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Today's Zaman, Turkey
March 14 2015
Abusiveness, arrogance, incivility dominate Erdoðan's rhetoric
Recep Tayyip Erdoðan, who was prime minister at the time, is seen in
an angry mood during a parliamentary group meeting of his AK Party, in
April 2014. (Photo: Sunday's Zaman)
March 14, 2015, Saturday/ 17:00:00/ TUÐBA KAPLAN / ISTANBUL
A look at the nearly 13-year political leadership of President Recep
Tayyip Erdoðan -- who served as prime minister until his election to
the top post last August -- shows that the current president,
politicians and even some bureaucrats around him, communicate poorly
with citizens as they frequently confront individuals in public using
offensive and insulting language and even resort to using physical
violence.
Many people in Turkey have heard anecdotes from the single-party era
in Turkey -- following the foundation of the Turkish Republic in 1923
-- that show the problematic approach of those statesmen toward
citizens. Back then, it was very common for statesmen to look down on
citizens, insult them and even use violence against them.
For instance, it is said that those who did not have "appropriate"
clothing were not allowed to walk in the Kýzýlay neighborhood of
Ankara. It is even said that prominent 20th-century Turkish minstrel
Aþýk Veysel Þatýroðlu, who travelled to Ankara to meet with the
founder of modern Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, was not allowed to
enter Kýzýlay because he was wearing local clothes and hence could not
meet with Atatürk.
According to another anecdote from the single-party era, then-Ankara
Governor Nevzat Tandoðan referring to Osman Yüksel Serdengeçti, a
former politician and journalist who was arrested in 1944, said: "You
idiot from Anatolia, who are you to advocate nationalism or communism?
It is us who will do it if need be. It is us who will introduce
communism to the country if this is supposed to be done. You have two
duties: first, to cultivate crops and do farming and second, to join
the army when we summon you."
Ninety years after these incidents, the Justice and Development Party
(AK Party) has been in power for the past 13 years -- 12 of which have
been under the leadership of Erdoðan -- and the treatment Turkish
citizens have to accept from high-ranking politicians is no different.
The language used by Erdoðan and senior members of the AK Party
government as well as some bureaucrats has often been visibly
offensive and belittling, while glorifying the state and those holding
government posts. In 2006, Erdoðan -- who is frequently criticized for
his angry outbursts -- rebuked a farmer, Mustafa Kemal Öncel, in the
southern province of Mersin in front of cameras after the farmer had
complained to him about his deteriorating financial situation due to
the government's policies. Öncel said, "You made my mother cry prime
minister." In response, an angry Erdoðan told the farmer, "Take your
mother and leave," in remarks that were interpreted as harsh and
unbefitting of a prime minister.
In the same year, when a group of people protested during an
inauguration ceremony in the western province of Balýkesir, saying
that they no longer want to see martyred soldiers -- referring to
those killed fighting the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).
Erdoðan said in response, "The army is not a place to lie around."
Yet another incident in the same year took place in Bilecik province's
Söðüt district, where Erdoðan's personal bodyguard Ali Erdoðan -- who
is also his nephew -- along with other bodyguards, attacked a group of
people protesting then-Prime Minister Erdoðan. In the brawl, Ali
Erdoðan was also injured, requiring stitches to his face.
In February 2009, when Erdoðan was addressing people at an election
rally in the central province of Sivas, he used insulting language
against journalists who he claimed were supporting the opposition
parties. "They [opposition parties] have their own media. They have
their own columnists there. They have their dear dogs, they sleep with
them and get up with them," Erdoðan said mockingly.
It is not only Erdoðan who uses ill-mannered and abusive language
against citizens, but rather members of his former government have
also demonstrated examples of such behavior. When Agriculture Minister
Mehdi Eker was visiting an AK Party election office in March 2009, he
rebuked a person who was trying to explain something to him, saying:
"Don't act like a star. Don't raise your voice to me."
Blind man insulted in public
Former Health Minister Recep Akdað was highly offensive to a blind
citizen during a visit to the eastern province of Batman in May 2011.
When Nurullah Mehmetoðlu, a blind switchboard operator, complained
about his and his colleagues' working conditions and asked for an
improvement, Akdað reacted by saying: "We gave you a job even though
you are blind. What else do you want? You earn money, don't you?"
Akdað remarks were incredibly insulting, particularly to disabled
people and their families.
In June 2011, Erdoðan took part in a TV program where he complained
about controversial books that had been written about himself and
former President Abdullah Gül. "These books identified us as Jews,
Armenians [and] excuse me for saying this, but even as Greeks." With
these remarks, Erdoðan treated being a Greek as a swear word, drawing
huge reactions.
Journalists were again the target of then-Prime Minister Erdoðan in
May 2012 when he again likened them to dogs: "There are vultures in
the media. We made you get rid of your straps. Now they have
international straps around their necks," said Erdoðan, accusing some
journalists of acting under the orders of foreign powers.
In August 2012, AK Party Deputy Chairman Hüseyin Çelik's remarks were
found highly offensive by many when he criticized efforts by the
Republican People's Party (CHP) to convene Parliament for an
extraordinary meeting in the wake of the killing of soldiers in
clashes with the PKK, saying, "We cannot convene Parliament just
because a number of soldiers have been killed."
Unemployed teachers who were waiting to be appointed to positions at
government schools also received their share of abusive language from
Erdoðan. When an unemployed teacher told Erdoðan during his visit to
Gaziantep in January 2013 that if teachers who were waiting to be
given positions were not appointed in February, he would not vote for
Erdoðan's AK Party in the March 2014 local elections, an angry Erdoðan
told the teacher: "You take your vote and keep it for yourself. You
keep it yourself."
In March 2013, when a citizen complained about the minimum wage -- TL
800 -- to Labor Minister Faruk Çelik, Çelik's response was: "TL 800 is
good money. The price of cheese, bread and olives is obvious. It's not
as if you can't live on this money." The minister was thought to be
saying that eating cheese, bread and olives would be affordable and
sufficient for a family on minimum wage.
When Erdoðan faces protests, he often loses his temper and cannot
control his words, as he did in Þýrnak province in March 2013. When a
group of environmentalists held a protest in the province against
Erdoðan, who came to the Silopi district for the inauguration of a
thermal power plant, he furiously told the protestors: "Don't be
ungrateful. Shut up, don't be ungrateful. You cannot find bread to eat
but when an opportunity is created for you to make a living, you just
turn your back on it."
Erdoðan calls Gezi protesters 'looters'
Erdoðan's insulting rhetoric reached new heights during the 2013 Gezi
Park protests, which were sparked by government plans to demolish the
park and a build a shopping mall. Erdoðan, who was the prime minister
at the time, referred to the protesters as "çapulcular" (a group of
looters) many times during the protests. Erdoðan's refusal to hear the
protester's demands and his orders for a violent crackdown on the
protestors increased the tension in the country, turning the protests
into nationwide, anti-government protests.
In November 2013, during a ceremony to commemorate Atatürk on Nov. 10
in the southern province of Adana, a group of protesters chanted
slogans calling on then-Prime Minister Erdoðan to resign and demanding
that then-Adana Governor Hüseyin Avni Coþ step down. As the tension
escalated, one protester allegedly shouted, "God damn you!" at the
governor as the latter prepared to leave. Coþ suddenly got out of his
car and moved toward the man, demanding that his bodyguards detain the
protester. "Take away that pimp who said, 'God damn you!' to me," he
was caught on camera saying. Coþ faced a public backlash after his
controversial remarks. However, Erdoðan stood behind the governor in a
statement he made after the incident, asking the media why they didn't
question the way the governor was treated.
Soma pain grows
In May 2014, then-Prime Minister Erdoðan allegedly punched a young man
several times in Manisa's Soma district after a large crowd angrily
protested the huge mining disaster in the city in which an explosion
and subsequent fire killed 301 mineworkers.
Many people in the crowd protested Erdoðan's presence, shouting
"murderer" and "thief." The surging crowds reportedly forced the prime
minister to take shelter in a grocery store. However, some reports
claimed that Erdoðan entered the store not to avoid the protests but
rather to follow -- and subsequently punch -- a young man who had
shouted at him outside the store.
A video of the incident shared on the popular video-sharing platform
YouTube shows Erdoðan telling the protester, "Come next to me and boo
me," before walking up to the man in the store. At one point during
the video, Erdoðan seems to grab the protester and punch him. Erdoðan
was also caught on camera making an anti-Israel slur against a local
who protested the prime minister during his visit to Soma.
In addition to Erdoðan, one of his aides also engaged in violence in
Soma, this time against a man whose family members had been killed in
the mine disaster. Yusuf Yerkel, an adviser to Erdoðan, sparked anger
after being photographed kicking the mourner, sparking extensive
coverage in the Turkish and foreign media.
Before the August 2014 presidential election, Erdoðan appeared on a TV
program and apologized before using the word "Armenian" as one asks to
be excused before uttering a swearword.
He said: "Let all Turks in Turkey say they are Turks and all Kurds say
they are Kurds. What is wrong with that? You wouldn't believe the
things they have said about me. They have said I am Georgian. ... They
have said even uglier things. They have called me -- excuse me for
saying this -- Armenian, but I am Turkish."
His remarks have drawn widespread reaction for being racist.
http://www.todayszaman.com/national_abusiveness-arrogance-incivility-dominate-erdogans-rhetoric_375115.html
From: Baghdasarian
March 14 2015
Abusiveness, arrogance, incivility dominate Erdoðan's rhetoric
Recep Tayyip Erdoðan, who was prime minister at the time, is seen in
an angry mood during a parliamentary group meeting of his AK Party, in
April 2014. (Photo: Sunday's Zaman)
March 14, 2015, Saturday/ 17:00:00/ TUÐBA KAPLAN / ISTANBUL
A look at the nearly 13-year political leadership of President Recep
Tayyip Erdoðan -- who served as prime minister until his election to
the top post last August -- shows that the current president,
politicians and even some bureaucrats around him, communicate poorly
with citizens as they frequently confront individuals in public using
offensive and insulting language and even resort to using physical
violence.
Many people in Turkey have heard anecdotes from the single-party era
in Turkey -- following the foundation of the Turkish Republic in 1923
-- that show the problematic approach of those statesmen toward
citizens. Back then, it was very common for statesmen to look down on
citizens, insult them and even use violence against them.
For instance, it is said that those who did not have "appropriate"
clothing were not allowed to walk in the Kýzýlay neighborhood of
Ankara. It is even said that prominent 20th-century Turkish minstrel
Aþýk Veysel Þatýroðlu, who travelled to Ankara to meet with the
founder of modern Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, was not allowed to
enter Kýzýlay because he was wearing local clothes and hence could not
meet with Atatürk.
According to another anecdote from the single-party era, then-Ankara
Governor Nevzat Tandoðan referring to Osman Yüksel Serdengeçti, a
former politician and journalist who was arrested in 1944, said: "You
idiot from Anatolia, who are you to advocate nationalism or communism?
It is us who will do it if need be. It is us who will introduce
communism to the country if this is supposed to be done. You have two
duties: first, to cultivate crops and do farming and second, to join
the army when we summon you."
Ninety years after these incidents, the Justice and Development Party
(AK Party) has been in power for the past 13 years -- 12 of which have
been under the leadership of Erdoðan -- and the treatment Turkish
citizens have to accept from high-ranking politicians is no different.
The language used by Erdoðan and senior members of the AK Party
government as well as some bureaucrats has often been visibly
offensive and belittling, while glorifying the state and those holding
government posts. In 2006, Erdoðan -- who is frequently criticized for
his angry outbursts -- rebuked a farmer, Mustafa Kemal Öncel, in the
southern province of Mersin in front of cameras after the farmer had
complained to him about his deteriorating financial situation due to
the government's policies. Öncel said, "You made my mother cry prime
minister." In response, an angry Erdoðan told the farmer, "Take your
mother and leave," in remarks that were interpreted as harsh and
unbefitting of a prime minister.
In the same year, when a group of people protested during an
inauguration ceremony in the western province of Balýkesir, saying
that they no longer want to see martyred soldiers -- referring to
those killed fighting the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).
Erdoðan said in response, "The army is not a place to lie around."
Yet another incident in the same year took place in Bilecik province's
Söðüt district, where Erdoðan's personal bodyguard Ali Erdoðan -- who
is also his nephew -- along with other bodyguards, attacked a group of
people protesting then-Prime Minister Erdoðan. In the brawl, Ali
Erdoðan was also injured, requiring stitches to his face.
In February 2009, when Erdoðan was addressing people at an election
rally in the central province of Sivas, he used insulting language
against journalists who he claimed were supporting the opposition
parties. "They [opposition parties] have their own media. They have
their own columnists there. They have their dear dogs, they sleep with
them and get up with them," Erdoðan said mockingly.
It is not only Erdoðan who uses ill-mannered and abusive language
against citizens, but rather members of his former government have
also demonstrated examples of such behavior. When Agriculture Minister
Mehdi Eker was visiting an AK Party election office in March 2009, he
rebuked a person who was trying to explain something to him, saying:
"Don't act like a star. Don't raise your voice to me."
Blind man insulted in public
Former Health Minister Recep Akdað was highly offensive to a blind
citizen during a visit to the eastern province of Batman in May 2011.
When Nurullah Mehmetoðlu, a blind switchboard operator, complained
about his and his colleagues' working conditions and asked for an
improvement, Akdað reacted by saying: "We gave you a job even though
you are blind. What else do you want? You earn money, don't you?"
Akdað remarks were incredibly insulting, particularly to disabled
people and their families.
In June 2011, Erdoðan took part in a TV program where he complained
about controversial books that had been written about himself and
former President Abdullah Gül. "These books identified us as Jews,
Armenians [and] excuse me for saying this, but even as Greeks." With
these remarks, Erdoðan treated being a Greek as a swear word, drawing
huge reactions.
Journalists were again the target of then-Prime Minister Erdoðan in
May 2012 when he again likened them to dogs: "There are vultures in
the media. We made you get rid of your straps. Now they have
international straps around their necks," said Erdoðan, accusing some
journalists of acting under the orders of foreign powers.
In August 2012, AK Party Deputy Chairman Hüseyin Çelik's remarks were
found highly offensive by many when he criticized efforts by the
Republican People's Party (CHP) to convene Parliament for an
extraordinary meeting in the wake of the killing of soldiers in
clashes with the PKK, saying, "We cannot convene Parliament just
because a number of soldiers have been killed."
Unemployed teachers who were waiting to be appointed to positions at
government schools also received their share of abusive language from
Erdoðan. When an unemployed teacher told Erdoðan during his visit to
Gaziantep in January 2013 that if teachers who were waiting to be
given positions were not appointed in February, he would not vote for
Erdoðan's AK Party in the March 2014 local elections, an angry Erdoðan
told the teacher: "You take your vote and keep it for yourself. You
keep it yourself."
In March 2013, when a citizen complained about the minimum wage -- TL
800 -- to Labor Minister Faruk Çelik, Çelik's response was: "TL 800 is
good money. The price of cheese, bread and olives is obvious. It's not
as if you can't live on this money." The minister was thought to be
saying that eating cheese, bread and olives would be affordable and
sufficient for a family on minimum wage.
When Erdoðan faces protests, he often loses his temper and cannot
control his words, as he did in Þýrnak province in March 2013. When a
group of environmentalists held a protest in the province against
Erdoðan, who came to the Silopi district for the inauguration of a
thermal power plant, he furiously told the protestors: "Don't be
ungrateful. Shut up, don't be ungrateful. You cannot find bread to eat
but when an opportunity is created for you to make a living, you just
turn your back on it."
Erdoðan calls Gezi protesters 'looters'
Erdoðan's insulting rhetoric reached new heights during the 2013 Gezi
Park protests, which were sparked by government plans to demolish the
park and a build a shopping mall. Erdoðan, who was the prime minister
at the time, referred to the protesters as "çapulcular" (a group of
looters) many times during the protests. Erdoðan's refusal to hear the
protester's demands and his orders for a violent crackdown on the
protestors increased the tension in the country, turning the protests
into nationwide, anti-government protests.
In November 2013, during a ceremony to commemorate Atatürk on Nov. 10
in the southern province of Adana, a group of protesters chanted
slogans calling on then-Prime Minister Erdoðan to resign and demanding
that then-Adana Governor Hüseyin Avni Coþ step down. As the tension
escalated, one protester allegedly shouted, "God damn you!" at the
governor as the latter prepared to leave. Coþ suddenly got out of his
car and moved toward the man, demanding that his bodyguards detain the
protester. "Take away that pimp who said, 'God damn you!' to me," he
was caught on camera saying. Coþ faced a public backlash after his
controversial remarks. However, Erdoðan stood behind the governor in a
statement he made after the incident, asking the media why they didn't
question the way the governor was treated.
Soma pain grows
In May 2014, then-Prime Minister Erdoðan allegedly punched a young man
several times in Manisa's Soma district after a large crowd angrily
protested the huge mining disaster in the city in which an explosion
and subsequent fire killed 301 mineworkers.
Many people in the crowd protested Erdoðan's presence, shouting
"murderer" and "thief." The surging crowds reportedly forced the prime
minister to take shelter in a grocery store. However, some reports
claimed that Erdoðan entered the store not to avoid the protests but
rather to follow -- and subsequently punch -- a young man who had
shouted at him outside the store.
A video of the incident shared on the popular video-sharing platform
YouTube shows Erdoðan telling the protester, "Come next to me and boo
me," before walking up to the man in the store. At one point during
the video, Erdoðan seems to grab the protester and punch him. Erdoðan
was also caught on camera making an anti-Israel slur against a local
who protested the prime minister during his visit to Soma.
In addition to Erdoðan, one of his aides also engaged in violence in
Soma, this time against a man whose family members had been killed in
the mine disaster. Yusuf Yerkel, an adviser to Erdoðan, sparked anger
after being photographed kicking the mourner, sparking extensive
coverage in the Turkish and foreign media.
Before the August 2014 presidential election, Erdoðan appeared on a TV
program and apologized before using the word "Armenian" as one asks to
be excused before uttering a swearword.
He said: "Let all Turks in Turkey say they are Turks and all Kurds say
they are Kurds. What is wrong with that? You wouldn't believe the
things they have said about me. They have said I am Georgian. ... They
have said even uglier things. They have called me -- excuse me for
saying this -- Armenian, but I am Turkish."
His remarks have drawn widespread reaction for being racist.
http://www.todayszaman.com/national_abusiveness-arrogance-incivility-dominate-erdogans-rhetoric_375115.html
From: Baghdasarian