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Today's Zaman, Turkey
Aug 10 2014
The nightmare is over
by EMRE USLU
Since the March 30 local elections, Turkey has been living a terrible
nightmare. This Sunday was the last day of the election campaigns,
campaigns during which Prime Minister Recep Tayyip ErdoÄ?an polarized
Turkish society and divided it into pieces.
Due to his polarizing campaign, people have started to hate each
other. Husbands have divorced wives. There was even a case in which a
person was killed. The murderer confessed to killing the person just
because the victim did not like ErdoÄ?an. What's worse, the killer
showed no sign of regret.
In order to win, ErdoÄ?an has destroyed every institution that holds
society together. Just last week he stressed the Alevi identity of
Kemal KılıçdaroÄ?lu and the Zaza identity of Selahattin DemirtaÅ?.
In order to win, ErdoÄ?an even denied his own identity and claimed to
be a Turk. However, just ten years ago he himself revealed that he is
a descendent of Georgian families. Moreover, he insulted Armenians and
espoused the idea the being Armenian is shameful.
He has not only destroyed the ties between people, he has also
destroyed the judicial system. In order to prove his claims, he
changed the judicial system, appointed like-minded judges and found
like-minded prosecutors to persecute his opponents.
He threatened judges who do not rule as he wishes. He even criticized
the Constitutional Court for not being a `nationalist' court.
In his characteristic style, he utilized his election campaign to
crack down on the alleged parallel state. During the holy month of
Ramadan, police officers were arrested in the middle of the night and
handcuffed in front of TV cameras, pro-government media outlets
threatened businessmen and he tried to make a bank declare bankruptcy.
Even President Abdullah Gül and Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan
received their share in the mud-slinging campaign of ErdoÄ?an and his
associates. Pro-ErdoÄ?an journalists targeted Gül when he said he would
continue to be in politics.
Last but not least, Babacan, the most respected AKP politician and a
cabinet member in the AKP government, was accused of helping and being
a member of the Gülenists.
ErdoÄ?an's top aid, YiÄ?it Bulut, accused Babacan of helping Gülenists.
Many thought that Bulut accused Mr. Babacan to advance his own career,
but Bulut would not have said a word without a signal from ErdoÄ?an.
ErdoÄ?an's bullying campaign was not only limited to domestic actors.
He has not hesitated to target foreign figures and countries in ploys
to get more votes. For instance, he targeted the American ambassador
and threatened to deport him. He claimed that foreign powers were
behind the Gezi protests and corruption scandals. He harshly
criticized the EU when he thought it would win him more votes.
Even as he bullied everyone under the sun, the Turkish economy did not
collapse, and foreign powers, including the US and the EU, were not
alarmed for two reasons.
First, they understood ErdoÄ?an very well. ErdoÄ?an would do anything to
maintain his power. Powerful nations know quite well that ErdoÄ?an
would ultimately be quick to bow down to the powerful. He even bowed
before Ã-calan and the Koç group. Thus, neither the economically
powerful nor the politically powerful take him seriously. They
consider him nothing more than another authoritarian leader who likes
to put on a show for his own people but cannot do anything to
foreigners.
Unfortunately, poor Turkish people who think he is a world leader see
him as a savior, while the world simply laughs at him and his domestic
posturing. Imagine a world leader who cannot not reach US president
Obama, leader of the world's superpower. Imagine a world leader who
declared, in front of international press, that he was going to go to
Gaza to support Palestinian people, then neglected to mention it
again. Imagine a world leader whose life is full of zigzags. Imagine a
world leader who said he would quickly rescue the hostages in the
hands of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) but, after
months, was unable to rescue his own diplomats and 49 hostages from
ISIL's bloodthirsty terrorists.
It is the typical behavior of a dictator; in order to hide his
weakness he needs to flex his muscles against a weak opponent and
smash them in front of his hysterical supporters.
During the election campaign and the period of the last six months,
this is what has happened in Turkey. Thank God the nightmare is over¦
http://www.todayszaman.com/columnist/emre-uslu/the-nightmare-is-over_355218.html
Aug 10 2014
The nightmare is over
by EMRE USLU
Since the March 30 local elections, Turkey has been living a terrible
nightmare. This Sunday was the last day of the election campaigns,
campaigns during which Prime Minister Recep Tayyip ErdoÄ?an polarized
Turkish society and divided it into pieces.
Due to his polarizing campaign, people have started to hate each
other. Husbands have divorced wives. There was even a case in which a
person was killed. The murderer confessed to killing the person just
because the victim did not like ErdoÄ?an. What's worse, the killer
showed no sign of regret.
In order to win, ErdoÄ?an has destroyed every institution that holds
society together. Just last week he stressed the Alevi identity of
Kemal KılıçdaroÄ?lu and the Zaza identity of Selahattin DemirtaÅ?.
In order to win, ErdoÄ?an even denied his own identity and claimed to
be a Turk. However, just ten years ago he himself revealed that he is
a descendent of Georgian families. Moreover, he insulted Armenians and
espoused the idea the being Armenian is shameful.
He has not only destroyed the ties between people, he has also
destroyed the judicial system. In order to prove his claims, he
changed the judicial system, appointed like-minded judges and found
like-minded prosecutors to persecute his opponents.
He threatened judges who do not rule as he wishes. He even criticized
the Constitutional Court for not being a `nationalist' court.
In his characteristic style, he utilized his election campaign to
crack down on the alleged parallel state. During the holy month of
Ramadan, police officers were arrested in the middle of the night and
handcuffed in front of TV cameras, pro-government media outlets
threatened businessmen and he tried to make a bank declare bankruptcy.
Even President Abdullah Gül and Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan
received their share in the mud-slinging campaign of ErdoÄ?an and his
associates. Pro-ErdoÄ?an journalists targeted Gül when he said he would
continue to be in politics.
Last but not least, Babacan, the most respected AKP politician and a
cabinet member in the AKP government, was accused of helping and being
a member of the Gülenists.
ErdoÄ?an's top aid, YiÄ?it Bulut, accused Babacan of helping Gülenists.
Many thought that Bulut accused Mr. Babacan to advance his own career,
but Bulut would not have said a word without a signal from ErdoÄ?an.
ErdoÄ?an's bullying campaign was not only limited to domestic actors.
He has not hesitated to target foreign figures and countries in ploys
to get more votes. For instance, he targeted the American ambassador
and threatened to deport him. He claimed that foreign powers were
behind the Gezi protests and corruption scandals. He harshly
criticized the EU when he thought it would win him more votes.
Even as he bullied everyone under the sun, the Turkish economy did not
collapse, and foreign powers, including the US and the EU, were not
alarmed for two reasons.
First, they understood ErdoÄ?an very well. ErdoÄ?an would do anything to
maintain his power. Powerful nations know quite well that ErdoÄ?an
would ultimately be quick to bow down to the powerful. He even bowed
before Ã-calan and the Koç group. Thus, neither the economically
powerful nor the politically powerful take him seriously. They
consider him nothing more than another authoritarian leader who likes
to put on a show for his own people but cannot do anything to
foreigners.
Unfortunately, poor Turkish people who think he is a world leader see
him as a savior, while the world simply laughs at him and his domestic
posturing. Imagine a world leader who cannot not reach US president
Obama, leader of the world's superpower. Imagine a world leader who
declared, in front of international press, that he was going to go to
Gaza to support Palestinian people, then neglected to mention it
again. Imagine a world leader whose life is full of zigzags. Imagine a
world leader who said he would quickly rescue the hostages in the
hands of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) but, after
months, was unable to rescue his own diplomats and 49 hostages from
ISIL's bloodthirsty terrorists.
It is the typical behavior of a dictator; in order to hide his
weakness he needs to flex his muscles against a weak opponent and
smash them in front of his hysterical supporters.
During the election campaign and the period of the last six months,
this is what has happened in Turkey. Thank God the nightmare is over¦
http://www.todayszaman.com/columnist/emre-uslu/the-nightmare-is-over_355218.html