Mr. Erdogan’s Jaw-Dropping Hypocrisy


Date posted: March 9, 2017

New York Times Editorial Board

Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has gall. He has jailed tens of thousands of people, shuttered more than 150 media companies and called a referendum in April to enlarge his powers. Yet when local authorities in Germany, for security reasons, barred two Turkish ministers from campaigning on his behalf among Turks living in Germany, Mr. Erdogan exploded, accusing Germany of Nazi practices and knowing nothing about democracy. If he himself was barred from speaking in the country, he warned, he’d “set the world on fire.”

This is all the more galling knowing that among the scores of journalists jailed in Turkey is a reporter for Die Welt, with German and Turkish citizenship, whom Mr. Erdogan has accused of being a German spy and a “representative” of an outlawed Kurdish rebel group. Some furious German politicians have urged Chancellor Angela Merkel to tell Mr. Erdogan that he is not welcome in Germany. Properly, and wisely, she has not. Appearances by leading Turkish politicians, she said, “remain possible within the laws applicable here.” Permits for demonstrations are handled locally, though, and Ms. Merkel said she has no say in them.

Ms. Merkel does have security reasons for her restraint: Germany uses a NATO base in Turkey for reconnaissance aircraft in the fight against the Islamic State, and Ms. Merkel was the key force behind a European Union deal with Ankara by which Turkey helps stem the flow of refugees into Europe. But more important, Germany does not want to stoop to Mr. Erdogan’s level.

Though Germany is arguably among the most law-abiding and tolerant of the European democracies, the Germans must regularly contend with reminders of their Nazi past, especially by countries like Greece, Poland or Hungary that find themselves on the receiving end of European Union admonishment or censure. For the leader of a major nation and NATO ally to hurl such insults, however, especially when Mr. Erdogan himself has done so much to subvert freedom of speech and the rule of law in Turkey, is outrageous.

The estimated 1.5 million Turks in Germany eligible to vote in the Turkish referendum are obviously of major interest to Mr. Erdogan. The fact that Germany provides so many Turks with a livelihood argues against Mr. Erdogan’s accusations, while barring his surrogates from campaigning among them, as local authorities did, only gives him fodder.

The better response is to continuously remind Mr. Erdogan, his surrogates and his people that the freedoms so many Turks find in Germany are being systematically and shamelessly destroyed in Turkey.

Source: New York Times , March 8, 2017

Tags: | | |


Related News

What Erdogan and Khomeini Have in Common

The Turkish secular elite who have long feared an Iranian-style theocracy in their own country may finally be seeing the worst of their fears come true. The widespread purges under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan following last month’s failed coup attempt against his government suggest the Turkish state is moving toward authoritarian Islamist rule of the sort that Iran introduced in 1979.

Fresh political raids targets leading Turkish NGO Kimse Yok Mu

Police teams from the Anti-Smuggling and Organized Crime division stormed the office of UN member NGO Kimse Yok Mu’s branch in Turkey’s northwestern province of Kocaeli on Wednesday in the latest political raid to sweep the country.

Ex-Pentagon advisor says Turkey is heading towards civil conflict, if not civil war

Rubin underlined that Turkey is already dangerously polarized prior to an April 16 referendum on a constitutional package that will grant sweeping powers to Erdoğan and switch the country to an executive presidency. “We know from Turkish political history that such polarization often leads to violence,” he said.

Exclusive: Turkey, Kosovo violated fundamental rights of expelled teachers, UN body says

The UN group called on Ankara to release the six individuals immediately, and the Turkish and Kosovar governments to accord the victims an enforceable right to compensation and other reparations, in accordance with international law.

Predictability in Erdoğan’s Turkey

The most significant damage beleaguered Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has inflicted on Turkey in a frantic effort to rescue himself, his children and close associates from legal troubles amid massive corruption, money laundering and illegal land-zoning deals was a blow to the “credibility” of Turkey and “predictability” in its political and economic environment.

Turkish “religious advisors” are keeping an eye on Erdogan opponents in Belgium

Turkey is pressuring “religious advisors” to keep an eye on President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s opponents in 38 countries, including Belgium. In Belgium, how the religious councillor at the Turkish embassy behaved could be seen as interference.

Latest News

Turkish inmate jailed over alleged Gülen links dies of heart attack in prison

Message of Condemnation and Condolences for Mass Shooting at Bondi Beach, Sydney

Media executive Hidayet Karaca marks 11th year in prison over alleged links to Gülen movement

ECtHR faults Turkey for convictions of 2,420 applicants over Gülen links in follow-up to 2023 judgment

New Book Exposes Erdoğan’s “Civil Death Project” Targeting the Hizmet Movement

European Human Rights Treaty Faces Legal And Political Tests

ECtHR rejects Turkey’s appeal, clearing path for retrials in Gülen-linked cases

Erdoğan’s Civil Death Project’ : The ‘politicide’ spanning more than a decade

Fethullah Gülen’s Vision and the Purpose of Hizmet

In Case You Missed It

Anti-Hizmet plot no more innocent than practices of coup periods

CHP deputy asks PM to stop arrest of women after giving birth

Transparency and trust is our only weapon says Turkish NGO chairman

Reception for ‘Time in Turkey’ held in New York

Turkish schools behind Turkey’s soft power in Middle East

Erdogan’s Turkey: ‘You are either with us or you are terrorists’

What does Turkey deserve?

Copyright 2026 Hizmet News