Turkish Politics & Internal Affairs

[Hakan]

PM Erdoğan planning prayers with Islamic leaders in Hagia Sophia - POLITICS

 

[usernameless]

Turkish PM Erdogan urges US to deport Gulen

Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has called on the U.S. to deport Turkish congregation leader Fethullah Gulen, who has been living in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania since 1999.

Gulen, who heads one of Turkey's most influential groups - The Hizmet Movement - is accused of setting up a 'parallel state' using aides withing the Turkish judiciary and police force to undermine and oust Erdogan's ruling Justice and Development Party's (AK Party) government by launching a bogus anti-graft operation.

Speaking in an interview on Bloomberg TV's Charlie Rose program, Erdogan said that Gulen and his followers should be expelled or handed over to Turkish authorities. “It’s sad for us to see such a group can exist in the U.S.,” he said, adding that Turkey had better expectations from its “model partner.”

A number of top bureaucrats allied to the government along with ministers' sons were arrested on December 17 on charges of corruption and bribery. The timing of the allegations was a blow for Erdogan's AK Party, just three months before the March 30 local elections.

However, Erdogan immediately began a counter operation by purging the judiciary, police force and even reshuffling his cabinet. In doing so he successfully averted a second wave of arrests that was set to take place on December 25.

In the following weeks leading up to the local elections, a number of scandals linked to the so called 'parallel state' rocked the country, especially when it was revealed that hundreds of thousands of Turkish citizens, from President Abdullah Gul to journalists and security officials were spied on in wiretapping and bugging cases. A truck belonging to the Turkish National Intelligence Organization (MIT) was also raided in the south-eastern province of Adana on its way to Syria.

The scandal peaked just days before the local elections when an audio from a top secret meeting between Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, MIT chief Hakan Fidan and the Chief of Army Staff's second in command was leaked on to the internet, with the officials heard discussing possible war strategies should Turkey be forced to take military action against threats in Syria.

None of this, however, was enough to out-seat the AK Party in the local polls. In fact, the AK Party saw a significant increase in their votes as they secured a clear victory over their main political rival, the Republican People's Party (CHP).

ONCE ALLIES, NOW BITTER ENEMIES
Gulen's movement was once an ally of the AK Party and played a key role in prosecuting senior army officials who were found guilty of plotting to overthrow the government in the Ergenekon and Sledgehammer cases. However, Erdogan noted that the movement had gradually started splitting ties with his government after the AK Party managed to pass a number of significant reforms following a referendum victory in late 2010.

Others have argued that the first cracks in the alliance showed in the Mavi Marmara incident when nine Turkish human rights activists were shot dead by Israeli commandos in international waters while they were attemtping to deliver aid to the blockaded Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. Gulen fiercely criticized the sending of the international aid flotilla, while Erdogan did not hesitate to freeze relations with Israel until the Israeli government apologized and compensated the victims' families.

Last November, Erdogan also announced his plans to transform tuition centers in Turkey to private high schools. Gulen's movement, who own many tuition centers and rely on them to provide a large bulk of their income, argued that they would not be able to make the transition before the stated deadline and thus faced closure. Gulen, who again fiercely criticized the move, accused Erdogan of plotting against his congregation. Shortly after Erdogan's announcement, the graft scandal began.

Turkish PM Erdogan urges US to deport Gulen | General | Worldbulletin News

 

[atatwolf]

Pm Erdoğan gave an interview Charlie Rose on U.S. broadcaster PBS, aired on April 28.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has continued his salvoes against the Pennsylvania-based Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen and Turkey’s top judge Haşim Kılıç, in his first interview with foreign media since the March 30 local elections.

Speaking to Charlie Rose on U.S. broadcaster PBS on April 28, Erdoğan said publicly for the first time that he “hopes” the U.S. will send Gülen back to Turkey.

A legal process will begin for extradition of Gülen from the U.S., Erdoğan also said on April 29.

“After I became prime minister, I didn’t have any meetings with [Gülen] other than a few phone conversations. I used to have meetings with him when I was the mayor of Istanbul. During my tenure as prime minister, we had good relations with this group during the first two terms,” he said in the interview.

“But the real problem began after 2011, after the referendum for the constitutional amendments. Then, there was an effort to take away some power. This effort involved the police, security forces, the judiciary and my observation now, in hindsight, is that the efforts then were to consolidate this power in the security forces and the judiciary,” Erdoğan added.

When asked whether he “just woke up one day and found out that Gülenists had infiltrated the government so much so that they are a parallel government,” Erdoğan responded: “We were aware they were trying to infiltrate various organizations, but we were not aware of their ultimate bad intentions. And we felt, we realized this after a while and started to take measures.”

Erdoğan said “the first step” the Gülenists took was against the undersecretary of the National Intelligence Agency (MİT) regarding meetings with representatives of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) that were ongoing in Oslo. The Dec. 17 and Dec. 26 graft investigations of 2013 marked the point at which these Gülen-led efforts turned into “almost a coup, a civilian coup,” he said.

“If I remained silent, things would have gone a different way,” he added, claiming that the Gülenists also tapped his Prime Ministry office. When answering journalists' questions in Ankara on April 29, Erdoğan clarified that "the legal procedure will start" in Turkey to let the U.S. send Gülen back.

The prime minister stressed that he hopes the U.S. will send Gülen back to Turkey, as a “model partner,” as Ankara would do the same if a person who risked the security of the U.S. resided in Turkey. “At least they should deport him,” he said, despite there being neither a warrant nor a court verdict in place against Gülen.

Erdoğan also rejected the corruption allegations by referring to the good performance of the Turkish economy.

Turkey’s top judge was another target in the PBS interview. Referring to Constitutional Court Head Haşim Kılıç’s April 25 speech, in which Kılıç slammed the government over its interventions into the judiciary, Erdoğan said he “sadly listened to the speech.” He added that Kılıç would “remain under the burden of his speech all of his life.”

‘Obscenities and virtual sex strictly banned’

After criticizing the Constitutional Court ruling that unblocked Twitter, Erdoğan also stressed that the San Francisco-based social media company should respect the court’s rulings, open an office and pay taxes in Turkey. He referred to the local court verdicts issued after his own complaints for the suspension of Twitter accounts that “insulted” him. “There are also obscenities and virtual sex, which are strictly banned,” Erdoğan said.

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////

I'm wondering what US will do. If they don't deliver Gullen, it means they don't respect Turkish law and are supporting proxies in Turkey. Turkey helped US a lot with handing over people they requested. It is time for US to show its face.

 

[Baykuş]

Have Gülen even done something illegal, I mean like, openly? Has he broken any laws or will Erdogan use his power to re-write the laws so that Gülen automatically is considered a criminal?

Don't get me wrong, but it's no secret that if I would have got a cent for each time Erdogan calls somebody/something illegal... Well you get my point.

EDIT: just to further clarify; I'm not taking any sides in this matter. Just questioning.

 

[what]

This guy is embarassing this country everday and everywhere. He accused German president Gauck of being associated with the Gülen movement. What a twat.

 

[atatwolf]

Have Gülen even done something illegal, I mean like, openly? Has he broken any laws or will Erdogan use his power to re-write the laws so that Gülen automatically is considered a criminal?

Don't get me wrong, but it's no secret that if I would have got a cent for each time Erdogan calls somebody/something illegal... Well you get my point.

EDIT: just to further clarify; I'm not taking any sides in this matter. Just questioning.

creating paralel state is forbidden. Especially if he does that to harm Turkey's interests.

 

[Islamic faith&Secularism]

We watch a theatre, some think it is real, so some cry for it, somw get confused, some are angry...

 

[usernameless]

i dont expect anything good from the us anymore. they never really cared about us and their ugly face will only become more visible when we grow stronger. As for Gulen, there was news that he or his men met with cia people in europe. better to get rid of Gulen now, no matter which political party will take the pain and burden for confronting it.

 

[Hakan]

PKK risks peace process with kidnappings
​

On April 27, a group of Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) sympathizers blocked the highway fromDiyarbakir to Bingol — close to the intersection with the road to Lice — in protest of a gendarmerie post under construction at Abali, a nearby village. After stopping a commercial bus around noon, the PKK sympathizers realized while checking identities on the bus that there were two specialist-sergeants among the passengers. They were abducted in daylight.
When the news reached the gendarmerie post only 6 kilometers (3.7 miles) away, a detachment of soldiers was immediately rushed to the area. Fighting broke out, leaving nine soldiers wounded, none in critical condition. The highway remains partially closed to traffic.

On April 23, the PKK also kidnapped 25 students around the ages of 14-16. Erol Borcum, whose son Sinan, 15, was one of those kidnapped, told Al-Monitor that the PKK and the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) members were lying when they said the students willingly went up to the mountains to join the militants.

“We gave permission to the school only to take our kids to the spring festival on the Tigris riverside — not far from this Abali gendarmerie construction site. Deviating from the purpose of this trip, they took our kids to this protest site. The PKK members lined them up and questioned them. And, for some reason, my son told them that his mom’s brother was also up in the mountains,” Borcum told Al-Monitor. “But I swear to you I don’t understand politics or want anything to do with the PKK. I am my son’s best friend. He is a naive and a quiet kid. He does not understand anything about the PKK or their violence. I want my son back.”

As his voice started to tremble, the father told Al-Monitor, “BDP Diyarbakir Chairman Zubeyde Zumrut wasted my time by providing conflicting information. She now says that these kids all went up to the mountains of their own consent. It is a lie. There are eyewitnesses telling different stories — especially about a girl shouting, and crying, resisting them. I went to the Diyarbakir police department today [April 28] to file my complaint. And I am calling on our prime minister, our president to please help me find my son and bring him home. Then I will leave Diyarbakir and this country. This is not life here. I have cows, I milk them, and make our living like that. I clean their dirt, and I'm happy to do it all for my family. But I can’t lose my son, and can’t raise him up here if I and the state won’t be able to provide him security!”

Borcum's family has been sitting in protest at the riverside spot where their son was kidnapped, awaiting his safe return.

Moreover, the PKK kidnapped four Turkish soldiers on Dec. 8, 2013, on this same highway, in reaction to the rumors that the state was tearing down the PKK cemetery in Yuksekova, Hakkari. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan was quick to react to the news then: “Those who want to harm the process [of negotiations with the PKK] cause these events. The events in Hakkari [where non-state actors damaged the cemetery] were also caused by the same kind of people,” he said. “We won’t fall into this trap, but will continue with the process. There is nothing else to say besides that we expect our soldiers to be released soon.” The soldiers were released the next day.

Now it is a different story. The prime minister has been quiet on this issue, although he has addressed the public several times since then, while the PKK continues to showcase its dominance in the region. “Zubeyde Zumre and other BDP members went to talk to those PKK militants who kidnapped the soldiers yesterday, but there is still no news,” Hamza — a Lice resident who did not want to give his full name — told Al-Monitor: “I don’t think they will be released quickly now like the last time, because people believe that the state is building up these gendarmerie posts in preparation to stage a war against the Kurds in the coming few months. Otherwise, why should they build these posts here when we talk about peace? If there was no cease-fire, the state couldn’t build these facilities here. They are simply abusing our goodwill.”

Hamza also recalled a deadly protest of a nearby gendarmarie post construction in June 2013, where the Kurds charged that 19-year-old Medeni Yildirim was killed by the military. Although there are video recordings that openly show a PKK group walking from the back and throwing a Molotov cocktail at the soldiers, creating a chaotic scene and making it all too difficult to assess who really killed this boy, Hamza said, “Since that incident, the state stopped the construction there. People want to do the same in terms of this construction at Abali.”

The list of violations of the cease-fire by the PKK and its sympathizers could be easily multiplied. The government, however, chooses to downplay all these incidents. For example, on March 27, PKK sympathizers threw a Molotov cocktail inside the car of a female police officer, Zeynep Ozcelik, in Silopi, and prevented her from getting out of the car for some time. She was brought to the military hospital in Ankara with critical and life-threatening third-degree burns. She did not survive this attack.

This is all to say that the PKK continues to use its violent tactics to impose its will on the state. And the Erdogan government’s decision to put the imprisoned PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan at the center of this critical process unfortunately only helped the PKK to be considered as the sole representative of the Kurdish people. Kurdish families like the Borcums are rare in the region, and the majority of Kurds justify the PKK violence at all means in defense of the Kurdish people. This Kurdish approach is likely to be a stumbling block before a meaningful and lasting peace between the people of this country.

PKK risks peace process with kidnappings - Al-Monitor: the Pulse of the Middle East

 

[LegionnairE]

@[TR]AHMET
In a country where people who criticize erdogan are being murdered on the streets and jails, I dont respect your ataturk crticism.
<mod edit>
And this is the religion in this country:
Erdoğan'da Allah'ın sıfatları varmış!- Sözcü Gazetesi
Ortalığı karıştıran secde fotoğrafı!- Sözcü Gazetesi

"islamists" infact worship money
money worshippers are taking over

 

[[TR]AHMET]

@[TR]AHMET
In a country where people who criticize erdogan are being murdered on the streets and jails, I wipe my *** with your Atatürk criticizm.

And this is the religion in this country:
Erdoğan'da Allah'ın sıfatları varmış!- Sözcü Gazetesi
Ortalığı karıştıran secde fotoğrafı!- Sözcü Gazetesi

"islamists" infact worship money
money worshippers are taking over

i havent criticized Ataturk yet but i see that you are still sweaing, impossible that talking with you about something....


I think should be some rules about that humiliate and swearing in this forum so i warned this forum several times about this issue.

@WebMaster and @Kaan should deal with that issue.

------------------
Surat al-Baqarah of Quran Says;

1. Alif-Lam-Mim. [These letters are one of the miracles of the Qur'an and none but Allah (Alone) knows their meanings].

2. This is the Book (the Qur'an), whereof there is no doubt, a guidance to those who are Al-Muttaqun [the pious and righteous persons who fear Allah much (abstain from all kinds of sins and evil deeds which He has forbidden) and love Allah much (perform all kinds of good deeds which He has ordained)].

3. Who believe in the Ghaiband perform As-Salat (Iqamat-as-Salat),and spend out of what we have provided for them [i.e. give Zakat , spend on themselves, their parents, their children, their wives, etc., and also give charity to the poor and also in Allah's Cause - Jihad, etc.].

4. And who believe in (the Qur'an and the Sunnah)which has been sent down (revealed) to you (Muhammad Peace be upon him ) and in [the Taurat (Torah) and the Injeel (Gospel), etc.] which were sent down before you and they believe with certainty in the Hereafter. (Resurrection, recompense of their good and bad deeds, Paradise and Hell, etc.).

5. They are on (true) guidance from their Lord, and they are the successful.

6. Verily, those who disbelieve, it is the same to them whether you (O Muhammad Peace be upon him ) warn them or do not warn them, they will not believe.

7. Allah has set a seal on their hearts and on their hearings, (i.e. they are closed from accepting Allah's Guidance), and on their eyes there is a covering. Theirs will be a great torment.

8. And of mankind, there are some (hypocrites) who say: "We believe in Allah and the Last Day" while in fact they believe not.

9. They (think to) deceive Allah and those who believe, while they only deceive themselves, and perceive (it) not!

10. In their hearts is a disease (of doubt and hypocrisy) and Allah has increased their disease. A painful torment is theirs because they used to tell lies.

11. And when it is said to them: "Make not mischief on the earth," they say: "We are only peacemakers."

12. Verily! They are the ones who make mischief, but they perceive not.

13. And when it is said to them (hypocrites): "Believe as the people (followers of Muhammad Peace be upon him , Al-Ansar and Al-Muhajirun) have believed," they say: "Shall we believe as the fools have believed?" Verily, they are the fools, but they know not.

14. And when they meet those who believe, they say: "We believe," but when they are alone with their Shayatin (devils - polytheists, hypocrites, etc.), they say: "Truly, we are with you; verily, we were but mocking."

15. Allah mocks at them and gives them increase in their wrong-doings to wander blindly.

16. These are they who have purchased error for guidance, so their commerce was profitless. And they were not guided.

17. Their likeness is as the likeness of one who kindled a fire; then, when it lighted all around him, Allah took away their light and left them in darkness. (So) they could not see.

18. They are deaf, dumb, and blind, so they return not (to the Right Path).

 

[Hakan]

@[TR]AHMET
In a country where people who criticize erdogan are being murdered on the streets and jails, I wipe my *** with your Atatürk criticizm.

And this is the religion in this country:
Erdoğan'da Allah'ın sıfatları varmış!- Sözcü Gazetesi
Ortalığı karıştıran secde fotoğrafı!- Sözcü Gazetesi

"islamists" infact worship money
money worshippers are taking over

Try to respect his views. Dont say you would wipe your *** with them, I mean the context *** is used in can be taken as insulting.

 

[LegionnairE]

Try to respect his views.

I don't... and I don't have to

 

[Hakan]

i havent criticized Ataturk yet but i see that you are still sweaing, impossible that talking with you about something....


I think should be some rules about that humiliate and swearing in this forum so i warned this forum several times about this issue.

@WebMaster and @Kaan should deal with that issue.

------------------
Surat al-Baqarah of Quran Says;

1. Alif-Lam-Mim. [These letters are one of the miracles of the Qur'an and none but Allah (Alone) knows their meanings].

2. This is the Book (the Qur'an), whereof there is no doubt, a guidance to those who are Al-Muttaqun [the pious and righteous persons who fear Allah much (abstain from all kinds of sins and evil deeds which He has forbidden) and love Allah much (perform all kinds of good deeds which He has ordained)].

3. Who believe in the Ghaiband perform As-Salat (Iqamat-as-Salat),and spend out of what we have provided for them [i.e. give Zakat , spend on themselves, their parents, their children, their wives, etc., and also give charity to the poor and also in Allah's Cause - Jihad, etc.].

4. And who believe in (the Qur'an and the Sunnah)which has been sent down (revealed) to you (Muhammad Peace be upon him ) and in [the Taurat (Torah) and the Injeel (Gospel), etc.] which were sent down before you and they believe with certainty in the Hereafter. (Resurrection, recompense of their good and bad deeds, Paradise and Hell, etc.).

5. They are on (true) guidance from their Lord, and they are the successful.

6. Verily, those who disbelieve, it is the same to them whether you (O Muhammad Peace be upon him ) warn them or do not warn them, they will not believe.

7. Allah has set a seal on their hearts and on their hearings, (i.e. they are closed from accepting Allah's Guidance), and on their eyes there is a covering. Theirs will be a great torment.

8. And of mankind, there are some (hypocrites) who say: "We believe in Allah and the Last Day" while in fact they believe not.

9. They (think to) deceive Allah and those who believe, while they only deceive themselves, and perceive (it) not!

10. In their hearts is a disease (of doubt and hypocrisy) and Allah has increased their disease. A painful torment is theirs because they used to tell lies.

11. And when it is said to them: "Make not mischief on the earth," they say: "We are only peacemakers."

12. Verily! They are the ones who make mischief, but they perceive not.

13. And when it is said to them (hypocrites): "Believe as the people (followers of Muhammad Peace be upon him , Al-Ansar and Al-Muhajirun) have believed," they say: "Shall we believe as the fools have believed?" Verily, they are the fools, but they know not.

14. And when they meet those who believe, they say: "We believe," but when they are alone with their Shayatin (devils - polytheists, hypocrites, etc.), they say: "Truly, we are with you; verily, we were but mocking."

15. Allah mocks at them and gives them increase in their wrong-doings to wander blindly.

16. These are they who have purchased error for guidance, so their commerce was profitless. And they were not guided.

17. Their likeness is as the likeness of one who kindled a fire; then, when it lighted all around him, Allah took away their light and left them in darkness. (So) they could not see.

18. They are deaf, dumb, and blind, so they return not (to the Right Path).

Also use the report button.

I don't... and I don't have to

I know im just saying dont degrade it to the level of excrement. Some people cant take that type of criticism.

 

[[TR]AHMET]

I don't... and I don't have to

removed....