Since 20 October 2008, the Turkey Government has been occupied with Ergenekon, a neo-nationalist group accused of plotting against the State.
It all started with 27 hand bombs, TNT moulds, and detonators found in a house on 12 June 2007. Since then, evidence from wiretappings, weapons taken from excavations, and purported assassination plans allegedly show a “grand project” pursued by the “deep state”. According to an indictment which is now more than 2500 pages, arrested politicians, journalists, lawyers, intellectuals, and generals formed a “terrorist” organization to create chaos weakening the ruling Justice and Development Party and justifying a military coup.
As soon as he was appointed as the European Union’s first President, Belgian Prime Minister Herman Van Rompuy became the target of Turkish media and politicians, given his negative comments on Turkey’s membership in the EU. For many, the Union’s choice of Rompuy instead of former British Prime Minister Tony Blair was due to one reason: “to block Turkey’s way”.
Suat Kiniklioglu, deputy chairman for external affairs of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), said that France and Germany had championed Rompuy to harm Turkey’s European aspirations:
We are concerned. This man has made it very clear that he doesn’t want to see Turkey in the European Union. What is even sadder is that he is making that argument on the basis of the supposed Christian values of the union. That’s not the type of union we envisage. The values we envisage are of democracy, transparency, human rights and the rule of law.
His appointment is really evidence that the Franco-German axis in the union is gaining increased strength. I would not be surprised that his views on Turkey have played a role in that choice.
In 2004, Rompuy stated in the Belgian Parliament, “Turkey is not a part of Europe and will never be part of Europe. An expansion of the EU to include Turkey cannot be considered as just another expansion as in the past. The universal values which are in force in Europe, and which are also fundamental values of Christianity, will lose vigour with the entry of a large Islamic country such as Turkey.”
Last Friday, Istanbul hosted the International Conference on Palestinian Solidarity. Amongst those present were the International Union for Muslim Scholars run by Yusuf Al-Kardavi, many members of Parliament and the Turkish Assembly, and the Palestine Friendship Group.
Journalists who focused on the separate seating of men and women at the meeting missed these important developments:
One of the MPs of the ruling Justice and Development Party, Zeyid Arslan, who is also the Chairman of the TBMM-Palestine Friendship Group, said, ‘As long as Hamas, which came to power through its people, is not seen as the representative of its people but as a terrorist group, solution of the Palestinian question is impossible.’ Indeed, he went further and accused Israel of committing genocide against Palestinians: “Everyone who is silent over Israel’s committing genocide is going to pay the price before history.”
The Turkish local elections took place last Sunday. Before jumping into evaluations and the possible implications for Turkish domestic and foreign policies voiced by experts, we should have a look at the percentages obtained by the leading party, the Justice and Development Party, and by opposition parties in this recent election; we should also compare the results with the previous general election.
Current Obamameter Reading: Cloudy with Signs of Thunder
7:45 p.m. “The Cable” reports that US intelligence analysts from the office of the Director of National Intelligence and the National Intelligence Council will hold a closed/Top Secret/Codeword briefing on Iran for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Thursday afternoon.
5:20 p.m. Complications and possibly worse from Sunday’s provincial elections in Iraq. Tribal leaders in Anbar Province, upset at the apparent dominance of the Sunni religious Iraqi Islamic Party, have claimed widespread fraud and threatened violence if the results are upheld. The head of the Anbar Tribes List warned:
We will set the streets of Ramadi ablaze if the Islamic Party is declared the winners of the election. We will make Anbar a grave for the Islamic Party and its agents. We will start a tribal war against them and those who cooperate with them.
The turnout in parts of Anbar was as low as 25 percent.
5:15 p.m. More trouble in Somalia, only days after the election of a new President. Reports of 16 to 39 dead after a roadside bomb targeting African Union peacekeepers exploded, and the soldiers opened fire in response.
EA Correspondent Aysegul Er reports:
As soon as he was appointed as the European Union’s first President, Belgian Prime Minister Herman Van Rompuy became the target of Turkish media and politicians, given his negative comments on Turkey’s membership in the EU. For many, the Union’s choice of Rompuy instead of former British Prime Minister Tony Blair was due to one reason: “to block Turkey’s way”.
The Turkish local elections took place last Sunday. Before jumping into evaluations and the possible implications for Turkish domestic and foreign policies voiced by experts, we should have a look at the percentages obtained by the leading party, the Justice and Development Party, and by opposition parties in this recent election; we should also compare the results with the previous general election.
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