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- dag hammarsjkold
- Emissary
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- Posts: 1543
- Joined: 15 Oct 2002, 9:34 pm
01 Jun 2013, 3:03 pm
Erdogan must go!
Staunch pupil of Fethullah Gulen and the Gulen Movement, Erdogan is out of touch with the majority of Turkish people and more than a few degrees adrift from the spirit of Ataturk.
Get him boys!
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jun/01/turkey-protests-second-day
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- Ray Jay
- Ambassador
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- Posts: 4991
- Joined: 08 Jun 2000, 10:26 am
02 Jun 2013, 4:49 am
I'm not a fan of Erdogan, but I don't see this as leading to his leaving office. It's going to take an election to make that happen. Overthrowing a democratically elected leader usually creates more problems then it solves.
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- danivon
- Ambassador
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- Posts: 16006
- Joined: 15 Apr 2004, 6:29 am
02 Jun 2013, 2:23 pm
Ray Jay wrote:I'm not a fan of Erdogan, but I don't see this as leading to his leaving office. It's going to take an election to make that happen. Overthrowing a democratically elected leader usually creates more problems then it solves.
Indeed. Turkey is not perfect, but its democracy is not actually illegitimate.
What it does signal, however, is a large undercurrent of discontent. Given that this started over a planning dispute, it's quite something to have escalated, and mainly due to over-zealous policing of peaceful demonstrations.
The position of the Army will be key to whether anything can change or not. I don't expect them to intervene, to be honest, unless things really deteriorate.
The AKP got just under 50% of the vote in the 2011 election, which was the highest they'd ever had but due to the performance of the secular perennial opposition Republican People's Party lost some seats and were unable to put forward the constitutional changes they wanted. While the next election to parliament is due in 2015, there will be a Presidential election next year, in which Erdogan is likely to be standing (after a ruling that the sitting PM can do so an remain in post).
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- Ray Jay
- Ambassador
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- Posts: 4991
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04 Jun 2013, 6:13 am
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142 ... 45664.htmlAn important perspective:
Riding high and dominating all branches of government, the charismatic Mr. Erdoğan dispensed with political compromise and doubled down on Islamism and old vendettas. He antagonized Turkey's minority Alevi population—one-quarter of Turkey's 75 million citizens—by naming the new Istanbul bridge now under construction after Selim I, a 16th-century sultan who massacred 40,000 Alevis. The proposed skyline-dominating mosque antagonized secularists, and new laws that would dramatically restrict the purchase and drinking of alcohol in Istanbul's Western-leaning districts provoked liberals. So on May 31, when Mr. Erdoğan dismissed the environmentalist protesters as "marginal elements" after the first police assault, for many it was the last straw. ...
Against this backdrop, many Turks are enraged by signs that Mr. Erdoğan and his aides have enriched themselves while in power. Few believe the prime minister's explanation that his newfound wealth—millions of dollars in property and a reputed eight Swiss bank accounts, according to U.S. diplomatic cables released by WikiLeaks—is the result of wedding gifts received by his son.
Turks remember that 13 corruption cases pending from his Istanbul mayoral tenure remain suspended only because he enjoys parliamentary immunity. Many Turks suspect that Mr. Erdoğan's personal investment in the redevelopment of Taksim Square—where the protesters now face off against police—is quite literal.
The past week's protests have highlighted the lack of press freedom in Turkey. Exhibit A: As police attacked the protesters, CNN Türk broadcast a cooking show. Tens of thousands of Turks have signed petitions calling on CNN in the U.S. to cut ties with its pro-Erdoğan affiliate. For reporters who do cover the government critically, such pursuits can be dangerous: Turkey imprisons more journalists than any other country in the world, according to Reporters Without Borders.
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With the protests continuing, many Turks fear that Mr. Erdogan may soon target social media—an important form of communication for the protesters. "There is now a scourge that is called Twitter. The best examples of lies can be found there," the prime minister declared on June 3. "To me, social media is the worst menace to society."
