Turkey Inside Line: Latest War between Government and Opposition; New Era in Turkish-Greek Relations

The War of Words between Government & Opposition: On Friday, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Denis Baykal, the recently-resigned leader of the main opposition, the Republican People’s Party (CHP), traded verbal jabs.

Before his visit to Greece, Erdogan said, "In our society, we are unable to see people who betray their spouses as the injured party." Baykal responded in a statement, "The allegation is another conspiracy against the CHP. The duty of a Prime Minister is not to engage in rumors but to disclose the truth."

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On the same day, Baykal met high-ranking deputy Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu at his home. Speaking later to a group of journalists in Parliament, Kılıçdaroğlu said Baykal expressed no intention of participating in the CHP convention on 22-23 May. According to Hürriyet, Kılıçdaroğlu is refusing to run against Baykal for the leadership and will only be a candidate if Baykal agrees.


Meanwhile, Nesrin Baytok, the woman alleged to be involved in the sex video scandal, told the Turkish daily Aksam on Thursday that the video is part of a conspiracy and that her family has been very supportive. She added, “I’ve spent 20 years to come this far. I’m not giving up now.”

NGOs are trying to raise their voices against ongoing speculation and discussions in the media. “We are strongly against the media’s treatment of the female deputy figure [Baykal],” said Çiğdem Aydın, the chairwoman of the Association for Women’s Support and Education (KADER). She added, “This wrong perception [of Baykal as the bad figure in the scandal] could kill any future attempt by females to be involved in politics.”

Turkish-Greek Relations in Blossom: In his first visit to Greece since 2004, Erdoğan with 10 ministers and about 100 businessmen called for a "new era" in ties between the two countries. "This will be a start to move Greek-Turkish relations into an improved phase," Erdoğan said during a meeting with Greek President Carolos Papoulias, “I believe ... the 21 accords and cooperation protocols that we will sign with our neighbor and friend Greece will mark the beginning of a new era in our relations.” Erdogan continued:

We intent to stand by you in solidarity and that is why we are visiting you together with my ministers. We must help with this process.

A deal was signed allowing Greece to send at least 1,000 readmission requests for illegal migrants coming from Turkey to Greece. The rest of the accords are on bilateral economic relations. Erdogan said:

We intend to show solidarity with Greece, that is why I am visiting with my ministers. We need to help each other. Our economies supplement each other ... if our two countries cooperate we can maximize the benefits for both our countries.

Turkey's State Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan said the Banks Association of Turkey and the Hellenic Bank Association would cooperate more closely. He added:

The association will extend necessary support if Turkish banks are willing to invest in Greece.

Turkey wants to stand by Greece, not against it, and this will be for the best interests of the two countries.

Turkey and Greece are expected to hold a high-level cooperation council meeting every year with the participation of numerous ministers. The Prime Ministers of the two countries will chair the meeting.

In remarks to the Greek daily Ta Nea on Monday, Turkey's chief European Union negotiator Egemen Bağış called for mutual cuts in military spending, pointing at the severe financial crisis shaking Greece. In an interview with Greece's state television late Thursday, Erdogan said:

Both countries have very large defense budgets. ... We must reduce these expenditures and use the money for other purposes.

In an interview with Turkey's Today's Zaman before Erdogan's visit, Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou said:

Greece and Turkey will never be able to normalize their relations as long as there are threats in the Aegean with regard to the Greek islands, as long as there are occupation forces in Cyprus. We have to put these things behind us once and for all.

The period from 1999 to 2004 when I talked about the vision of arms reductions between the two countries -- a reduction that would enable our two societies to invest in education, health and culture, rather than in weapons. I am talking about the “peace dividend” that will accrue as a result of confidence-building between our two countries and the removal of any kind of threats. This is the driving force behind Greece’s efforts. This is the vision that must guide our actions. The Aegean can become a sea of peace. All we need to do -- “we” being the leaders of our two countries -- is speak plainly amongst ourselves and to our peoples. We have to remove the gray areas from our relations and devote ourselves to the common future that awaits us in the European family.

Comments

[Bill Davit]

Ali,

What are your thoughts on the occcuption of Cyprus as Greece terms it? This seems to have been a non issue for most of the world for decades. Not sure why but I think for the West it has to do with Turkey's key role in NATO all these years. Its sort of like not doing anything about the Saudis and Egypt while they oppress their people as long these parties play along with the West's agenda.

Thx
Bill

[aliyenidunya]

Bill,

It was a on the top of the UN's agenda in 2004 but following the EU's acceptance of Cyprus as a whole and without a solution agreed by both sides, it seems to be resolved within the context of Turkey's EU adventure. You are actually right and indeed it is not just Turkey but also Greece (the two NATO members in the Western camp).

Ali.

[Bill Davit]

Ali,

Thanks. I have to research this subject a bit more. I did read the wiki page and it seems Turkey and Greece at different times have over played their hands respective to Cyprus. Frankly it is quite a messy issue when you throw in all the history of Greece and the Ottaman empire. It will be interesting to see how the issues with Cyprus play out as Turkey pursues its bid to enter the EU.

thx
Bill

[Bill Davit]

Ali,

Thanks. I have to research this subject a bit more. I did read the wiki page and it seems Turkey and Greece at different times have over played their hands respective to Cyprus. Frankly it is quite a messy issue when you throw in all the history of Greece and the Ottaman empire. It will be interesting to see how the issues with Cyprus play out as Turkey pursues its bid to enter the EU.
thx
Bill

[parvati_roma]

Writing from Italy: GOOD news - less idiotic spite-fuelled tensions there are in the Med the happier I am! Previous Greek govt (Karamanlis) had dug its heels in against Turkey but the socialists had been seeking detente and Erdogan thinks the same way so with change of govt. plus Erdogan's squashing of Turkey's charming Kamalist-fascist Deep State thingy aka Ergenekon-or-whatever both sides were able to move foreward. Cyprus had been on the verge of gradually-reuniting not too long ago then the deal got wrecked by local hardliners - I think on the local-Turkish side? Hope Turkey will be able to armtwist them and overcome the division. Must say Turkey under its current moderate-islamic govt. has been playing a very skillful hand as an increasingly independent-minded ME power with a strong mediation vocation. Re entering the EU - bad time as it seems to be coming apart?? EU had also been expanding way too fast and large immigrant flows from eastern Europe (Romania in particular) had been fuelling a wave of xenophobia as unemployment rate in poorer parts of southern EU countries is very high. Note also that the Greece-Turkey deal includes allowing Greece to repatriate illegal immigrants to Turkey. So dunno about joining EU in immediate future - that is, if it doesn't come unstuck? - as Turkey has a large population and there'd be massive immigration flows from its poorer and more backward areas which would further-fuel Europe's incipient xenophobic=job-rivalry reactions. Plus Turkey's not part of Europe, never has been (classified as Asia Minor) and in any case although the Turks absorbed/assimilated/imposed their language and culture on much of the indigenous population they're central asian by origin so don't really see the logic of the admission thingy other than as carrot-compensation for hosting US military bases??? Why should Europeans be expected to carry the can for the US on this, bad enough Europeans (Italy and Germany) still have to host US bases and nukes after all these years, US trying to impose amalgamation with Turkey on European countries purely for US convenience is a bit much! Which doesn't mean I'm hostile to Turkey, but I favour close-partnership/ special-relationship not amalgamation.

[parvati_roma]

P.S. my non-enthusiasm re amalgamation is essentially about ethno-tensions created by foreseeably huge mass-migration flows far greater than countries with already low take-home wages and high unemployment in certain regions can possibly absorb without further degradation of already-miserable employment prospects of the younger generation and further expansion of our "black economy" + bidonvilles etc, inevitable in event of admission due to the EU's dogmatic fixation on "free movement of labour" come-what-may - same goes for Ukraine! Admission of small-population countries such as mini-balkanic entities is no big deal but a BIG tsunami-effect with relative local hostility-backlash is 100%-foreseeable under present circumstances when/if new members with large rural-poverty component get admitted as full EU members.