{"id":76143,"date":"2013-08-19T12:04:08","date_gmt":"2013-08-19T09:04:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/?p=76143"},"modified":"2023-04-27T14:13:32","modified_gmt":"2023-04-27T11:13:32","slug":"democratic-demons","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/2013\/08\/19\/democratic-demons\/","title":{"rendered":"DEMOCRATIC DEMONS"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"dore_lucifer_hell\"
Gustav Dor\u00e9, “Satan”
Dante’s Inferno, 1855<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cIn the land\u00a0of the blind, the one-eyed man is\u00a0king.\u201d<\/strong>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Erasmus<\/strong><\/p>\n

Forget what the big-mouth crime ministers and the duplicitous oral cavities of selected foreign ministers are shouting about democracy. About political \u201cmandates.\u201d About how they represent\u00a0the living essences of \u201cthe will of the people.\u201d And about how they all care so\u00a0deeply for all the downtrodden and abused of the world. These ignoramus\u00a0champions of democracy shamelessly harangue the world ad nauseam <\/i>about the importance of elections, elections, elections. Remember\u00a0the purple index fingers wagging after the first post-Saddam election in Iraq?\u00a0And the wonderful \u201cdemocracy\u201d that followed and is still slaughtering\u00a0its citizens. If democracy only needs elections then we are all indeed lost on the road to ruin with our purple index fingers tucked securely where the sun don\u2019t\u00a0shine. All these crime ministers and \u201cNobel\u201d presidents babble gibberish because\u00a0they understand very little about democracy. And the biggest babbler of all? The\u00a0ever-scowling, ever-treacherous winner of the 2010 (and last) Al-Gaddafi International Prize for Human\u00a0Rights<\/b>, Recep Tayyip Erdo\u011fan, the crime\u00a0minister of that so-called democracy, Turkey. The award was cancelled after\u00a0Al-Gaddafi was disemboweled and anal raped by the valiant democratic gangs aided\u00a0and abetted by NATO under the inspirational leadership of the two international\u00a0thugs who are now attempting to destroy Syria, “Bonnie\u201d Obama and his partner in international crime, \u201cClyde\u201d Erdo\u011fan. They have yet to be added to the following\u00a0list of democratically elected dictators. But their day may be nearing.<\/p>\n

The following betrayers of their oaths\u00a0of office also had mandates. And they all promptly forgot, ignored or destroyed the other aspects of a democratic form of government. Elections without a fully\u00a0aware, fully protected, fully functioning electorate are worthless. And also\u00a0worthless were the elections of these dictators:<\/p>\n

Islam Karimov, Uzbekistan), 1991-present<\/b><\/p>\n

Jose Gaspar Rodriguez de Francia, <\/b>Paraguay, 1813-1840<\/b><\/p>\n

Jorge Ubico,\u00a0Guatemala, 1931-1944<\/b><\/p>\n

Forbes Burnham, Guyana, 1966-1984<\/b><\/p>\n

Artur de\u00a0Costa e Silva, Brazil 1947-1969<\/b><\/p>\n

Juan Maria\u00a0Bordaberry, Uruguay, 1972-1976<\/b><\/p>\n

Alberto Fujimori, Peru, 1992-93<\/b><\/p>\n

Mohamed Morsi, Egypt, 2012-2013<\/b><\/p>\n

Fran\u00e7ois Duvalier, Haiti, 1959-1971<\/b><\/p>\n

Adolph Hitler, Germany, 1933-1945<\/b><\/p>\n

It need not even be said that those who\u00a0are democratically elected are duty-bound to honor and support both the process and institution called democracy. None of the above did, despite\u00a0swearing to do so.<\/p>\n

So let\u2019s examine\u00a0today’s most vocal\u00a0defender of his own \u201cdemocratic\u201d essence, Recep Tayyip Erdo\u011fan. How does his own country, Turkey, stand regarding its democratic structure? \u201cDemocracy,\u201d<\/b> \u00a0Erdo\u011fan once declared, \u201cis like a trolley car. You ride it until you arrive at your destination, then you step off.\u201d<\/b> This is a vitally important statement. While it\u00a0reveals what we already know about Erdo\u011fan, it also confirms that he knows nothing about the democratic process\u00a0and, more dangerously, has no respect for the concept. Astounding it is that such a person could even be considered electable in a secular democracy. But then even the street dogs in\u00a0Istanbul know how THAT happened. It undoubtedly will come\u00a0as a surprise and shock to Erdo\u011fan when\u00a0learns that democracy is intended to outlast\u00a0its participants and is not merely a stop at a mosque, a Turkish bath\u00a0or the White House. Such deceit-filled thinking is typical of the deceptive language used throughout the decade-long Erdo\u011fan regime.<\/p>\n

This\u00a0screwed-up thinking is\u00a0akin to his and his party\u2019s\u00a0claim that the mean old dictator, Mustafa Kemal Atat\u00fcrk, traumatized the\u00a0citizens of the new Turkish Republic by changing the alphabet from Ottoman\u00a0script to Roman script. Trauma indeed, for a nation\u2019s people of whom 90% lived\u00a0in rural areas and 97% were illiterate! Forget the trauma of unlearning one and relearning another alphabet, they never knew one in the first place. Instead, it was\u00a0the \u201cthrill\u201d of enlightenment which “traumatized” them, a learning experience (or trauma)\u00a0which still seems to have eluded Erdo\u011fan and his\u00a0supporters. In fact, Atat\u00fcrk knew instinctively what\u00a0the new\u00a0republic’s\u00a0fundamentally\u00a0impoverished people needed most in order to live and prosper in a modern secular\u00a0state and future democracy. And that was first, literacy, then, education.<\/p>\n

It is important to expand this point.\u00a0To remediate this national educational deficit, Atat\u00fcrk\u00a0conceived of a\u00a0nationwide rural learning system called the Village Institute. Designed to\u00a0teach language skills and much more, it began in 1940. Six years later, the\u00a0first fatal sign of Turkish compliance with America\u2019s needs appeared. Godless\u00a0communism had become a threat after the World War II and God-filled Turkey had a\u00a0job to do.\u00a0And so came\u00a0the nonsense of the Islamic Green Belt protecting the west and the tagging of Turkey as a religious nation. Thus the Village Institute System must be disbanded. Too risky. Too red. Those bad\u00a0communists would infiltrate and overthrow everything.\u00a0So it follows that the disaster that is Turkey\u00a0today regarding the great percentage of its uninformed voters\u00a0began with\u00a0the abandonment of the Village Institute system. How generous were the Turkish\u00a0democratic politicians selling out to America\u2019s interests. So today illiteracy\u00a0rates, particularly among rural women remain uncomfortably high. But no one,\u00a0least of all, Erdo\u011fan is concerned. It keeps him afloat politically. So far.<\/p>\n

But let\u2019s start at the beginning. What\u00a0does a country need to maintain a viable flourishing democracy? First, its\u00a0citizens need guaranteed protections, else why sign-on as citizens. This is\u00a0codified in a constitution which enumerates the nature and conditions of\u00a0personal and political rights. It\u00a0also states the terms of fair and free elections. Also vital to democracy is the inviolable presence of an independent judiciary uninfluenced by the political\u00a0regime. Another key requirement of democracy is the separation of powers, namely\u00a0that executive, legislative and judicial branches operate independently.\u00a0And how about Mr. Erdo\u011fan\u2019s record after\u00a0swearing to support and defend the constitution of Turkey?<\/p>\n

He has actively\u00a0worked to subvert it. He has illegally detained and\/or incarcerated thousands of those opposed to his regime.\u00a0Articles dealing with freedom of speech, assembly, and media expression have\u00a0been trampled by the heavy boots of religious fascism. The courts are the\u00a0extension of the ruling party and the ruling party is simply Erdo\u011fan, himself. He has\u00a0even declared himself to be the \u201cchief prosecutor\u201d of a sham case called\u00a0Ergenekon. And what about the security of the nation\u2019s borders? Erdo\u011fan, aided\u00a0and abetted by America, has destroyed the nation\u2019s defense system. The\u00a0experienced commanding general staff\u00a0is in prison. The collaborators now\u00a0command.\u00a0 Senior officers sold out their subordinates. One general is even considered to have been a secret witness against his comrades in arms. So much for moral and esprit-de-corps. So much for trust and honor. So much for the viability of the military academies. Equally worrisome,\u00a0the\u00a0police rule with a viciousness unparalleled since the good old days of\u00a0Pinochet\u2019s Chile and Hitler\u2019s Germany. The\u00a0Gezi Park Movement revealed the full horror of Erdo\u011fan’s state police. Even more troublesome for the Turkish citizenry, is\u00a0the questionable allegiance of the nation\u2019s security forces. They seem to be oddly influenced and even controlled by\u00a0a\u00a0foreign power, namely\u00a0a longstanding CIA asset\/imam residing in Pennsylvania. (In case\u00a0this sounds strange to you, it has been in all the newspapers, even a few in Turkey).\u00a0Worse yet, Erdo\u011fan has jeopardized the nation\u2019s security by collaborating with\u00a0America in the destruction of numerous North African and Middle East nations, most lately Syria and Egypt. Put plainly, these have been disasters for all concerned, and a political and moral disaster for\u00a0Erdo\u011fan. The integrity of the Turkish state seems at great risk, particularly regarding its eastern borders. And finally, let\u2019s speak of Erdo\u011fan’s favorite subject, elections. The election campaigns, aside from\u00a0his usual bombast, has consisted of\u00a0bribes-for-votes. Coal, food, even refrigerators (whether or not the village has\u00a0electricity) are delivered to the ever-grateful, if somewhat bemused, masses\u00a0living in the hinterlands.<\/p>\n

So what, you might be saying. That\u2019s the way\u00a0democracy works in the world. And anyway, all politicians are thieves and liars. Tragically, perhaps you are right. So let\u2019s all just lean back and enjoy our\u00a0extermination. But I am talking about Turkey here, a nation chosen by America to\u00a0be a role model of Islamic democracy so peace can reign throughout the carnage\u00a0that has always been the Middle East. Of course, the premise is ludicrous, even delusional. We all know it. And now the world knows it. How the people of the\u00a0democratic, secular Republic of Turkey have suffered from this catastrophic\u00a0delusion promoted by their deluding politicians. A few questions are necessary to complete this analysis of Erdo\u011fan’s democratic credentials.<\/p>\n

Is it a democracy when someone writing a political opinion unfavorable to the regime is jailed? <\/b><\/p>\n

Is it a democracy when newspapers are\u00a0controlled by the political regime?\u00a0\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

Is it a democracy when citizens exercise\u00a0their constitution right to assemble and are brutally attacked by police with tear gas, water cannons, rubber bullets, real bullets, clubs, truncheons, boots,\u00a0scimitars, butcher knives and blades of all varieties?\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

Is it a democracy when these same\u00a0police are celebrated by the prime minister as heroes? \u00a0 Is it a democracy when telephone\u00a0conversations are recorded without a court order?\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

Is it a democracy when people are\u00a0arrested and incarcerated for years without due process?\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

Is it a democracy when a\u00a0prime minister’s children openly campaign to\u00a0subvert the provisions of the Turkish constitution?<\/b><\/p>\n

Is it a democracy when houses are ransacked in \u201cfishing expeditions\u201d for evidence without court\u00a0order? Is it a democracy when a nation\u2019s\u00a0judicial system is controlled by the ruling political party?<\/b><\/p>\n

Is it a democracy when the police\u00a0brutally assault, even murder, innocent citizens and are not held\u00a0accountable? Is it a democracy when secret witnesses\u00a0give testimony that is never examined in open court?<\/b><\/p>\n

Is it a democracy when journalists,\u00a0writers, academicians, political thinkers, rot in jail because they dare to have\u00a0ideas?<\/b><\/p>\n

Is it a democracy when convicted murderers of judges are bribed to give secret\u00a0testimony and are afterwards acquitted?\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

Is it a democracy when an entire\u00a0military leadership cadre is jailed on trumped-up charges that even\u00a0schoolchildren would laugh at? <\/b><\/p>\n

Is it a democracy when anyone opposed to\u00a0the ruling party is considered a terrorist? I<\/b><\/p>\n

Is it democracy when opposition parties\u00a0that gain less than 10% of the total vote are denied seating in parliament?\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/b><\/p>\n

Is it democracy when a prime minister advises neighbors to report to the police other neighbors who bang on pots and pans\u00a0in protest against his regime? <\/b><\/p>\n

Is it\u00a0democracy when school authorities are told to inform on students and teachers who may have participated in the Gezi Park protests?\u00a0 <\/b><\/p>\n

Is it a democracy when prime ministers insult the legitimacy of religious groups such as the Alevites in\u00a0Turkey? <\/b><\/p>\n

Is it a democracy when the houses of Alevites are marked with hate messages? <\/b><\/p>\n

Is it a democracy when government\u00a0vendettas are conducted against businesses, humanitarian organizations, lawyers and doctors, all those public spirited entities, who act to\u00a0defend the constitutionally guaranteed interests of innocent citizens being\u00a0brutally attacked by the state police force? <\/b><\/p>\n

Is it a democracy when a government\u00a0engages in general devastation of the environment, larceny of a nation\u2019s\u00a0treasure, captures the public space as its own, conducts unremitting\u00a0surveillance of the populace, degrades the civil conscience and constantly\u00a0rebukes contrary opinions?<\/b><\/p>\n

If so, then what? If not, then what?<\/p>\n

Regarding\u00a0Recep Tayyip Erdo\u011fan, what is he?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Cem Ryan, Ph.D.<\/b><\/p>\n

Istanbul<\/p>\n

19 August 2013<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat if a demon were to creep after you\u00a0one night, in your loneliest loneliness, and say, ‘This life which you live must\u00a0be lived by you once again and innumerable times more; and every pain and joy\u00a0and thought and sigh must come again to you, all in the same sequence. The\u00a0eternal hourglass will again and again be turned and you with it, dust of the\u00a0dust!’ Would you throw yourself down and gnash your teeth and curse that demon?\u00a0Or would you answer, ‘Never have I heard anything more divine’?\u201d <\/i><\/b>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/b><\/p>\n

Friedrich Nietzsche\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

\n
\n
<\/div>\n
\n
\"\"
Bilal Erdo\u011fan, the Turkish prime minister\u2019s son. 16 August 2013. At Fatih Mosque, Istanbul, participating in a demonstration for the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. Placards advocated against democracy and for the return of the caliphate<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"for
Demonstration at Fatih Mosque, Istanbul. 16 August 2013<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Demonstration
Demonstration at Fatih Mosque, Istanbul. 16 August 2013<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\"demon\"<\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Forget what the big-mouth crime ministers and the duplicitous oral cavities of selected foreign ministers are shouting about democracy. About political \u201cmandates.\u201d About how they represent the living essences of \u201cthe will of the people.\u201d And about how they all care so deeply for all the downtrodden and abused of the world. These ignoramus champions of democracy shamelessly harangue the world ad nauseam about the importance of elections, elections, elections. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":83,"featured_media":76149,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[89,34,922],"tags":[1216,200,78,1629,1018,1171,7765,1182],"class_list":["post-76143","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-turkey","category-usa","category-world","tag-acedemic-freedom","tag-democracy","tag-ergenekon","tag-gulen-movement","tag-recep-tayyip-erdogan","tag-treason","tag-turkish-army","tag-turkish-democracy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76143","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/83"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=76143"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76143\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/76149"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=76143"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=76143"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=76143"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}