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ANKARA: German President Didn't Do His Homework Before Criticizing T

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  • ANKARA: German President Didn't Do His Homework Before Criticizing T

    GERMAN PRESIDENT DIDN'T DO HIS HOMEWORK BEFORE CRITICIZING TURKEY

    Daily Sabah, Turkey
    April 30 2014

    Turkish society demands equal and honest dialogue from European
    countries

    Melih Altınok 01 May 2014, Thursday

    German President Joachim Gauck's criticisms about the government
    during his visit to Turkey have resulted in broad repercussions on
    the agenda. President Abdullah Gul responded to Gauck's criticisms
    on matters that he had not mastered, kindly but firmly and implicitly
    indicating Germany's democratic problems.Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
    Erdogan said the information that Gauck shared with the media was
    different from the content of their private bilateral talks. A majority
    of Turkish popular opinion agrees with the reaction that was given to
    Gauck by Gul and Erdogan.And they are not wrong either. Gauck found
    Erdogan's offer of condolences, which shared the sorrow of Armenians
    about the 1915 incidents, inadequate. This raised some question marks
    in people's minds:

    You are so maximalist concerning Turkey's confrontation with its past.

    You are even more demanding than the Armenians who expressed their
    gratitude to Erdogan because of his courageous statements about the
    1915 incidents. Taking all of these into consideration, then why did
    you excoriate the politics of your former chancellor Willy Brandt when
    he knelt down in front of the Holocaust Memorial in your own country?

    Or do you fail to see the Holocaust to be as critical a matter as
    the 1915 incidents?

    Why don't you look back at your recent past instead of giving advice
    to Erdogan who has maintained a successful Kurdish reconciliation
    initiative and who was appreciated by British and Spaniard leaders,
    who have struggled against similar problems previously?

    Actually, are you in a position to criticize a government that has
    reached the highest level in its history in terms of initiating
    social reconciliations about minorities and disadvantageous
    sections? I suppose not. Remember the statements of Mehmet Kılıc
    who is a Turkishborn Member of Parliament for Germany's Green
    Party. Although he supported you, he did not vote for you in the
    presidential elections.Kılıc explained the reason for this and said:
    "When Joachim Gauck was nominated for the presidency one-and-a-half
    years ago, he delivered an influential speech. He said they would not
    alienate immigrants from society and expose them to clashes as well as
    accepting them as a part of German society.Just three months later,
    Thilo Sarrazin, a former central banker of Germany, said Turkish
    children were good for nothing just because of their genes. During an
    interview, Gauck spoke highly of these provocative words of Sarrazin
    and confirmed them. What is worse, he said it was a courageous act and
    these discussions were required." (Deutsche Welle) I do not even want
    to elaborate on the fact that you applauded Turkey's Gezi protests
    while harshly criticizing Germany's "Occupy Now" demonstrations.

    (Birgun)

    It is possible to ask more questions about Gauck's political career and
    its feedback. As Turks, we are not indifferent to European politics. I
    wish you too had studied Turkey before you visited it, at least about
    the subjects that you criticized.

    If only you had referred to various information resources and had
    not been an instrument of those who want to interfere in Turkey's
    domestic politics through you. I also wish you had not spoilt these
    important talks between Turkey and Germany.

    I suppose your problem does not merely results from your knowledge
    on Turkey, which has been manipulated. It seems that you also
    have a problem with terminology.If this were not the case, you
    would not have praised Middle East Technical University (ODTU),
    where you presented a speech, for its liberal atmosphere because no
    liberal journalists and authors are allowed to give lectures at this
    university. Even worse, Erdogan, who is accused of authoritarianism,
    is not allowed to enter it. As far as I know, you describe yourself as
    a radical anti-communist, and you changed your stance in Turkey. ODTU
    is considered as a stronghold of orthodox leftism in Turkey. What do
    you think about checking the meanings of "liberal" and "authoritarian"
    in the dictionary once more?

    The Turkish people want European countries to warn and observe
    each other with objective criteria. International solidarity is a
    factor that consolidates democracy. However, Turkish society is fed
    up with European prototypes, which give maximalist indoctrination
    with imperfect information and a bossy attitude, forgetting their
    own democratic problems. They righteously demand an equal and true
    dialogue that is free of orientalist prejudices. I think this is not
    an unrighteous aspiration.

    http://www.dailysabah.com/columns/melih-altinok/2014/05/01/german-president-didnt-do-his-homework-before-criticizing-turkey

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