Turkish Forum

Tag: Davos

  • Jews check Armenian genocide stance

    Jews check Armenian genocide stance


    By ALLISON HOFFMAN, JERUSALEM POST CORRESPONDENT

    An official with a leading American Jewish organization told the The Jerusalem Post on Monday that a deterioration in Israel-Turkey relations might prompt his group and others to reconsider Armenian efforts to win recognition of the century-old Turkish massacres as genocide.

    A bill that would ensure such recognition by the US, which was backed by Rep. Adam Schiff – a Jewish Democrat who represents a heavily Armenian area of Los Angeles – failed to make it to a Congressional vote in 2007. However, it sparked a row in the American Jewish community between those who sided with Turkey in an effort to protect Israel’s political interests, and those who argued that Jews were particularly responsible for helping other groups block the public denial of genocide.
    “No Jew or Israeli in his right mind will insult Turkey,” the official told the Post. “But next time… they might not come to Turkey’s aid or equivocate quite so much on the issue.”
    The Bush administration opposed the bill out of concern for what it would do to US-Turkey relations.
    The current blowup between Israel and Turkey comes amid expectations that the Obama administration will name academic and writer Samantha Power, an expert on genocide, to a key National Security Council post dealing with multilateral institutions. Power has been outspoken in labeling the Turkish massacre of Armenians genocide, albeit from outside the government.
    One Washington-based Jewish community leader said Jewish organizations were unlikely to reorient their views and begin backing legislation to recognize the Armenian genocide, arguing that this would only make a delicate situation far worse.
    “If organizations aren’t backing Armenian genocide resolutions because of the Turkish-Israeli relationship and their concern about the Turkish Jewish community, I don’t think they would change now,” he said. “Those same concerns remain, and those same pressures remain.”
    Anti-Defamation League head Abraham Foxman – whose opposition to the Armenian genocide legislation in 2007 provoked widespread criticism – told the Post that as long as Israel maintained its diplomatic ties with Turkey, he saw no immediate reason to change his position on any future genocide resolutions.
    “This is not a punishment or a reward issue – we don’t change our position on what’s right or wrong based on what people say,” Foxman said. “The interests between Israel and Turkey continue.”
    Foxman also noted that he knew of Jewish friends who had cancelled trips to Turkey over Erdogan’s comments, but described the Erdogan flap as a disagreement between “friends.”
    “There have been some very inappropriate harsh statements by the leadership, especially by the prime minister, which we think are inappropriate,” he said, “but they have not changed the basic relationship [with Israel].”
    Hilary Leila Krieger and Haviv Gur Rettig contributed to this report.

  • Turkey’s Turn from the West

    Turkey’s Turn from the West

    Soner Cagaptay

    Washington Post, February 2, 2009

    Turkey is a special Muslim country. Of the more than 50 majority-
    Muslim nations, it is the only one that is a NATO ally, is in
    accession talks with the European Union, is a liberal democracy and
    has normal relations with Israel. Under its current government by the
    Justice and Development Party (AKP), however, Turkey is losing these
    special qualities. Liberal political trends are disappearing, E.U.
    accession talks have stalled, ties with anti-Western states such as
    Iran are improving and relations with Israel are deteriorating. On
    Thursday, for example, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan walked out
    of a panel at Davos, Switzerland, after chiding Israeli President
    Shimon Peres for “killing people.” If Turkey fails in these areas or
    wavers in its commitment to transatlantic structures such as NATO, it
    cannot expect to be President Obama’s favorite Muslim country.
    Consider the domestic situation in Turkey and its effect on relations
    with the European Union. Although Turkey started accession talks,
    that train has come to a halt. French objections to Turkish
    membership slowed the process, but the impact of the AKP’s slide from
    liberal values cannot be ignored. After six years of AKP rule, the
    people of Turkey are less free and less equal, as various news and
    other reports on media freedom and gender equality show. In April
    2007, for instance, the AKP passed an Internet law that has led to a
    ban on YouTube, making Turkey the only European country to shut down
    access to the popular site. On the U.N. Development Program’s gender-
    empowerment index, Turkey has slipped to 90th from 63rd in 2002, the
    year the AKP came to power, putting it behind even Saudi Arabia. It
    is difficult to take seriously the AKP’s claim to be a liberal party
    when Saudi women are considered more politically, economically and
    socially empowered than Turkish women.

    Then there is foreign policy. Take Turkey’s status as a NATO ally of
    the United States: Ankara’s rapprochement with Tehran has gone so far
    since 2002 that it is doubtful whether Turkey would side with the
    United States in dealing with the issue of a nuclear Iran. In
    December, Erdogan told a Washington crowd that “countries that oppose
    Iran’s nuclear weapons should themselves not have nuclear weapons.”

    The AKP’s commitment to U.S. positions is even weaker on other
    issues, including Hamas. During the recent Israeli operations in
    Gaza, Erdogan questioned the validity of Israel’s U.N. seat while
    saying that he wants to represent Hamas on international platforms.
    Three days before moderate Arab allies of Washington, including
    Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia, gathered on Jan. 19 in Kuwait to
    discuss an end to the Gaza conflict, Erdogan’s officials met with
    Iran, Syria and Sudan in Qatar, effectively upstaging the moderates.
    Amazingly, Turkey is now taking a harder line on the Arab-Israeli
    conflict than even Saudi Arabia.

    For years, Turkey has had normal relations with Israel, including
    strong military, tourist, and cultural and commercial ties. The Turks
    did not emphasize religion or ideology in their relationship with the
    Jewish state, so Israelis felt comfortable visiting, doing business
    and vacationing in Turkey. But Erdogan’s recent anti-Israeli
    statements — he even suggested that God would punish Israel — have
    made normal relations a thing of the past. On Jan. 4, 200,000 Turks
    turned out in freezing rain in Istanbul to wish death to Israel; on
    Jan. 7, an Israeli girls’ volleyball team was attacked by a Turkish
    audience chanting, “Muslim policemen, bring us the Jews, so we can
    slaughter them.”

    Emerging anti-Semitism also challenges Turkey’s special status. Anti-
    Semitism is not hard-wired into Turkish society — rather its seeds
    are being spread by the political leadership. Erdogan has pumped up
    such sentiments by suggesting Jewish culpability for the conflict in
    Gaza and alleging that Jewish-controlled media outlets were
    misrepresenting the facts. Moreover, on Jan. 6, while demanding
    remorse for Israel’s Gaza operations, Erdogan said to Turkish
    Jews, “Did we not accept you in the Ottoman Empire?” Turkey’s tiny,
    well-integrated Jewish community is being threatened: Jewish
    businesses are being boycotted, and instances of violence have been
    reported. These are shameful developments in a land that has provided
    a home for Jews since 1492, when the Ottomans opened their arms to
    Jewish people fleeing the Spanish Inquisition. The Ottoman sultans
    must be spinning in their graves.

    The erosion of Turkey’s liberalism under the AKP is alienating Turkey
    from the West. If Turkish foreign policy is based on solidarity with
    Islamist regimes or causes, Ankara cannot hope to be considered a
    serious NATO ally. Likewise, if the AKP discriminates against women,
    forgoes normal relations with Israel, curbs media freedoms or loses
    interest in joining Europe, it will hardly endear itself to the
    United States. And if Erdogan’s AKP keeps serving a menu of
    illiberalism at home and religion in foreign policy, Turkey will no
    longer be special — and that would be unfortunate.

    Soner Cagaptay is a senior fellow and director of the Turkish
    Research Program at The Washington Institute, and author of Islam
    Secularism and Nationalism in Modern Turkey: Who Is a Turk?

  • Abdullah, Gul to discuss Palestine, bilateral relations

    Abdullah, Gul to discuss Palestine, bilateral relations

    Posted by: “ALI BENLIOGLU” aliserefbenlioglu@yahoo.com

    Sun Feb 1, 2009 2:45 pm (PST)

    GHAZANFAR ALI KHAN / ARAB NEWS

    RIYADH: Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah will hold talks with Turkish President Abdullah Gul here tomorrow in a renewed bid to boost bilateral ties and exert more efforts to pressure Israel and the international community to resolve the crisis and restore peace in the Middle East.

    “The Turkish president, who will be accompanied by a 140-member delegation, will begin a four-day official visit to the Kingdom on Tuesday,” said Turkish Ambassador Naci Koru, here yesterday.

    The visit of Gul on the invitation of King Abdullah is very important keeping in view the fact that Turkey can play an influential role in eliminating divisions among the Palestinians, a move strongly supported by King Abdullah himself. Koru said the two leaders would discuss the whole gamut of bilateral, regional and international issues, including Gaza,
    Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan in their talks.

    Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan was given a hero’s welcome recently on his return to Istanbul after accusing Israel of “knowing very well how to kill” during a heated debate at the World Economic Forum. Moreover, Riyadh and Ankara have also renewed their commitments to boost bilateral ties, which have been progressively growing following the historic visit of King Abdullah to that country in 2006.

    Asked about any accord to be inked by the Kingdom and Turkey during the president’s visit, Koru said that Gul would also witness the signing of two major agreements. The accords include an agreement in maritime transport sector and another in the field of youth and sports. He said that Gul’s itinerary, which will take him to Riyadh and Jeddah, would be intense because of several official-level meetings and visits to Saudi academic institutions.

    The ambassador said that the Turkish president would also visit the Riyadhbased King Saud University, the King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) and a military center near Al-Kharj, some 45 km south of Riyadh.

    He said that the Turkish president would address members of the Turkish community in Riyadh on Wednesday. He will visit the headquarters of the Organization of Islamic Conference on Feb. 5, the day he will arrive in Jeddah. The diplomat said that Riyadh and
    Ankara had forged closer ties on all fronts. The two-way trade exceeds $5 billion annually, representing a growth of 30 percent. Also, the tourism traffic has reported a massive increase from 22,000 Saudis visiting Turkey in 2001 to over 70,000 in 2008.

    Turkish Air is currently operating 28 flights a week from Saudi Arabia, compared to only a few flights per week four years back.

    This is in addition to the flights operated by Saudia and other Gulf carriers. In the field of agriculture, Riyadh and Ankara have mapped out a new strategy, which is now facilitating joint agriculture projects. Several Saudi and Turkish companies have come forward with proposals for joint projects, which need to be OK’d by regulatory authorities. In fact, the
    recent visit of Saudi Minister of Commerce and Industry Abdullah bin Zainal Alireza
    to Turkey cleared the decks for agriculture cooperation.

  • Will the AKP’s Foreign and Economic Policies Help in Local Elections?

    Will the AKP’s Foreign and Economic Policies Help in Local Elections?

    Will the AKP’s Foreign and Economic Policies Help in Local Elections?

    Publication: Eurasia Daily Monitor Volume: 6 Issue: 21
    February 2, 2009
    By: Saban Kardas

    Following his controversial remarks about Israel’s policies in Gaza made at the World Economic Forum (WEF) summit in Davos, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has refocused his attention on domestic politics. The municipal elections on March 29 are expected to be a major test of the policies of the Justice and Development Party (AKP). As the elections approach, the government is gearing its economic and foreign policies toward boosting the electoral performance of AKP candidates.

    In November Erdogan challenged his opponents, saying that if his party came in second in the elections, he would step down from the AKP chairmanship (Zaman, November 25). An earlier EDM analysis maintained that the March elections would be dominated by national political issues and the AKP might exploit its position as the incumbent to improve the chances of its candidates against their rivals (EDM, December 3).

    AKP representatives are capitalizing on Turkey’s new international profile to mobilize popular support. Deputy Speaker of Parliament Nevzat Pakdil told AKP party supporters that the coming elections were not just about voting for mayors or city council members but that the Turkish people would be asked to “approve Prime Minister Erdogan’s noble stance in Davos, which put Turkey on the map worldwide” (www.cnnturk.com, February 1).

    Indeed, most Turks view Erdogan’s walking out of the Davos meeting in protest over Israeli policies as a staunch defense of Turkey’s image and the rights of Palestinians in international forums (EDM, January 30). Erdogan’s team was successful in couching his policy in terms of conducting an independent foreign policy, and the Davos incident prompted the Turkish public to “rally ’round the flag.” Since the Turkish people historically have the impression of being treated as inferiors in international diplomacy, people from across the political spectrum expressed their support for Erdogan, welcoming him almost like a new national hero. Likewise, most party leaders affirmed Erdogan’s reaction, though expressing some reservations about his style.

    While Erdogan’s popularity has been boosted at home following the Davos incident, some critics charge that the government’s policies in the Middle East in general and Erdogan’s attitude in Davos in particular might be driven by populist concerns to secure victory in the elections. They also raise concerns that such short-sighted policies might undermine the country’s long-term interests (BirGun, Cumhuriyet, January 31).

    Analysts believe that that Davos incident will improve the AKP’s showing in the municipal elections. A survey conducted by the Metropoll polling company to measure the impact of the Davos incident revealed interesting results. As of January 31 Erdogan’s Davos position was supported by 78.3 percent of the respondents and Turkey’s Middle East policy by 82 percent. Compared with the results of Metropoll’s previous poll on January 24, the share of “those who approved the Prime Minister’s political style” increased from 55 to 74 percent. Moreover, when asked “what party would you vote for if there were an election this Sunday,” 49.3 percent said that they would vote for the AKP, in contrast to only 38.9 percent on January 24 (www.aktifhaber.com, January 31).

    The immediate impact of the Davos incident might have inflated the AKP’s support. Some analysts, including Tarhan Erdem of Konda polling company, believe that by the time of the elections the impact of Davos might have evaporated. Others, however, expect at least a 5 percent increase in the AKP’s vote in local elections. Observers point out in particular that through his Davos stance, Erdogan would probably undermine the performance of the Nationalist Action Party (MHP) and the Felicity Party (SP). The AKP is likely to prevent its nationalist and conservative voters from switching to the MHP and the SP, respectively, while attracting supporters from these two parties’ (www.haber3.com, January 31).

    After his abrupt return from Davos, Erdogan spent the weekend in Istanbul in a bid to throw his weight behind his party’s candidate for mayor of Istanbul, Kadir Topbas. He attended the opening ceremonies of several billion dollars worth of infrastructure investments in Istanbul, as well as AKP gatherings. He opened new lines extending Istanbul’s subway network and attended celebrations for the introduction of new ferries to Istanbul’s transportation fleet (Cihan Haber Ajansi, January 31; www.ntvmsnbc.com.tr, February 1).

    Speaking to large crowds, Erdogan touted the government’s successes in foreign policy, economy management, and tough bargaining with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). He accused the opposition, especially the leader of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), of populism and empty talk. He presented his own party as the only one that could “talk the talk and walk the walk,” noting improvements in the economic indicators.

    Although Erdogan promised that the AKP would not resort to populism, several of its policies and their timing raise questions about how sincere he was on that score. Providing free coal to low-income families has been a constant source of accusations that the AKP uses state money to solicit votes. Erdogan has responded to such criticism by claiming that the government was fulfilling the “social state’” requirement laid down in the constitution (Cihan Haber Ajansi, February 1).

    Erdogan also announced a price cut for natural gas by 17 percent for residences and 18 percent for industry effective on February 1 (www.cnnturk.com, February 1). In response to the falling energy prices on global markets, the government had been under pressure to reduce gas prices domestically. Although preparatory work on a formula to cut prices had been in progress for some time, the announcement of such a decision during the election campaign is significant.

    In a similar move, the Agricultural Minister announced that between January and March, the ministry would pay farmers half of the 5.026 billion lire ($3.023 billion) allocated for agricultural subsidies (www.dunyagazetesi.com.tr, January 31).

    It is perhaps unfair to charge the government with basing its economic and foreign policies on the short-term interest of winning the local elections; but undoubtedly the AKP skillfully capitalizes on its position as incumbent to the advantage of its own candidates, which raises the question: How level is the playing field for the opposition parties?

    https://jamestown.org/program/will-the-akps-foreign-and-economic-policies-help-in-local-elections/

  • Turkish PM Erdogan storms out of Davos over Gaza

    Turkish PM Erdogan storms out of Davos over Gaza

    with  comments


    A star is born.

    Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan quotes Avi Shlaim, reminds Shimon Peres of the sixth commandment (Thou shalt not kill), tells him ‘You are killing people’, and tells Davos he’s never coming again before storming off the stage.

    So first it was Venezuela, then Bolivia, and now Turkey. Have the Arab states no shame?

    Norman Finkelstein doesn’t think so. Here is what he told an audience in Bahrain: ‘The reaction from the Arab world was a total disgrace, a disgrace to the whole region and its people…What you showed in the last massacre in Gaza is that you have no shame at all…The most powerful reactions in the world came from Bolivia, Venezuela, Mauritania, Turkey and Qatar…There was more solidarity in South America than here’.

    Stormy debate in Davos over Gaza

    The Turkish prime minister has stormed out of a heated debate at the World Economic Forum in Davos over Israel’s offensive in the Gaza Strip.

    Recep Tayyip Erdogan walked out of the televised debate on Thursday, after the moderator refused to allow him to rebut the Israeli president’s justification about the war that left about 1,300 Gazans dead.

    Before storming out, Erdogan told Shimon Peres, the Israeli president: “You are killing people.”

    Peres told Erdogan during the heated panel discussion that he would have acted in the same manner if rockets had been falling on Istanbul.

    Moderator David Ignatius, a Washington Post columnist, then told Erdogan that he had “only a minute” to respond to a lengthy monologue by Peres.

    Erdogan said: “I find it very sad that people applaud what you said. There have been many people killed. And I think that it is very wrong and it is not humanitarian.”

    Ignatius twice attempted to finish the debate, saying, “We really do need to get people to dinner.”

    Erdogan then said: “Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. I don’t think I will come back to Davos after this.”

    ‘Understandable’

    Amr Moussa, the secretary-general of the Arab League and former Egyptian foreign minister, said Erdogan’s action was understandable.

    He said: “Mr Erdogan said what he wanted to say and then he left. That’s all. He was right,” adding that Israel “doesn’t listen”.

    The exchange took place on the second day of the summit, where business and political leaders have been discussing trade, financial regulation and global security.

    After grappling with a bleak global economy on the opening day, leaders attending the forum switched to debates on the new administration in the United States and unrest in the Middle East, Pakistan and Afghanistan.

    Kamal Nath, India’s trade minister, warned that the global economic crisis could fuel protectionism to safeguard national industries and jobs.

    Ban Ki-moon, the United Nations secretary-general, used the forum to announce the launch of an emergency appeal for $613m to help Palestinians recover from Israel’s attack on Gaza.

    Protectionist fears

    Nath said that India saw growing signs of protectionism and would respond with its own measures if its exporters were threatened “which will be good for no one.”

    He said: “We do fear this because one must recognise that at the heart of globalisation lies global competitiveness, and if governments are going to protect their non-competitive production facilities it’s not going to be fair trade.

    India has raised tariffs on steel to protect local producers, a measure trade experts say was aimed at China, which India does not regard as a market economy.

    The deepening economic crisis, and the failure to complete the World Trade Organisation’s long-running Doha round on freeing up global commerce, have raised fears that countries will block their partners’ exports to protect jobs at home.

    Such protectionism, if it led to tit-for-tat retaliation, would intensify the current crisis.

    Emerging economies

    The economies of India, China and Russia, which have been experiencing rapid growth in recent years, have taken precedence at the forum.

    Timothy Garton Ash, professor of European studies at Oxford University, said emerging markets are almost overshadowing the importance of the US economy.”What is really striking to me about this Davos, is the lack of a sense of a new beginning with Barack Obama,” he told Al Jazeera.

    “That is not what we’ve been hearing about in the last 24 hours, we’ve been hearing about China, about Russia, about India, about emerging economies, and that I think is a very significant fact.

    “It’s not just the American investment banks that have gone down, it’s America’s own soft power, and ability to lead that has been badly damaged by the crash.”

    Rachid Mohamed Rachid, Egypt’s minister of trade and industry, said there would be a rush towards emerging markets.

    “People understand today that there will not be growth in developed countries for a long time to come, the growth will continue to be in emerging markets, even more than before,” he told Al Jazeera.

    Gaza appeal

    The UN secretary-general said he had been deeply moved by his visit to Gaza and that he had given his word that the UN would help the Gazans in their hour of need.

    He said the appeal for fund covered the requirements of the UN and other aid organisations for the next six to nine months.Ban said it would help provide aid such as medical care and clean water and that an appeal for longer-term needs would be launched later.

    Asked about achieving peace in Gaza, Benjamin Netanyahu, the leader of Israel’s Likud party who was attending the forum, swiftly turned his answer to Iran, which he said was in a “100-yard dash” to get nuclear weapons.

    While he did not specify any planned military action, Netanyahu said if Iranian rulers were “neutralised”, the danger posed to Israel and others by Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in south Lebanon would be reduced.

    Netanyahu said the global financial meltdown was reversible but “what is not reversible is the acquisition of nuclear weapons by a fanatic radical regime”.

    Meanwhile, Manouchechr Mottaki, Iran’s foreign minister, who is also in Davos, said Tehran had taken note of the intention of Barack Obama, the US president, to withdraw troops from Iraq and believed he should also pull troops out of Afghanistan.

    Mottaki told a panel at the forum that Obama had “courage” to say which of the policies of George Bush, the former US president, he disagreed with and said his approach marked a “milestone” away from an era of “might equals right”.

    Turkish PM Erdogan storms out of Davos over Gaza

    Responses to ‘Turkish PM Erdogan storms out of Davos over Gaza’

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    1. Thank you for this. Excellent as usual.
      Ithink it is those shoes they are wearing….. First Muntadar threw his Turkish made shoes at Bush, and now the Turkish Prime Minister is head-butting with Perez. Yes Im sure he has his bought a new pair of Muntas :)))

      no2wars

      29 Jan 09 at 11:08 pm

    2. […] Read more here on PULSE.ORG […]

      It must be in those Turkish shoes they are wearing… « Ignited Identity

      29 Jan 09 at 11:11 pm

    3. Woohoo! Feels good!

      Dean

      29 Jan 09 at 11:28 pm

    4. Following the massacre on Google Trends Turkey was one of the countries which seemed most interested in Gaza. I’m sure he will have a lot of popular support for this at home.

      Well done Mr Erdogan!

      Dave

      30 Jan 09 at 12:31 am

    5. Shame on all the shameless arab leaders. They are cowards and puppets. Very soon they will all go to hell for their silence. Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyy Erdogan

      fred

      30 Jan 09 at 12:52 am

    6. […] Veo más en Pulse, en inglés. “A star is born“. Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)Israel destruye y deja sitio al […]

      Erdogan, Gaza, la dignidad de Turquía y Davos « Situjihadismo

      30 Jan 09 at 1:07 am

    7. Thank you, PM Erdogan, for standing up for what is right, for showing some spine and conscience when much of the rest of the world’s sham representatives stayed silent. Shame Shame Shame to most of the Arab “leaders”. Kudos to Türkiye.

      peoplesgeography

      30 Jan 09 at 1:12 am

    8. That was beautiful! Brought tears to my eyes and a lump in my throat. What a man. Erdoğan was heroic, and he made the others look like dickless little prigs at tea. Viva Türkiye! To think the EU gave them so much shit about membership. They should have been pleading.

      99

      30 Jan 09 at 1:37 am

    9. Al Jazeera was just showing Erdogan receive a hero’s welcome on his return. Crowds were gathered at the airport with Turkish and Palestinian flags to greet him. I bet the Kemalists are squirming.

      m.idrees

      30 Jan 09 at 1:49 am

    10. Turkey has some room to maneuver vis-a-vis Israel and the US, which is not speaking much of those Arab states. Erdogan will be showered with praise.

      How deeply ironic is it that those who are the most vocal on the Palestinian cause ARE not Arab but Turk, Lebanese Shiite and Persian?

      Joshua

      30 Jan 09 at 4:59 am

    11. A shame file of Arab journalists giving Israel a free pass from Iqbal Tamimi:

      peoplesgeography

      30 Jan 09 at 8:02 am

    12. Shame on American leaders. Even when america presidents were kicked on th face( by Sharon as reported by BBC during gaz conflict of 2002, albeit metaphorically) Americans could not react out of fear of Zionist lobby.Erdogan is man with back bone. a man of honour and courrage.

      Dr.Joji Cherian

      30 Jan 09 at 1:22 pm

    13. Muhammad,

      I just read over at Philip Weiss’s blog a rather more detailed description of what went over at Davos. I haven’t watched the entire episode unfold but I wonder what is your take on it?

      Nevertheless, Peres is one official on crack.

      Joshua

      31 Jan 09 at 4:56 am

    14. […] consistently and impartially applying rules to speakers. That debate in which Turkish PM Erdoğan walked out involved deliberately unequal times for speakers (see my calculations of actual speaking times in […]

      Peres’s Propaganda and Gaza Panel’s Biased Moderator « Silver Lining

      31 Jan 09 at 3:13 pm

  • Erdogan’s Outburst Could Damage Turkey’s International Standing

    Erdogan’s Outburst Could Damage Turkey’s International Standing
    February 01, 2009
    By Abbas Djavadi
    Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
    Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s fiery exchange with Israeli President Shimon Peres on January 29 at the World Economic Forum in Davos may earn him votes in Turkey’s March local elections or sympathy on the “Arab Street.”

    But it could well harm Turkey’s role as a bridge between the West and the Muslim world and as a would-be mediator between Israel and its Arab neighbors. Moreover, it won’t help Ankara’s relations with Washington or the country’s EU membership bid.

    Thousands gave Erdogan a hero’s welcome at Istanbul airport, hailing his pro-Palestinian outburst, and chanting: “Turkey is proud of you!” Turkey’s pro-government newspapers, as well as much of the Arab and Iranian media, reported positively on Erdogan’s appearance.

    But other commentators — including some in the Turkish media — are wondering how Erdogan’s outburst will affect Turkey’s international and regional standing.

    There have been attempts at damage control: Peres called Erdogan to say that, regardless of the dispute, he admired Turkey and the prime minister.

    And Erdogan reiterated that he stood by his criticism of the Gaza assault, but that he respected the Jewish people and his comments should not be interpreted as “anti-Semitic.” But the damage may be hard to reverse.

    Traditionally, Turkey has maintained good relations with both Israel and the Arab world. Last year, Ankara successfully tried to mediate Israeli-Syrian peace talks, despite a cool approach by the Bush administration.

    Turkey’s efforts under Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP) to liberalize the economy and make legislative reforms has earned it positive feedback from Brussels, which is considering Turkey’s EU membership, and from Washington, which is keen to see the success of a moderate and democratic Muslim country.

    Move Toward Muslim World

    But last year, Turkey took steps that many analysts saw as a shift away from the West and toward closer ties with the Muslim world and Russia.

    While freezing the internal reform process, Ankara reacted rather passively in criticizing Russia’s offensive in Georgia last summer and campaigned for a Caucasus Stability and Cooperation Pact, which had not been coordinated with the West and would include Russia.

    Erdogan himself called off Ankara’s mediation efforts in talks between Israel and Syria. He pointedly did not visit Israel as part of his Middle East visit in recent weeks.

    Resisting the overwhelming Western approach to consider Hamas and Hizballah as terrorist organizations, Ankara has argued that these groups represent parts of the Arab world that must be reckoned with and talked to instead of isolating and antagonizing them.

    On January 29, Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan reiterated his government’s position that Ankara is critical of Hamas but says it should be included in peace talks.

    Turkey was the first pro-Western Muslim country to invite a delegation of Hamas for an official visit to Ankara in 2006. And according to Murat Yetkin, writing in the liberal “Radikal” newspaper, Erdogan met with foreign journalists ahead of the Davos debate with Peres and noted that U.S. President Barack Obama would be better advised to redefine terrorist organizations in the Middle East and follow a new policy based on those new definitions.

    It appears, though, that Erdogan’s outburst was about more than just political calculation and perhaps reflected his bossy and undiplomatic style, triggered by his anger over Gaza.

    Turkish journalists close to the AKP report that Erdogan has been boiling with anger since Israel’s Gaza offensive. “I have been watching Erdogan since the late 1980s,” wrote Turkish analyst Rushen Chakir in the daily “Vatan,” “seeing him angry many times.” “From the point of diplomacy, I was certainly surprised. But [the fiery appearance at Davos] was typically Erdogan as I know him.”

    In his Davos outburst, the Turkish prime minister used the informal form of the word “you” (sen) instead of the more respectful “siz,” something he does when addressing the opposition in the Turkish parliament.

    His style of talking loudly, in a bossy and didactic tone, with little respect for the political opponent, has been a subject of both concern and humor among the Turkish people. Some critics refer to him as the “cowboy of Kasimpasha,” the area of Istanbul where Erdogan grew up. His style is shared by Erdogan’s main political opponent, Deniz Baykal, who heads the opposition and secular Republican People’s Party in parliament.

    But in a time of economic crisis, ever-less-promising talks on EU accession, a shaky relationship with Washington, and an increasing need and opportunity for a negotiated peace in the Middle East under President Obama, Turkey cannot afford such emotional outbursts.

    The country deserves leaders who care not just about getting votes domestically but can also regain diplomatically the international support the AKP received when it was elected in 2007.

    Abbas Djavadi is associate director of broadcasting at RFE/RL. The views expressed in this commentary are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect those of RFE/RL