Tag: arab uprisings

Turkish P.M. Erdogan: We Cannot Deny Our Ottoman Past

Posted by Ishaan Tharoor Thursday, September 29, 2011 at 2:24 pm

Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan stands among Justice and Development Party (AKP) members during a meeting at the party headquarters in Ankara, September 28, 2011. (Photo: Adem Altan /AFP / Getty Images) Read more:

Our interview with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, published earlier this week on Global Spin, dwelled mostly on the growing shadow cast by the charismatic premier across the face of Mideast geo-politics. One question edited out of the earlier transcript raised the legacy of the Ottoman Empire, whose dominion once stretched over much of the region. As they now swagger through Cairo, Tripoli and other former Ottoman strongholds, Erdogan and — perhaps to even greater degree — his Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu have earned the monicker of “neo-Ottomans.”

Few democratically-elected statesmen in this day and age would welcome the label of imperialists. And, for whatever connotations “neo-Ottomanism” invokes abroad, it’s a far more sensitive subject domestically in Turkey. Nearly a century of Ataturk-inspired, Western-facing secularism meant those raised in modern Turkey looked with wariness upon the decadence, decay and religiosity of Ottoman times, when, after all, Istanbul was the veritable capital of the putative Caliphate.

But much has changed since Erdogan’s rise to power. Turkey no longer pines after Europe — indeed, see Erdogan’s matter-of-fact retort at the close of our interview with him — is ruled by a moderate Islamist party, and has signaled clear intent to influence events in many of the countries once ruled by Ottoman Sultans. Below is Erdogan’s response to a question I posed to him on whether he accepted donning the neo-Ottoman mantle:

Of course we now live in a very different world, which is going through a scary process of transition and change. We were born and raised on the land that is the legacy of the Ottoman empire. They are our ancestors. It is out of the question that we might deny that presence. Of course, the empire had some beautiful parts and some not so beautiful parts. It’s a very natural right for us to use what was beautiful about the Ottoman Empire today. We need to upgrade ourselves in every sense, socially, economically, politically. If we cannot upgrade ourselves and the way we perceive the world, we will lag behind tremendously. It would be self-denial. That’s why whether it be in the Middle East or North Africa or anywhere in the world, our perception has in its core this wealth that is coming from our historical legacy. But it’s established upon principles of peace. And it all depends on people loving one another without discrimination whatsoever.

Critics may wonder how willing Erdogan and other Turkish leaders are to actually admit to the empire’s “not so beautiful parts”, not least the grisly massacre of Armenians when the Ottoman Empire itself was on its last legs. Turkish diplomats on the sidelines of U.N. meetings spoke to TIME of Erdogan’s professed commitment to values of peace, tolerance and neighborly love — a lofty sentiment not exactly on display during the continued Turkish offensive against rebel Kurds in the country’s east.

Still, it’s noteworthy that the Turkish P.M. sees in the Ottoman past a “wealth” — a soft-power cachet, based presumably on the empire’s extraordinary diversity and tolerance of many faiths — to inform the present. We tend to forgive many Western powers, say the French, British and even the Americans, for tracing their foreign policies sometimes in memory (or nostalgia) of lapsed empire. An ascendant, capable Turkey has every right to walk its own post-imperial path as well.

via Turkish P.M. Erdogan: We Cannot Deny Our Ottoman Past – Global Spin – TIME.com.

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September 30, 2011
Turkey seeks billions in post Arab Spring deals

Tom Arnold

The Turkish prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan visiting Libya on Friday. He also attended a rally at Martyrs' Square in Tripoli. Suhaib Salem / Reuters

Turkey has staked a claim in the rebuilding of Arab Spring economies, signing a flurry of lucrative contracts and seeking to secure multibillion dollars of deals.

The country’s bid for a leading role in reconstruction efforts in Libya, Egypt and Tunisia could prove crucial as advanced economies remain distracted by the twin concerns of slowing economic growth and sovereign debt, say analysts.

“From a regional perspective it makes perfect sense for Turkey to increase its ties with the Arab world as in the medium term there are bright prospects in the region in terms of growth and booming markets and after the Arab Spring optimism is even higher,” said Turker Hamzaoglu, an economist for Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa at Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

Turkey’s prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and scores of businessmen from the country visited Egypt, Tunisia and Libya last week. The aim was to cement new political and commercial ties with post-revolution regimes in the three countries.

Turkey signed agreements with Egypt to cooperate on a wide range of issues from technology to energy and pledged to raise trade from the existing level of US$3.7 billion (Dh13.5bn) to $10bn.

In Libya, Turkey said it planned to resume work on six Libyan oil wells on October 1 and also offered to build a new parliament as well as restore schools, police stations and judiciary buildings.

But the trip was about securing existing interests too. At stake is $18.5bn worth of contracts Turkish companies were involved with in Libya that have remained suspended since the civil war flared nearly seven months ago.

Sitting on the apron of the Middle East, Turkey has a long history of commercial ties with the region. In recent times these links have accelerated as Turkey has emerged as a rising economic power.

Turkish contractors helped to build infrastructure projects such as the Dubai Metro and Cairo’s latest airport terminal.

The region has also emerged as a key export market for a range of products from baklava to soap operas. Middle East and North Africa markets account for more than a quarter of Turkey’s exports, up from 17 per cent five years ago.

At least some of Turkey’s business has been threatened by unrest that has fanned across pockets of the region since December.

Like other export-led economies, Turkey has been hit by the disruption to trade caused by the turmoil.

Exports to Egypt have slid by almost 80 per cent in the first eight months compared with the same period last year. Trade with Libya has fallen to $550 million in the first seven months of this year, down from about $1.5bn in the same period last year. Exports to Tunisia have also declined.

While the trip was about seeking ways to rebound trade, the timing was also a reflection of the risk facing Turkey’s export-reliant model, said David Butter, the Middle East editor at the Economist Intelligence Unit.

“Now the environment is much more tricky,” he said. “The Syrian export market is likely to be effected by the violence there and the prospects in Europe are not so bight.”

A tightening crackdown on protesters by the Syrian president Bashar Al Assad since April has put at risk rising one-way trade with the country.

As much as $1bn of exports went to Syria in the first half of the year. The country also acted as a road route for Turkish lorries to transport goods onwards to the Gulf.

In Europe, a sovereign debt impasse is clouding the outlook of commerce with Turkey’s main trading partner. Nearly half of Turkish goods are consumed in the EU.

Turkey, meanwhile, has also announced a suspension of trade ties with Israel.

In the first half of the year, Turkey posted a $2m trade surplus with Israel. Mr Erdogan said this month that his country was suspending all trade, military and defence industry ties with Israel, reflecting worsening relations between the countries.

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via Turkey seeks billions in post Arab Spring deals – The National.

September 18, 2011
Why the Turkish model wouldn’t work

By Abdulmonem Mostafa
Al-Madina newspaper

During the dinner party of Hussein Awni, Turkey’s ambassador to Cairo, to honor Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the prime minister said he had passed by the Tahrir Square several times during his visit to Egypt. “Every time I pass by the Tahrir Square I can’t help but wonder how this square and its events will go down in history and how they will be remembered.”
This is a simple question, yet frightening because the answer might take a long time before it comes. History might view the Tahrir Square events as a revolution that has made sweeping changes in Egypt and hammered another nail into the coffin of the relationship between the general public and the regime. It is a revolution that laid foundation for establishing a modern democratic state. Also, history might, God forbid, view the revolution as a passing phase that will end and leave behind decades of new tyranny and endless disappointments.
The thousands of people who took to the streets of Cairo to welcome Erdogan can decide how to answer his question about how history would remember the Tahrir Square. For the first time in decades, the Egyptian public decides and chooses. However, public opinion has become a source of worry and danger because of its level of awareness and the level of awareness of those who run the mass media. The latter has found no limit on what they say and no longer wait for orders from the higher ups as they did before.
One of the most dangerous factors in the crisis and a source of legitimate fear is the mix-up between dream and reality, between what can be achieved and sheer wishes, even if these wishes were sincere.
For example, why did thousands of Egyptians took to the streets to welcome Erdogan? The answer is spontaneous admiration. Erdogan’s actions speak louder than words and his reputation precedes him in Egypt. It was he who asked the Israel ambassador to leave Turkey and it was he who downgraded Turkey’s level of relations with Israel. He also promised to send relief ships again to the Gaza Strip under the protection of the Turkish navy.
It is natural for Egyptians to admire him, but what is not natural is to project Turkey as if it would liberate Palestine by the stroke of the recent single crisis with Israel. These are nothing but illusions, which prove that Arabs misread the regional scene, and there are attempts to sway people to think in this way as a lever to settle a score and reap interests. This should not be allowed.
The people’s strong admiration for Erdogan led, in turn, to similar admiration of the Turkish model to the extent that some Arab media figures have started promoting the idea of applying the model to Egypt and other parts in the Arab World where unrests are taking place. Those who make enthusiastic calls for imitating the “Turkish model” did not see any harm in adding a new sentence to the Egyptian constitution which authorizes the army to protect the constitution.
Although it appears fine, this sentence taken from the Turkish constitution which made the army the sole protector and guarantor of secularism in Turkey. It is the very sentence that the Turkish people have been struggling for 80 years to omit from their constitution. Advocates of the Turkish model act as if the first thing to be done is to bring all political parties under the army’s umbrella.
Those who want to adopt the Erdogan model should search for an Erdogan among Egyptians. That is why I was not surprised a bit when asked whether it was possible to find an Egyptian Erdogan with the same charisma and influence. The protesters on Tahrir Square, who wanted to oust one man, are now looking also for one man, as if their concept of power and justice is associated with the leader and not the idea, with the man and not the establishment. It is frightening if they are looking for a new pharaoh for Egypt.
Those who called for imitating the Turkish model are also mixed up, I don’t know if is intentional or not, between the identity of each nation and its ruling model. What we know for sure is that the Turkish identity is different from that of Egypt and other Arab countries. The Turkish identity exists in countries that have been historically linked with the Turks and the Toranic identity. There are some differences which make some countries get into conflicts, especially those in Central Asia and the countries which freed themselves from the yoke of Russian rule after the collapse of the former Soviet Union.
It is most likely that advocates of the Turkish model in the Arab World liked the idea of merging secularism with the Muslim ruling party. They think that such a combination will solve a chronic conflict between originality and contemporary ideas. No one in the Arab World can discuss the secularism issue, which is banned.
It is most likely that Erdogan’s model might find a way out among liberal parties and forces that would defend on a model that they think does not find any contradiction between the principles of Shariah and the values of a modern state.
It is most likely that some Egyptian political parties with Islamic reference, perhaps Tunisian and Libyan parties in the future, might see in the Turkish model a chance to rally up support from moderate and liberal parties. Erdogan is trying to build a modern state based on establishments, respect and freedom where the rule of law prevails and applies equally to everyone without discrimination. These are the most important standards of today’s modern states.
Those who want to imitate the Turkish model should pay attention to two very important factors: First, the model of modern Turkey is the same model of modern states in Europe. Erdogan is trying to make the political, economic and social system in his country compatible with the European standards in anticipation of getting permission from Europe to join the European Union. Second, imitation in the world of politics is a big mistake because identities of nation are different and it is logical that the model of rule and government should be in harmony with the nation’s identity.
Erdogan wonders how Tahrir Square will go down in history. Nobody has the right answer to this question right now. There are mere wishes that what happened and is happening is a revolution not a passing phase. __

September 18, 2011
Turkey’s Erdogan angers Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood

Joseph Mayton

Erdogan was well received in Egypt during his trip.

CAIRO: Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood this week showed one of the few signs of anger toward Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s visit to the country, lashing out at his calls for Egypt to be a secular state and form a constitution based on those principles.

During his two-day visit to Egypt, Turkey’s PM was outspoken in his belief that Egypt could be a moderate Islamic country much like his own Turkey.

Hundreds of Egyptians gathered to welcome the Turkish leader, who won widespread support for his expulsion of the Israeli ambassador to Ankara and the cutting off of diplomatic ties with the Jewish state.

Brotherhood spokesman Mahmoud Ghozlan said in a statement released by the Islamic group that Erdogan’s comments constituted foreign intervention into Egypt’s internal issues.

He said that it would be impossible to apply Turkey’s political reality to Egypt.

Erdogan said on the television program that “a secular state does not mean that the people are atheists, it means respect for all religions and each individual has the freedom to practice his own religion.”

He added that “99 percent of the population in Turkey are Muslims, there are Christians, Jews and minorities, but the state treats them equally and this is recognized by Islam and has been true throughout Islamic history.”

Essam el-Erian, deputy leader of the Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice party said, “we welcome Turkey and we welcome Erdogan as a prominent leader but we do not think that he or his country alone should be leading the region or drawing up its future.”

Despite the criticism, many younger members of the Brotherhood have for a number of years, pushed for greater reforms internally within the group in an effort to promote many ideas similar to the Turkish model, which has enabled an Islamic government to take power.

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via Turkey’s Erdogan angers Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood – Bikya Masr : Bikya Masr.

September 17, 2011
Erdogan pitches Turkey’s democratic model on ‘Arab Spring’ tour

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan joined hands with Libya’s new leaders at Friday prayers today and promised to help their revolution succeed.

By Alexander Christie-Miller, Correspondent / September 16, 2011

Istanbul, Turkey

Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan (l.) and Chairman of Libya's National Transitional Council Mustafa Abdel Jalil wave to people during a rally at Martyrs' Square in Tripoli on Friday, Sept. 16. Suhaib Salem/Reuters

Turkey’s Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan (l.) and Chairman of Libya’s National Transitional Council Mustafa Abdel Jalil wave to people during a rally at Martyrs’ Square in Tripoli on Friday, Sept. 16.

Suhaib Salem/Reuters

Given the cheering throngs who greeted Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Libya and Egypt this month, one could be forgiven for thinking he was a rock star.

Few images of Turkey’s expanding influence are more powerful than of Mr. Erdogan joining hands with Libya’s new leaders for Friday prayers today.

“After we thank God, we thank our friend Mr. Erdogan, and after him all the Turkish people,” prayer leader Salem al-Sheikhi told the crowd of several thousand in Tripoli’s Martyrs’ Square. Erdogan knelt in the front row beside Mustafa Ahmed Jalil, chairman of Libya’s National Transitional Council.

“Our hands are clasped with those of the Turkish people,” said Mr. Sheikhi. “We will never forget what you did for us.”

Erdogan replied in kind afterward, turning the prayer session into a rally where Turkish flags commingled with new revolutionary ones. “Turkey will fight with you until you take all your victory,” he said. “You proved to all the world that nothing can stand in the way of what the people want.”

Indeed, the Turkish prime minister’s “Arab Spring tour” has been a hit as he makes his way across North Africa extolling Turkey as a democratic model for fellow Muslims who have cast off their dictators.

As the elected leader of a thriving Muslim democracy, Erdogan portrays himself as uniquely placed to encourage an orderly transition from autocracy to democracy – one that will rein in the more extremist Muslim groups unleashed by the Arab Spring.

But while Erdogan’s message of secular democracy may resonate with the West, the foundations of his growing prestige are worrying to US leaders. As his Islam-rooted party has increased its influence, Erdogan has taken a tougher stance against Israel, which he accuses of oppressing the Palestinian people and flouting international law.

Some say he risks a breach with the West by antagonizing Israel, but others contend he is offering a type of Muslim leadership that Europe and the US would do well to heed.

via Erdogan pitches Turkey’s democratic model on ‘Arab Spring’ tour – CSMonitor.com.

September 17, 2011
Syrian defector ‘confesses’ on state TV

By Ivan Watson, CNN

Istanbul (CNN) — Three months after he first appeared in an Internet video — in uniform, denouncing his government and calling on fellow soldiers to rebel — Lt. Col. Hussein al-Harmoush was back on television Thursday night, this time in a televised confession on Syrian state TV.

“I faced three edges of a sword,” he said, when asked why he returned from exile in Turkey to Syrian state custody. “I was a government defector and fugitive, second I left my society and family, and third, I fell out with those who coordinated with me.”

The drama gripped the country as violence played out in the streets. At least 46 people were killed across Syria on Friday in the ongoing confrontations between security forces and protesters, said the Local Coordination Committees of Syria, an opposition activist group that organizes and documents anti-government demonstrations. It said 45 of them were civilians and one was from the nation’s security forces. Twenty of the dead were in Idlib, 10 in Hama, five in Homs, five in Damascus and its surrounding area, and the rest were in Daraa and Deir Ezzor, LCC said.

Accounts of clashes inside Syria are difficult to independently confirm. The Syrian government has prevented international journalists from reporting without restraint inside the country.

The group said the body of al-Harmoush’s brother, Hassan, was found Friday; activists in Idlib posted on YouTube a video purportedly of the bloodied corpse.

Al-Harmoush also contradicted previous statements he had made as a rebel military leader, saying that “during my service in the Syrian army, nobody ordered me to fire at civilians. … I didn’t see or hear any commander in the army who gave orders to shoot at civilians.”

Al-Harmoush disappeared from a refugee camp where he had been living in Turkey on August 29. His sudden reappearance in Syrian government custody triggered a flurry of conflicting statements from Syrian opposition groups as well as from the Turkish government.

Several other men who said they had deserted from the Syrian armed forces released video statements demanding al-Harmoush’s release.

“Release him immediately and hand him to the Turkish government or we will respond harshly … by executing quick operations conducted by our brigades targeting all leadership of the military and security apparatus,” said a man who identified himself as Col. Riyad al-Asa’ad of the ‘Free Syrian Army.’

Some Syrian activists accused Turkey of handing al-Harmoush to Syrian security forces. Prominent Syrian exile activist Omar al-Muqdad first sounded the alarm about al-Harmoush’s disappearance on August 29.

“I talked to him on the morning of August 29th,” al-Muqdad said. “He said, ‘I have a meeting with a Turkish security man. When I finish I will call you.’ I waited for three days and didn’t hear from him. Then after that we discovered that the security man took him and didn’t send him back to the camp. They sent him to Syria directly. The Turks made a trick with Harmoush. They caught him in Turkey and sent him to Syria.”

The accusations prompted the Turkish foreign ministry to take the unusual step of publishing a statement denying the allegations.

“It is out of question that Syrian citizens are returned to Syria or any other country against their will,” the foreign ministry wrote, using an alternate spelling of al-Harmoush’s name. “It should be particularly emphasized that recent allegations concerning a Syrian citizen named Huseyin Harmush are totally unfounded.”

Omar Idlibi Said, a Beirut-based LCC representative, told CNN he believes al-Harmoush had been tortured and forced to make the televised statement. He also said al-Harmoush’s claims on Syrian state TV that Turkish smugglers are funneling weapons and ammunition across the border to Syrian rebels exonerated Turkey of any responsibility for the dissident officer’s capture.

“If the Turks handed him over, he would not say such a thing about Turkey. The Syrians would not let him mention that,” Said contended.

There is substantial evidence to suggest the Syrian regime carried out reprisal attacks against al-Harmoush’s family. Last week, Syrian security forces raided the village of Ibleen, killing al-Harmoush’s brother Mohammed as well as several other army deserters.

At least 2,978 people have been killed in Syria since mid-March, when demonstrations critical of the government were met with a fierce security crackdown, according to LCC.

Neighboring Turkey has become an “underground railroad” of sorts for Syrian opposition members.

Turkey has also hosted a number of Syrian opposition meetings. On Thursday, a group calling itself the Syrian National Council announced its formation at a conference in Istanbul.

Turkey’s prime minister, once one of the closest regional allies of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, had sharp words for the Damascus regime on Friday.

“Those who inflict repression on their own people in Syria won’t be able to survive,” Recep Tayyip Erdogan told journalists during a visit to the Libyan capital. “The period of autocracy is over. Totalitarian regimes are going. People’s governments are coming now.”

As occurred in a number of other countries, Erdogan’s government went from being a close trading partner of Libyan strong-man Moammar Gadhafi to becoming a staunch supporter of the rebel National Transitional Council.

Meanwhile, the Syrian government issued a statement protesting a recent meeting between the general secretary of the League of Arab States and representatives of the Syrian opposition.

Mohamed Mamoun Al Humsi, a former Syrian parliament member living in Cairo, said he and a number of other opposition members presented a list of demands during a meeting Wednesday with the Arab League’s secretary-general, Nabil Al Araby.

Among the opposition’s requests were the suspension of Syria’s membership in the Arab League, the establishment of a “no-fly zone” over Syria to prevent shipments of weapons to the regime, and an end to alleged intervention by Hezbollah and Iran in Syrian domestic affairs.

According to Syria’s state news agency, Syria’s representative to the Arab League accused Al Araby of exceeding his mandate, calling the meeting with the Syrian opposition an “irresponsible act.”

CNN’s Hamdi Alkhshali, Mohamed Fadel Fahmy and Yesim Comert

September 17, 2011