Turkey News, discussions, India Turkey Relations

Rony · Post by **Rony** » 17 Sep 2011 21:41

Some refer to him as “the Middle East’s new sultan in a neo-Ottoman empire” – yet the truth about Erdogan’s kingdom is utterly different. We are not facing an economic power, but rather, a state whose credit bubble will be bursting any moment now and bringing down its economy.

The budget deficit of the collapsing Greece compared to its GDP stands at some 10%, and the world is alarmed. At the same time, Turkey’s deficit is at 9.5%, yet some members of the financial media describe the Turkish economy as a success story (for comparison’s sake, Israel’s deficit stands at some 3% and is expected to decline to 2% this year.)

While Turkey’s economy grew by some 10% this year, this was merely the result of financial manipulation.

So how does the system work? The banks in Erdogan’s Turkey handed out loans and mortgages to any seeker in recent years, offering very low interest rates; this was in fact a gift. As the interest rate was so low, Turkish citizens used more and more credit, mostly for consumption.

And how did Turkey’s Central Bank finance this credit party? Via loans: Erdogan’s bank borrowed money in the world and handed it out to its citizens. However, Turkey’s deficit kept growing because of it, until it reached a scary 8% of GDP; by the end of the year the figure is expected to reach 10%.

Turkey’s external debt doubled itself in the past 18 months, which were election campaign months. Only a small part of the deficit (15%) was financed by foreign investment. The rest constitutes immense external debts.

Now it’s clear that Erdogan’s regime bought the voters in the recent elections. Most of the Turkish public elected him not because of Islamic sentiments, but rather, because he handed out low-interest loans to everyone. I will provide you with cheap money so you can become addicted to shopping, and you shall elect me.

The Israel diversion

This created Turkey’s credit bubble, which may explode any day now, because the date for returning the loans approaches. Will the Saudis help Erdogan as he hopes? This is highly doubtful. Nobody is willing to pay for attacks on Israel, and the West is annoyed by Erdogan’s thuggery. Why should they help him?

Moreover, Turkey’s unemployment rate is 13% and the local currency continues to plummet vis-à-vis the dollar – it reached its lowest levels since the 2009 global crisis. With a weak currency and with a stock exchange that lost some 40% of its value in dollars in the last six months, Erdogan wants to be the Middle East’s ruler?

Once the bubble explodes, the score with Erdogan will be settled, by the journalists his government ordered to arrest, by army officers charged with imaginary accusations, by the restrained scientists, the politicians, and mostly the general public, which shall be facing an economic disaster.

And this is where Israel comes into the picture. Why talk about the approaching economic catastrophe? Why talk about this disgrace, when it’s better to create an artificial crisis vis-à-vis Israel, a spin that the whole world will be talking about instead of talking about the sinking Turkey? After all, the Marmara raid happened more than a year ago, why did it emerge again now? Is it only because of the Palmer Report?

We shall wait a few more months, and then we shall see what really happens in the new sultan’s kingdom.

Rony · Post by **Rony** » 19 Sep 2011 00:20

Turkey to freeze EU ties if Cyprus gets EU presidency

EU-candidate Turkey will freeze relations with the European Union if Cyprus is given the EU presidency in 2012, Deputy Prime Minister Besir Atalay was quoted as saying by the state-run news agency Anatolian late on Saturday.

The comments could signal a new low point in ties between the European Union and Turkey which began accession talks to the bloc in 2005.

They come at a time of heightened tension in the eastern Mediterranean where Turkey is locked in a row with Cyprus over potential offshore gas deposits and Turkey's relations with one-time ally Israel are frayed.

"If the peace negotiations there (Cyprus) are not conclusive, and the EU gives its rotating presidency to southern Cyprus, the real crisis will be between Turkey and the EU," Anatolian quoted Atalay as telling Turkish Cypriot Bayrak Radio and TV at the end of a trip to northern Cyprus.

"Because we will then freeze our relations with the EU. We have made this announcement, as a government we have made this decision. Our relations with the EU will come to a sudden halt."

Officials at the European Commission in Brussels were not immediately available for comment.

The internationally-recognized Greek Cypriot government is due to take on the six-month rotating EU presidency in July 2012.

Cyprus has been divided since a Turkish invasion in 1974 triggered by a brief Greek-inspired coup. U.N.-sponsored peace talks between Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots have stumbled since they were relaunched in 2008.

In July, Turkey's European Union minister said freezing ties with the Greek Cypriot EU presidency was "an option." While Muslim Turkey started accession talks in 2005, progress has been slow, largely because of the conflict with Cyprus.

The EU says Ankara must meet a pledge to open up traffic from the Greek Cypriot part of the island under a deal known as the Ankara protocol. Turkey says the EU should end its blockade of the Turkish Cypriot enclave.

"PROVOCATION"

Adding to tensions is an escalating row between Turkey and Cyprus over Greek Cypriot plans to launch gas explorations around the island.

Turkey has voiced strong opposition to the plans and on Saturday Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said Cyprus' plans amounted to "provocation" and it would consider carrying out its own offshore surveys with northern Cyprus if drilling went ahead.

The Greek Cypriot government has said it would block Turkey's EU-entry talks if Ankara continued to oppose the plans. The United Nations has appealed for a peaceful resolution to the dispute, saying both sides of the island should benefit from any energy reserves.

The European Union, this month, told Turkey not to issue threats against Cyprus. Stoking tension in the eastern Mediterranean is a sharp deterioration in relations between Turkey and Israel following the 2010 killing of Turkish activists in an Israeli raid on a ship bound for Gaza.

On Thursday, Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said Turkish warships could be sent to the eastern Mediterranean at any time and Israel could not do whatever it wants there.

Greek Cypriots represent Cyprus internationally and in the European Union, while Turkey is the only country to recognize the Turkish Cypriot state. Greek Cypriots say Turkey cannot join the bloc until the Cyprus conflict is resolved.

The rotating presidency has lost some importance since the EU's Lisbon treaty, which established a permanent head of the European Council that groups national governments, and a new foreign and security policy chief. But a determined country can still shape the agenda.

Of the 35 "chapters" -- policy areas of EU law -- Turkey has completed one, and 18 have been frozen because of opposition by EU member states including Cyprus and France.

JE Menon · Post by **JE Menon** » 19 Sep 2011 13:44

^^This is almost funny because it is a threat without any substance backing it.

1. The oil/gas field is offshore to the south of the Cyprus (and the Greek Cypriot part is the southern part) so it is basically in Cyprus/Israel waters + Lebanon (but that is constrained by Syria). Turkey has nothing to do with it, so what Ankara is basing its claim on is not clear. Cyprus and Israel has already basically reached an agreement on the field (Leviathan), which is rather a substantial one.

2. "Turkey says the EU should end its blockade of the Turkish Cypriot enclave." ... This is equally ridiculous because the entity that exists in Northern Cyprus is not recognised by anybody but Turkey and just one more Muslim country (Guess who that is?

Pakisatan). So what Turkey is saying that the EU states must effectively recognise the northern part as a country... but in exchange for what? Turkey is not offering anything.

3. A UN plan to reunite the agreement designed by Kofi Annan was rejected by the Greek side, comprehensively, in a democratic referendum. While they are ethnocentric and all the rest of it, the Greek Cypriots (a small community of about 600,000) are not fools. The so called plan for peace envisaged a situation where the the Upper House of parliament would reserve 50% of the seats for the Turkish Cypriots (who form only about 18% of the island's population) and they wanted a rotating presidency in a federation. Where's the democracy in that. Rather it would effectively mean the Lebanonisation of Cyprus. The Greek Cypriots, who are having a fantastic lifestyle on their side (if you want a rough comparison, think Miami vs Cuba

- although things have been improving over the past five years after they opened up the north-south border for mutual visits), wisely rejected that crap.

So now Erdogan is threatening the EU as if in that exchange the EU is going to be the one that loses. If you look at the economic overview above, you can be sure that this is not a wise path.

RajeshA · Post by **RajeshA** » 19 Sep 2011 14:13

^^^^

Perhaps Turkey should recognize Kurdish claims on Eastern and Southeastern Turkey and allow it sovereignty in lieu for the world recognizing Turkish Cypriot sovereignty.

JE Menon · Post by **JE Menon** » 19 Sep 2011 17:17

^^^Fat chance of that my friend.

Don't forget there are about 20m alevis there as well... Linked, albeit tenuously, to the (still) ruling Alawite sect of Syria...

Agnimitra · Post by **Agnimitra** » 19 Sep 2011 18:40

^^^ A large section of Anatolian Alevis are actually Zazaki Kurds who happen to use Turkish as the language of ritual. So there is a lot of intentional ambiguity about their ethnicity by "authorities". But for the future its useful to know that the Alevi-Kurdish "divide" is not what it may appear...

Added later: Ethnic identity of Alevis in Turkey

Rony · Post by **Rony** » 20 Sep 2011 04:53

Ankara seeking Turkey-Egypt alliance

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said that Ankara is seeking a partnership between Turkey and Egypt that will create a new axis of power in the Middle East at a time when US influence in the region is waning.

shyamd · Post by **shyamd** » 20 Sep 2011 16:04

Dep PM just said, that the world thinks we are bluffing about sending warships and Jets to the eastern med. The world will see it this week.
-----------------
Interesting! US must get its act together now.

The alliance with Egypt is a natural thing to do if the Turks want to have influence over the GCC and the arab world. Although Egypt is in no position to be fighting anything at the moment.

Kanson · Post by **Kanson** » 20 Sep 2011 18:47

^ Unless Ankara is stupid or infected by tactical brilliance fever contracted in its association with Pak, it won't do such thing. Lets see.

RajeshA · Post by **RajeshA** » 20 Sep 2011 20:55

Published on Sep 20, 2011
By Daniel Dombey in Istanbul, Funja Guler in Ankara
Ankara car bomb kills three: FT

Agnimitra · Post by **Agnimitra** » 23 Sep 2011 20:55

Iranians are pleased that Erdogan got shouted down by some factions in Egypt and had to return with is tail between his legs. But there are nuances that want to play down. An article by Mahan Abedin:
Turkey's foreign policy hits a dead end

... But Turkey's endeavor to offer an interpretation of the Arab Spring different to the ones espoused by the West and Iran is beset by a number of problems, not least the inconvenient fact that in comparison to the West and Iran, Turkey's new foreign policy lacks sufficient conceptual clarity and ideological authenticity. {But I think this could be a rather convenient ambiguity in many cases}

Even if the reaction by Muslim Brotherhood leaders to Erdogan's statement is in part motivated by internal Brotherhood politics {Probably the main reason}, the effect is still the same; Turkey cannot expect to be a decisive influence on the Arab world's Islamists.

Neo-Ottomanism on steroids
In recent weeks, Turkey has been the most active state on the Arab political scene, with its leaders pontificating aloud on the potential of their country's power to reshape a region rocked by revolutions and civil wars. This frenetic activity was reflected most boldly by Davutoglu before his departure to the United Nations, where he told the press that Turkey was "right at the center of everything".

Beyond the headlines, the key questions for analysts are to what extent Turkey is over-reaching and could this arrogant posturing bode ill for the future of Ankara's admittedly promising new foreign policy.

Since coming to power in November 2002, Turkey's Islamic-centered Justice and Development Party (AKP) has scored major foreign policy successes, the most notable of which is the policy of "zero problems" with immediate neighbors. A brief glance at Turkey's immediate neighborhood reveals the extent of the transformation. Barely a decade ago, Turkey's relations with its neighbors were beset by complex disputes, misunderstandings and mutual recriminations; whereas now there is extensive and deepening engagement.

For their part, regional powers ranging from Iran to the key Arab states, have welcomed Turkey's pro-active role, viewing Turkey's shift toward the Arab and broader Muslim world as a long-delayed corrective to decades of westward orientation at the expense of Turkey's essential Islamic identity and its deep historical ties to the Muslim world.

Regional hopes of a growing Turkish presence on the strategic chessboard of the Middle East received a shot in the arm following the apparently steady deterioration of Turkish-Israeli ties, culminating in the Israeli attack on the Gaza freedom flotilla and the killing of nine Turkish pro-Palestinian activists on board the MV Mavi Marmara in May 2010.

[...]

However, despite the headline-grabbing noise surrounding this apparent Turkish-Israeli fallout, it is important to note that deep bilateral commercial and defense ties have not been adversely affected. Turkey's public falling out with Israel and its attempt to pressure the Jewish state to treat the Palestinians more humanely may in part be genuine, but the reality is that Turkey is a very long way from adopting a serious anti-Israeli policy, let alone engaging in an Iranian-style proxy war with the latter.

More broadly, Turkey's attempt to stake out an original position on the Arab Spring must contend with two major challenges. The first relates to Turkey's strategic profile, the most outstanding feature of which is the country's full and deep integration into the Western global security architecture, as exemplified by Turkish membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization since 1952. {But again this liminal position could be used to advantage. A lot of Middle Easterners (including Iranians!) want access to Western markets, education, and even cultural aspects, etc.} The second relates to the essence of Turkey's so-called "neo-Ottoman" foreign policy, whose genesis, precise ideational and ideological content and ultimate goals are still subject to considerable debate. In short, Turkish foreign policy, while remarkably pro-active and undoubtedly successful at many levels, is bereft of the type of deep conceptual clarity that is required of an original strategic narrative.

This places Turkey at a disadvantage vis-a-vis key Western powers and Iran, both of which espouse an original ideological and strategic discourse underpinned by deep-seated values. While the West is keen to present the Arab Spring as a quest for liberal democracy, Iran is anxious to frame the same as an Islamic awakening. In the midst of this fierce ideological clash, it is not clear if Turkey's implicit middle way can have any claims to authenticity.

Enter the Muslim Brotherhood
The seriousness of the Muslim Brotherhood's rebuke of Erdogan is underscored by the fact that it was issued, among others, by Essam al-Arian, a widely respected senior Brotherhood figure and the deputy leader of the Brotherhood-sponsored Freedom and Justice Party. Founded in late April 2011, the party is the Brotherhood's most strategic asset in the parliamentary elections slated for November 2011.

The rebuke may be viewed as in part a reaction to fierce internal debates inside the Brotherhood, some of which were brought into sharper focus by Erdogan's visit to Cairo in mid-September. Following his arrival in the Egyptian capital, Erdogan was thronged at the airport by thousands of young Egyptians, some of whom represented the younger generation of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood.

The strident and dashing figure of the Turkish prime minister, reinforced by his perceived Islamic credentials (Erdogan originally hails from a Turkish Islamic movement with deep ties to Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood), is an attractive proposition to many younger members of the Brotherhood. {So there is an internal faction that admires Erdo.}

To some in the younger generation of the Brotherhood, the ruling Turkish AKP is the model to emulate in view of its successful mix of Islamic ethics with modern and dynamic governance.

But ultimately it is a mistake to interpret the Brotherhood's rebuke of the Turkish prime minister as primarily a reflection of inter-generational party politics. It is also a mistake to interpret it as an assertion of Egyptian nationalism in the face of brazen intellectual and political arrogance by the leader of a former imperial power.

As far as this incident is concerned, the center of gravity revolves around the identity and character of the Muslim Brotherhood and the anxiety to safeguard it in the face of apparently friendly competition.

Despite admiration for Erdogan and his party, the bulk of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood rejects the AKP's vision of religious-friendly secularism, which is viewed as a distinctly Turkish product.

Despite internal divisions, there is widespread expectation among Brotherhood members and sympathizers in Egypt and outside that the movement can yet deliver an authentic form of Islamic governance. On that basis alone, Brotherhood leaders {or maybe Tehran?} are loath to be lectured by foreigners on what type of vision and approach to adopt in their quest for political power.

shyamd · Post by **shyamd** » 23 Sep 2011 22:43

Carl ji, he's giving out the Iranian intelligence/Foreign ministries view on whats happening. He carefully doesn't go the full length to explain whats happening. His bias is apparent.

For example take his comment:

"Beyond the headlines, the key questions for analysts are to what extent Turkey is over-reaching and could this arrogant posturing bode ill for the future of Ankara's admittedly promising new foreign policy. "

He is basically re-iterating the warning from Tehran that missiles will be used if Turkey intervenes. But the real guys know its just an empty threat.

Then the second bit:

However, despite the headline-grabbing noise surrounding this apparent Turkish-Israeli fallout, it is important to note that deep bilateral commercial and defense ties have not been adversely affected. Turkey's public falling out with Israel and its attempt to pressure the Jewish state to treat the Palestinians more humanely may in part be genuine, but the reality is that Turkey is a very long way from adopting a serious anti-Israeli policy, let alone engaging in an Iranian-style proxy war with the latter.

What he is saying is, as I said earlier, this anti Israel thing is justto divert attention on the arab street against failures in Syria.
2nd thing is, Mahan knows as well as anyone else, that Israel - Iran - Turkey are talking to each other over Syria. Israel - Turkey are talking since 6th June.

The israeli foreign ministry is vetoeing defence deals, which is pissing off the Israeli def ministry.

Keep in mind his slant and how he is emphasizing the fact that Tehran isn't worried about these developments (in reality they are slightly concerned that their influence is taking a beating). I guess what he is saying is - its not the end of the world for Iran.

Iran and Turkey know that Assad is finished and its gone past the pooint of no return. Assad's fall will come quick.

Now the attention is switching to IRAQ! Maliki thinks he is next after Assad!

Agnimitra · Post by **Agnimitra** » 24 Sep 2011 01:51

^^^ Shyamd ji, yes there's no doubt he is voicing the Iranian establishment's slant on Turkey, and playing down nuances. Iran is definitely worried about Turkey's profile in Egypt and the ME, and is trying to act like its a hollow flop show.

Agnimitra · Post by **Agnimitra** » 14 Oct 2011 19:46

Turkey gets hurt really bad in this one. Interestingly, with continuing rebuffs from the EU, we may see the beginning of Turkish Islamists discarding the liberal mask.

MKB: Turkey awaits the Arab Spring

The European Commission's latest report on Turkey pulls no punches in pointing out some of the country's deficiencies, from a lack of the rule of law to the erosion of the autonomy of regulatory bodies. The criticism, while further stalling Ankara's bit to join the European Union, underscores that Turkey is neglecting its own homework while immersed in espousing the cause of democratization in the Middle East.

The report took stock of Turkey's reform program in terms of its membership bid of the European Union (EU) and roundly censured the country over human rights and its increasingly acrimonious spat with Cyprus.

Conceivably, the EC report mummifies for a long time Turkey's EU bid, which has spluttered in the past year or two. To add insult to injury, the EC gave the green light to two of Ottoman Turkey's "grandchildren" in the Balkans - Serbia and Montenegro - on their respective aspirations to join the European club.

Recent months have been a heady period for Turkey, which has convinced itself that the new Middle East taking shape in the upheaval of the Arab Spring would find it irresistible as a role model, and that the Western world would inevitably be compelled to revise its opinions and view Turkey in an altogether new light as the torchbearer of enlightenment in the Muslim world.

Wednesday's EC report comes as a reality check. The more things seemed to change, the more they remain the same. The EC report chastised Turkey about the lack of freedom of expression, women's rights and freedom of religion as falling below accepted standards in the liberal democracies of Europe. It estimated that the shortfalls continued to disqualify Turkey from joining the EU.

[...]

The harsh criticism by the EC comes as an embarrassment when the leadership of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been riding the wave of the Arab Spring in the Muslim Middle East and exhorting the Arab world to follow Turkey's unique example of combining or reconciling - depending on one's point of view - Western-style liberal democracy with Islam.

During his recent visit to Cairo, an assertive Erdogan crossed the Rubicon of Islam and gave audacious advice to the Egyptian people about the virtues of secularism - at a juncture when the Muslim Brotherhood is surging in that country and could be at the threshold of entering the corridors of power.

Curiously, the EC report has been received with ennui in Turkey. As prominent editor Murat Yetkin put it, "The truth is that fewer and fewer people in Turkey care about what the EU is saying on the country day by day." Yet, Turkey's Minister for Europe, Egemen Bagis, responded polemically to the EC report and alleged that the human-rights record of many EU member countries couldn't be "half as good as Turkey's".

Bagis maintained for the record that Turkey would not be detracted from its chosen path of an EC-membership bid. However, he added the caveat that "full membership is Turkey's only goal, no other goals can be accepted". Turkey bristles at the "privileged partnership" that has been mooted by France and Germany as an alternative to regular membership.

Objectively, the EC report is fair and balanced. It commends the Erdogan government for initiating civilian supremacy over the military, is supportive of his agenda to draw up a new constitution and even praises Turkey's economic policies. On the other hand, it flags Turkey's poor record of individual liberty and civil rights, the rule of law, freedom of expression, women's rights and the erosion of the autonomy of regulatory bodies. "Significant further efforts are required to guarantee fundamental rights in most areas."

However, these European perspectives don't surprise Turkey. The common perception in Turkey is that Brussels keeps coming up with excuses for not admitting Turkey into what is essentially a Christian club. The EC decision to encourage the membership bid by Serbia and Montenegro and to leave Turkey's accession hanging will only reinforce the grouse of "cultural" discrimination toward Turks. {Grouse? You want to advertize yourself as a neo-Ottoman Islamic ghazi, Christian missionaries get murdered in your country, but you want to complain about "Christian" cultural discrimination?}

The latest EC report may also have shifted the goal posts by introducing a new template, namely, Turkey's latest acrimonious rift with Cyprus, which erupted over gas deposits in the Eastern Mediterranean.

The report criticized Turkey for its strong reaction to the recent gas drilling by Cyprus in the Eastern Mediterranean and for carrying the rift to a potential flashpoint by starting its own seismic exploration in the region under a Turkish naval presence. It demanded that Turkey should make progress in normalizing relations with Cyprus and avoid "any kind of threat, source of friction or action that could damage good neighborly relations and the peaceful settlement of disputes".

Evidently, the new assertiveness in Turkey's regional policies is not going down well in European opinion. In addition to Turkey's showdown with Cyprus, European countries have been urging Ankara to address the tensions in its relations with Israel, but Erdogan has been in no mood to listen, and the rupture with Israel happens to be the one issue that has probably overnight made him a hero on the Arab street, while it has cost Turkey virtually nothing.

Europe always took with a pinch of salt Turkey's claims to play a leadership role in its surrounding regions. It sidelined Turkey's swagger in the Balkans in the project over the disbandment of Yugoslavia; more recently, France initially didn't even invite Turkey to the conclave discussing the Western intervention in Libya, although Arab countries were invited.

Most certainly, Europe (especially France) will ignore Turkey's claim for any leadership role in Syria or the Levant, leave alone in the Maghreb region. The vocal supporter of Turkey's regional leadership of a democratic Middle East happens to be Saudi Arabia and it has a special interest in doing so. French President Nicolas Sarkozy went to the Caucasus recently and put down Turkey rather harshly in an unwarranted display of derision.

The paradox, as the EC report implies, is that Turkey's own exciting reform program has ground to a virtual halt in the recent past, while Erdogan has been exhorting the Middle East to reform. Thoughtful Turkish commentators realize this contradiction. One of Turkey's most respected political observers, Sedat Ergin, drew attention to this in a column this week titled "The problem of fine-tuning policies on Syria".

Ergin wrote, "As soon as the winds named 'Arab Spring' started blowing, [Turkey] took the stance supporting the demands for change and democracy." Turkey's choice, he argued, was and is essentially correct, but a contradiction nonetheless arises when Turkey expresses such robust opinions favoring democratic reform. Ergin pointed out:
"The Syrian regime's actions against the opposition groups coincide with a time when Peace and Democracy Party [Kurdish political party] members are being subjected to mass arrests, when elected deputies are kept in jails and when the space for the Kurdish political movement to operate within democratic bounds is being entirely constricted in Turkey."

[...]

All the same, the past two years have been more or less barren, and Erdogan was even regressive on the democratization front despite being so advantageously placed in Turkish domestic politics.

[...]

The EU, it increasingly appears, was actually the driving force behind Erdogan's democratization program, and today the disconcerting reality is that Turkey may be losing interest in the EU membership project. A leading Turkish columnist, Semih Idiz, summed up the mood:
Turkish-EU membership talks are currently at a standstill, with little prospect of being revived soon ... EU is not something the majority of Turks look to with confidence or enthusiasm anymore ... The average Turk is aware of the obstacles strewn on Turkey's path ... Put another way, the "EU stick" simply does not work anymore ... because the "EU carrot" is not enticing for Turkey anymore, especially at a time of turmoil in Europe itself.
Indeed, Turkey's resounding success as an economic power-house during Erdogan's rule and the crisis shaking the European economies do present contrasting pictures that are misleading public opinion that Turkey could as well do without EU membership. No doubt, the EU's political leverage on Turkey is diminishing.

If so, where will a fresh impetus for reform come from? The Turkish official claim is that the government has an innate urge to reform the country, no matter the EU membership bid. But that isn't a convincing enough argument. So, could it be from the Arab Spring, which, ironically, Erdogan is charioting abroad?

As Tunisia heads for an historic poll on October 23 to elect an assembly that would frame a new constitution, Islamist leader Rachid Ghannouchi stole a march over Erdogan by fielding as candidate for the Ennahda party in the capital, Tunis, a woman who does not wear a head scarf. Even after nearly nine decades of constitutional rule, Turkey has not reached a comparable point.

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 14 Oct 2011 21:11

Is MKB saying Turkey will get the spring fever?

Someone tell him to write clearly. Long polemic articles might be good for bureucrats but won't get him readers!
At a minimum he needs an introduction para and definitely a conclusion para. He can fill the middle with his polemics.

Agnimitra · Post by **Agnimitra** » 14 Oct 2011 22:52

ramana wrote:Is MKB saying Turkey will get the spring fever?

I think its the Arab Fall that he is more excited about for Turkey. Turkish Spring already happened with the political capture of power by Gulenists and sidelining of erstwhile Ataturkist military elites. Now some masks may fall off and new, more hardcore Islamist constituencies (or at least a less West-friendly constituency) may emerge within this new space. From the way MKB is trying hard to rub salt into Western insults to the Turks and EU rejection, it looks like his ilk hopes to provoke the emergence of this less West-friendly attitude sooner rather than later.

Turkey is positioned as a NATO partner, but also as a popular mediator for the ME. So some people want to shift that balance more towards the ME than NATO. They want Turkey to be the mediator face of the ME towards the West rather than the other way round.

Meanwhile: National Turk reports:
Hillary Clinton : Iran ‘s policy against Turkey becomes hostile

Cosmo_R · Post by **Cosmo_R** » 19 Oct 2011 16:12

It never ceases to surprise me how the Turks get away with using air strikes and revenge attacks on their rebellious minorities.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44955393/ns ... _n_africa/

Where is all the international rage about oppression of the Kurds?

svinayak · Post by **svinayak** » 20 Oct 2011 05:33

It is considered OK.
You will start seeing this.
The fake human rights rage of the cold war was really for psy ops and did not apply to the Islamic countries for more than 60 years.

chaanakya · Post by **chaanakya** » 23 Oct 2011 22:07

Strong earthquake rocks Turkey, 1000 feared killed

VAN, TURKEY: As many as 1,000 people were feared killed on Sunday when a powerful earthquake truck Turkey, collapsing dozens of buildings and pulling down phone and power lines in the southeast of the country, officials and witnesses said.

Emergency workers battled to rescue people trapped in buildings in the city of Van and surrounding districts on the banks of Lake Van, near Turkey's border with Iran.

Turkey's Kandilli Observatory and Earthquake Research Institute said the magnitude 7.2 earthquake struck at 10.41 GMT and was five kilometres (three miles) deep.

Around 10 buildings collapsed in Van city and about 25-30 buildings were brought to the ground in the nearby district of Ercis, Deputy Prime Minister Besir Atalay told reporters.

"We estimate around 1,000 buildings are damaged and our estimate is for hundreds of lives lost. It could be 500 or 1,000," Kandilli Observatory general manager Mustafa Erdik told a news conference.

More than 20 aftershocks shook the area, further unsettling residents who ran out on the streets when the initial strong quake struck. Television pictures showed rooms shaking and furniture falling to the ground as people ran from one building

Major geological fault lines cross Turkey and small earthquakes are a near daily occurrence. Two large quakes in 1999 killed more than 20,000 people in northwest Turkey.

An earthquake struck Van province in November 1976 with 5,291 confirmed dead. Two people were killed and 79 injured in May when an earthquake shook Simav in northwest Turkey.

Agnimitra · Post by **Agnimitra** » 28 Oct 2011 22:31

Ok don't jump down my throat for posting an MKB blogpost. Just enjoy it!
A Pakistani Erdogan in the making

This may seem bizarre, but it is strictly factual. The Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has called the Pakistani opposition leader Nawaz Sharif to go over to Ankara to undergo coaching on how to acquire the political skills needed to establish civilian supremacy in Pakistan. And Sharif has actually reached Ankara.

Today’s Zaman, Turkey’s pro-government daily with Salafist leanings, featured a stunning report showing the picture of Turkish president Abdullah Gul (who belongs to Erdogan’s party, AKP) warmly receiving Sharif in his palace in Chankaya.

This is political theatre of great rarity even by the Ottoman standards. But it is also serious stuff. Erdogan’s brand of political Islam is patronised by ‘green money’. Like Sharif, Gul also is close to the Saudi oligarchy (having worked in the Islamic Development Bank in Jeddah for almost a decade). I see a Saudi hand in Sharif’s political pilgrimage to Ankara.

Riyadh would have got the Turkish leadership to give coaching to Sharif and groom him up at this historic juncture when the Shi’ite influence in Islamabad is on the rise. Erdogan and Gul can teach Sharif many things: how to mount a platform of political Islam in a country of observant Muslims; how to ride the popular wave of nationalism with an islamic tinge; how to garner the groundswell of “anti-Americanism” (while secretly working for American geopolitics); and, ultimately, how to vanquish the secularist forces through salami tactic so that the ascendancy of Salafism gets established almost unnoticed.

Indeed, Sharif and Erdogan have some political traits in common. Both are grass root politicians; both have been persecuted under a political system based on the supremacy of the military establishment; both have a natural flair for populist politics and demagoguery; both are identified with Islamism; both enjoy reputation as ‘desi‘ leaders and nationalists.

But there are important differences, too. Erdogan has a working class background, whereas Sharif grew up in an affluent background. Erdogan has a strong anti-establishment streak, whereas Sharif was originally a progeny of the establishment (growing up literally as a playboy in the army barracks in Lahore) and even today, arguably, he belongs to it in terms of class interests.

Erdogan was a quintessential ‘outsider’, whereas Sharif merely happens to stand on the outside because he has not (yet) been invited in. Sharif’s is, therefore, the loneliness of the (temporary) exile rather than that fire in the belly that Erdogan carried for decades altogether. This is important because ultimately when you take on the ‘permanent establishment’ and the going gets tough, as is inevitable, there may be painful sacrifices to make. That is so everywhere - not only in Pakistan. Erdogan sat out obstinately in a prison cell without seeking a Saudi rescue package.

Besides, Erdogan is a genuine, unvarnished Islamist of a kind that Sharif just cannot be. Sharif’s dalliance with Islamic forces was a pragmatic move necessitated by the requirement to effectively build a coalition to meet the challenge from Benazir Bhutto in electoral politics. It was, ironically, a dalliance that was also the brainwave of the estabishment (which also generously funded it). That is to say, it wasn’t at all an affinity that was felt in his blood, nor was it a matter of intellectual conviction. When you take on the permanent establishment and the ‘deep state’, there should be conviction bordering on fanatical faith in what one is doing. Which Erdogan had. And, Sharif may still be lacking it.

Again, Pakistan is not Turkey. The Pakistani people have a poor opinion of the political class, whereas Turkey has a vibrant and responsive political environment. Thus, Erdogan’s challenge to the military establishment had political legitimacy, whereas, Sharif’s attempt may look opportunistic. The point is, Sharif left behind a terrible legacy as an autocrat when he was prime minister and he may lack credibility when he tilts at the windmills of the military.

A big question remains. Is there an American hand in drawing up the tricky curriculum that the Turks will be following while tutoring Sharif? These are extraordinary times when Erdogan is acting strictly within the perimeters of the US-Saudi axis in regional politics. It is a tempting thought, but it cannot be excluded that the US could be preparing for a genuine ‘regime change’ in Pakistan. Is the Arab Spring about to sweep Pakistan?

The Americans would know by now that the Turkish ‘Islamists’ are much more useful as allies than the secularist Kemalists would have been. Put differently, Kemalists could never have performed the role for the US regional strategies with such natural ease the way Erdogan is doing while harnessing the Arab Spring. On a broader plane of geopolitics, too, Americans are ‘engaging’ political islam in Egypt, Tunisia and even in Afghanistan. So, why not in Pakistan if an Erdogan were to appear there?

Pak Tribune: Sharif to learn Turkish strategy to rein in the military

RajeshA · Post by **RajeshA** » 29 Oct 2011 00:55

Carl wrote:Pak Tribune: Sharif to learn Turkish strategy to rein in the military

Turkish military was a strongly secular institution, which was adamant about not letting in any officers with any Islamist inclinations into their ranks. Pakistani military is Jihadi through and through.

In Turkey, the "soft"-Islamists managed to get in pushing back secularist politics and secular establishment of Turkey! How is Sharif going to get in?

shyamd · Post by **shyamd** » 29 Oct 2011 16:46

Sharif is a KSA hand and he is playing the "TSPA are the reason for all our problems". I think its over for him for now, he knows it.

arun · Post by **arun** » 03 Nov 2011 19:21

During a bilateral meeting with Turkeys Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu in Istanbul on the sidelines of a security conference on Afghanistan our External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna makes known India’s displeasure with Turkish President Abdullah Gul’s UN speech:

India protests Kashmir mention in Turkish president's UN speech

devesh · Post by **devesh** » 03 Nov 2011 20:34

^^^
the nature of Islamists is of same color everywhere. why is India so surprised at this? is the leadership so naive that it really believed that its loving embrace would "solve" the Jihadi mentality? do they not see a pattern of supposedly secular and great "example-setters" conveniently exploiting Cashmere when they want??? I am personally thankful this is happening. it makes it that much more harder for INC coterie to pull wool over peoples' eyes...

arun · Post by **arun** » 03 Nov 2011 22:30

PTI has reported the offending Turkish comment thus though it has been ascribed the comment to the Turkish PM rather than the President:

During his speech in UNGA on September 22 this year, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan had said "the illegitimate invasion of Azerbaijani territories, which has been going on for many years now, must end. It is unacceptable to let the Nagorno-Karabakh issue remain unresolved as such. Finding solutions to international problems before they become acute is a political and moral responsibility for all of us.

"In this respect, more effective efforts have to be exerted to resolve the Kashmir issue and many other frozen disputes which I can't name here."

Turkey "apologises" for raising Kashmir issue in UN

Agnimitra · Post by **Agnimitra** » 07 Nov 2011 20:39

MKB has an interesting comment on Turkey's calculus in W.Asia right now:

Turkey willfully destroys ties with Syria

Prima facie, Turkey goofed up on Syria. A dream-like relationship, which PM Recep Erdogan’s government painstakingly fostered in recent years, lies in tatters. Turkey’s veteran foreign-policy columnist Mehmet Ali Birand laments that Erdogan’s “calculations seem to have gone wrong.”

But then, Erdogan is a calculating politician and Turkish intelligence is very strong on Syria. And Ankara would have known that the Syrian regime wasn’t going to wither away. For sure, Erdogan scripted a game plan while apparently spoiling for a fight with Syria.

To my mind, what he “lost” in ties with Syria he more than made up in ties with Saudi Arabia and the wealthy Persian Gulf states. And what he may gain by way of “green money” isn’t something that Syria could compensate.

The “green money” from the oil-rich Persian Gulf countries is steadily flocking to Turkey as an alternate destination since the 9/11 attacks. Erdogan is now changing Turkey’s tax laws for it to happen with greater ease. Gulf investors are viewing Turkey with great interest - to tie up with the so-called “Anatolian tigers”, the business houses that form the backbone of the AKP.

A fascinating thing about Turkey is that often there are rational explanations for all the noisy madness that is happening. Alas, there is so much hair-splitting needlessly going on today about Turkey and the Arab Spring - making it all out to be an epic struggle for the soul of Islamism. Let me retrieve from my archives a classic essay (2005) by Michael Rubin, editor of the Middle East Quarterly, titled “Green Money, Islamist Politics in Turkey.” Rubin was prescient.

Agnimitra · Post by **Agnimitra** » 12 Nov 2011 00:22

Breaking news:
Turkey: Gunman hijacks ferry with 17 passengers

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — A lone hijacker claiming to have a bomb on Friday hijacked a ferry off the western port city of Izmit with 17 passengers on board, an official said.

Ibrahim Karaosmanoglu, mayor for Izmit, told NTV television that the man claimed that there were four other hijackers on board the Kartepe ferry. But the mayor said crew told him the hijacker was alone.

There was no information on his identify or his motive. But a local newspaper, Gercek Kocaeli, said without citing sources, that the hijacker was believed to be a member of the Kurdish rebel organization, the Kurdistan Workers' Party or PKK, which is fighting for autonomy in the country's Kurdish-dominated southeast.

Karaosmanoglu said the man was demanding to speak to the media...

Agnimitra · Post by **Agnimitra** » 15 Nov 2011 21:10

Similar to busloads of Iranian pilgrims in Iraq being regularly targetted, a similar case in Eastern Turkey's Kurdish areas...

6 Iranians hurt in E Turkey bus attack

At least six Iranian passengers have been injured in an armed attack on an Iranian bus in Turkey's eastern province of Van, Press TV reports.

The bus came under attack in the Ercis district of Van on Tuesday.

Gunmen inside an unknown vehicle reportedly opened fire on the bus after failing to bring it to a stop.

The six injured Iranian passengers were transferred to nearby hospitals.

There have been no further details about the incident.

Rony · Post by **Rony** » 26 Nov 2011 00:17

World Politics Review on India-Turkey Relations

Indian Vice President Hamid Ansari paid a six-day visit to Turkey last month. In an email interview, Michael B. Bishku, a professor of history at Augusta State University, discussed India-Turkey relations.

WPR: What is the recent history of India-Turkey relations?

Michael B. Bishku: Bilateral relations between Turkey and India experienced a renaissance after the 2002 Turkish parliamentary elections that brought the mildly Islamist Justice and Development Party (AKP) to power. This is in part due to Turkey’s “zero-problems” foreign policy -- initiated by Ahmet Davutoglu, first as Ankara’s chief foreign policy adviser and more recently as foreign minister -- which focuses on diplomacy and multilateralism, and emphasizes economic integration to promote regional and international political stability. In addition, Turkey moved away from Pakistan politically after the end of the Cold War, during which the two countries were formal allies of the United States and supported one another in their major respective foreign policy concerns, namely Cyprus and Kashmir. (Turkey and Pakistan maintain economic ties through the Economic Cooperation Organization and the Organization of the Islamic Conference, however.) Today, Turkey and India see each other as important trading partners and share an interest in cooperation on a number of issues, including security, energy and technology.

WPR: What mutual interests do the countries share diplomatically, and where do they differ?

Bishku: Both Turkey and India share concerns about terrorism. For the former it is connected with the Kurdish insurgency, while India has faced attacks by Muslim militants. Since the end of the Cold War, both countries have sought stability in their respective regional neighborhoods and have been proactive in trying to defuse international crises. Syria is a case in point, where envoys from both Turkey and India have implored the government of President Bashar al-Assad to change course and allow domestic political reform. During the 1990s, both Turkey and India worked closely with Israel on security matters in an effort to further the Oslo Process. Both countries also seek political stability in Afghanistan and want to engage Iran diplomatically with regard to Tehran’s controversial nuclear program. China’s aggressive posture in Asia naturally concerns India more than Turkey, while Turkey is far more interested in Russian political moves in the Caucasus than is India. Turkey also has had a more comfortable relationship with the United States, although recent trends in Washington’s relations with both capitals have reduced that gap.

WPR: What are the priority areas of cooperation, in trade terms, moving forward?

Bishku: Turkey has been urging India to sign a free trade agreement, since the two countries’ economies complement one another. Annual bilateral trade is more than $4 billion and growing. Turkey has the second-largest number of contractors involved in construction, after China, and would like to expand their participation in India’s many infrastructure projects. At the same time, India has great expertise in clean-coal technologies that can help Turkey. Businesses from the two countries have the means to invest in each other’s economies, as both Turkey and India have some of the world’s highest economic growth rates.

Agnimitra · Post by **Agnimitra** » 10 Jan 2012 02:11

X-posting from W.Asia thread:

Turkey's Erdogan lead Islamists are consolidating power like never before. Last year Turkey imprisoned more unfavorable journalists than China. And a couple of days back he arrested a former COAS, who had wielded almost absolute power.

Meanwhile, some are predicting economic problems for Turkey. Which might make war and usurpation of Syria/N. Iraq a political compulsion for Turko-Islamists. Comparisons with Nazi Germany?

Some statistical graphs also can be seen in the linked article below.

Recall notice for the Turkish model

Agnimitra · Post by **Agnimitra** » 18 Jan 2012 23:20

Shooting from the hip:
Rick Perry: Turkey is being ruled by what many perceive to be Islamic terrorists

Presidential hopeful Rick Perry questioned Turkey’s place in NATO, on Monday, claiming it is "being ruled by what many would perceive to be Islamic terrorists."

The Texan governor was vying for the support of South Carolina’s Republican Party in a debate sponsored by Fox News, the Wall Street Journal and the South Carolina Republican Party in Myrtle Beach.

"Obviously, when you have a country that is being ruled by what many would perceive to be Islamic terrorists, when you start seeing that type of activity against their own citizens," Perry responding to a question about the rise in violence against women in Tureky. "Then yes, not only is it time for us to have a conversation about whether or not they belong to be in NATO, but it's time for the United States, when we look at their foreign aid, to go to zero with it".

...

Agnimitra · Post by **Agnimitra** » 28 Jan 2012 02:47

Some candid confessions from a Turkish Gulenist publication:
Killing fields (no, not Armenians silly; its the Kurds)

It was Yaşar Büyükanıt, one of the top generals whose word once upon a time weighed more than any other’s here. When he was serving as the Chief of General Staff some five years ago, “Mothers of Saturday” were also busy trying to have their desperate voices heard in the midst of the Pera District of Istanbul, of their “lost” loved ones; you know those who went “missing” in the darkness of the 1990’s.

So, when a bureaucrat-turned-politician, Mehmet Ağar, spoke of the pain in the southeastern provinces, asked to stop “the crying of the mothers,” the four-star general responded to him harshly. “Well, he (Ağar) probably means those Saturday’s mothers, doesn’t he?” Büyükanıt told the press, in a despicably arrogant and cynical manner. It was months before the big events, such as Dink’s murder and the infamous e-memo against the government.

Times are changing. Some brave prosecutors continue to probe the crimes of 20 or so years ago, as the number of skulls and skeletons dug up in Diyarbakır since Jan. 11 has reached 25.

Truth is like that. It chases and haunts; it has that habit of never going away for good. Now, as Büyükanıt is anxiously awaiting the results of various investigations encircling the top brass of this and that allegation on abuse of power, the news about the skulls comes as a painful relief for many of those mothers of Saturday who for two decades had to suffer humiliation and harassment by the authorities and the systematic indifference of the so-called “mainstream media.”

What has been uncovered since Jan. 11 in areas that belonged to the much-feared JITEM facilities are the ghosts of the past. The tide is turning, and as more discoveries are made, newspapers like Zaman and Radikal report extensive, heart-wrenching accounts of the members of Kurdish families who still live with the hope of reuniting with their sons and daughters.

Other segments of the press are less enthusiastic, but progress is noted. Day after day, we experience a country, a society that in a slow-motion manner wakes up from a world of lies, of cover ups. The notorious JITEM -- a derivative of the Turkish “Gladio” structures, adopted to conduct a massive dirty war against the [Kurdistan Workers’ Party] PKK-led Kurdish insurgency in the 1990s, under the protection of the rules of the Emergency Rule -- is still a ghost from the past, which has to be legally and administratively confronted. Despite efforts in the late ‘90s -- by ex-Prime Minister Mesut Yılmaz -- to expose its crimes, the generals until recently in sheer arrogance denied that JITEM even existed. “They were so fearless that they did not even bother to bury the victims’ remains far away -- just buried them in their courtyard,” Coşkun Üsterci from Human Rights Foundation (IHV) told the members of the Human Rights’ Commission in Parliament the other day.

He told them he believed the number of “missing” may not be as high as 17,000-18,000 (as claimed by the BDP [Peace and Democracy Party]) but around 6,000-7,000. Certainly, the numeric differences do not matter. There are thousands of families who are traumatized by the fact that they do not know the fate of their relatives, and they want to bury them properly. Üsterci also presented a list of the “missings” in a chronological manner. The “peak” in summary executions and extrajudicial killings, he explained, was reached in 1990-94 at a time when the PKK escalated its warfare. The measures were apparently sanctioned at the highest level -- National Security Council (MGK) and the government -- under Süleyman Demirel and Tansu Çiller, who consequently were prime ministers. The number of those killed was 362 in 1992, 467 in 1993 and 423 in 1994. The skulls discovered in Diyarbakır are only the beginning, according to human rights activists. There are many eyewitnesses and “confessors” who will point out other spots. But, they also expect concrete and bold steps for taking everybody responsible to court. Everybody.

Unveiling the past, near or distant, is a huge task for the government, media and the citizens. Skulls are buried in the earth, and there is an immense number of skeletons in Ankara’s political cupboards. It is now apparent to many people here that the painful, often bloody abuse of power under military tutelage was a work of continuity: Digging for the truth in the dark corners of the last decade leads to the ones hidden in the 1990s, which points to the 1980s and so on.

All this is happening as the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) government faces increasing pressure from critiques of slowing down, of pulling the brakes. Everything is piled up, as it were, and compressed -- surrounded by mass expectations of justice, closure and “never-again.” “I know, some of you become impatient,” said Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan some days ago. “There are so many ill-deeds of the past. I wish we had a magic wand so that all of them were sent to the garbage bin of history, but we do not.” He also promised that neither the Uludere incident nor the Dink case will be allowed to be “lost in the corridors” of Ankara. If he is sincere -- and for his own political task’s sake, he must be -- the journey will have to go on; but, not half-heartedly. Winning the future of Turkey is to deal properly with its past.

Agnimitra · Post by **Agnimitra** » 22 Feb 2012 02:48

X-posting from PRC thread:
Uighur protests as China's Xi visits Turkey

Ankara - Activists from China's Muslim Uighur minority burnt Chinese flags in Ankara on Tuesday as China's leader-in-waiting Xi Jinping began talks with Turkish officials on regional issues.

About 60 Turkic-speaking Uighurs from China's northwestern Xinjiang province protested outside the hotel where Xi was staying in the Turkish capital on the last leg of a trip that also took him to the United States and Ireland.

Xi, almost sure to succeed Hu Jintao as Chinese president in just over a year ...

Waving the flag of East Turkestan, pale blue with a white star and crescent, the protesters burnt a Chinese flag and a poster of Xi before police moved in to disperse them.

Rights groups accuse China of abuses during a crackdown after Uighur riots in 2009 and Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan then described the events as a “genocide”. Turkey is home to thousands of Uighurs who have fled Xinjiang since the Chinese Communists took over the region in 1949.

Xi said China had made great strides to raise the living standards of all ethnic groups in Xinjiang.

Agnimitra · Post by **Agnimitra** » 28 Mar 2012 08:36

X-posting from Kurdistan thread

Issue affecting the Alevis and Kurds of Turkey.
Majority of Turks support education in mother tongue

Rony · Post by **Rony** » 21 Aug 2012 21:26

Turkey-India Relations in the Framework of Ankara's New South Asian Strategy

Focus on cinema, culture to mark 60 yrs of India-Turkey treaty

Turkish language is new flavour at Jamia

A cafe' in the name of Salman Khan in Turkey

Turkish ambassador hopes for expansion of trade with India

D Roy · Post by **D Roy** » 21 Aug 2012 23:59

We don't need Turkey to "mediate" in any of our dealings.

It is important that the Turkis know their place. Their meddling on Afghanistan is not welcome either.

Rony · Post by **Rony** » 22 Aug 2012 01:52

Exactly ! I posted that article presicely to show the turkish hubris ! Agreed that the Turks need to be shown their place !

Agnimitra · Post by **Agnimitra** » 22 Aug 2012 02:53

^^ Islamist, Gulenist Turks tend to be pro-Pak, even though they maintain a friendly stance with Indians. They are fed stories of how Pakistanis revolted against the Brits during the Khilafat movement. The Pakis they meet in the West are eager to kiss Turkish musharraf. The Turks know that Pakis look up to them and are loyal sidekicks. I have also come across Gulenists in the US who angrily ask me "What is happening in India? Why are Indians oppress oppressing Moslems?" However, the ones in charge of PR and strategy maintain a balanced and friendly attitude towards India -- but at an operational level they work very closely with Paki volunteers and are well connected with Paki Islamist networks.

gunjur · Post by **gunjur** » 20 Sep 2012 16:34

Turkey reiterates terms for ending Israeli rift

Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said anyone wishing to mediate an end to a two-year rift between Turkey and Israel should not waste their time unless they could guarantee all of Ankara’s demands would be met.

Turkey says for ties to be normalised Israel must apologise, pay compensation to the families of the dead and lift the Gaza blockade.

sraeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said last week he was open to issuing an “expression of regret on the killing of innocents”, similar to a statement from the United States after it mistakenly killed 24 Pakistani troops last November. Turkish officials have made no direct comment on Lieberman’s remarks but Erdogan’s comments on Thursday suggested Ankara would not accept such a statement, which Lieberman said would not amount to an apology.

Rony · Post by **Rony** » 20 Nov 2012 04:39

2025: Turkey’s Looming Nuclear Weapons Deadline