A speech given by Turkish Confederation of Businessmen and Industrialists (TUSKON) Chairman Rıza Nur Meral brought a breath of fresh air to all of us.
I can say that with his remarks, Meral has articulated the feelings and thoughts of a large segment of society. I now know that Meral, besides being a successful businessman, is a good speaker. When he said: “Politics is a platform where you serve the people. It is not the place to make money or build a fortune,” thousands of businessmen listening to his speech stood up and enthusiastically applauded. Meral’s remarks dropped like a bombshell. His observations are a clear indication that the government has been engaging in unfair competition with the business world. Remember that the government keeps telling critics to “establish a political party if you want to raise any objection” to government policies. Meral made a similar call: “If you [members of government] want to earn money, quit politics and enter the business world so that we can compete under equal conditions.”
The recent debate on tutoring centers and private prep schools and the shocking revelations on the dirty warfare used in the 1990s against the Kurdish population are certainly parts of this pressure-cooker-like mood. It is obvious that “Erdoğan’s Way” of running the country is based on keeping tension just under control, so that it will serve his own ambitions to cement personal power.
In Turkey, how Germany’s president became ‘Germany’s imam’
The Gulen movement is primarily a civil society organization, consisting of thousands of teachers, academics, journalists, businessmen and charitable workers. A political attack against their legitimate services and institutions would be disastrous for rule of law and societal peace, both of which have already been seriously compromised in Turkey.
Teachers detained on coup charges while casting votes in referendum
A.A. and T.D., two teachers who were earlier dismissed from their posts as part of a post-coup crackdown on the Gülen movement, were taken into custody on Sunday at a school in Malatya where they stopped to cast their votes in a referendum on a switch to an executive presidency.
PM made the wrong choice
Erdoğan put under the spotlight US Ambassador to Turkey Francis Ricciardone by stating: “Recently, very strangely, ambassadors have gotten involved in some provocative acts. I am calling on them from here to do your job. If you leave your area of duty, this could extend into our government’s area of jurisdiction. We do not have to keep you in our country.” These caustic sentences prove that the AK Party has decided to declare a war not only against the Hizmet movement but also to provoke tensions with the US. Since they have opted for a defensive attack strategy, this reaction does not surprise anyone.
One Year On, New Research Uncovers Turkey’s Coup Bid Staged By Erdoğan Himself
The report uncovered a critical information that the plot was actually kicked off on July 11 with secret orders given by generals who corroborated with Turkey’s autocratic President Erdogan’s defense and intelligence chiefs in disguising the plan as unconventional action plan. Only a handful men were let into the secret plot while many were led to believe a drill or an urgent response to a terror threat is underway.
17th TUSKON trade summit sees 25,000 B2B meetings
The 17th edition of the Turkey-World Trade Bridge summit, organized by the Turkish Confederation of Businessmen and Industrialists (TUSKON), saw 1,160 foreign and 1,000 Turkish businesspeople discuss partnerships in an estimated 25,000 separate meetings on Thursday. The first day of meetings at the event brought businesspeople from a number of sectors, including textile and machinery, […]
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