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JEWISH VOICE: HIGH TIME FOR ERDOGAN TO FACE THE MUSIC
http://armenpress.am/eng/news/723321/jewish-voice-high-time-for-erdogan-to-face-the-music.html
13:38, 20 June, 2013
YEREVAN, JUNE 20, ARMENPRESS: The Jewish Voice is calling on the
International Olympic Committee to take a hard look at the current
situation in Turkey, and think deeply about whether that country is
the appropriate venue for a world sporting event that is supposed to
send a message of freedom and the value of individual human enterprise,
reports Armenpress.
Istanbul is one of the primary contenders to host the 2020 Summer
Olympics, stimulating Erdogan to try marketing the city as a connecting
force between civilizations. Yet despite such hopes, the leader of
Turkey is not hesitant to foster an atmosphere at home that reeks
with authoritarianism and rapidly creeping tyranny.
"We are also calling on the good, inherently human rights-loving people
of Turkey to continue to set aside their fears - however justified -
and mount a full-scale uprising against the Erdogan regime. Unmitigated
justice and true democracy must ultimately prevail in Turkey," says
Jewish Voice.
The newspaper notes that like other Middle Eastern leaders before him,
Turkey's Prime Minister, Recep Erdogan, has sadly not been able to
leave well enough alone. For quite a while, his country was more in
tune with Western values, allowing its citizenry to enjoy a decent
amount of freedom as per democratic tenets and keeping the region's
prevailing spirit of hard-line Islamism within controlled boundaries
of influence.
More recently, however, Erdogan has increasingly sought to institute
reforms that clamp down on individual rights and impose various
aspects of Sharia - read fundamentalist Muslim - law. His latest
attempts to outlaw public consumption of alcohol during late evening
hours, along with similar harsh measures, were apparently the straw
that broke the camel's (pardon the Middle East pun) back. Intense,
boisterous riots ensued, with the common folk rising up to declare
that they would not take these socially stifling measures lying down.
Unsurprisingly, the obstinate Prime Minister reacted in a
manner of regressive defiance, directing Turkey's riot police to
unleash every weapon in their arsenal against the protestors. In
addition to volleying rounds of rubber bullets and tear gas at the
"had-it-up-to-here" citizens, the police arrested 70 lawyers who were
marching in sympathy with the demonstrators. As the Wall Street Journal
noted, this is all in sync with his troubling crackdowns of late. "The
Prime Minister and his political allies have gone after media magnates,
military officers, judges and journalists," the respected newspaper
stated, "many of whom are behind bars on trumped-up terrorism and
conspiracy charges."
Moreover, it has been reliably reported that - rather than take
hard-earned taxpayer dollars and use them to build cultural
institutions that broaden the people's intellectual and artistic
horizons - Erdogan has overseen the construction of approximately
1700 mosques throughout the country. It seems he is willing to do
anything to defy the people's wishes and shove as much hard-line
Islamism down their throats as he possibly can.
http://armenpress.am/eng/news/723321/jewish-voice-high-time-for-erdogan-to-face-the-music.html
13:38, 20 June, 2013
YEREVAN, JUNE 20, ARMENPRESS: The Jewish Voice is calling on the
International Olympic Committee to take a hard look at the current
situation in Turkey, and think deeply about whether that country is
the appropriate venue for a world sporting event that is supposed to
send a message of freedom and the value of individual human enterprise,
reports Armenpress.
Istanbul is one of the primary contenders to host the 2020 Summer
Olympics, stimulating Erdogan to try marketing the city as a connecting
force between civilizations. Yet despite such hopes, the leader of
Turkey is not hesitant to foster an atmosphere at home that reeks
with authoritarianism and rapidly creeping tyranny.
"We are also calling on the good, inherently human rights-loving people
of Turkey to continue to set aside their fears - however justified -
and mount a full-scale uprising against the Erdogan regime. Unmitigated
justice and true democracy must ultimately prevail in Turkey," says
Jewish Voice.
The newspaper notes that like other Middle Eastern leaders before him,
Turkey's Prime Minister, Recep Erdogan, has sadly not been able to
leave well enough alone. For quite a while, his country was more in
tune with Western values, allowing its citizenry to enjoy a decent
amount of freedom as per democratic tenets and keeping the region's
prevailing spirit of hard-line Islamism within controlled boundaries
of influence.
More recently, however, Erdogan has increasingly sought to institute
reforms that clamp down on individual rights and impose various
aspects of Sharia - read fundamentalist Muslim - law. His latest
attempts to outlaw public consumption of alcohol during late evening
hours, along with similar harsh measures, were apparently the straw
that broke the camel's (pardon the Middle East pun) back. Intense,
boisterous riots ensued, with the common folk rising up to declare
that they would not take these socially stifling measures lying down.
Unsurprisingly, the obstinate Prime Minister reacted in a
manner of regressive defiance, directing Turkey's riot police to
unleash every weapon in their arsenal against the protestors. In
addition to volleying rounds of rubber bullets and tear gas at the
"had-it-up-to-here" citizens, the police arrested 70 lawyers who were
marching in sympathy with the demonstrators. As the Wall Street Journal
noted, this is all in sync with his troubling crackdowns of late. "The
Prime Minister and his political allies have gone after media magnates,
military officers, judges and journalists," the respected newspaper
stated, "many of whom are behind bars on trumped-up terrorism and
conspiracy charges."
Moreover, it has been reliably reported that - rather than take
hard-earned taxpayer dollars and use them to build cultural
institutions that broaden the people's intellectual and artistic
horizons - Erdogan has overseen the construction of approximately
1700 mosques throughout the country. It seems he is willing to do
anything to defy the people's wishes and shove as much hard-line
Islamism down their throats as he possibly can.