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ARE WE EXECUTING GERMAN FOUNDATIONS EXTRAJUDICIALLY?
Hurriyet Daily News
Oct 5 2011
Turkey
One of the biggest strengths of the Justice and Development party,
or AKP, is that it can make some decisions without any complex. One
of the latest examples of this is the decision to return the property
that belonged to minority foundations that were unjustly seized by
the state.
Now I see that the prime minister is making extremely important
and serious accusations against German foundations. He says they
are helping the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, through
several means.
There are four major German foundations operating in Turkey: Konrad
Adenauer, Friedrich Ebert, Friedrich Naumann and Heinrich Boll.
All of these foundations are Germany's leading, exceptionally serious,
credible think tanks. Their budgets and activities are subject to
both Turkish and German officials' scrutiny. They cannot spend money
as they wish. Because they exist on donations, each penny is audited.
I have participated in meetings of almost all of them. I have observed
their general stances. I don't have the impression that any of them
are behind secret games. On the contrary, they have supported Turkey
in several international issues; moreover, they have worked like
lobbyists. Their fields of interest change according to the host
country. In the course of years, they have been involved in Turkey in
such topics as human rights, civilian-military relations, the Kurdish
issue, the Armenian issue, Cyprus, relations with Greece, shift of
axis, the Middle East and Syria. That is, they cover those issues that
we speak about, those that the international community wonders about
Turkey, those that are "in." In the past it was Cyprus, Turkish-Greek,
human rights and civilian-military relations that were "in"; now it
is shift of axis where Turkey is heading and the Kurdish issue.
Moreover, these foundations do not get involved in underground works
in those countries in which they operate. There are others who do
them. These four big foundations are not engaged in destructive
activities; they do not take steps that will trigger complaints from
the officials of their hosting countries.
These foundations do not issue credits. They do not go beyond
organizing conferences and issuing reports.
Since the prime minister is making accusations, he must have
information or a document. He would not or should not give such serious
sentences for nothing. For this reason, now, it is expected that the
prime minister discloses the evidence.
What I do not understand is, instead of publicly accusing the
foundations, why not mobilize the police? If there is anything, why
are they not investigated and why opt for the road of building up of
suspicion and concerns in the eyes of the public?
I expected the police to act after the words of the prime minister.
But no voice was heard from anybody.
If those foundations and the German government, German investment
agency KFW or the sustainable development agency GIZ that supports
and aids infrastructure investments are mistaken with each other,
it should immediately be corrected and whatever is being wished to
be said should be said openly.
In our country, there exists a suspicion against anything of foreign
nationality. We see every foreigner as a spy. We always confuse those
whose actual duty is spying and those who collect intelligence in
the name of foundations or associations with real foundations. It
gives us goose flesh especially if a foreigner is interested in the
Kurdish issue, if he/she watches demonstrations, makes contacts in the
Southeast, makes statements or writes reports outside the boundaries of
the official ideology. We immediately produce conspiracy theories; we
cannot distinguish between real foundations and harmful organizations.
In short: It is the business of the police and the judiciary to
investigate foundations that engage in destructive activities, that
support terror, and to catch and punish those that act against the
law. Accusing these foundations without showing a concrete finding
is nothing more than extrajudicial execution.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
Hurriyet Daily News
Oct 5 2011
Turkey
One of the biggest strengths of the Justice and Development party,
or AKP, is that it can make some decisions without any complex. One
of the latest examples of this is the decision to return the property
that belonged to minority foundations that were unjustly seized by
the state.
Now I see that the prime minister is making extremely important
and serious accusations against German foundations. He says they
are helping the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, through
several means.
There are four major German foundations operating in Turkey: Konrad
Adenauer, Friedrich Ebert, Friedrich Naumann and Heinrich Boll.
All of these foundations are Germany's leading, exceptionally serious,
credible think tanks. Their budgets and activities are subject to
both Turkish and German officials' scrutiny. They cannot spend money
as they wish. Because they exist on donations, each penny is audited.
I have participated in meetings of almost all of them. I have observed
their general stances. I don't have the impression that any of them
are behind secret games. On the contrary, they have supported Turkey
in several international issues; moreover, they have worked like
lobbyists. Their fields of interest change according to the host
country. In the course of years, they have been involved in Turkey in
such topics as human rights, civilian-military relations, the Kurdish
issue, the Armenian issue, Cyprus, relations with Greece, shift of
axis, the Middle East and Syria. That is, they cover those issues that
we speak about, those that the international community wonders about
Turkey, those that are "in." In the past it was Cyprus, Turkish-Greek,
human rights and civilian-military relations that were "in"; now it
is shift of axis where Turkey is heading and the Kurdish issue.
Moreover, these foundations do not get involved in underground works
in those countries in which they operate. There are others who do
them. These four big foundations are not engaged in destructive
activities; they do not take steps that will trigger complaints from
the officials of their hosting countries.
These foundations do not issue credits. They do not go beyond
organizing conferences and issuing reports.
Since the prime minister is making accusations, he must have
information or a document. He would not or should not give such serious
sentences for nothing. For this reason, now, it is expected that the
prime minister discloses the evidence.
What I do not understand is, instead of publicly accusing the
foundations, why not mobilize the police? If there is anything, why
are they not investigated and why opt for the road of building up of
suspicion and concerns in the eyes of the public?
I expected the police to act after the words of the prime minister.
But no voice was heard from anybody.
If those foundations and the German government, German investment
agency KFW or the sustainable development agency GIZ that supports
and aids infrastructure investments are mistaken with each other,
it should immediately be corrected and whatever is being wished to
be said should be said openly.
In our country, there exists a suspicion against anything of foreign
nationality. We see every foreigner as a spy. We always confuse those
whose actual duty is spying and those who collect intelligence in
the name of foundations or associations with real foundations. It
gives us goose flesh especially if a foreigner is interested in the
Kurdish issue, if he/she watches demonstrations, makes contacts in the
Southeast, makes statements or writes reports outside the boundaries of
the official ideology. We immediately produce conspiracy theories; we
cannot distinguish between real foundations and harmful organizations.
In short: It is the business of the police and the judiciary to
investigate foundations that engage in destructive activities, that
support terror, and to catch and punish those that act against the
law. Accusing these foundations without showing a concrete finding
is nothing more than extrajudicial execution.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress