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The Grand Turk

EU Rapporteur concerned over freedoms in Turkey

2015-05-21

[AA.TR] The European parliament's rapporteur for The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... Kati Piri expressed concern ...meaning the brow was mildly wrinkled, the eyebrows drawn slightly together, and a thoughtful expression assumed, not that anything was actually done or indeed that any thought was actually expended... over certain developments in Turkey before the voting of a draft resolution assessing Ankara's 2014 reforms Wednesday. Rapporteur Kati Piri, who spoke at a presser in Strasbourg, said she was concerned with the "independence of judiciary, freedom of expression and the freedom of press" in Turkey. The European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... and Turkey are important strategic partners, added Piri, adding that the EU's relations with Turkey were based on dialogue at the highest level and "shutting the door is not what this parliament wants." She stated however that the European parliament appreciated the Turkish government's efforts with regards to what is known as the "solution process", an initiative started in 2013 and aimed at ending the decades-old conflict with the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has claimed the lives of more than 40,000 people in almost 40 years. Piri said the European parliament encouraged both sides to continue towards sustainable peace. She added that the European parliament also "praised all the efforts made by the Turkish government for hosting more refugees than any other country in the world today", as the EU itself was discussing on how adequate protection could be given to refugees. There are currently around 2 million refugees (around 1.7 million from Syria and 200,000 from Iraq), according to speaker of the Turkish parliament, Cemil Cicek's speech last week.

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The Grand Turk

Turkey bans reporting on corruption investigation of ex-ministers

2014-11-27

[TODAYONLINE] A Turkish court has banned media from reporting on a parliamentary investigation into corruption allegations against four ex-ministers, a move the opposition says amounts to protecting thieves. Tayyip Erdogan, then prime minister and now president, has called the corruption scandal this year a plot to unseat him. Courts have since dropped cases, including those against the sons of three ministers and businessmen close to Erdogan. A copy of Tuesday's ruling, seen by Rooters, said the ban was imposed to "prevent damage to the individual rights" of the former economy, interior, EU affairs and environment ministers. A parliamentary commission was set up in May to study prosecutors' files alleging wrongdoing by the ministers, who denied the accusations. It met for the first time in July and is due to finish its work by Dec. 27. The Turkish Journalists' Association called the ban censorship, and opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu accused parliament speaker Cemil Cicek of seeking it. "Since when has parliament taken the role of protecting thieves," Kilicdaroglu told a party meeting in Istanbul. Cicek later denied seeking the ban. The head of the parliamentary commission, dominated by members of the ruling AK Party, said he had called for it.

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The Grand Turk

Turkey Deploys Tanks to Border as Lawmakers to Consider Anti-IS Action

2014-09-30

[AnNahar] Turkey on Monday deployed tanks and armored vehicles to reinforce its border with Syria amid escalating Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... violence, as parliament is set to consider whether to authorize military action against IS jihadists. The army moved tanks and armored vehicles to the border town of Mursitpinar which lies across from the key Kurdish town of Ain al-Arab after some stray bullets hit Turkish villages, sparking retaliation from Turkey's military under its "rules of engagement." The government said Monday it would shortly submit motions to parliament authorizing the armed forces to take action in Iraq and Syria, so Ankara can join the U.S.-led coalition against the IS fighters. "The motions have not yet been sent to parliament. They may come tomorrow," parliamentary speaker Cemil Cicek was quoted as saying by NTV television. Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has said the motions will be debated on Thursday. Turkey had refused to join a broad anti-IS coalition led by the United States while dozens of its citizens including diplomats and children were being held by IS turbans having been kidnapped from the Turkish consulate in the northern Iraqi city of djinn-infested Mosul ... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn... After securing their freedom in a top-secret operation which reportedly resulted in the release of 50 IS fighters, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan ... Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him... said the country's position had changed, signalling a more robust stance towards the IS group. "We will hold discussions with our relevant institutions this week. We will definitely be where we need to be," Erdogan said on Sunday. "We cannot stay out of this." The government hopes parliament will approve the military action before the Moslem Eid holiday which begins on Saturday. On Monday, Erdogan said the Islamic State -- blacklisted as a terrorist organization by Ankara since October 2013 -- has nothing to do with Islam, which he said "does not legitimize such savagery or violence." "Attributing terrorist actions in the Middle East to Islam means nothing other than distorting the truth," he said in a speech in Istanbul. "Our religion is a religion of peace." In a rare move, Turkey's top general, Necdet Ozel, will speak to the cabinet on Tuesday followed by a security summit chaired by Erdogan. Turkey has so far accepted over 160,000 Syrian refugees who fled the IS assault near the town of Ain al-Arab, and has called for creating a safe buffer zone to help civilians inside Syria. Turkey has already taken in more than 1.5 million refugees who fled the regime of Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Scourge of Qusayr... On Monday, at least three mortar shells fired from Syria landed in Turkish soil -- up to two kilometers (1.2 miles) from the border gate at Mursitpinar, an AFP photographer reported. They caused no damage or casualties. But a mortar shell that hit a house in a Turkish village on the Syrian border late Sunday left three people maimed, the military said on its website, adding that the armed forces had responded in kind. The Times of Israel adds: Some 15 tanks took up positions on a hill near a military base opposite the besieged town of Kobani that IS has been trying to capture from outgunned Syrian-Kurdish forces for over a week, Rooters reported.

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The Grand Turk

First Indictments Completed in Turkey Graft Scandal

2014-03-15

[An Nahar] Turkish prosecutors have completed a first batch of indictments in a graft scandal that has rocked the 11-year rule of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan ... Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi only they haven't dumped him yet... , overcoming intense pressure from his conservative government, local media reported Friday. Mustafa Demir, the mayor of Istanbul's Fatih district, a stronghold of Erdogan's Justice and Development Party (AKP), is among 21 people in the indictment, the reports said, without naming the others. They were among dozens of key allies of the prime minister, including the sons of three cabinet ministers, who were detained in police raids in December when the corruption scandal first erupted. The ministers have since resigned. Prosecutor Ekrem Aydiner has completed the first tranche of allegations, which will now be sent to the courts for formal approval, the private Dogan news agency reported. The indictments accuse the 21 of "bribery", "forgery" and "violating a law on the conservation of cultural and natural property", Dogan said. The graft probe has become one of the biggest challenges facing Erdogan and his AKP, and comes ahead of pivotal municipal elections on March 30. Violent protests against what rights groups claim are heavy-handed police tactics against demonstrators have also piled pressure on Erdogan's administration. Riots erupted Wednesday that left at least two people dead as tens of thousands turned out to mourn the death of a teenage boy who was hurt during violent festivities with police last year. Also Friday, parliament Speaker Cemil Cicek said the body would hold an emergency meeting next Wednesday on the corruption allegations at the request of the opposition at a time when campaigning for the municipal polls is in full swing. Parliament is currently in recess in the run-up to the polls, the first since the corruption scandal erupted. The scandal has widened to implicate Erdogan himself, after recordings were leaked in which the prime minister could allegedly be heard discussing hiding large sums of cash and conspiring to extort a bribe from a business associate. Erdogan has retaliated by sacking hundreds of police and prosecutors believed to be linked to a former ally turned arch-rival, U.S.-based Moslem holy man Fethullah Gulen. The prime minister says Gulen is using his influence over the police and the judiciary to destabilize the government.

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Africa North

Turkey to take over Benghazi airport

2011-03-29

[Al Jazeera] Turkey has said it will help with distributing humanitarian aid to Libya and has suggested it could play a part in mediating between rebels and the government of Muammar Qadaffy. I think the rebels are 'mediating' just fine with French air cover... Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the country's prime minister, said Turkey would take over the running of Benghazi airport to take responsibility for distributing humanitarian aid from the rebel-held eastern city. The AFP news agency also quoted an official as saying Turkey was responding to a request from fighters in Libya, saying civilian and technical personnel would be sent out. Ankara has already sent a ferry carrying a medical team, two ambulances and two tonnes of medical supplies to Libya in an attempt to help treat maimed people. Cemil Cicek, the deputy prime minister, said Turkey was planning to take around 450 injured people from the rebel-held port of Misurata to Turkey for treatment. Last week, the Turkish parliament also approved the dispatch of a naval force to Libyan waters as the government moved reluctantly to join the military campaign in the north African country. Role of mediator Turkey, the primary Islamic voice in NATO, has previously voiced concerns over the alliance taking command of the UN-backed no-fly zone over the north African nation. It has since pledged six vessels to a patrol mission to enforce a UN arms embargo against Qadaffy's government. In an interview with British newspaper The Guardian on Monday, Erdogan said it was "out of the question [for Turkey] to shoot at Libyan people or drop bombs on the Libyan people". "We save that for the Kurds!" "Turkey's role will be to withdraw from Libya as soon as possible" and "restore the unity and integrity of the country based on the democratic demands of the people", he said. The prime minister also said his country could take on the role of mediator within the framework of NATO, the vaporous Arab League and the African Union if asked by the two sides of the conflict. "We can never ignore the democratic rights and liberties called for by the people of Libya, and change and transformation can never be delayed or postponed," he told the paper. But no shooting, you hear... The Turkish leader said he had spoken to the Libyan prime minister since international air strikes began, and Turkey's foreign minister was in close touch with the opposition based in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi. "Qadaffy wants a ceasefire; this came up when I was talking to the prime minister, but it's important for those circumstances to mature. It wouldn't be consistent to keep shooting while demanding a ceasefire," Erdogan said.

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Europe

Turkey top judge: Constitutional reform unconstitutional

2010-03-23

[Iran Press TV Latest] Turkey's chief of the Supreme Court of Appeals has attacked Ankara's bid to amend the constitution, mounting official resistance against the proposals. Judge Hasan Gerceker denounced the constitutional reform package as "unconstitutional," Reuters reported on Monday. The opposition has already claimed that the package is driven by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP)'s quest for more power. The AKP, which enjoys a large parliamentary majority, says the package is needed to control the power of judges and prosecutors and to pave the way for Turkey's EU membership. "The government should avoid actions that could damage the principles of separation of powers and independence of the judiciary," Gerceker said. The government has begun talks with opposition parties to rally support for the reforms and says it might hold a plebiscite on the package, should it fail to earn the required two-thirds parliamentary approval. "Turkey cannot continue with this constitution," Deputy Prime Minister Cemil Cicek told reporters in Ankara. "These changes have to happen."

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Israel-Palestine-Jordan

Turkey PM: My people rejected Israeli participation in NATO drill

2009-10-15

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday said that "diplomatic sensitivities" led his government to ban Israel from a joint NATO air force drill, French news agency AFP reported. "There is military cooperation between Turkey and Israel...but currently there are diplomatic sensitivities that we have to take into consideration," AFP quoted Edrogan as telling the Dubai-based channel Al-Arabiya. "We have taken the conscience of our people into consideration when we decided.... I had to be the voice that expresses the existence of my people and my people were rejecting Israel's participation. "We discussed it with the responsible parties Do tell. Really -- tell us who those responsible parties are. and said yes, these drills will take place but Israel will not take part in them," he said. Meanwhile, a Turkish newspaper reported Wednesday that the reason Turkey banned Israel from this week's NATO air force exercises was "yet another delay in the delivery of unmanned aerial vehicles, or UAVs," and not Turkish opposition to Israel's Gaza offensive, the newspaper Today's Zaman quoted a senior Turkish air force official as saying. Huh? That seems counterproductive to ever getting them. I was wondering about that myself ... On Sunday, Foreign Ministry sources said that Turkish military officials had approached the Israel Defense Forces recently with a surprising demand that Israel refrain from participating in the drill, due to the IDF's activity in Gaza. The exercise was canceled after the U.S. and Italy pulled their participation. The Turkish official told Today's Zaman that the deal struck between Israel and Turkey was supposed to involve a shipment of Israeli-made spy drones, known as Herons, to Turkey, but that the shipment did not arrive on time. "Turkey needs those vehicles in its fight against terror. What led to the recent crisis between Turkey and Israel was the delay in the delivery," the official said. Several years ago, Turkey signed a deal to purchase 10 Herons from Israel Aerospace Industries and Elbit for a sum of $180 million. Israeli media reported that Turkey was considering scrapping the deal when Israel failed to meet production deadlines, but Turkish Defense Minister Vecdi Gonul said in May that Turkey would not break the contract. The Israeli company later announced that it would deliver four Herons in August, followed by another two and then the last four by the end of October. The Turkish army has yet to use two of the 10 drones, which arrived in Turkey last November after an almost two-year delay, due to persistent technical problems, the Turkish paper reported. The report went on to quote Turkish government spokesperson and Deputy Prime Minister Cemil Cicek as saying that a proposal for the cancellation of the drill came from the General Staff as a response to yet another delay in the delivery of the Israeli UAVs to Turkey. "The proposal for cancellation came from the General Staff, not the government. However, there was no disagreement between the two bodies on the decision," Cicek was quoted as saying. The report stressed that the Turkish government had no hand in the decision to cancel the exercise. "The Anatolian Eagle [exercise] is an organization of the Turkish Armed Forces. It is up to the air forces and the General Staff to decide on which countries will participate in the exercises. The government has not interfered in the decision," Cicek was quoted as saying. The Turkish-Israeli crisis reached a peak on Jan. 29 after Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan walked out of a panel discussion in Davos in protest of Israel's offensive in the Gaza Strip. Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu also commented on the recent drill crisis and called on every country to refrain from any act that could harm the atmosphere of peace and stability in the region.

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Israel-Palestine-Jordan

Turkey no longer seen as 'honest broker' after Erdogan outburst

2009-02-03

Turkey's role in mediating the Israeli-Arab conflict has been compromised by its leader's repeated censure of Israel's recent offensive in the Gaza Strip, an Israeli government official said Monday. "He won't mediate anything any more," the official said. "His stint as mediator between Israel and the Arabs is over, that's for sure. He won't be accepted as an honest broker by Israel at all." The official said no official decision had to be taken, but that Israeli leaders spoke about Erdogan in such a way that made it clear they did not have faith in him as a mediator. Any Israel discontent is directed at Erdogan personally, and should not be misconstrued as a rupture with Turkey, whose cooperation Israel values, he added. On Sunday, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert warned the cabinet against deepening the schism with Turkey, a key Israeli ally. "[I'm] very concerned by [ministers'] behavior in public on the subject of Turkey," Olmert said. "Our relations with Turkey are important, and I recommend that we don't intensify our statements on the subject." "We attach importance to our relations with Israel and we want to preserve those relations," Cemil Cicek, Turkey's deputy prime minister, told a news conference on Monday. "Turkey is not targeting Israel or its people. We have been expressing concern over the killing of civilians and human tragedy in Gaza." The Turkish military, which suspects Erdogan's government wants to erode Turkish secularism, indicated that it, too, was interested in preserving the two countries' ties. "The rule is to act according to national interests in bilateral military relations with all countries," Brig. Gen. Metin Gurak, the military spokesman, said Friday when asked if military ties might be cut. Meanwhile, Turkey's Jewish community yesterday denied a report that a local synagogue had been set ablaze by vandals. "The reports published in foreign media organs saying that a synagogue in the northwestern part of Turkey was set ablaze are not correct," the Turkish Jewish community said in a written statement delivered to the Web site of the Turkish paper Hurriyet. Earlier yesterday, sources within the Turkish Jewish community had said that vandals set a synagogue in northwest Turkey ablaze on Sunday. No one was reported as wounded in the alleged attack, which supposedly took place in the city of Bursa. Nor were there any reports on the extent of property damage, if any. The Bursa synagogue was shut to daily services after the city's Jewish community shrank over the past few decades. Sunday's attack, if it indeed occurred, was the first such incident to take place in Turkey following Israel's Operation Cast Lead.

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Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia

Turkey's ruling party in court to fight against ban

2008-07-03

Turkey's Islamist-rooted ruling party defended itself in the country's highest court Thursday against charges that it had sought to undermine the secular system and should be closed down. Deputy Prime Minister Cemil Cicek and Bekir Bozdag, a senior lawmaker from the Justice and Development Party (AKP), arrived at the Constitutional Court at 0700 GMT to present their case to judges in a closed session. On Tuesday, chief prosecutor Abdurrahman Yalcinkaya had argued before the 11-judge tribunal that the AKP should be banned for threatening one of the basic tenets of the republic. Yalcinkaya launched proceedings in March, accusing the AKP, which was re-elected to office last year with 47 percent of the vote, of gradually seeking to replace the secular system with Sharia law. He also asked the court to bar 71 party officials, including Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and President Abdullah Gul, from party politics for five years. The AKP, the offshoot of a now-banned Islamist movement, rejects the charges and says the case is politically motivated.

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Europe

AKP again under secularist gun

2008-05-25

Turkey's ruling AK Party has been derided by an opposition party accusing it of waging a holy war against the country's judiciary. The secular opposition Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), claimed that the Justice and Development Party (AKP) was attacking the legal establishment in its bid to avoid being shut down for alleged violation of Turkey's secular constitution. "Instead of defending themselves on a legitimate basis, the prime minister and the AKP have chosen the path of showing their political strength and practically declared a jihad (holy war) against the judiciary," MHP leader Devlet Bahceli claimed in a statement. Turkey was plunged into political turmoil in March when the Constitutional Court agreed to consider a case by a chief prosecutor, who seeks the AKP's closure. Deputy Prime Minister Cemil Cicek responded by saying the court is politically motivated and accused it of trying to bolster legal moves to close the party. Turkey's financial markets are nervously monitoring the court case, fearing the impact of months of political uncertainty. The lira fell earlier this week on fears the ruling party would be closed down. Turkey's secularist establishment, including the judiciary and army generals, accuses the AKP of plotting to erode the republic's separation of state and religion. The AKP which holds 340 of the 550-seat Turkish parliament rejects the accusations. The chief prosecutor of the Court of Appeals is also calling for 71 AKP members, including President Abdullah Gul and Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, to be banned from politics for five years. Secularists claim that a recent amendment to the constitution lifting a ban on female students wearing the Muslim headscarf at university is evidence of the party's efforts to undermine the country's secular system.

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Iraq

Turkey rejects Iraq's PKK offer

2007-10-27

Turkey has dismissed a range of proposals from Iraq on dealing with Kurdish rebels, saying they will take too long to work. The foreign ministry said more urgent action was needed than that offered by an Iraqi delegation, which is in Ankara to try to resolve the dispute. The visit is an attempt to avert a threatened Turkish ground attack on Kurdistan Workers' Party bases in Iraq. Turkey gave the Iraqis a list of PKK rebels and demanded their extradition. The Iraqi delegation, including Defence Minister Abdul-Qader Mohammed Jassim and US officials from the embassy in Baghdad, held talks with Turkey's Foreign Minister Ali Babacan. Afterwards, the Turkish foreign ministry praised the Iraqi team for its "sincere" and "well-intentioned" approach. But it said the Iraqi ideas would "take a long time to put into action". "Turkey expects urgent and determined measures in the fight against the PKK." The BBC's Jonny Dymond in Ankara says Iraq's promises to close Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) offices do not go far enough for Turkey. Turkey wants the mountain bases of the group in the far north of Iraq closed and the leadership handed over, he says. The furthest the Iraqis appear prepared to go is to disrupt the movement of the PKK and close offices related to its activities, our correspondent says. Turkey's Deputy Prime Minister Cemil Cicek said a list of PKK members had been handed to the Iraqi delegation. It was not immediately clear how many names it contained, but Mr Cicek said every PKK member in northern Iraq "is guilty. They are criminals at least for being a member of a terrorist group. We want all of them to be handed over."

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Iraq

Turks attack into N Iraq

2007-10-24

Turkey bombed units of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, in northern Iraq and ordered troops across the border in pursuit of the militants, a lawmaker of Turkey's governing party said today. Turkish F-16 jets and artillery pounded at least 63 suspected rebel positions inside the Kurdish-controlled region from Oct. 21 until yesterday, said the lawmaker, who attended a briefing by government spokesman Cemil Cicek to a group of government deputies late yesterday in Ankara. The army sent 300 commandos into Iraq by helicopter on Oct. 21 to hunt down PKK fighters after 12 soldiers were killed by the group the same day, the official said. The attack on PKK bases up to 40 kilometers (25 miles) into Iraq lasted about 28 hours before troops returned to the Turkish side, he added. If this is the limit of what they are doing, then there will be no fireworks betwen them and the US and Iraqi/Kurdish(Peshmerga) forces. Small incursions of limited duration are just fine. And they set a precedent that US forces can use in the future.

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