ERDOGAN ABSENT AT MIDDLE EAST SUMMIT
Hurriyet Daily News
Sept 6 2010
Turkey
A critical summit convened in Washington last week.
It was aiming to resume Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. However,
I – and I think many others as well – were surprised by the images
on television.
Palestinians and Israel were the sides in the summit organized by
the United States. Egypt and Jordan sat at the table as mediators.
“The shining star of the region, Turkey,” as frequently referenced by
the Justice and Development Party, or AKP, government was unfortunately
not included in the meeting.
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who is introduced to people as
“the conqueror of the Middle East” at every possible opportunity,
was not even an observer.
Why?
Firstly, it was because of the “one minute” tirade that took place
in Davos.
Secondly, it is because of his support of Hamas and Iran.
The AKP became an advocate of radical elements in the region with
the Middle East policies it created, ignoring the Foreign Ministry.
The insulting remarks of Erdogan toward Israel have caused a reaction
in the West. Other countries in the region do not approve of the prime
minister taking Hamas and Iran under his wing and being obstinate
with the world.
Sympathy for Erdogan in the Middle East does not add anything to
Turkey’s influence in the international arena.
And the result is that Erdogan was left out of the Israeli-Palestinians
talks this time.
As for national politics, we see plenty of contradictions. Let me
give you an example.
The day before his referendum rally in the southeastern province of
Diyarbakır, Erdogan said the following:
“What we say in Tekirdag, we say it in Agrı, too. Don’t expect us
to speak differently in different parts of the country.”
The prime minister’s speech in Diyarbakır, however, and the one in
the southern province of Mersin were denials of his previous remarks.
In Diyarbakır, he neither spoke about “one flag, one nation” nor
said a word on the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK.
But in Mersin, he referred to the issues he didn’t touch in
Diyarbakır.
It is beneficial to recall a critical issue here.
Because, as the late Prime Minister Adnan Menderes said, “Human mind
tends to forget.”
What happened to the initiatives which he has tried to explain to
people for days? The Kurdish, Roma, Alevi and Armenian initiatives
are all forgotten.
If people remember a little, they could be more careful while voting.
Recently again, in one of the fast-breaking dinners he attended,
the prime minister criticized the judiciary: “Believe me, we are
wearing shackles. There is a judicial power dominating Parliament
and the executive and that restrains you. I am restrained by that;
it sends back governors I appoint.”
Mr. Prime Minister says, “I cannot appoint a governor,” but governors
are acting like provincial heads of the AKP.
The Supreme Board of Judges and Prosecutors, or HSYK, Acting President
Kadir Ozbek answered Erdogan in the following way: “What Mr. Prime
Minister calls a shackle is not a shackle but the state of law.”
Yes, Erdogan sees the state of law as a shackle.
That is to say he does not want a state of law but wants to control
the state. This is the reason why tricky articles are embedded in
the constitutional amendment package.
He keeps calling people to say “yes” to the amendment package in the
referendum to bring the Sept. 12 military coup to account.
Jurists, however, say the military officers behind the Sept. 12
takeover cannot be judged because of the statute of limitations.
So, Mr. Prime Minister’s reasons to vote “yes” contradict the facts.
* Mr. Tufan Turenc is a columnist for the daily Hurriyet in which
this piece appeared Monday. It was translated into English by the
Daily News staff.
From: A. Papazian