Erdogan’s attack on Syria backfires
Press TV – Kevin Barrett
When Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan joined the Western-backed alliance against Syria, all observers agreed that Erdogan’s momentous choice was the biggest gamble of his career.
By jettisoning Turkey’s successful “zero problems with neighbors” policy, and supporting a foreign-backed insurgency against Syria, Erdogan was staking his career on the hope that Assad’s government would quickly fall, and Turkey would help form the new government.
It didn’t happen. The Syrian government stood. Erdogan lost his gamble.
And now he is reaping the consequences.
During the past two weeks, protests have spread like wildfire across Turkey. Some of the protestors are Erdogan’s natural political enemies: Secularists opposed to the gradual democratization and Islamization of Turkish society. But whatever the role of the Kemalist “secular fascists” in instigating the protests, polls show that the anti-Erdogan movement has gained traction for one main reason: Erdogan is viewed as authoritarian and dictatorial.
What an irony!
After all, Erdogan claimed he was helping the Zionist-run US and its regional puppets overthrow Syria’s Assad for one main reason: Because Assad was authoritarian and dictatorial.
So Erdogan made the authoritarian and dictatorial decision to use Turkish territory for foreign-sponsored attacks on Syria, despite polls showing that Turkey’s “zero problems with neighbors” policy enjoyed virtually unanimous support.
From the moment Erdogan decided to join the US-Zionist empire’s attack on Syria, his decision was wildly unpopular. Polls showed that roughly two-thirds of the Turkish people opposed the move. But the authoritarian and dictatorial Erdogan continued to push ahead, even as the grumbling against his Syria policy got louder.
Now it looks like “regime change” will happen in Turkey first.
The irony was not lost on the Syrian government, which has issued travel warnings urging Syrians not to travel to Turkey until the unrest cools down. Will a “Free Turkish Army” begin carrying out terrorist attacks in Turkey from bases on Syrian soil? Let us hope Syria’s government resists the temptation.
Until two years ago, Erdogan was widely viewed as one of the world’s canniest and most successful politicians. Whatever was he thinking when he decided to jettison the popular and successful “zero problems with neighbors” policy, and create gargantuan problems with Syria, one of Turkey’s most important neighbors?
I believe Erdogan misjudged the situation due to his own character, background, and ambitions. Like Obama, Erdogan is the kind of person who presents himself as an idealist and an agent of change, but is actually a weakling who is prone to compromise too easily when bullied by the powers-that-be. Caught between the demands of the people of the Middle East for democracy and Islam on the one hand, and the perpetual US-Zionist imperial assault on the other, Erdogan has tried to resolve the contradiction by crafting a kind of democratic Islamic society that would be acceptable to the imperialists.
Erdogan’s attempt to balance democratic Islam with the harsh demands of imperialism was made more difficult by the persistence of a criminal “deep state” in Turkey. Financed by billions of dollars in drug money and illegal weapons dealing, and fully backed by the US, NATO, and Israel, the Turkish “deep state” – the local wing of Operation Gladio – virtually owns the Turkish military and is capable of launching a coup d’état at any moment.
FBI whistleblower Sibel Edmonds has revealed that elements of the Gladio-linked Turkish deep state were used by neoconservative moguls Richard Perle and Douglas Feith to finance the 9/11-anthrax coup d’état of September 11th, 2001. Obviously it is these people, not Erdogan, who hold the real power in Turkey.
Graham Fuller, the notorious rogue CIA official who has been linked to the false-flag bombings in Boston, has long been a key player in the Gladio “deep state” in Turkey and Central Asia. When I visited Turkey in 2011, I was told that Fuller had spent the fall of 2001 dispensing death threats to Turkey’s leading international affairs journalists, warning them not to question the official version of 9/11 or they or their families would be targeted.
In other words, the local drug-dealing CIA warlord runs the Turkish media. Some “democracy.”
If Erdogan (or any other Middle Eastern leader) really wanted to create a democratic and Islamic society, he would have to do what Iran’s Ayatollah Khomeini did: Destroy the imperial agents of the “deep state” by imprisoning, exiling, or executing them. (Perhaps, in some cases at least, rehabilitation would also be an alternative.)
Obama would have to do more or less the same thing if he wanted to bring real democracy to America – like JFK tried to do fifty years ago.
But Erdogan, like Sheikh Hamad of Qatar, is no JFK and no Ayatollah Khomeini. Like Hamad, Erdogan imagines that he can position himself as “pro-democracy” while remaining a puppet of the empire and its vicious local stooges.
So when the empire ordered Erdogan to break his promise to use the Turkish navy to end the blockade of Gaza, Erdogan capitulated. And when the empire ordered Erdogan to join its attack on Syria, Erdogan capitulated once again…and quite possibly dug his own political grave.
Whether or not Erdogan survives the present unrest, Turkey can and must continue its journey away from Kemalist secular fascism and towards Islam and democracy. To do so, it should follow in the footsteps of Erdogan’s predecessor, Necmettin Erbakan, and neutralize the Gladio “deep state” in order to shake off imperial-Zionist control and assert true independence.
When the Zionist-dominated US empire orders Turkey to create problems for its neighbors, a genuinely democratic and independent Turkey would be able to say “no.”
http://www.presstv.com/detail/2013/06/09/308004/turkish-pm-slams-opponents-as-looters/
Gezi Park protesters don’t represent all the people: Turkish PM at second airport rally
Supporters of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan wait at Esenboğa Airport for his arrival in Ankara on June 9. AFP photo
“Are the people only those at Gezi Park? Aren’t those who came to meet us at Istanbul airport people too? Those who are gathered now in Ankara; aren’t they people, too?” Erdoğan asked calling on the protesters to face off in local elections next year. “Instead of [occupying] Gezi Park or Kuğulu Park [in Ankara], there are seven months [until the elections]. Be patient and let’s face off at the ballot box.”
Erdoğan hardened his stance as his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) is fighting back against demonstrations over the demolition of Gezi Park that turned into a movement to demand more individual freedoms from the government.
Erdoğan also continued to claim that protesters were engaged in vandalism. “Rights and freedoms are not achieved with violence but within the law,” he said.
June/09/2013
Massive rally illuminates Taksim as protests continue in Turkey
AA Photo
Cities nationwide continued to demonstrate in support of the ongoing protests, but Taksim again became the heart of the movement as thousands gathered for a rally scheduled to take place in the afternoon today.
Cities nationwide continued to demonstrate in support of the ongoing protests, but Taksim again became the heart of the movement as thousands gathered for a rally scheduled to take place in the afternoon hours of June 9.
A stage was set up for the rally in the middle of the square, with protesters designing signs and slogans before it started. The rally, organized by the Taksim Solidarity Platform, which represents the protesters in Gezi Park, was represented by the platform as a response to the failed attempts at resolving the issue through meetings with government officials, namely Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç.
The platform said their demands had not been met by officials, which prompted the continuation of the protests “that are set to last until all the demands are met.”
Republican People’s Party (CHP) youth branch members were also seen at the park in the early hours of June 9 as they planted a tree honoring Abdullah Cömert, 22, who was killed during clashes in Antakya.
Protests continued nationwide, with crowds filling squares and parks in various cities, including İzmir and Ankara. While demonstrations mostly remained peaceful during the daytime hours, previous nights witnessed harsh clashes overnight in Ankara, with intense police intervention at the city’s Kızılay square.
The crowds, initially gathered at Kuğulu Park, rebuilt tents that had been removed a day before after negotiations with police forces. The groups then moved toward the square, where police forces called on protesters to disperse.
When the 5,000-strong crowd refused to disperse, police attacked them with a barrage of tear gas and water cannons at around 10:30 p.m. Photos of the clashes quickly made it online, and reports of injuries also surfaced. The protests continued until late in the night.
Meanwhile, the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) announced two counterdemonstrations set to take place in Ankara and Istanbul on June 15 and 16. Preparations were also intensifying in the capital earlier in the day on June 9 with the expected arrival of the prime minister, who was scheduled to land in the city following his Mersin visit.
June/09/2013
Six Turkish policemen commit suicide during Gezi protests, union head says
Six Turkish policemen have committed suicide since the Gezi Park protests started, according the police union Emniyet-Sen head Faruk Sezer. DAILY NEWS photo / Selahattin SÖNMEZ
Police forces have been targeted by heavy criticism over their excessive use of force and practices of brutality amid clashes, but Sezer claimed the forces too have been suffering extensively by being forced to work under severe conditions.
Policemen who have been drafted in from other cities have been sleeping on benches, shields or cardboard due to a lack of accommodation provided to them by state authorities, Sezer added.
“The violence you see at the end is the reflection of the violence suffered by the policemen. They are not just subjected to violence by protesters, but by 120-hour consecutive working periods, stale bread and food. The police are already subjected to violence within the establishment,” Sezer said.
Sezer said any disrespect toward policemen, chiefs and police force systems would naturally end when citizens see the policemen sleeping on the floor or on their shields.
“We burn inside when we see those pictures [of police sleeping in difficult conditions]. As a union, the first thing we will do once the Gezi protests end is to take those photos and the rest of the evidence to file a criminal complaint with the prosecutor. I tell you, to put the policemen in those conditions is the same as treason to the country,” Sezer said.
June/09/2013
Erdogan condemns opponents as ‘looters’ amid unrelenting unrest
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan
Sun Jun 9, 2013 1:48PM GMT
6
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has denounced his opponents as ‘looters’, urging his supporters to respond to protests by voting for his ruling party in local elections next year.
“There are just seven months left until the local elections. I want you to teach them a first lesson through democratic means at the ballot box,” Erdogan told a large crowd of his supporters upon arrival in the southern city of Adana.
The Turkish premier further added, “We will not do what a few looters have done. They burn, they destroy,” describing the protesters as “anarchists” and “terrorists.”
He also told the cheering crowd that anti-Ankara protesters “are vile enough to insult a prime minister of this country.”
Erdogan made the remarks amid widespread anti-government protest rallies in the country.
Late on Saturday, tens of thousands of Turkish protesters poured into the streets in Istanbul as well as in the capital, Ankara, and the western city of Izmir.
The unrest, which has entered its 10th day, was triggered by the police violence against an environmental protest at Istanbul's Taksim Square on May 31.
The protests soon spread to 78 cities across Turkey and solidified into calls for Erdogan’s resignation.
On Saturday, leader of Turkey’s opposition Nationalist Movement Party Devlet Bahceli called for early elections in order to overcome the current turmoil.
Erdogan has faced international condemnation for his handling of the crisis. Turkish police have also been criticized strongly for using excessive force against peaceful protests.
On June 7, the Turkish premier called for an immediate end to the demonstrations in the country and said the government was open to “democratic demands,” adding that the demonstrations were “bordering on vandalism.”
MKA/PR/SS
http://rt.com/news/ankara-police-tear-cannon-421/
'Under control'? Ankara Police disperse mass protest with tear gas (PHOTOS, VIDEO)
Police have deployed tear gas and water cannons to quell more than 10,000 protesters that gathered in downtown Ankara. This comes as officials claim the protests are under control and the process is "becoming normalized and in line with common sense."
The rally in the Turkish capital started peacefully in the early hours of the morning, reports the Hurriyet Daily. As the protesters arrived at the Kizilay Square in late afternoon, police there made calls to disperse in order to not block car traffic.
The police then started "a sudden and unexpected intervention" as the protesters ran to the narrow streets surrounding the square.
According to witness reports on twitter police were targeting and detaining “random” youths in the crowd. Police reportedly made at least three arrests.
Authorities deployed over 4,000 riot police to quell the unrest, witnesses claim.
Meanwhile in Istanbul a massive crowd packed the whole of Taksim Square. Protesters in the epicenter of the countrywide anti-government movement were chanting and setting off flares while the police kept their distance from the rally.
Even the fans from rival football teams Fenerbahce, Besiktas and Galatasaray united in the square, AFP reports.
However, in Istanbul's western Gazi neighborhood things did not go as peacefully as protesters hurled incendiary devices and taunted police, which resulted in fresh clashes.
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