Tag: Recep Tayyip Erdogan

By MARC CHAMPION And AYLA ALBAYRAK

ISTANBUL—Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday attacked Kurdish political leaders in Turkey as “an extension” of terrorists and promised retaliation a day after Kurdish terrorists killed 13 Turkish soldiers.

Mr. Erdogan’s tough response appeared likely to further escalate tensions between the government and leaders of the country’s large Kurdish minority. Tensions have been building since a dispute over representation in parliament began after June 12 elections.

Kurdish leaders had warned the standoff could lead to renewed violence if it wasn’t resolved, reviving images of a brutal war that has claimed tens of thousands of lives since 1984. Economists see the possibility of a major terrorist campaign as a potent threat to Turkey’s booming economy, though they also say it remains unlikely.

The government attributed Thursday’s attacks to the Kurdish Workers Party, or PKK. The PKK didn’t claim responsibility.

Promising that Turkey’s military would respond to the attacks, Mr. Erdogan also lashed out at a Kurdish political assembly’s announcement that Turkey’s Kurds were declaring “democratic autonomy.”

“We have shown a lot of goodwill to their (the PKK’s) political extension,” Mr. Erdogan told reporters as he left Friday prayers. “But the proposals they always put forth are ones that are not seen anywhere in the world and are inconsistent.”

Turkey’s government, he said “will never sit down (to discuss) their dishonest proposals. If they want and ask for peace there is only one thing they can do, and that is for the terrorist organization to put down their arms. As long as they do not disarm, operations will not end and this process will be carried to a different direction.”

A statement by the general staff of Turkey’s armed forces Thursday had said 13 soldiers were killed and another seven wounded in a midafternoon ambush in southeastern Turkey near Diyarbakir.

Meanwhile, on Thursday afternoon, a Kurdish assembly of some 850 political, religious and civil-society leaders had issued a statement saying they were pushing forward with proposals for what they describe as “democratic autonomy.” Kurdish leaders said the statement had unanimous support within the assembly, the Democratic Society Congress, and had been worked out over days of discussion.

“As the Kurdish nation we are declaring democratic autonomy in the light of international human-rights documents… staying bound to the national unity of the peoples of Turkey,” said Aysel Tugluk, co-chair of the Congress and an elected deputy for the mainly Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party, or BDP, in a statement carried by the Kurdish Firat news agency. She called on the international community to recognize this democratic autonomy.

Kurdish officials remained vague on the details of what exactly their democratic autonomy means, but in her statement, Ms. Tugluk repeatedly stressed that it did not involve changing borders or breaking up the Turkish state.

Kurdish leaders have long made it clear they want to push for more political rights when Turkey drafts a new constitution, as Mr. Erdogan promised to do after the June 12 elections. But any talk of autonomy is explosive in Turkey, where such demands are seen as a first step toward secession.

Tensions between Kurdish leaders and the government have been growing in recent months, first as a result of a bruising election campaign and more recently when the BDP boycotted Parliament after several of its winning candidates were effectively barred from entering Parliament.

The BDP expanded its share of Parliamentary seats to 36 from 22 in the June poll, which Mr. Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party, or AKP, won with 49.8% of the vote. However, since then, one BDP candidate was disqualified by Turkey’s High Election Board on grounds of a prior conviction on terrorism-related charges. His seat was transferred to the ruling AKP.

In addition, courts have refused bail to five BDP candidates who ran for election while awaiting trial.

Negotiations between the two political parties aimed at resolving the dispute have so far produced no results, and Mr. Erdogan has taken an uncompromising line in public.

“This is the result of the prime minister’s actions in this BDP boycott process,” BDP legislator-elect Altan Tan said in a phone interview Thursday, referring to the declaration.

The BDP said it does not coordinate directly with the PKK, which is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and the European Union.

via Turkey Prime Minister Vows Retaliation to Kurdish Terrorists – WSJ.com.

By RAY MOSELEY

Al Arabiya London

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s apparent political ambitions to become president with increased powers are not in the country’s interests because of his “dangerous intolerance of criticism,” The Economist’s European editor told a London audience on Tuesday.

The editor, John Peet, described Mr. Erdogan as possibly the most important Turk since the founder of the republic, Kemal Ataturk, but said his goal of creating a strong presidency, apparently with himself at the helm, are “somewhat worrying.”

He said Mr. Erdogan appeared determined to stay in power for a long time, hinting during the recent national election campaign that he hoped to be president in 2023, the 100th anniversary of the republic.

“His party and he have shown they are intolerant of criticism. They don’t like opposition,” Mr. Peet told a meeting of the Royal Institute of International Affairs. He noted that Turkey ranks 138th in the world in the international press freedom index. The Turkish Journalists Association says 58 journalists are in jail, more than in China.

Mr. Peet ranked constitutional reform as one of four principal challenges facing Turkey after Mr. Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party won last month’s elections, gaining 327 seats in the 500-member National Assembly. The other challenges are: keeping its fast-growing economy from overheating, finding an accommodation with the Kurdish minority and maintaining its foreign policy goal of zero problems with its neighbors.

The Economist has come under heavy criticism from Mr. Erdogan’s supporters because it endorsed the country’s main opposition party, the Republican People’s Party, in the recent election. Mr. Peet said he was surprised anyone in Turkey even noticed.

He noted that the Turkish economy has enjoyed “fantastic success” since the 2001 meltdown in which the government had to call in the International Monetary Fund. It now has the world’s 16th largest economy and could become one of the top 10, he said, moving from basket case to what he called the China of Europe.

But he said Turkey has a worryingly large current account deficit, the economy is overheating, unemployment remains just under 10 per cent and the country has been reluctant to embrace reforms in such areas as labor markets and minimum wages.

He acknowledged that the Constitution, a military-dictated document dating from 1982, needs updating but questioned Mr. Erdogan’s goal of a presidency based on the French model.

“The problem I have with Turkey is autocracy and intolerance of criticism,” he said. He noted that, after the election, Mr. Erdogan promised to work with the opposition on writing a new Constitution but has since become involved in controversy with opposition parties that refuse to take their parliamentary seats because some of their members have been jailed.

As for the Kurds, he suggested the government is better at conflict than conflict resolution. It has taken some helpful steps in appeasing the Kurds, he said, but Mr. Erdogan’s opposition to centralization is “worrying.”

Mr. Peet was largely complimentary of Turkey’s performance in foreign policy. After initial hesitation about how to deal with the Arab spring, he said, the Turks have recognized that the Arab world needs political change. “They are doing some good in Syria and other countries in the region,” he said.

The Turkish government’s traditional friendly relations with Israel soured after Israeli commandos stormed ships in the so-called Gaza Freedom Flotilla in 2010 and killed nine activists aboard the ship Marmara. Earlier, at the time of the Israeli attack on Gaza in 2008-09, Turkey was involved as an interlocutor between Israel and Syria, yet Israel gave the Turks no warning of the Gaza invasion.

Mr. Peet said that caused deep resentment in Turkey.

Turkey and Israel will never go back to their relationship of 10 years ago, he said, but it would be helpful if Turkey could play a mediating role between Israel and its Arab neighbors.

He said Turks recognize that their future is with the European Union, but their country’s prospects of joining the EU look “pretty remote” because of opposition from French President Nicolas Sarkozy and some other EU leaders. He expressed hope that Mr. Sarkozy would be toppled in French elections next year.

Turkey’s EU prospects might be improved by movement in resolving the Cyprus impasse, he said, but noted there is little sign of concessions by either Greek Cypriots or Turkish Cypriots. The United Nations may be tempted to give up trying to resolve the conflict, he said.

(Ray Moseley is a London-based former chief European correspondent of the Chicago Tribune and has worked extensively in the Middle East. He can be reached at rnmoseley@aol.com.)

via Turkey’s ambitious Erdogan not a tolerant man. London Dispatch by Ray Moseley.

By M.A. Saki

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP) won another landslide victory in the general election on June 12.

The face of Turkey has changed since the AKP assumed power in 2002. It has emerged as an economic power and has transformed itself from a follower of the West into a key regional and international player.

The Turkish people open their arms to the AKP because it has created a dynamic economy, adopted policies in conformity with the socio-religious structure of the Turkish society, aligned itself with the Islamic world, and openly criticized Israel’s policy in the occupied territories of Palestine.

Turkey has witnessed sustainable economic growth over the last nine years, to the extent that the AKP has succeeded in bringing Turkey into the ranks of the twenty wealthiest countries in the world. And Goldman Sachs has predicted Turkey will break into the top ten by 2050, if things stay on the track.

To join the European Union, Turkey, under the AKP leadership, has also carried out many reforms to bring its laws into line with European standards. But the new generation of leaders in European countries, such as Germany and France, has blocked Turkey’s efforts to join the EU.

However, although Europe is facing a debt meltdown and many of the countries in Eastern Europe have faced financial crises, Turkey has managed to rebound quickly from the global downturn and its economy grew 8.9 percent last year, the fastest rate of any large country except for China and India.

Turkey’s rise as an economic powerhouse has created high self-confidence among its citizens, to the extent that they no longer see joining the European Union as a paradise. For example, Barin Kayaoglu, a Turkish citizen who is currently a Ph.D. student at the University of Virginia, shrugged off the recent remarks by French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who had said Turkey will not join the European Union for at least 15 years. Kayaoglu says Turkey will be politically and economically more successful than France in 15 years.

Erdogan also knows how to find a place in the hearts of people at home and abroad, and particularly in the hearts of Muslim nations. Well aware of the religious sentiments of the Turkish people, the AKP has been seeking to loosen the ban on hijab, which is seen as a sign of the expansion of civil liberties.

The Turkish prime minister visited the quake-hit areas of Pakistan in October 2005 and the flood-hit areas of the South Asian country in October 2010. During those trips, he expressed sympathy with the people of Pakistan and also pledged that Turkey would provide economic support and relief.

Despite being a Sunni Muslim, Erdogan visited the shrine of Imam Ali (AS) — the first Shia Imam — in Najaf in March and met with Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, the highest-ranking Shia cleric in Iraq.

Erdogan also enchanted the hearts and minds of the Arab people when he stormed off the stage at the World Economic Forum in Davos in January 2009 after a heated argument with Israeli President Shimon Peres about Israel’s war on the people of Gaza.

Speaking at the victory rally in Ankara after his recent election triumph, Erdogan said, “Today the Western world, Tripoli, Gaza have won. The Middle East, the Balkans, Europe have won. Peace, justice and stability have won.”

Turkey has also tried to play the role of a regional leader. For example, Turkey, together with Brazil, tried to broker a nuclear deal between Iran and the West in May 2010. It has also hosted meetings between Pakistani and Afghan leaders in its efforts to help end the insurgency in Afghanistan.

As a key member of NATO, Turkey is also challenging the West. For example, a joint aerial exercise conducted by the Turkish and Chinese militaries in central Anatolia shocked the West since such maneuvers were previously carried out jointly with the U.S., other NATO countries, and Israel.

Their success at home and abroad has prompted some analysts to surmise that the current rulers of Turkey have the ambition of reviving the glory days of the Ottoman Empire. But this Neo-Ottomanism would not have the imperialistic nature of the Ottoman Empire and would promote cooperation among nations.

via tehran times : Erdogan, a success at home and abroad.