Turkish Forum

Month: September 2009

  • Turkey Moves Away From Democracy

    Turkey Moves Away From Democracy

    In August an editor from Kazakhstan was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment for “divulging state secrets” in an article which dealt with the relationship between the state security service KNB and a local distillery owner. Therefore the European Union has issued a declaration which states that journalists should be free to report on all issues of interest to the public, including commentary on how the state is run. All member states have signed as well as candidate countries Croatia and Macedonia, potential future members Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro together with Island and Norway. The only country which has not signed is Turkey.

    Turkey has similarly refused to sign a similar statement, accusing Uzbekistan of trying to silence the media through intimidation and criminal proceedings. But when you look at the way Turkey has handled the media since the AKP (Justice and Development Party) came to power in 2002, this is no surprise. Especially after the government’s latest attempt to silence a critical press.

    As former EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn emphasized to Turkey shortly after the start of accession talks in October 2005: “pluralism and free speech are basic values which cannot be compromised”. However, the message doesn’t seem to have got through to the Turkish government.

    Social engineering
    Since the AKP formed a government, the party has embarked on what Riza Türmen, former judge at the European Court of Human Rights, has called “social engineering” and “a radical transformation of society” from Western-oriented and secular to Islamic and conservative.

    The means to achieve this goal has been through political and economic power, and the former has been the prerequisite for the latter. Because of the Turkish electoral system the AKP gained almost two thirds of the seats in parliament in 2002 with only 34 percent of the votes, and five years later the party gained 47 percent of the votes but only 341 ouf the parliament’s 550 seats. The AKP commands strong local support but even so won only 39 percent of the votes in the local elections this year.

    The party’s victory in 2007 made it possible for the AKP to elect their own president – Foreign Minister Abdullah Gül – in spite of opposition from the military. But irrespective of the fact that the former president, Ahmet Necdet Sezer, a staunch secularist, blocked much of the AKP’s legislation, the government has succeeded in achieving most of its aims.

    In 2003 the AKP amended the Public Procurement Law, which made it possible to exclude energy, water, transportation and telecommunications related contracts from the scope of the law, and last year a further amendment has made the awarding of public contracts even more opaque. Two years ago Hüseyin Tugcu, an AKP deputy and one of the party’s founders, stated that people who are given contracts or work by the government must have covered families i.e. where the women wear headscarves.

    According to a report published last December by the Open Society Institute and Bosphorus University, “Being Different in Turkey”, whose who are not religious or secularists feel under pressure to conform to the social norms promoted by the AKP to keep their jobs and protect their businesses. For example, the membership of Memur-Sen, an Islamic union for civil servants, rose from 42,000 in 2002 to 315,000 in 2008, while the membership of other unions remained stable.

    Imam-hatip schools
    One aspect of this creeping Islamization of Turkey is that almost all leading positions inside state administration have been filled with government supporters, a number of whom – like Prime Minister Erdogan – have studied at imam-hatip schools (IHL), religious high schools. They are officially designated as vocational schools and for that reason IHL graduates have not been allowed to enter university on equal terms with graduates from state high schools. Now this barrier has been removed, so they have access to all the faculties.

    About 13,000 graduate from imam-hatip schools every year, over half of whom are women, which undermines the government’s argument that the purpose of these schools is to train imams, as only 3,000 a year are needed.

    As well as most ministries supporters of the AKP government have gained control of a number of independent boards, such as the Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency (BDDK), the Capital Market Board (SPK), the Savings Deposit Insurance Fund (TMSF), the Competition Board (RK), the Energy Market Regulatory Authority (EPDK), the Scientific and Technological Research Council (TÜBITAK), the Supreme Board of Radio and Television (RTÜK) and the Higher Education Board (YÖK). It is the latter which is responsible for the appointment of rectors for Turkey’s 114 universities.

    Part of the AKP’s EU-oriented reform programme has resulted in a reduction of the military’s influence, and in a late night sitting at the end of June the government passed an amendment to the Penal Code, which makes it possible for civilian courts to prosecute military personnel. However, as the law is a violation of the Turkish constitution, which gives military courts sole jurisdiction, the opposition party CHP has petitioned the Constitutional Court to annul the amendment.

    This is the same Constitutional Court which last year found the AKP guilty of being “a focus for anti-secular activities” and halved the party’s state funding. Erdogan has threatened to shut down the Court, but it is likely it will be included in the AKP’s coming judicial reform, which will change the composition and jurisdiction of the Court and place it under government control.

    A critical press
    The greatest opposition to the government’s “social engineering” comes from a critical press and for this reason the Calik Group, where Erdogan’s son-in law is general manager, has taken over the Sabah-ATV media group, Turkey’s second largest. Most of the cost of the takeover has been financed by two state banks.

    However, the Dogan Media Group (DMG), which has been responsible for revealing extensive corruption in government circles, sits on 50 percent of the market, and therefore the AKP has taken unusual steps to silence its critics. In February a tax fine of $592 million was imposed on the DMG and last week came the final blow – a record tax fine of $2.5 billion.

    As Ismet Berkan, editor-in-chief of the Turkish daily Radikal concludes: “Unfortunately, this is the situation in new Turkey; a country far from democracy, yet close to fascism.”

    This article is written by Robert Ellis and was first published at PoliGazette.

  • José Manuel Barroso wins second term

    José Manuel Barroso wins second term

    September 16, 2009

    as European Commission President

    David Charter in Strasbourg

    From The Times
    September 17, 2009
    Votes from Conservative MEPs helped to give José Manuel Barroso a clear mandate yesterday for a second term as President of the European Commission. The former Portuguese Prime Minister won an absolute majority in the European Parliament despite strong attacks from the Left, who accused him of failing to do enough in his first five-year term to regulate financial markets and banks or to save jobs during the recession. Mr Barroso won with the backing of 382 of the 718 MEPs who voted, leaving him in a strong position to run the body that initiates all EU legislation. To win over the crucial swing votes of European Liberals and Greens, Mr Barroso promised to create three EU commissioners — for fundamental rights, migration and climate change — when the body is reappointed in the autumn.

    Related Links

    • Barroso will stay in power, but not on his terms
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    The Conservatives backed Mr Barroso despite his support for a more integrated Europe and for the Lisbon treaty, which David Cameron has pledged to subject to a referendum if he can. Gordon Brown described Mr Barroso’s victory as a great result. “Under his leadership, the European Commission and Europe as a whole will continue to tackle the issues that matter to Europeans: jobs and growth, and the global challenges of security, poverty and climate change,” he said. Labour MEPs defied Downing Street, however, and decided to abstain in the vote, accusing Mr Barroso of not doing enough for workers.
    Barroso addresses Turkish parliament in Ankara | April 10, 2008 height="344">

  • Fenerbahce USA Cordinally Invite You

    Fenerbahce USA Cordinally Invite You

  • Anti-Americanism in a Poisoned Tank

    Anti-Americanism in a Poisoned Tank


    Soner Cagaptay
    Hurriyet Daily News
    September 15, 2009

    Two recent cases in Turkey involving American think tanks serve as evidence that anti-Americanism often spreads because of what people hear from their governments, and that such rhetoric, if not countered immediately, can have a debilitating effect on America’s standing overseas.

    The most recent Turkish case concerns a June 2009 Atlantic Council report, which outlines steps toward confidence building between Turkey and the Iraqi Kurds. The report has been vilified in Turkey in vicious attacks and decried as an evil American plan that inspired the Justice and Development Party, or AKP, government’s summer 2009 Kurdish opening, an initiative that promises steps to alleviate Turkey’s Kurdish problem. A think-tank in Washington driving the AKP’s politics?! Yet, as unbelievable as it might sound, the current consensus in Turkey is that the Atlantic Council report and the United States government are pushing the AKP’s summer initiative, and that because America and an American think tank are behind it, this initiative is against Turkey’s interests.

    The United States and American think tanks have lately taken on a poisonous reputation in Turkey. Outside observers may find this shocking, but the roots of this recent negative perception go back to the June 2007 “Hudson Institute Incident.” At that time, the AKP used a roundtable discussion held at Hudson on the Kurdish issue, attended by the Turkish military, to suggest that the military was plotting in Washington against the AKP, and that it was using the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, to this end. The party leadership lambasted the Washington think tank, suggesting that “in dark rooms” and “behind closed doors,” “plans are made in Washington against Turkey’s interests” and that the roundtable conversations constituted a crime “beyond treason” for the Turks in attendance.

    Such rhetoric vilified U.S. think tanks and Washington. Embodying U.S. foreign policy toward Turkey, U.S. think tanks and Washington became synonymous with a conspiratorial view of sinister plotting against Turkey. This spin engulfed Turkey in a nationalist and anti-American frenzy during the early summer of 2007, becoming the only issue the Turks debated in that period. Supported by the government, and promoted by pro-government media, this hard to believe perception that a Washington think-tank and America were conspiring against Turkey became common currency, while allowing the AKP to tarnish the military’s image and surf to a wave of popularity in the July 2007 elections.

    Sad as it is, the AKP’s instrumentalization of the Hudson incident ended up maligning the intellectual exercise about Turkey. Writing about and discussing Turkey in Washington became a risky exercise attracting vitriolic attacks. Now, however, the tables have turned: the AKP is reaping what it sowed in 2007 and is at the receiving end of the poisoned anti-American and “Washington and its think tanks are evil” environment it helped create. The “Atlantic Council” incident is hurting the AKP’s image and the party is hard pressed to prove that “behind closed doors and in dark rooms in Washington, evil plans are not made against Turkey’s interests.”

    All this has a cost to Turkey and the United States. The incidents involving the Hudson Institute and the Atlantic Council show that once the seeds of anti-Americanism are sown, it is almost impossible to uproot them from the political landscape of a country. The AKP has now learned that this phenomenon can even turn on the hand that once birthed it. So, foreign governments — stand warned.

    More importantly, the two incidents also demonstrate that anti-American rhetoric spread by foreign governments should not be dismissed as simple domestic politicking, for more than what America does or say, such rhetoric defines what people overseas think of the United States. The international public opinion of the United States is in many countries like a tank of water; even one drop of political arsenic is enough to poison the whole tank, and such poison is not made in America.

    Soner Cagaptay is a senior fellow and director of the Turkish Research Program at The Washington Institute.

  • World’s tallest man is a TURK

    World’s tallest man is a TURK

    8-foot-1-inch Turk crowned world’s tallest man

    Previous record holder, tired of the publicity, refuses to be measured

    Dan Kitwood / Getty Images
    The world’s new tallest man, Sultan Kosen 26, shown with his brother, hopes the title will help him find a girlfriend.
    updated 6:37 p.m. ET, Wed., Sept . 16, 2009
    LONDON - A towering Turk was officially crowned the world's tallest man Thursday after his Ukrainian rival dropped out of the running by refusing to be measured. Guinness World Records said that 8 foot 1 inch (2.47 meter) Sultan Kosen, from the town of Mardin in eastern Turkey, is now officially the tallest man walking the planet. Although the previous record holder, Ukrainian Leonid Stadnyk, reportedly measured 8 feet 5.5 inches (2.57 meters), Guinness said he was stripped of his title when he declined to let anyone confirm his height. Stadnyk, 39, told The Associated Press he refused to be independently measured because he was tired of being in the public eye. "If this title had given me more health or a few extra years, I would have taken it, but the opposite happened, I only wasted my nerve cells," he said. "If I have to choose between prosperity and calm, I choose calm." Kosen, 27, told reporters in London that he was looking forward to parlaying his newfound status into a chance at love. Would like to get married "Up until now it's been really difficult to find a girlfriend," Kosen said through an interpreter. "I've never had one, they were usually scared of me. ... Hopefully now that I'm famous I'll be able to meet lots of girls. I'd like to get married." Kosen is one of only 10 confirmed or reliably reported cases in which humans have grown past the eight foot (2.44 meter) mark, according to Guinness. The record-keeping group said he grew into his outsize stature because tumor-related damage to his pituitary triggered the overproduction of growth hormones. The condition, known as "pituitary gigantism," also explains Kosen's enormous hands and feet, which measure 10.8 inches (27.5 centimeters) and 14.4 inches (36.5 centimeters) respectively. The tumor was removed last year, so Kosen isn't expected to grow any further. The part-time farmer, who uses crutches to stand, said there were disadvantages to being so tall. Can't fit normal car "I can't fit into a normal car," he said. "I can't go shopping like normal people, I have to have things made specially and sometimes they aren't always as fashionable. The other thing is that ceilings are low and I have to bend down through doorways." But he noted some advantages too, including the ability to see people coming from far away "The other thing is at home they use my height to change the light bulbs and hang the curtains, things like that." Kosen's trip to the U.K. — his first outside Turkey — was organized by Guinness to publicize the release of its 2010 Guinness World Records book, this year's repertoire of weird and wonderful records.

  • International Conference on Genocide, International Law Concludes in Beirut

    International Conference on Genocide, International Law Concludes in Beirut

    BEIRUT—A two-day international conference on “The Armenian Genocide and International Law,” organized by Haigazian University and the Armenian National Committee of the Middle East (ANC-ME), concluded on Sept. 4.

    A scene from the conference.

    The conference drew in 13 experts in genocide and international law from the U.S., Canada, Switzerland, Ireland, Armenia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, and Lebanon, who joined more than 80 local political scientists, activists, sociologists, historians, religious leaders, educators, international correspondents, journalists, and students in addressing the consequences of the Armenian Genocide and promoting a fair perspective through international law.

    It covered such topics as genocide denial and recognition, Turkish nationalism, and the politics of denial, as well as the economic aspect of the genocide and the issue of lands and assets. Within the framework of international law, the conference discussed the general topic of genocide and crimes against humanity, retribution, and the preservation of the Armenian cultural heritage.

    More specifically, Dr. George Charaf (University of Lebanon) lectured on the problem of minorities and majorities, discussing the case of the Ottoman Empire. Dr. Ugur Ungor (University of Sheffield) talked about demographic engineering in the Ottoman Empire and the genocide. Dr. Mohammad Rifaat (University of Alexandria) discussed the Armenian Question according to Arab sources. Dr. William Schabas (National University of Ireland) discussed the problems and prospects of the genocide and international law, 60 years after the International Genocide Convention. Dr. Alfred De Zayas (Geneva School of Diplomacy and International Relations) elaborated on the issues of justice and international law regarding the genocide. Khatchig Mouradian (Ph.D. student, Clark University) lectured on the Armenians, Raphael Lemkin, and the UN Convention. Dr. Taner Akcam’s paper, entitled “Turkish Nationalism and the Armenian Genocide Issue in Turkey Today,” was presented in absentia. Dr. Ragip Zarakolu (vice president, Human Rights Association of Turkey) tackled the issue of genocide denial and law in Turkey.

    Mouradian, Manoyan, Schabas, and De Zayas.

    In the same context, Dr. Seyhan Bayraktar (University of Zurich) covered the evolution of Armenian Genocide denial in the Turkish press. Bilgin Ayata (PhD. Candidate, John Hopkins University) discussed Kurdish-Armenian relations and the Armenian Genocide. Dr. Roger Smith (professor emeritus of government, College of William and Mary) lectured on professional ethics and the denial of the Armenian Genocide. Dr. Henry Theriault (Worcester State College) discussed restorative justice and alleviating the consequences of genocide. And finally, Dr. Richard Hovannisian (UCLA) covered the issue of universalizing the legacy of the Armenian Genocide.

    The sessions were moderated by Dr. Arda Ekmekji, Dr. Naila Kaidbey, Giro Manoyan, Dr. Rania Masri, Dr. Joseph Bayeh, Dr. Ohannes Geukjian, Antranig Dakessian, and Dr. Haig Demoyan. Conference organizers have announced that the presentations will be published in a volume.

    Rev. Dr. Paul Haidostian, the president of Haigazian University, said that such conferences keep the genocide issue alive and add to the increasingly growing international momentum toward recognition. “The topic of genocide, and this conference in particular, will hopefully open the door to further academic studies and research, activating deeper study in the economic, social, and legal aspects of inter-state relations,” he said.

    “The Armenian Genocide is not simply an Armenian problem but essentially an international burden,” he added. “The victim carries a strong sense of ownership of pain, but human civilization cannot be considered as highly developed if it does not embrace a sense of advocacy for the victimized.”

    Haidostian spoke about four key points. First, “that injustices of any nation against any other nation are part of the same human manifestation of evil that require joint and effective global action.” Second, “that this international conference convenes in a country, Lebanon, which continues to be a unique land of dialogue and culture despite the ever-present seeds of misunderstanding.” Third, giving the example of Haigazian University, and more specifically the name of Armenag Haigazian, a victim of the genocide, Haidostian emphasized that “our calling has been and continues to be standing up for new life not only for Armenians but especially for our Arab brothers and sisters, and really, all people of the world.” Finally, Haidostian explained that given the fact that the conference was being held at a university no academic community can be value-neutral. “A university may be a neutral medium of dialogue, but it is essentially a forum of passion for deeper knowledge, responsibility, and enlightenment.”

    In her message, Vera Yacoubian, the executive director of the ANC-ME, spoke about the efforts of the ANC in highlighting the Armenian community’s role throughout the Middle East, its coexistence with surrounding Arab and Islamic communities, and its efforts in addressing the Armenian Cause.

    Yacoubian expressed hope that the conference would provide a significant breakthrough in analyzing the Armenian Genocide, as it brought together a large group of specialists in the arena of genocide and international law.

    Regarding Turkish-Armenian relations, Yacoubian noted, “We cannot ignore or disregard recent developments and address these pending issues without resolving past history between the two nations. Indeed, Turkish-Armenian relations carry the heavy burden of the Armenian Genocide and there is high level of doubt and mistrust regarding Turkish intentions.”

    Yacoubian concluded by questioning Turkey’s responsibility towards acknowledging the Armenian Genocide and the future of the Armenian Cause.

    Marios Garoyan, the president of the House of Representatives of Cyprus, gave the inaugural speech at the conference on Sept. 2. His presence as the guest speaker, he said, was driven by his country’s “commitment to international law, peace, security, and stability, but also the determination to continue to condemn, on every possible occasion, any infringement of international law by acts of genocide.”

    “On the one hand, governments and parliaments should act together and closely cooperate in terms of assessing the progress made with regard to the implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide and identify measures to be taken at all levels,” he said. “On the other hand, it is the states that must cooperate for the prevention and punishment of those responsible for the crime of genocide.”

    Garoyian questioned Turkey’s role as mediator, peacemaker, and peacekeeper in the wider Middle East, while Turkey continues to deny the truth of the crimes perpetrated by its Ottoman predecessors.

    He noted that Cyprus has always stood by the Armenian people in their struggle for the recognition of the Armenian Genocide. In 1975, the Cyprus House of Representatives was one of the first parliaments in the world to adopt a resolution calling the atrocities inflicted upon the Armenians “genocide.” Garoyian added that Cyprus and its people have many more reasons to understand the injustice of the genocide due to “the implementation of Turkey’s policy of ethnic cleansing against Cyprus’ population during the 1974 invasion and the continuing occupation of 37 percent of Cyprus’ territory.”

    Among the capacity audience were Minister Alain Tabourian, representing the Lebanese president, Michel Suleiman; parliament member Hagop Pakradouni, representing the parliament speaker, Nabih Berry; Minister Jean Oghasabian, representing the president of the Council of Ministers, Fouad Sanioura; parliament member Sebouh Kalpakian, representing the appointed president of the Council of Ministers, Saad Rafic Hariri; parliament member Shant Chinchinian; ambassadors of the United Kingdom, Cyprus, Uruguay, and the Czech Republic; the president of the Union of Armenian Evangelical Churches in the Near East, Rev. Megrdich Karagozian; the Prelate of the Armenian Apostolic Church of Lebanon, Bishop Kegham Khatcherian; the president of the Armenian Protestant community in Syria, Rev. Haroutune Selimian; representatives of embassies, Armenian and Lebanese political parties, and cultural associations; former members of parliament; ministers; religious leaders; and guests of the conference.

    The inaugural session of the conference took place at the hall of the First Armenian Evangelical Church of Beirut. Public lectures by some of the participants of the conference took place during the first week of September.