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| The slow remergence of the Ottoman: Mind your own business - Turkish Erdogan [the new Hitler] tells EU |
Earlier this year, Erdogan was accused of following in the footsteps of the Hitler and Benito
Mussolini, by the head of Turkish opposition party, Kemal Kilcdaroglu. He told his deputies from his Republican People’s Party (CHP) that the Turkish premier, who has consolidated power by stifling dissent in the press while undercutting rivals in the military and other key centers of power in Turkey, is following the same path of Hitler and Mussolini.“Hitler was elected by popular vote,” Today’s Zaman quotes him as saying. “Mussolini was elected. They were elected, but after a while, they started to see themselves as the state. And humanity had to pay a very high price. Such events also took place in our democracy. We sent prime ministers, young people to the gallows. Supremacy of law is a most important concept. Everyone should internalize it.”
As Erdogan slowly pushes Turkey from a 'secular' state to Islamic extremism, he has intensified efforts to suppress the media and opposition.
Erdogan's crackdown on the media continued this week with the arrest of journalist believed to be unfriendly to his government. So far, 27 people - including two former police chiefs - have been detained in a nationwide raid aimed largely at media critical of Erdogan. Most of the Sunday arrests targeted people working withthe Today Zaman newspaper and television channels, affiliated with the exiled Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen, who was once a close ally of the president but is now seen as a leading rival. Ekrem Dumanli, the editor-in-chief of the Gulen-linked Zaman daily newspaper, and Hidayet Karaca, the head of the pro-Gulen Samanyolu TV (STV), were some of the most high-profile names to be arrested. The director, producer, and scriptwriters of the popular TV drama series Tek Turkiye (One Turkey) on STV were also detained.
Following the arrest the European Union condemned it. In a statement, EU foreign affairs chief Federica Mogherini and Enlargement Commissioner Johannes Hahn said any move towards membership depended on "full respect for the rule of law and fundamental rights".
The raids and arrests "are incompatible with the freedom of media, which is a core principle of democracy", the pair said in a statement. “This operation goes against the European values and standards Turkey aspires to be part of and which are the core of reinforced relations,” they said in a statement late on Sunday. US State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki also stressed that media freedoms are a key component of healthy democracies. “As Turkey’s friend and ally, we urge the Turkish authorities to ensure their actions do not violate these core values and Turkey’s democratic foundations,” she said.
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However, in what appears to be an unprecedented affront to the EU, which Turkey is aspiring to join, Erdogan immediately fired back at the EU, telling it to keep out of Turkish affairs. “The European Union cannot interfere in steps taken…within the rule of law against elements that threaten our national security even if they are members of press," Erdogan said in an inauguration ceremony for an oil refiner.
"What do you [Europe] know about these operations to feel yourself competent to make such comments? When taking such a step we don’t care what the EU might say, or whether the EU accepts us as members or not. We don’t care… They should mind their own business."
Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the main opposition leader went even further, telling reporters that the arrests mounted to a coup. “A coup is being carried out against democracy,” he said. The markets reacted badly to the news, sending Turkey’s currency, the lira, to a 10-month against the dollar. Erdogan, however, dismissed concerns by saying that the Turkish economy continued to grow despite smear campaigns. According to the state news agency Anatolia, the chief public prosecutor Hadi Salihoglu had ordered the arrests based on charges of forgery, fabricating evidence, and “forming a crime syndicate to overtake the sovereignty of the state.”
Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu also lashed out on Monday, accusing the Gulen movement of trying to seize control of “the bureaucracy.” “Today is a day of test,” he stated. “Everyone will pay for what they have done and their anti-democratic behaviour,” he said. The swoop has been widely linked to the fallout between the 62-year-old president and the 73-year-old cleric, which broke out last year after Gulen objected to the government’s plan to shut down his schools. Gulen is the spiritual leader of the Hizmet movement, which has a strong bearing on media outlets, cultural centres, and academia. When his AK party was elected to power in 2002, Erdogan moved to introduce many reforms, aimed at curtailing the strength of the Turkish army. With Gulen's help strong influence over the police and judiciary, Erdogan was eventually able to carry out a string of arrests and weaken the army elite. "In their heyday, the Gulenists had a strong following in key areas of government, including the Ministry of Justice and the press," MEE columnist David Barchard wrote yesterday. "From 2008 onwards, the movement helped underpin the Erdogan government by launching a series of controversial arrests and prosecutions of army officers and Kemalist conservatives for alleged, but improbable, coup attempts. "The joint drive broke the political power of the Turkish Armed Forces and the Kemalists (followers of Turkey’s founding father Mustafa Kemal Ataturk) probably forever." However, their relationship now has now taken a dramatic turn, with Erdogan accusing the US-based cleric of running a parallel state by controlling influential elements in various state bodies. Thousands of people gathered outside the headquarters of Zaman in anticipation of Dumanli's arrest on Sunday, carrying signs supporting the editor and the newspaper. As he was escorted by plainclothes police, Dumanli told the crowd: “Let those who have committed a crime be scared. We are not scared."
The raids and arrests "are incompatible with the freedom of media, which is a core principle of democracy", the pair said in a statement. “This operation goes against the European values and standards Turkey aspires to be part of and which are the core of reinforced relations,” they said in a statement late on Sunday. US State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki also stressed that media freedoms are a key component of healthy democracies. “As Turkey’s friend and ally, we urge the Turkish authorities to ensure their actions do not violate these core values and Turkey’s democratic foundations,” she said.
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However, in what appears to be an unprecedented affront to the EU, which Turkey is aspiring to join, Erdogan immediately fired back at the EU, telling it to keep out of Turkish affairs. “The European Union cannot interfere in steps taken…within the rule of law against elements that threaten our national security even if they are members of press," Erdogan said in an inauguration ceremony for an oil refiner."What do you [Europe] know about these operations to feel yourself competent to make such comments? When taking such a step we don’t care what the EU might say, or whether the EU accepts us as members or not. We don’t care… They should mind their own business."
Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the main opposition leader went even further, telling reporters that the arrests mounted to a coup. “A coup is being carried out against democracy,” he said. The markets reacted badly to the news, sending Turkey’s currency, the lira, to a 10-month against the dollar. Erdogan, however, dismissed concerns by saying that the Turkish economy continued to grow despite smear campaigns. According to the state news agency Anatolia, the chief public prosecutor Hadi Salihoglu had ordered the arrests based on charges of forgery, fabricating evidence, and “forming a crime syndicate to overtake the sovereignty of the state.”
Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu also lashed out on Monday, accusing the Gulen movement of trying to seize control of “the bureaucracy.” “Today is a day of test,” he stated. “Everyone will pay for what they have done and their anti-democratic behaviour,” he said. The swoop has been widely linked to the fallout between the 62-year-old president and the 73-year-old cleric, which broke out last year after Gulen objected to the government’s plan to shut down his schools. Gulen is the spiritual leader of the Hizmet movement, which has a strong bearing on media outlets, cultural centres, and academia. When his AK party was elected to power in 2002, Erdogan moved to introduce many reforms, aimed at curtailing the strength of the Turkish army. With Gulen's help strong influence over the police and judiciary, Erdogan was eventually able to carry out a string of arrests and weaken the army elite. "In their heyday, the Gulenists had a strong following in key areas of government, including the Ministry of Justice and the press," MEE columnist David Barchard wrote yesterday. "From 2008 onwards, the movement helped underpin the Erdogan government by launching a series of controversial arrests and prosecutions of army officers and Kemalist conservatives for alleged, but improbable, coup attempts. "The joint drive broke the political power of the Turkish Armed Forces and the Kemalists (followers of Turkey’s founding father Mustafa Kemal Ataturk) probably forever." However, their relationship now has now taken a dramatic turn, with Erdogan accusing the US-based cleric of running a parallel state by controlling influential elements in various state bodies. Thousands of people gathered outside the headquarters of Zaman in anticipation of Dumanli's arrest on Sunday, carrying signs supporting the editor and the newspaper. As he was escorted by plainclothes police, Dumanli told the crowd: “Let those who have committed a crime be scared. We are not scared."
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