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Hurriyet, Turkey
June 24 2010
Opportunism
Thursday, June 24, 2010
YUSUF KANLI
The Justice and Development Party, or AKP, government of Turkey will
perhaps be remembered as the worst and most opportunist government
this country has ever had in its republican history.
This is not necessarily because of bad policies or approaches the AKP
government has developed over the past eight years or because of its a
resolutions in various problem areas. It is instead because of the
cheeky attitude of the AKP, its monkey business tactics `a result
perhaps of its overwhelming parliamentary strength that has buried it
deep in a majoritarian obsession ` and the AKP's tendancy to give
prominence to Islamist solidarity, allied solidarity and respect to
obligations or, as is said in diplomacy, to pacta sunt servanda. These
leanings should be blamed for the current fiasco that is Turkish
policy from relations with Europe to ties with the United States, our
Middle East policies, the struggle against separatist terrorism or
domestic issues such as rampant unemployment, poverty, nepotism,
narcissism and corruption of all kinds.
If a government pledges to the European Union to open up ports and
airports to the Greek Cypriot government in exchange for a date for
starting accession talks while being aware it cannot deliver such a
promise ` at least until after Greek Cypriots agree to lift the
isolation measures they have been inposing on Turkish Cypriots ` can
that government be considered an `honest player?'
If a government is warned many times by Israel that it cannot allow a
rupture of its blockade of Gaza and that, if needed, it would use
force to maintain the blockade it considered vital for its national
security, and if that government not only fails to adequately warn its
citizens participating in a Turkish-led international humanitarian aid
flotilla that making such a trip would place their security under
serious risk, can it wash off its responsibility for the brutal murder
of nine Turkish citizens onboard a Turkish humanitarian flotilla and
place the entire responsibility on the Israeli state?
In the Cyprus example, the AKP was just trying to save the day in an
opportunist manner, assuming they would `think of the need to comply
with our pledge when the day comes¦' Regarding the Armenian protocols,
obviously the AKP government was banking on the idea that Yerevan
would not be able to get the protocols endorsed by its parliament and
thus would find itself in a difficult position in the eyes of the
international community. In the Gaza sham, partly because of domestic
political reasons ` the Turkish foundation leading the international
humanitarian aid flotilla was supportive of the Felicity or Saadet
Party, the chief Islamist-conservative contender of the AKP ` but
mostly because of Islamist solidarity feelings and the neo-Ottomanist
regional hegemony aspirations, the AKP turned a blind eye to the
imminent threat and thus to the murder of nine Turkish nationals, one
of them a Turkish-American.
The `opening' the AKP government started two years ago as a `Kurdish
opening,' which gradually evolved into a shy `democratic opening' and
then into a `Peace and Brotherhood Project,' was perhaps the wisest
move ever taken by a Turkish government to bring an end to the
25-year-old separatist violence in this country. The project was
launched as an ambiguous but indeed empty one, and it was said at the
time that it would be filled through contributions from all segments
of Turkish politics as well as NGOs and civil society establishments.
But the government did not even engage in discussions with the main
opposition party over what it aims to achieve with the opening.
The project, which was launched ambiguously, remained ambiguous
throughout the past two years, and even the government and the
die-hard supporters of the project could not come up with an
explanation as to what it included. With the tent-court created at the
Habur border gate area and a heroic welcome ceremony extended to the
returning `not so criminal' members of the separatist gang, the
`opening' became a real `closure.' Yet even today, after the surge of
separatist terrorism, the prime minister continues its lofty rhetoric
saying the government is determined to continue the opening, which
unfortunately has served no other purpose but further widening
polarization of the Turkish society.
Remember what Abraham Lincoln said, `You can fool all the people some
of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool
all the people all the time.' Perhaps someone should remind the AKP of
this famous Lincoln quotation.
From: A. Papazian
June 24 2010
Opportunism
Thursday, June 24, 2010
YUSUF KANLI
The Justice and Development Party, or AKP, government of Turkey will
perhaps be remembered as the worst and most opportunist government
this country has ever had in its republican history.
This is not necessarily because of bad policies or approaches the AKP
government has developed over the past eight years or because of its a
resolutions in various problem areas. It is instead because of the
cheeky attitude of the AKP, its monkey business tactics `a result
perhaps of its overwhelming parliamentary strength that has buried it
deep in a majoritarian obsession ` and the AKP's tendancy to give
prominence to Islamist solidarity, allied solidarity and respect to
obligations or, as is said in diplomacy, to pacta sunt servanda. These
leanings should be blamed for the current fiasco that is Turkish
policy from relations with Europe to ties with the United States, our
Middle East policies, the struggle against separatist terrorism or
domestic issues such as rampant unemployment, poverty, nepotism,
narcissism and corruption of all kinds.
If a government pledges to the European Union to open up ports and
airports to the Greek Cypriot government in exchange for a date for
starting accession talks while being aware it cannot deliver such a
promise ` at least until after Greek Cypriots agree to lift the
isolation measures they have been inposing on Turkish Cypriots ` can
that government be considered an `honest player?'
If a government is warned many times by Israel that it cannot allow a
rupture of its blockade of Gaza and that, if needed, it would use
force to maintain the blockade it considered vital for its national
security, and if that government not only fails to adequately warn its
citizens participating in a Turkish-led international humanitarian aid
flotilla that making such a trip would place their security under
serious risk, can it wash off its responsibility for the brutal murder
of nine Turkish citizens onboard a Turkish humanitarian flotilla and
place the entire responsibility on the Israeli state?
In the Cyprus example, the AKP was just trying to save the day in an
opportunist manner, assuming they would `think of the need to comply
with our pledge when the day comes¦' Regarding the Armenian protocols,
obviously the AKP government was banking on the idea that Yerevan
would not be able to get the protocols endorsed by its parliament and
thus would find itself in a difficult position in the eyes of the
international community. In the Gaza sham, partly because of domestic
political reasons ` the Turkish foundation leading the international
humanitarian aid flotilla was supportive of the Felicity or Saadet
Party, the chief Islamist-conservative contender of the AKP ` but
mostly because of Islamist solidarity feelings and the neo-Ottomanist
regional hegemony aspirations, the AKP turned a blind eye to the
imminent threat and thus to the murder of nine Turkish nationals, one
of them a Turkish-American.
The `opening' the AKP government started two years ago as a `Kurdish
opening,' which gradually evolved into a shy `democratic opening' and
then into a `Peace and Brotherhood Project,' was perhaps the wisest
move ever taken by a Turkish government to bring an end to the
25-year-old separatist violence in this country. The project was
launched as an ambiguous but indeed empty one, and it was said at the
time that it would be filled through contributions from all segments
of Turkish politics as well as NGOs and civil society establishments.
But the government did not even engage in discussions with the main
opposition party over what it aims to achieve with the opening.
The project, which was launched ambiguously, remained ambiguous
throughout the past two years, and even the government and the
die-hard supporters of the project could not come up with an
explanation as to what it included. With the tent-court created at the
Habur border gate area and a heroic welcome ceremony extended to the
returning `not so criminal' members of the separatist gang, the
`opening' became a real `closure.' Yet even today, after the surge of
separatist terrorism, the prime minister continues its lofty rhetoric
saying the government is determined to continue the opening, which
unfortunately has served no other purpose but further widening
polarization of the Turkish society.
Remember what Abraham Lincoln said, `You can fool all the people some
of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool
all the people all the time.' Perhaps someone should remind the AKP of
this famous Lincoln quotation.
From: A. Papazian