Alienating Turkey

ORHAN OĞUZ GÜRBÜZ
ORHAN OĞUZ GÜRBÜZ


Date posted: April 27, 2014

ORHAN OĞUZ GÜRBÜZ

Turkey was expecting steps towards normalization in society following the mayoral elections. However, it seems that the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government has decided to escalate tension in the run-up to the presidential election scheduled to take place in August.Pro-government media outlets publish reports and news stories that are dark propaganda. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and leading party figures make unfounded accusations directed at the Hizmet movement at every opportunity. In Turkey, when people want to hide something and divert attention, they create a virtual agenda and you are asked to follow the distortionist.

The AK Party perception management plan that holds the Hizmet movement responsible for every problem and flaw in Turkey seems to be working right now. Standing up against the world also holds a crucial place in their strategy to keep the support base consolidated before the presidential election.

There are rumors among those backstage in politics indicating that Prime Minister Erdoğan will include voicing his plan to transform the Hagia Sophia into a mosque in his election campaign. With this move he wants to discredit the Europeans and their criticisms of Turkish democracy and the growing pressure in the political landscape in Turkey.

In other words, they want to send the message that the Europeans and the Americans do not really want democracy; rather, they are trying to undermine Turkish national identity. We do not know whether or not these allegations are election fantasies.

It appears that the AK Party administration is determined to disconnect with the entire world. The reason for maintaining minimal relations is economic interdependence. Otherwise, the AK Party administration would reconsider Turkey’s obligations under international legal institutions, norms, conventions and other mechanisms.

Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu’s paradigm based on the attractive and appealing slogan “Zero problems with neighbors” has collapsed. Davutoğlu, a leading architect of the inconsistent foreign policy of Turkey, tried to cover up the failure by offering a new term, “precious loneliness.”

Transportation Minister Lütfi Elvan’s response to the European parliamentarians who criticized social media bans in Turkey was very interesting and indicative of a hilarious apolitical attitude. He said Turkey would leave the World Wide Web and create its own separate ttt domain. The minister is talking about creating an Internet network and web that has no connection with the world. This is fantastic.

US State Department Assistant Secretary of Public Affairs Douglas Frantz, who was in Turkey to join a conference, gave the following warning with respect to violations of the law in Turkey: “Turkey is a vital NATO member and has been a US partner for more than 50 years. If we feel that Turkey is moving away from the path of democracy, we have a responsibility to give a warning in order to remind you of what made Turkey strong and powerful. There will be repercussions that will affect Turkey. The Turkish people will be terribly affected by the perception that Turkey is no longer a strong democracy and has turned into something else.”

Turkey is not a country that will be deprived of freedoms through the distortion of “precious loneliness.” Those who want to alienate Turkey will only alienate themselves.

Source: Todays Zaman , April 26, 2014


Related News

Dozens of Dutch-Turkish businesses ‘threatened’ after failed coup

Business people associated with exiled opposition leader Fethullah Gülen, or accused of supporting him, have filed official police complaints, the Parool newspaper reported. The Dutch government last week called for Dutch Turks who had been targeted to contact the police.

‘Inception,’ the Gülen community and the PKK

Kurtuluş Tayiz I have been following anti-Fethullah Gülen broadcasts in the Kurdish media for some time now. Television stations, newspapers and Internet sites known for their closeness to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) have incessantly been spreading hostility amongst its readers against Gülen. It wouldn’t be so difficult to understand if most of these publications […]

[Event of the Week] Gülen breaks his silence, responds to allegations

Having stayed largely silent in the face of relentless attacks amounting to hate speech by beleaguered Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who was incriminated in a massive corruption scandal, Fethullah Gülen spoke to Today’s Zaman and provided his account of how he sees the recent events in Turkey in his first interview with the Turkish media since Dec. 17.

Gülen-linked journalist association warns that movement’s support for gov’t can end

Erdoğan and his supporters have cast the corruption probe as a smear campaign devised by Gülen, who exercises broad, if covert, influence in the media and judiciary through his followers. In response, the government has staged an unprecedented purge of the police forces and has moved to increase its control over the judiciary. Yeşil said that all these allegations were unfounded.

Gülenist refugees from Turkey start over in U.S.

Scholars and academics may quibble about how to classify Fethullah Gülen, but pretty much all reasonable watchers of international politics agree that Erdoğan is power hungry, paranoid and increasingly autocratic.

Turkish PM calls on Islamic scholar Gülen to return to Turkey

Self-exiled Islamic leader Fethullah Gülen should return to Turkey, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan suggested last night without directly mentioning the controversial religious figure by name. “We want this yearning to end,” Erdoğan said. “We want to see those who are abroad and longing for the homeland among us.” Erdoğan’s remarks came after he was granted […]

Latest News

Fethullah Gülen’s Condolence Message for South African Human Rights Defender Archbishop Desmond Tutu

Hizmet Movement Declares Core Values with Unified Voice

Ankara systematically tortures supporters of Gülen movement, Kurds, Turkey Tribunal rapporteurs say

Erdogan possessed by Pharaoh, Herod, Hitler spirits?

Devious Use of International Organizations to Persecute Dissidents Abroad: The Erdogan Case

A “Controlled Coup”: Erdogan’s Contribution to the Autocrats’ Playbook

Why is Turkey’s Erdogan persecuting the Gulen movement?

Purge-victim man sent back to prison over Gulen links despite stage 4 cancer diagnosis

University refuses admission to woman jailed over Gülen links

In Case You Missed It

Le Monde: Ankara offered Senegalese government $7.5 million to transfer Yavuz Selim educational group to Maarif

Political Activism for Peaceful Coexistence in Rumi and Gulen

After Fethullah Gülen’s demise what will happen to the Hizmet Movement

Pro-AKP media flop as corruption charges swell

GYV awards peace projects in İstanbul ceremony

What a shame, what a pity

Should We Send A Man We Know Is Innocent To His Death Abroad?

Copyright 2023 Hizmet News