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TURKEY STILL WANTS TO BE IN EUROPE'S 'FIRST DIVISION,' PM'S ADVISER SAYS
Hurriyet Daily News, Turkey
Dec 26 2014
ISTANBUL - Agence France-Presse
Prime Minister Davutoðlu's Chief Adviser Etyen Mahcupyan.
Turkey's leaders are committed to EU membership and still aim to play
in the "first division" of Europe despite a bitter row over a crackdown
on the media, a top adviser to Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoðlu has said.
Turkey's aspirations to join the EU received a serious setback when
the latest police swoop on media linked to President Recep Tayyip
Erdoðan's number-one foe, Fethullah Gulen, led to an angry episode
of mud-slinging between Ankara and Brussels.
Etyen Mahcupyan, a Turkish-Armenian journalist who was named chief
adviser to Davutoðlu in November, blamed the dispute on a lack of
understanding about Turkey in the West.
But he told AFP in an interview that despite the sometimes tough
rhetoric, Ankara had no intention of giving up on its decades-old
bid to join the 28-member bloc.
"The AKP [the ruling Justice and Development Party] absolutely,
100 percent, wants to join the EU and demonstrate its own power in
Europe," he said. "An enthusiastic and self-confident Recep Tayyip
Erdoðan cannot dream of a Turkey which plays in the second division.
He wants to play in the first league, but as equal partners."
Mahcupyan, however, criticized the West's "negative" approach and what
he said was its failure to understand the government's war against
the Gulen movement, which Erdogan has accused of orchestrating a plot
to bring him down when he was prime minister.
"The Western world is unaware of what's going on in Turkey. They do
not understand and they are not very much willing to understand,"
said Mahcupyan.
Erdoðan has blamed the Gulen movement of concocting a corruption
scandal last year that rocked his government and has purged thousands
of his followers from the police and the judiciary.
A Turkish court has issued an arrest warrant for the U.S.-based Gulen,
but the EU was particularly concerned by raids earlier this month
that targeted pro-Gulen media.
"It is very clear that the Gulen community [cemaat] attempted to
topple the government and particularly to create a period without
Tayyip Erdoðan," said Mahcupyan, adding that it was an "abortive"
initiative without military involvement.
Mahcupyan said the Gulenists established a "hierarchy" in key state
institutions in charge of policy-making and the "coup" was staged by
that "core group," estimated to number between 5,000 and 10,000 out
of up to 3 million sympathizers.
"I cannot say all are involved," he said, adding that most Gulenists
only heard about what happened from the media. "As far as I can see,
Tayyip Erdoðan and the AKP are trying to explain this as much as they
can and convince them to part ways with Cemaat of their free will,
so that the government can deal with the remaining core group."
Mahcupyan likened the ruling AKP, co-founded by Erdoðan, to a "pendulum
swinging between authoritarianism and democracy" and said the party
showed a reflex for tougher measures whenever it saw a threat to its
survival. "I can say it is a party closer to democracy... It is a
very suspicious party which thinks the rug under its feet could be
pulled at any moment."
Mahcupyan said Erdoðan and Davutoðlu had similar ideas and their
differences in style were complementary.
"Tayyip Erdoðan is the man who clears bushes in a wood with a sword in
his hand. He does not stop. If he stops, there's a threat. He always
moves forward just in case," he said.
"Davutoðlu is the man who will install tiles on the road. If Tayyip
Erdoðan does not open that path, Davutoðlu cannot furnish that path.
They complement each other," he said.
Turkey, Armenia should leave genocide row 'to coming years'
Regarding the Armenian issue, Mahcupyan said Armenia should not
expect to resolve a long-running dispute over the mass killing of
Armenians in World War I on the 100th anniversary of the tragedy in
2015, a top adviser to the prime minister said.
Armenia and its diaspora want Turkey to recognise the mass killings
of Armenians in the final years of the Ottoman Empire from 1915 as
genocide, something Turkey has so far vehemently resisted.
According to Mahcupyan, 2015 would be a "tough year" because of the
anniversary and major breakthroughs would have to wait for later.
"I believe symbolic steps could be taken this year and a more emotional
relationship could be established," he said.
"But I believe more political or historical issues will be left to
the coming years and then it will be easier," he added.
Erdoðan offered an unprecedented expression of condolence for the
massacres in April when he was still prime minister, describing the
killings as "our shared pain."
But this went nowhere near far enough for Armenians, who want the
deaths of an estimated 1.5 million people recognised as a campaign
of genocide ordered by the top security leadership of the Ottoman
Empire from 1915-1916.
Mahcupyan, one of very few Armenians to have held a government post,
said the priority for the future should be establishing relations
with Armenia as well as the millions-strong diaspora, many of whom
harbour a deep hatred of Turkey.
"I don't think we need to hurry 100 years on. What happens later on
should proceed more healthily," he said.
Armenia will commemorate the 100th anniversary of the massacres
on April 24, the date when in 1915 hundreds of prominent Armenians
were rounded up and later massacred in Istanbul marking the start of
the killings.
Pointing to the striking "rapprochement" in relations between Russia
and Turkey over the last months, Mahcupyan said Moscow could play a
role "that facilitates this issue," he said.
December/26/2014
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/turkey-still-wants-to-be-in-europes-first-division-pms-adviser-says.aspx?pageID=238&nID=76116&NewsCatID=338
Hurriyet Daily News, Turkey
Dec 26 2014
ISTANBUL - Agence France-Presse
Prime Minister Davutoðlu's Chief Adviser Etyen Mahcupyan.
Turkey's leaders are committed to EU membership and still aim to play
in the "first division" of Europe despite a bitter row over a crackdown
on the media, a top adviser to Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoðlu has said.
Turkey's aspirations to join the EU received a serious setback when
the latest police swoop on media linked to President Recep Tayyip
Erdoðan's number-one foe, Fethullah Gulen, led to an angry episode
of mud-slinging between Ankara and Brussels.
Etyen Mahcupyan, a Turkish-Armenian journalist who was named chief
adviser to Davutoðlu in November, blamed the dispute on a lack of
understanding about Turkey in the West.
But he told AFP in an interview that despite the sometimes tough
rhetoric, Ankara had no intention of giving up on its decades-old
bid to join the 28-member bloc.
"The AKP [the ruling Justice and Development Party] absolutely,
100 percent, wants to join the EU and demonstrate its own power in
Europe," he said. "An enthusiastic and self-confident Recep Tayyip
Erdoðan cannot dream of a Turkey which plays in the second division.
He wants to play in the first league, but as equal partners."
Mahcupyan, however, criticized the West's "negative" approach and what
he said was its failure to understand the government's war against
the Gulen movement, which Erdogan has accused of orchestrating a plot
to bring him down when he was prime minister.
"The Western world is unaware of what's going on in Turkey. They do
not understand and they are not very much willing to understand,"
said Mahcupyan.
Erdoðan has blamed the Gulen movement of concocting a corruption
scandal last year that rocked his government and has purged thousands
of his followers from the police and the judiciary.
A Turkish court has issued an arrest warrant for the U.S.-based Gulen,
but the EU was particularly concerned by raids earlier this month
that targeted pro-Gulen media.
"It is very clear that the Gulen community [cemaat] attempted to
topple the government and particularly to create a period without
Tayyip Erdoðan," said Mahcupyan, adding that it was an "abortive"
initiative without military involvement.
Mahcupyan said the Gulenists established a "hierarchy" in key state
institutions in charge of policy-making and the "coup" was staged by
that "core group," estimated to number between 5,000 and 10,000 out
of up to 3 million sympathizers.
"I cannot say all are involved," he said, adding that most Gulenists
only heard about what happened from the media. "As far as I can see,
Tayyip Erdoðan and the AKP are trying to explain this as much as they
can and convince them to part ways with Cemaat of their free will,
so that the government can deal with the remaining core group."
Mahcupyan likened the ruling AKP, co-founded by Erdoðan, to a "pendulum
swinging between authoritarianism and democracy" and said the party
showed a reflex for tougher measures whenever it saw a threat to its
survival. "I can say it is a party closer to democracy... It is a
very suspicious party which thinks the rug under its feet could be
pulled at any moment."
Mahcupyan said Erdoðan and Davutoðlu had similar ideas and their
differences in style were complementary.
"Tayyip Erdoðan is the man who clears bushes in a wood with a sword in
his hand. He does not stop. If he stops, there's a threat. He always
moves forward just in case," he said.
"Davutoðlu is the man who will install tiles on the road. If Tayyip
Erdoðan does not open that path, Davutoðlu cannot furnish that path.
They complement each other," he said.
Turkey, Armenia should leave genocide row 'to coming years'
Regarding the Armenian issue, Mahcupyan said Armenia should not
expect to resolve a long-running dispute over the mass killing of
Armenians in World War I on the 100th anniversary of the tragedy in
2015, a top adviser to the prime minister said.
Armenia and its diaspora want Turkey to recognise the mass killings
of Armenians in the final years of the Ottoman Empire from 1915 as
genocide, something Turkey has so far vehemently resisted.
According to Mahcupyan, 2015 would be a "tough year" because of the
anniversary and major breakthroughs would have to wait for later.
"I believe symbolic steps could be taken this year and a more emotional
relationship could be established," he said.
"But I believe more political or historical issues will be left to
the coming years and then it will be easier," he added.
Erdoðan offered an unprecedented expression of condolence for the
massacres in April when he was still prime minister, describing the
killings as "our shared pain."
But this went nowhere near far enough for Armenians, who want the
deaths of an estimated 1.5 million people recognised as a campaign
of genocide ordered by the top security leadership of the Ottoman
Empire from 1915-1916.
Mahcupyan, one of very few Armenians to have held a government post,
said the priority for the future should be establishing relations
with Armenia as well as the millions-strong diaspora, many of whom
harbour a deep hatred of Turkey.
"I don't think we need to hurry 100 years on. What happens later on
should proceed more healthily," he said.
Armenia will commemorate the 100th anniversary of the massacres
on April 24, the date when in 1915 hundreds of prominent Armenians
were rounded up and later massacred in Istanbul marking the start of
the killings.
Pointing to the striking "rapprochement" in relations between Russia
and Turkey over the last months, Mahcupyan said Moscow could play a
role "that facilitates this issue," he said.
December/26/2014
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/turkey-still-wants-to-be-in-europes-first-division-pms-adviser-says.aspx?pageID=238&nID=76116&NewsCatID=338