker, likened Erdogan to God in a speech he made in August 2019, stating, ‘When we are told about the President, it feels like we are being told about Allah.’”

“Addressing some 1,500-party faithful in November 2009, Ismail Hakkı Eser, the AKP’s then-Aydın provincial office head, told the crowd, ‘Let no one doubt the love and respect our people under this roof have for our Prime Minister [Erdogan]. We are devoted to our Prime Minister; he is like a second prophet to us.’”

“Former EU affairs minister Egemen Baghish declared several cities to be holy, akin to the Islamic holy sites of Mecca and Medina, in February 2013, saying, ‘Rize, Istanbul and Siirt are holy cities because these three cities have been instrumental in the birth of the greatest leader in the history of the Republic of Turkey.’ Rize is Erdogan’s family’s home province, while Istanbul is where he was brought up and entered politics. Siirt, his wife’s home province, is the constituency where he was elected to parliament for the first time in a March 2003 repeat election. Despite being incriminated in a multi-million dollar graft scheme, Erdogan stood by Baghish and appointed him ambassador to the Czech Republic.”

“Some went as far as saying that Erdogan surpassed the Islamic Prophet. Efkan Ala, then interior minister, said, ‘Prophet Muhammad was overtaken by pride, so God warned him. We, on the other hand, will not be tempted by pride.’ Ala’s successor, Suleyman Soylu, claimed in December 2021 that the work of the Erdogan government was the work of Allah. ‘Don’t just look at what we do. We don’t do it by ourselves. We believe that it is Allah who makes us do it.’”

“In February 2010, Oktay Saral, an AKP politician who governed the Of district of Trabzon province, called for the worship of Erdogan and said that a prayer of gratitude, similar to Muslim rituals for God, must be performed because Erdogan is the blessed leader of the Islamic world.”

“Some of Erdogan’s deputies likened his speeches to the Sunnah, which refers to the sayings and practices of the Prophet Muhammad and is considered to be the second authoritative source of knowledge for Muslims after the holy Quran.”

Bozkurt added: “There have been dozens of instances of God-like attributions made for Erdogan during his more than two decades of rule in Turkey. None of them were challenged by Erdogan himself, who appeared to enjoy such praise. In his self-perception, perhaps he feels like a god or a God-chosen messenger who came to power to lead Muslims all over the world.”

“Compounding matters further is that President Erdogan is surrounded by yes-men and women who worship him and dare not utter views that would displease him. The profile of people he has chosen to include in his inner circle paints a picture of those who shy away from critical thinking and avoid challenging views in the governance of the country. In reality, Erdogan is nothing but a thug, a narcissistic dictator who abuses religion for his political ambitions while enriching his family members and associates with billions of dollars through pervasive corruption in his administration and profits from all sorts of illicit business activities and criminal enterprises,” Bozkurt concluded.

August 17, 2024
Turkey Allocated $544 Million to Invigorate Its Communities in Foreign Countries

Two months ago, I wrote an analysis titled: “Turkey is Backing its Citizens Abroad, While Armenia is Alienating its Diaspora.” It was based on an article by Abdullah Bozkurt in the Nordic Monitor: “Turkey is expanding its Diaspora engagement to promote political goals abroad.”

Last week, Bozkurt published a follow-up article titled: “Turkey poised to intensify its interference in the domestic affairs of other countries using the Turkish Diaspora.” It provides further details about the Turkish government’s efforts to set up proxy groups using its citizens abroad. In contrast, Armenia is alienating its Diaspora by creating rifts and banning some of them from entering the country. Given the serious crisis Armenia is in, its government should be doing everything possible to entice compatriots abroad to visit their homeland, invest in the country, and bring over their knowledge and skills. The Diaspora is a valuable asset for Armenia, not a ‘milking cow.’

The powerful Turkish State, which doesn’t really need the help of its citizens abroad, is nurturing and strengthening its Diaspora. The Turkish government has allocated a budget of $544.2 million for the years 2024-28 to its Diaspora agency, the Presidency for Turks Abroad and Related Communities (YTB in Turkish). Its strategic plan is “to foster a stronger allegiance to Turkey on the part of people in the Turkish Diaspora, with increased financial and other support from the Erdogan government.”

Bozkurt explained that the real aim of the Turkish government is “to exert greater influence over the domestic politics of European nations by actively supporting Turkish and Muslim communities in their political engagement, as revealed by the head of the government’s diaspora agency during testimony before a parliamentary committee.” Abdullah Eren, head of YTB, told the Turkish Parliament on July 17 that he “could reveal more in a closed-door session, from which the record of his comments would not be made public.”

The reason for Eren’s secrecy is that YTB is “supported by Turkish agencies that work with Diaspora groups, such as the Turkish intelligence organization MIT, Foreign Service, Maarif Foundation, Religious Affairs Directorate (Diyanet), Yunus Emre Institute and Turkish Cooperation and Development Agency.” The aim is “to place more pro-Turkish politicians on the political map abroad. Their efforts are particularly focused on Europe, where the bulk of Turkish Diaspora groups reside. In the last decade the Erdogan government has supported the establishment of smaller political parties in Europe, particularly those driven by religious agendas. It has endorsed candidates working in established mainstream parties, expecting them to act as proxies for Turkish government policies. However, the results have been unsatisfactory so far, prompting the Turkish government to vow increased efforts to fulfill what it describes as a strategic goal.”

According to Seda Goren Boluk, the chair of the parliamentary committee overseeing YTB, “the target population in the Diaspora is nearly 40 million, consisting of approximately 7 million Turks and over 30 million people from related [Muslim] communities in other countries. She vowed to do everything possible to address issues concerning Diaspora groups in order to empower the Turkish nation.”

According to a YTB survey, “among the youth in the Turkish Diaspora, estimated to be around 2 million strong and now in its fourth generation, one-third of respondents expressed a desire to be proactive in the politics of European countries and sustain their campaigns.” Another third of the Turkish youth abroad “intends to conceal their true intentions and launch their campaigns on behalf of Turkey only after securing key positions in mainstream political parties.” The last third said that they have zero interest in getting involved in politics.

To encourage Turkish youth to get involved in the politics of the countries they live in, Eren cited the example of “Serap Guler, a German politician of Turkish background in the CDU [Christian Democratic Union] and a member of the Bundestag [German Parliament] since 2021. Despite expressing some criticism towards Turkey in the past, Guler has maintained contact with the Turkish embassy and Turkish government institutions.”

The overcome the legal and political challenges of Turks living overseas, YTB urged the Turkish government “to utilize its diplomatic influence and public diplomacy tools to exert pressure on foreign countries to lift these restrictions on Turkish Diaspora groups.”

YTB “has already been collaborating with numerous groups operating in Europe and other continents, providing them with funding, logistical, and technical support to enhance their effectiveness.” YTB participated in Ankara in early May “in a program organized by the Union of International Democrats, an organization that acts as a foreign interest group representing Erdogan’s ruling AKP abroad.”

YTB “brings 4,000 young men and women to Turkey every year under various schemes for training and education in camps maintained by Turkey’s Ministry for Youth and Sports. According to Eren, many young Turkish engineers studying in Europe have been enrolled in internship programs in what he termed ‘critical industries,’ such as defense and military technologies. He identified state-owned defense contractors like Aselsan and Tusash as venues where these individuals were recruited for internships.”

Eren stated that “groups critical of and opposed to the Erdogan government [are] a threat to achieving YTB’s stated goals since they undermine the Turkish government’s policies in the Diaspora. This includes the Gulen movement, Kurdish opposition groups, and Alevis.”

It remains to be seen how governments in Europe and the United States will deal with the Erdogan government’s proxy groups which are considered to be unregistered foreign agents.

August 17, 2024