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Erdogan Turns Turkey into a Vast Gulag: Some of His Actions Hark Back to 1915

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Harut sassounian 740BY HARUT SASSOUNIAN

Ominous developments are taking place in Turkey beyond anyone’s imagination, under the guise of capturing coup plotters. Calling the coup attempt of July 15 “a gift from Allah,” Pres. Erdogan is exploiting this opportunity to realize his long-awaited dream of not only becoming a Sultan, but also Stalin and Hitler, all wrapped into one!

Shortly after the attempted coup, Erdogan ordered the arrest and dismissal of tens of thousands of military officers (including hundreds of generals and admirals), police, academics, civil servants, judges and journalists, as well as closing down hundreds of private schools. These actions were so swift that it was difficult to believe such a comprehensive list of suspects could have been compiled in a brief period. In reality, the Turkish dictator did not have to prepare any list, as he detained and dismissed all those who were not his followers!

On July 20, by a vote of 346 to 115, the Turkish Parliament approved a bill declaring a state of emergency for 90 days and handing Erdogan carte blanche to rule by Presidential Decree for 30 days. Both of these deadlines are likely to be extended to longer periods. The 115 parliamentarians who dared to vote against the bill may pay dearly for their disloyalty, as they could be stripped of their parliamentary immunity and charged with participating in the coup d’état. To prevent all judicial review of its illegal actions, the Turkish government informed the Council of Europe that it will no longer accept the jurisdiction of the European Court of Human Rights!

There are some eerie parallels between the draconian measures of Erdogan’s regime and the tyrannical actions taken against Armenians and other Christians in Ottoman Turkey during their genocides of 1915-23:

1) The Turkish government placed a lien on the assets of suspects in the July 15 coup. After their probable conviction, these assets will be turned over to the state, similar to the properties confiscated from deported and massacred Armenians and others beginning in 1915;

2) All Erdogan supporters who were killed or injured during the coup attempt will be compensated by the confiscated assets of suspected plotters. A similar action was taken during the Armenian Genocide when the looted assets of Armenians were handed over to Turkish migrants from the Balkans and families of Young Turk leaders who had been assassinated by Armenian avengers.

Can Dundar, editor of the opposition newspaper Cumhuriyet, taking a big personal risk, bravely asserted that under the state of emergency rule Turkey will have “an oppressive regime where liberties will be suspended, press will be censored, and the parliament eliminated.” Dundar failed to acknowledge that these oppressive conditions existed in Turkey long before the attempted coup. Indeed, Erdogan revealed his devious dictatorial plans over 10 years ago: “democracy is like a train. You take it where you have to go, and then you get off!”

Having reached the end of his “train ride,” Erdogan has now announced that he will reinstate the death penalty against “the coup plotters,” as a way of getting rid of his political rivals! European Union officials have warned the Turkish leader that such a move would bar Turkey permanently from EU membership!

In addition, Amnesty International issued a scathing report last week, documenting scores of violations of the rights of detainees and accusing Erdogan’s security forces of torturing, starving and even raping soldiers accused of complicity in the coup! The detainees have also been denied access to their lawyers.

In his obsessive fervor to eliminate all political opponents, Erdogan has demanded that the United States extradite to Turkey his arch-rival, Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen, for allegedly organizing the July coup. In a racist effort to denigrate Gulen, Erdogan’s cronies have also accused him of being of Armenian ancestry, and having written a letter to a former Armenian Patriarch of Turkey, 50 years ago, acknowledging the Armenian Genocide!

The influential International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) issued two reports on July 18 and 21, designating the harsh measures of Erdogan’s regime as “arbitrary and contrary to fundamental rule of law principles.” Furthermore, ICJ’s Secretary General Wilder Taylor warned Turkey: “There are human rights that can never be restricted even in a state of emergency, notably the right to life, the prohibition of torture or ill-treatment, and the essential elements of arbitrary deprivation of liberty, and to a fair trial.”

Pres. Erdogan has done more damage to the Turkish nation than the so-called coup plotters by arresting and dismissing 60,000 soldiers, government officials and other civilians, thereby emasculating the once powerful military and undermining the country’s security.

Erdogan blackmails Italy

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erdogan-blackmailInvestigation against Turkish President’s son which is led by prosecutor’s office of the Italian city of Bologna on suspicion of money laundering, can have a negative impact on the relations between two countries, Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan told Rai News 24.

According to him, the story with investigation concerning his son in Bologna can complicate the relations with Italy which should be more engaged in their own mafia, TASS reported.

In February, it was reported that the Bologna prosecutors’ office opened an investigation against Bilal Erdogan, who arrived to Italy for his thesis at Johns Hopkins University. The reason was the statement of the Turkish businessman Murat Hakan Khuzaa, political oppositionist, forced to live in exile in France.

According to Massimiliano Annette, a lawyer representing his interests, Erdogan has brought to Italy a large sum of money derived from illegal activities. In particular, media claimed that Bilal receives income from illegal oil trade, including deals with terrorists. Erdogan’s family has always denied the charges. However, in March it was reported that Bilal and his family left Italy, but the case against him was opened.

Germany: Police in Cologne wary ahead of Turkey coup protests

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gulen-erdogan-germany“Do not import a domestic political conflict to the region where you have chosen to live,” Hannelore Kraft said.

Cologne police won’t rule out canceling a planned demonstration by supporters of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan if they cannot ensure public safety. Tensions have risen in Germany following Turkey’s failed coup.

In a press conference Friday, the police chief in the western German city of Cologne said they had estimated up 30,000 people, most of them Erdogan supporters, to take part in the rally scheduled for Sunday. The protest organizers, pro-Erdogan group the Union of European-Turkish Democrats (UETD) were expecting about 20,000 people. Several counter-demonstrations were also planned.

“We are expecting an atmosphere which is highly emotionally charged,” Cologne police chief Jürgen Mathies said.

About 2,300 police officers, including some who speak Turkish, are to be on duty.

German authorities have also demanded that the rally organizers provide them a list of the planned speakers amid reports senior Turkish politicians would be attending.

“We will constantly assess the situation. Should we come to the conclusion that public safety cannot be ensured, I will cancel the demonstration, even at short notice” Mathies added, warning that police would intervene against any kind of violence “quickly, decisively and forcefully.”

‘Don’t import conflict’

Some three million people of Turkish heritage live in Germany, the world’s largest Turkish diaspora. About half of those are eligible to vote in Turkish elections and in the latest vote the AKP party founded by Erdogan gained 60 percent, a bigger share than in Turkey. Following the failed coup and the series of purges in its aftermath – including a call from Ankara for Germany to hand over alleged supporters of accused coup-plotter Fethullah Gulen – concern that the tensions will play out on German soil has increased.

The state premier of North Rhine-Westphalia, where Cologne is situated, urged Turkish residents to show restraint.

“Do not import a domestic political conflict to the region where you have chosen to live,” Hannelore Kraft said.

Counter-demonstrations

The planned counter-demonstrations included those organized by the far-right party Pro NRW and the group HoGeSa (Hooligans against Salafists). A demonstration called “stop Erdogan” for “democracy and human rights in Turkey” has been organized by the youth wings four German political parties: the Greens, Social Democrats, the Left party and the Free Democrats.

Source: http://www.dw.com/en/police-in-cologne-wary-ahead-of-turkey-coup-protests/a-19437244

Turkey: The alleged Coup Leader’s two-star general close confidant of Erdoğan

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Coup leaderTurkey: Coup Leader’s Erdoğan Connections

By MICHAEL RUBIN,

Word out of Turkey is that the alleged coup leader was Mehmet Dişli, a two-star general who happens to be the brother of Saban Dişli, a former vice president of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP). Saban is a close confidant of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Former Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu had dismissed Saban but newly-appointed Prime Minister Binali Yildirim, a yes-man to Erdoğan, had restored him to his position.

Source: https://www.commentarymagazine.com/foreign-policy/middle-east/turkey/turkey-coup-leaders-erdogan-connections/

Green party head warns about ‘Turkish PEGIDA’ in Germany

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green-partyGreen party co-head Cem Özdemir has cautioned against radical Turkish nationalists in Germany. Özdemir has also suggested possible sanctions and said the government must send a signal to curb “Erdogan’s long arm.”

In the aftermath of a failed military coup in Turkey, Germany’s Green party co-leader said German politicians need to treat radical Turkish nationalist groups with the same caution as radical right-wing groups in Germany interview on Sunday.

“There is, unfortunately, a form of Turkish PEGIDA in Germany that we must treat the same way as the group we already know of,” Cem Özdemir told the German newspaper “Bild am Sonntag.”

Özdemir told the newspaper that, in Germany, there was a consensus that German right-wing populists existed “on the margins of society and are not normal interlocutors.”

“But for radical Turks, these standards to not apply,” he added. Anti-immigration movement PEGIDA, has drawn attention for its rallies and xenophobic rhetoric which criticizes Germany’s asylum and refugee policy.

If PEGIDA leader Lutz Bachmann were invited to an event, no “self-respecting democrat” would attend, said the Green party chief.

He urged that this kind of political attitude must now be applied to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government representatives who are based in Germany.

In the interview with “Bild am Sonntag,” Özdemir especially criticized the Turkish mosque organization DITIB – one of the largest Islamic organizations in Germany.

He said the organization should break away from the influence of Turkey in order to not become “the extended arm” of Erdogan’s AKP party.

“If we open Muslim religious schools through the DITIB, then we allow Erdogan’s ideology to be spread through our classrooms,” warned Özdemir. “I find that intolerable.”

The European Union should consider sanctions which directly affect those in power in Turkey, “if democracy, rule of law and human rights continue to be suspended,” urged Özdemir, suggesting bank account and asset freezes.

The EU has expressed concern over the imposition of a state of emergency in the wake of an attempted military coup, though the criticism has not been well received by Erdogan. Parts of the European Convention on Human Rights have also been suspended in the country.

rs/rc (AFP, dpa)

Erdogan shuts down 1,000+ private schools, 1,200+ charities, 15 universities

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erdogan close schoolsTurkey’s purge of Gulen supporters continued on Saturday with the closure of hundreds of private schools, charities and other institutions suspects of links with the US-based cleric. Ankara declared a state of emergency after a failed military coup.

The decree issued by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is his first since the state of emergency was declared on Wednesday. He has ordered the closure of 1,043 private schools, 1,229 charities and foundations, 19 trade unions, 15 universities and 35 medical institutions, state news agency Anadolu reported on Saturday.

The organizations slated to be shut down are suspected of links with US-based Muslim cleric, Fethullah Gulen, a former ally of Erdogan, who turned into his fierce opponent. The Turkish government accused Gulen of having a hand behind the last week’s coup attempt as well as earlier attacks on it.

In the wake of the weekend violence, which claimed at least 246 lives, Ankara launched a massive purge of suspected Gulen supporters among the military, police, judges, municipal officials and other branches of the government.

Another such measure ordered by Erdogan on Saturday allows for longer detention of people without charge.

The three-month state of emergency declared on Wednesday gives the Turkish executive authority to pass laws without parliament’s support and limit rights and freedoms as they deem necessary.

Turkey’s foreign allies, the US and the EU, reacted nervously to the crackdown. The EU threatened to suspend accession talks with Ankara, if Erdogan delivered on his threat to lift a moratorium on capital punishment. The US said Turkey should provide convincing proof of Gulen’s guilt, if it wanted the cleric to be extradited. Gulen, a long-time resident of the US, has denied masterminding the coup.

Erdogan versus Gulen battle now spills over into Bosnia’s

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Bosnia controlBy Gordana Knezevic

July 22, 2016

As if Bosnia did not have enough of its own problems, it is at risk of becoming embroiled in the increasingly fraught domestic struggles of Turkey. The country’s friendship with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is certain to come under strain because of the extensive network of Fethullah Gulen’s schools scattered across the country.

In January 2015, Erdogan had asked for the closure of the entire network of Gulen’s schools in Bosnia, according to the Bosnian daily Avaz. Apart from the capital Sarajevo, they are present in all the major centers in the Muslim-Croat Federation — Bihac, Zenica, Tuzla, and Mostar. The request was not sent through regular diplomatic channels, but directly to the ruling Muslim Party of Democratic Action (SDA) run by Bakir Izetbegovic.

Gulen schools have been active in Bosnia since 1997. Several hundred flats, kindergartens, high schools, and universities are part of the network. The most prominent are the International Burch University in Sarajevo and the Una-Sana college in northern Bosnia.

The Gulen movement is dedicated to investing in education for the lower and middle classes. The movement states its purpose is to impart the moral values of Islam, as well as subjects such as mathematics, physics, and chemistry, with a view to forming a new Turkish elite and eradicating the secular ideas of Kemal Ataturk, the founder of the modern Turkish state. 

Postwar Bosnia has been an important playground for Turkish politicians. With Erdogan keen to revive memories of his country’s imperial heritage, the former Ottoman province could be an ideal stage for Turkey to flex its muscles as a regional power.

There is a new geopolitical context, as well. Since the war (1992-1995), Bosnian Serbs have been looking to Serbia as their “motherland,” and Bosnia as a kind of “temporary home.” It is similar with the Bosnian Croats. Croatia is the “homeland” and their presence in Bosnia seen as merely accidental. Squeezed between the two, many Bosnian Muslims have turned to Turkey. Turkish flags are often waved by young fans in the streets of Bosnian cities following sporting victories.

However, Turkey’s patronage of Bosnia’s Muslim community is more apparent than real. It is a myth that Turkey is the biggest investor in Bosnia. In fact, Austria tops the list and Turkey is not even among the top 10 investors in the country. But Turkey did help with the restoration of the famous Old Bridge in Mostar. It was also involved in the latter stages of another landmark project, the reconstruction of Banja Luka’s Ferhadija mosque, opened on May 7, 2016.

In other words, Turkish investments in Bosnia are token by comparison with other countries, but they are focused on the rebuilding of highly symbolic structures from the Ottoman period, which were destroyed in the war. Such perceived expressions of “brotherly love” between Turkey and the Bosnian Muslims are viewed askance by Belgrade — even though Turkish investments are far higher in Serbia and Croatia.

In terms of foreign education, however, Turkey dominates — for now, at least. A few months ago, the official line from Sarajevo’s International Burch University was that as an institution of higher education it was founded and run in accordance with local regulations, and was subject to oversight by the Bosnian authorities. There has been no comment since the ongoing crisis in Turkey began to unfold, with the government’s crackdown on alleged Gulenist supporters including thousands of teachers and university deans.

The Turkish Embassy in Sarajevo has previously disowned the Gulenist educational network in Bosnia, stating that “the Turkish state has no link with Bosna Sema [a Gulen school],” and asking Bosnian citizens to be wary.

The same appeal for caution was issued by Salmir Kaplan, the former culture and sports minister in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, one of the country’s two constituent entities. Kaplan had first-hand experience of the Gulen schools and has said he was struck by their cult-like aspects. Others, like Slavo Kukic, a professor in Mostar, have pointed to the absence of any educational standards. It is too easy for anyone to open a university in Bosnia, Kukic told RFE/RL’s Balkan Service:

“The first universities and schools [after the war] were started in gas stations. They did not have space. Now they are producing PhDs. The way it seems to work is — enroll on Thursday and graduate by Saturday, metaphorically speaking. We will pay for this [laxity] in the next decade.”

For Bosnia, the proliferation of foreign educational institutions, in the form of Gulenist schools, has thus far seemed more benign than the parallel invasion of Saudi-style mosques preaching a severe form of political Islam. But with events in Turkey escalating dramatically, Bosnia may find itself no longer a showcase for Turkish power and largesse, however token or symbolic, but a new battlefront in a suddenly furious domestic dispute.

A German historian says events in Turkey echo Hitler’s 1933 seizure of power.

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turkeyechohitlers1933seizure(DW) Turkey is distancing itself ever more from Europe through mass arrests and official sackings, says German parliament speaker Norbert Lammert. A German historian says events in Turkey echo Hitler’s 1933 seizure of power.

Lammert, who presides over Germany’s parliament as a member of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservatives, said Friday further clampdowns on fundamental rights in Turkey under President Tayyip Erdogan were foreseeable.

Lammert told the Schwäbische Zeitung newspaper that Turkey was distancing itself “ever more” from minimum standards to which it had committed itself as a member of 47-nation Council of Europe headquartered in Strasbourg.

Especially alarming were the erosion of basic rights in Turkey for many months and the past week’s mass arrests and removals of officials that “manifestly must have been long planned,” Lammert said.

His remarks coincided with a joint call by EU foreign affairs chief Federica Mogherini and enlargement commissioner Johannes Hahn that Turkey “respect under any circumstances the rule of law, human rights and fundamental freedoms.”

Turkish justice minister Bekir Bozdag told CNN Turk that calls within Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP) for reinstatement of the death penalty hinged on legal factors and not what the EU wanted.

‘Classic’ seizure of power

History professor Michael Wolffsohn told German public ZDF television that events led by Erdogan amounted to a “total seizure of power” described in a classic “historical textbook” and exemplified in 1933 when democracy was eliminated in Germany by the National Socialists (Nazis) under Adolf Hitler.

Wolffsohn said Erdogan had used last Friday’s failed coup in Turkey as a “trigger.”

“Human and civil rights have been suspended. A purge is being carried out as proscribed by the ruler,” said Wolffsohn, an Israeli-born military historian formerly based at the Bundeswehr university in Munich.

“Turkey is cutting into its own flesh, which will have terrible consequences for Turkey,” Wolffsohn predicted on a ZDF talk show “Maybrit Illner.”

Given interdependencies between Europe and Turkey, Wolffsohn said Erdogan had to be told “loud and clear” he would receive no protection, no economic privileges “until you uphold certain rules.”

That was the basis of pragmatic partnership, Wolffsohn said.

‘Defending democracy,’ says Germany-based AKP deputy

Mustafa Yeneroglu, a Turkish parliamentarian and member of Erdogan’s AKP, who grew up and was educated in Germany, said Turkey needed the state of emergency to “defend democracy.”

“The state of emergency is there to transform an emergency back into a normal situation,” said Yeneroglu on the ZDF talk show. “The constitution gives the cabinet, under leadership of the president this right.”

On Friday, Yeneroglu told the German news agency DPA, he understood the concerns of many people, “but the state of emergency is exactly the answer to their worries.”

Challenge from Bavarian CSU

Yeneroglu was challenged during the ZDF broadcast by Andreas Scheuer, the general secretary of the conservative Bavarian Christian Social Union (CSU) party over his role as chairman of the Turkish parliament’s human rights committee.

“Given that you are the chairman of the human rights committee then I know why you have time to sit here today, because the human rights have been suspended in Turkey. That’s a fact.”

Scheuer said President Erdogan had used an “unacceptable” coup bid to then begin a “purge,” but even prior to that he had “stepped on basic rights, human rights, press rights, for decades with his feet, since he took on responsibility.”

An “Erdogan”-Turkey – as it appears at the moment – cannot have a place in a European family,” said Scheuer.

The German Left party’s international affairs spokeswoman, Sevim Dagdelen, demanded sanctions on Turkey and a halt to EU funding – tied to Turkey’s long-running EU accession bid – to dissuade Erdogan from what she called his “running amok against Kurds and the opposition.”

“All the independent jurist associations and judges’ federations say: There is no independent judiciary,” said Dagdelen.

Police trade unionist Sebastian Fiedler told talk show host Maybrit Illner that German authorities were apprehensive about “hundreds of thousands” of Erdogan supporters among several million resident Turks in Germany.

“It would only take a finger snap from Erdogan to bring these people onto the streets in an emotional confrontation,” said Fiedler, who is deputy chairman of the federation of German investigative police officers, the BDK.

Fiedler said confrontational potential lay in Germany’s mix of AKP supporters as well as many Kurds, thousands of leftist extremists as well as extremist right-wing “Grey Wolves” and “minority” Gulen adherents – the movement accused by Erdogan of being behind last Friday’s coup bid in Turkey.

The Süddeutsche Zeitung newspaper reported Friday that Turkey had received 4.98 billion euros ($5.3 billion) from the EU between 2007 and 2013 tied to its long-running candidacy for EU membership.

ipj/kms (ZDF; AFP, dpa)

source: http://www.dw.com/en/alarm-in-germany-over-turkey/a-19420312

Erdogan play hero by confronting US superpower ‘Make U-Turn Towards Russia’

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Turkey u turnTurkey, your friend today your enemy tomorrow,  always survive on muddying the region

One of the geopolitical consequences of the failed coup is that Turkey will ultimately turn its back on the EU and NATO and focus on the East, and Russia in particular; it will also adopt the Asian model of development, with a strong central presidency and a dominant single-party government, according to financial analysts.

The geopolitical and economic consequences of the failed coup attempt in Turkey will be its U-turn from the EU and NATO towards Eurasia, according to the Austrian financial newspaper Wirtschaftsblatt.

The outlet noted how carefully the Turkish leadership has been monitoring the delayed reaction of the West to the failed attempt of the overthrow.

Only on Saturday afternoon, it says, came the comments of EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini and Johannes Hahn, Commissioner for the European Neighborhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations.

Its senior NATO ally, the US, was also mute for the first three or four hours.

However, the newspaper notes, Russian President Putin was the first to voice support for Recep Tayyip Erdogan. During their telephone conversation on Saturday, the two leaders decided to put off their planned meeting until early August.

Timothy Ash, an emerging markets analyst at the Japanese banking giant Nomura, has told the newspaper that the events of the last weekend are groundbreaking for Turkey.

“The character and the face of the country will change towards the Asian model of development: a strong central presidency and a dominant single party government, like the one in Malaysia,” Wirtschaftsblatt quotes him as saying.

The analyst also suggested that Ankara will finally turn its back on the idea of EU membership, which de facto was dead after the Brexit referendum in the UK and the earlier Dutch referendum which overwhelmingly rejected the EU association agreement with Ukraine,

The last illusions will be dropped when the Turkish parliament reintroduces the death penalty.  President Erdogan has already announced that this would happen.

Another motive for the rapprochement with Moscow, the newspaper says, is the Turkish Stream pipeline project and the Turkish interest in Russian nuclear power plants.

Additionally, it reasoned, gas supplies from Israel and Iran would help Turkey to position itself as a central hub between the East and the West.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has already condemned the coup attempt in the country. In a telepnone conversation with his Turkish counterpart Rouhani, he said that Iran has always stood behind the legitimate government in Turkey and that it will continue to do so.