Banality of evil or institutionalization of decadence by Bulent Kenes

The concept of "banality of evil" came to mind as soon as I heard that the parliamentary Corruption Investigation Commission refused to refer four former ministers to the Supreme State Council (Yüce Divan) despite the fact that a graft and bribery investigation that went public on Dec. 17 and 25, 2013 had brought their corrupt practices to light.

Nine commission members from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) disposed of their morality and consciences by saving the former ministers from litigation -- at least for the time being. However, there is still a possibility that they will face the Yüce Divan due to demands by the opposition for a parliamentary vote, which would take place in January.

The meaning of this crisis by Ali Bulac

by Ali Bulac - In the wake of the Dec. 17 and 25 bribery and corruption operations, the faction led by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has directed two main accusations at the Hizmet movement: a) that the Hizmet movement has become involved in a plot constructed by foreign powers -- notably, the US and Israel -- with the aim of overthrowing the elected government of Turkey, and b) that the Hizmet movement has gone all the way into people's bedrooms with its wiretaps.

#Tahşiye leader Doğan says he ’loves Osama bin Ladin’

 

Leader of Turkey's Tahşiye group Mehmet Doğan, who is at the heart of the latest crackdown on media, has told CNNTurk that he "loves Osama bin Laden."

Turkish authorities carried out a large-scale operation in the weekend, detaining dozens of journalists, scripwriters and police officials after Doğan filed a complaint that the group plotted against him. A Turkish court issued an arrest warrant for Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen on Friday on charges of publicly criticizing the leader of the al-Qaeda group.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan defended Doğan and his group, accusing detained journalists and Gülen for orchestrating a plot against him. Doğan was jailed for 17 months and he was later released pending trial.

Speaking to Akif Beki, former spokesman of Erdoğan, Doğan denied any links to al-Qaeda, but said he loves bin Laden because he is a Muslim. When asked if he views bin Laden as a terrorist or not, Doğan said he doesn't know if "his jihad is right or wrong" because he is living a reclusive life.

In another video extensively broadcast on TVs, Doğan is heard praising bin Laden and al-Qaeda. In one case, Yiğit Bulut, who is now Erdoğan's chief aide, says "we need to cleanse Islam from this al-Qaide affiliates."

Source:  http://www.todayszaman.com/national_tahsiye-leader-dogan-says-he-loves-osama-bin-ladin_367516.html

Fethullah Gulen warns against Turkey's unilateral war

Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gulen has warned against the dire consequences of Turkey's unilateral involvement in a mission in Syria or Iraq that goes against the mission of the international community. The Turkish authorities should avoid any action that may cause the Turkish people to experience sorrows similar to those of World War I.

In a speech published on Oct. 4 on herkul.org, a website that publishes his speeches, Gülen said those who are working to turn Turkey into an intelligence state -- in a clear reference to the government of the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) -- should not be overcome by aspirations to make Turkey enter a war “here and there,” referring to Syria and Iraq, and make people experience a disaster similar to World War I. What Mr. Gulen was referring to is President Erdogan’s insistence that the mission include toppling of the Assad regime.

“My wish from God is that they [government officials] do not enter a war here and there and make the people [of Turkey] experience a new World War I as did the Committee of Union and Progress [İttihat ve Terakki Cemiyeti, which is accused of dragging the Ottoman Empire into World War I] after they [the committee] were overcome by their aspirations and made the Devlet-i Aliye [the Ottoman Empire] victim of an adventure,” Gülen said.

22 killed in protests against ISIL siege of Kurdish town

 22 people were killed and dozens injured across Turkey on Tuesday and Wednesday as sympathizers of the terrorist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) resorted to violent demonstrations in protest of the Turkish government's failure to help prevent the Syrian Kurdish town of Kobani from falling to the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).

Journalists attacked by Erdogan's bodyguards in NY, media outraged

Turkish and international media representatives have expressed outrage following the announcement that Washington-based Turkish journalists Adem Yavuz Arslan and Ali Aslan were forced out of the lobby of a hotel in New York and attacked by the bodyguards of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Thursday.

According to Arslan, the Washington representative of the Bugün daily two advisors of President Erdoğan said, “your existence is a crime,” in reference to journalists critical of the government.

Yavuz and Aslan, the Washington representative of the Zaman daily, were trying to report on the meeting between Erdoğan and US vice president Joe Biden in the Peninsula Hotel in New York on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly.

Is TİKA funding radical Islamists?

By Emre Uslu - The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) likes to take special pride in the Turkish Cooperation and Development Agency (TİKA). This agency is implementing various projects in different places around the world. It restores historic monuments and lends support to civil society organizations (CSOs). TİKA projects even make Turkey the third-largest assistance-providing country after the US and UK. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan recently spoke of this fact as a source of pride during his visit to the US.

The TİKA projects were generally advertised as efforts to revive historic monuments that were legacies of the Ottoman Empire. For instance, Fatih Sultan Mehmet Mosque, Kosovo's largest mosque, in Pristina, was renovated thanks to a TİKA project. In Kosovo, there are dozens of mosques that have been repaired by TİKA. They are financing these projects with our taxes, but this expenditure is sufficiently justified.

Whom does TİKA really help? The answer to this question can be found in the recent crackdown on the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and the al-Nusra Front in Kosovo. A few days ago, the Kosovo police launched an operation against radical Islamic groups in the country. Thirty imams were taken into custody on charges of sending jihadists to Syria and Iraq. Many of them were arrested. Sixteen foundations and associations were shut down on charges of aiding and abetting members of ISIL, the al-Nusra Front and other al-Qaeda-linked organizations.

Why didn't they listen to Erdogan?

by Aydogan Vatandas - President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has become an international figure; it is probably the first time so many people outside Turkey know the name of the country's president since the presidency of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of Turkey.

However, during his UN summit speech yesterday, many of the seats in the hall were empty, and it is safe to say that Erdoğan spoke only to a small group of listeners.

The main reason for this shift is the fact that Erdoğan has already lost his credibility in the world even though he still has some support on the ground in Turkey. The last two elections in Turkey can be considered an indication that he still has the support of the majority of Turkish voters even though he has already made the country less democratic and openly vows to continue this process.

A new strategy against ISIL

Photo: Reuters

by Haluk Özdalga - In the face of brutal massacres and the territorial gains of the Islamic State of Syria and the Levant (ISIL), US President Barack Obama recently outlined a “comprehensive strategy.” Under his plan, in brief, the Iraqi Army, Kurdish peshmerga and the moderate opposition militias in Syria, all operating on land, will finish off ISIL with the help of American airpower. This proposed military solution is based on an incomplete perception of the jihadist Salafis as being merely a fanatical mob of rebels.

Even in pure military terms, this strategy is insufficient. The present unprofessional Iraqi army, created after the Saddam-era one was disbanded by the US, is little more than an employment agency, as we saw through the repeated debacles it has suffered from ISIL forces since the end of 2013. Transforming the new Iraqi Army into an effective combat force in just a handful of months is a very tough task. As for the Kurds, they probably won't want to fight outside their own territory, for if they spread their forces out they could lose what they have now. In Syria, it is an illusion to believe that there may be a moderate opposition capable of defeating both Bashar al-Assad's army and the jihadist Salafis.

Fethullah Gulen condemns ISIL atrocities in ads in leading newspapers

Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gulen, who resides in Pennsylvania, placed ads in leading US newspapers on Wednesday to condemn the atrocities of the terrorist Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).

In the ads, which appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, the Chicago Tribune and the Los Angeles Times, Gülen said the actions of ISIL -- referred to in the ad as ISIS, another name it goes by -- are a “disgrace to the faith they proclaim and crimes against humanity.”

How was Obama's red line crossed?

Photo: Reuters

by Aydoğan Vatandaş - Allegations made by America's most highly regarded investigative reporter, Seymour Hersh, that Turkey was behind the sarin gas attack that took place last year in Syria never found much voice in the American mainstream media.

In fact, the US administration even went so far as to openly reject the allegation. The fact, however, that such an allegation was rejected by the administration does not mean that it is not a threat to both the Obama administration and to Turkey.

In fact, Hersh has been known throughout his career to have made many interesting allegations, quite of few of which were refuted at first but then later turned out to be true. One thing is certain: Over time, Hersh has become a trusted name for many deep sources within the state that wish to see certain truths illuminated.

Turks mobilize to join solidarity campaign for Bank Asya

The government-led assault to sink Turkey's largest Islamic lender, Bank Asya, due to its affiliations with the Hizmet movement, has stirred a public movement, with thousands of people rushing to deposit money with the bank to aid its struggle for survival.

Mobilized by waves of social media messages, such as those under the Twitter hashtag #MilletBankAsyayaSahipÇıkıyor (NationProtectsBankAsya), people are flocking to the bank's branches to deposit their money. Some have sold their jewelry, some have sold their cars, and some have even drawn loans from other banks to deposit them with Bank Asya so that the bank is not short of money, amid an unprecedented government attempt to collapse a private bank out of animosity towards a civil society organization.

Is Islam more violent than any other faith?

After the brutal atrocities of the "Islamic State" (IS), formerly known as the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (al-Dawla al-Islamiya fi al-Iraq wa al-Sham), Don Lemon, CNN's well-known anchorman, assembled a discussion last week addressing the question “Is Islam more violent than any other faith?”

New indictment accuses Gezi protestors of coup attempt

 

A new indictment arising from the anti-government protests of last summer -- commonly known as the Gezi Park protests -- accuses 35 protestors, including leaders of a football fan club, of working to overthrow the government.

The indictment seeks aggravated life sentences for the protestors.  It also accuses the protestors of “being members of an armed group,” “resisting public officials,” “staging demonstrations in violation of the law” and “possessing unlicensed weapons.”

Erdoğan verbally attacks top state figures for critical comments

Photo Credit: Today's Zaman

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has targeted the Chief of General Staff, Gen. Necdet Özel, President of the Constitutional Court Haşim Kılıç and the head of the Supreme Court of Appeals, Ali Alkan, criticizing them for their comments expressing concerns about the government's recent policies on domestic issues, a media report has said.

According to the Hürriyet daily, on Thursday, while en route to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) summit being held on Sept. 4 and 5, Erdoğan responded to questions from several journalists who had been invited to accompany him during his flight, excoriating the three figures for their critical attitudes.
Erdoğan reportedly first targeted Özel, who previously said that the military was not given any solid evidence regarding allegations that the military has been infiltrated by the “parallel state,” a term President Erdoğan uses to refer to alleged members of the faith-based Hizmet movement within the state bureaucracy who he believes aim to topple him, saying: "If there are anonymous letters concerning the acts of the 'parallel structure' then first examine them. If you find any solid evidence on the matter, then you may launch a legal procedure. If you cannot find anything, then you throw it away.”

Turkey's blind spot: al-Qaeda and ISIS

by EMRE USLU - Pro-government figures have been traveling around the world to convince the international community that Turkey did not help the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) or al-Qaeda affiliates in Syria and Iraq.

In September Etyen Mahçupyan, a columnist for the pro-government Akşam daily, Mesut Yeğen a professor at the government-affiliated Sehir University, and Gönul Tol, the founding director of the Center for Turkish Studies at the Middle East Institute (MEI), which is funded by pro-government circles, will talk at the Wilson Center on the following issues.

It was announced that the three will discuss the Kurdish question, domestic political developments and Turkey's foreign policy and its critical role in transforming regional conflicts.

When it comes to discussing Turkey's critical role in these conflicts, I am sure many Americans would want to know whether Turkey helped al-Qaeda-affiliated terror organizations.

A typical answer that pro-government circles give to this question is that Turkey has never helped al-Qaeda-affiliated organizations during the war in Syria.

Does new Turkey fit in new NATO?

 

By Joost Lagendijk - Russian President Vladimir Putin and Islamic State (IS) leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi have involuntarily thrown a lifeline to NATO.

Since the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Western defense organization has been struggling with its raison d'être. Whether or not one agrees with the alleged scale of the Soviet threat during the Cold War, it was clear to everybody that NATO was there to protect the territorial integrity of its member states. Because in the last two decades nobody expected the Russians to attack any of its western neighbors, NATO was forced to reform the armed forces under its command and focus increasingly on sending troops to other parts of the world where NATO presumably had an interest in restoring or keeping the peace (Balkans, Afghanistan).

These days, NATO is having one of its regular summits in Wales. Until a few months ago, there was a lot of speculation and discussion in security circles about new, effective ways to prevent the alliance from sinking into oblivion, at least in public perception. Russia's annexation of Crimea and its aggressive policies in eastern Ukraine plus the daily horror-show by the IS in Iraq and Syria have, however, drastically changed NATO's agenda.

Davutoğlu says ISIL is driven by anger, avoids calling it terrorist

Photo: Reuters

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu has continued Ankara's tradition of avoiding to call the Islamic State as a terrorist organization, says militants of the group are driven largely by anger.

"The structure called ISIL, in its core, could be viewed as a terrorized, radical group, but people joined there ... and there are significant numbers of Turkmens, Sunni Arabs, Kurds... we should know it like this. Previous discontent, anger, discrimination and insults gave birth to a wide reaction in a big front," Davutoğlu told NTV news channel on Thursday.

Erdoğan gov't transforms Turkey into land of oppression, bans

Credit: Today's Zaman

An upward trend of democratic achievements and efforts to make Turkey a more civilized and democratic country have been reversed recently -- particularly after the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) grew more authoritarian and intolerant toward criticism starting from the Gezi Park protests of last summer.

Since then, Turkey has turned inward and transformed into an anti-democratic regime.

The blame largely rests on Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his AK Party government. For many, Turkey is now a country where criticism is not tolerated; social media platforms such as YouTube and Twitter are blocked very easily; people are killed for participating in anti-government street protests; and journalists are fired for speaking against the government.

Erdoğan uses 'fake' license plate to avoid election ban, daily says

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan allegedly placed another car's license plate on his official car in order to be able to continue using his car during the presidential election campaign and avoid an election ban that prohibits public officials from making use of public resources during an election campaign, a Turkish daily claimed on Friday.