International Turkey's Lonely Road to Isolation: The World Looks on as Erdogan Jockeys for a Third Decade in Power

[KOQ24]

That is odd, I wonder why that is.

Maybe they get defensive and vote for him because of Western criticism while the Turks living in Turkey are more aware of the domestic reasons he might be unpopular?

Most Turks living in Europe came from Anatolia, which is Turkey's most ass-backwards Region.

 

[Arkain2K]

Ridiculous Fact:

Turks living abroad are voting in higher numbers in favor of Erdogan than actual Turks.
Over 60% of german Turks voted for the wannabe Sultan at the last Election.

No wonder why he's so eager to hold political rallies in other countries.

Subjecting their own people to a dictator while they're enjoying European values abroad. That's just sadistic.

 

[ShinkanPo]

No wonder why he's so eager to hold political rallies in other countries.

Subjecting their own people to a dictator while they're enjoying European values abroad. That's just sadistic.

Same thing with Duterte he got tons of votes from Filipino expats..

 

[KOQ24]

Best weapon vs. Turkish Islamofascists

 

[uppercutbus]

cop on left looks like he's about to throwdown a serious clubbing on that guys bald head. good.

 

[Arkain2K]

Turkey suspends 'high-level diplomatic relations' with Dutch
By Elizabeth Roberts
March 13, 2017

Turkey will not allow the Dutch ambassador to Ankara to return to Turkey and has suspended "high-level diplomatic relations" between the two countries, deputy Turkish Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus announced in Ankara on Monday as a disagreement between the two countries escalated.

Turkey's action came after the Netherlands' refusal to allow Turkey's foreign minister to visit for a political rally over the weekend.

That minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, is demanding answers from the Dutch government over why they blocked him.

"Why this time am I a terrorist? Are the Turks living in this country terrorists?" Cavusoglu asked in an interview Monday with CNN's "Connect the World."

The decision to refuse him permission to fly to Rotterdam to address the rally over the weekend was followed by a refusal by the Dutch to let the Turkish family affairs minister, Fatma Betul Sayan Kayafrom, enter the Turkish consulate in the city.

She was escorted out of the country.

Violent clashes in Rotterdam followed the decision to halt the two ministers from addressing the rallies.

A Dutch riot police officer tries to get his dog to let go of a man during a demonstration at the Turkish consulate in Rotterdam Sunday.​

After the foreign minister's visit to Rotterdam was blocked, Erdogan reacted angrily, comparing the Dutch government to Nazis.

In response, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said Erdogan's remarks were inflammatory and demanded an apology.

The Netherlands lost more than 200,000 of its citizens when it was occupied by Nazi Germany in World War II.

Appearing to defend Erdogan's inflammatory remarks about Nazis, Cavusoglu said: "Such attitudes, such policies and the violations of the European standards and the values and the Vienna conventions never happened since World War II. It didn't happen even during the World War II and it didn't happen maybe even during the Nazi (era) ... so that is why we are making the comparison."

http://www.cnn.com/2017/03/13/europe/turkey-demands-apology/

 

[Arkain2K]

‘You Are the Future of Europe,’ Erdogan Tells Turks
By RUSSELL GOLDMAN
MARCH 17, 2017


An apartment building decorated with Turkish flags in Amsterdam.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan urged Turks living in Europe to have more children to counter the West’s “injustices.”​

Calling Turks the “future of Europe,” Turkey’s president on Friday implored his compatriots living on the Continent to have multiple children as an act of revenge against the West’s “injustices.”

“Go live in better neighborhoods. Drive the best cars. Live in the best houses,” President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said at a rally on Friday in the city of Eskisehir, while campaigning for a referendum that would solidify his power. “Make not three, but five children. Because you are the future of Europe. That will be the best response to the injustices against you.”

The remarks come at a time of increasingly fraught diplomatic relations between Europe and Turkey in the wake of the refugee crisis, the concurrent rise of Islamic terrorism and right-wing nationalism in Europe, and a crackdown on civil liberties in Turkey.

Turkish nationals have lived in Europe for decades and have often been the focus of anti-immigrant sentiment. Mr. Erdogan has found that addressing overseas Turks is a convenient way to stir his own citizens’ nationalism and attack a Europe that has become increasingly hostile to Turkey as his government becomes ever more authoritarian.

Last weekend, Mr. Erdogan accused the Netherlands of Nazism after Dutch officials stopped the Turkish foreign minister from landing there for a pro-Erdogan political rally on Saturday, and then escorted the Turkish family minister out of the country early on Sunday, citing risks to public order and security.

“When those incidents began, I said those are fascistic measures,” Mr. Erdogan said in a speech on Sunday. “I said Nazism had risen from the dead. And then I added: I thought Nazism was over, but I was wrong.”

Those comments came just before the Dutch national elections, in which voters rejected the anti-Islamic platform of the politician Geert Wilders but increased his party’s seats in Parliament.

On Friday, around the time Mr. Erdogan was speaking in Eskisehir, Mr. Wilders wrote on Twitter: “The fight against Islamization and the EU will be tougher, stronger and far more effective now, being the second strongest political power!” He also posted an image that included the text, “#stopislam”.

Mr. Erdogan is not the first authoritarian leader of a Muslim country to suggest birthrates could alter the demographics of the West. Already, Muslims in Europe are younger than other Europeans and the number of Muslims on the Continent has been increasing steadily, according to the Pew Research Center.

“In recent decades, the Muslim share of the population throughout Europe grew about 1 percentage point a decade, from 4 percent in 1990 to 6 percent in 2010,” according to Pew. “This pattern is expected to continue through 2030, when Muslims are projected to make up 8 percent of Europe’s population.”

https://mobile.nytimes.com/2017/03/...an-turkey-future-of-europe.html?_r=0&referer=

 

[Islam Imamate]

Calling Turks the “future of Europe,” Turkey’s president on Friday implored his compatriots living on the Continent to have multiple children as an act of revenge against the West’s “injustices.”

“Go live in better neighborhoods. Drive the best cars. Live in the best houses,” President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said at a rally on Friday in the city of Eskisehir, while campaigning for a referendum that would solidify his power. “Make not three, but five children. Because you are the future of Europe. That will be the best response to the injustices against you.”

Kind of inspirational if you ask me, don't see what's wrong with that. I wonder why only the part about the kids is emphasized though...

 

[Arkain2K]

Bulgaria Taking Steps to Prevent Election Meddling by Turkey
By Tsvetelia Tsolova | March 17, 2017

Bulgaria's caretaker prime minister said on Friday he was taking steps to prevent any attempts by Turkey to influence an election next week in favor of a political party that represents Bulgarian Turks, the country's largest ethnic minority.

The Balkan country's national security agency later said it had expelled a Turkish citizen and banned two others from entering the country over what it described as activities against Bulgaria's sovereignty and national unity. It did not give details.

Last week, the government summoned Turkey's envoy to Sofia after reports that a Turkish minister had campaigned for the DOST party in Istanbul, where many Bulgarian citizens live. Late on Thursday, it also recalled its own ambassador to Turkey for consultations.

"It is true that there is a certain tension linked with one of the political parties, which is receiving support from the Turkish state, but we are taking measures that this does not continue," caretaker premier Ognyan Gerdzhikov told reporters.

Bulgarians will vote in a snap parliamentary election on March 26.

Seeking to downplay the tensions with Bulgaria's southern neighbor, Gerdzhikov said Turkey had tried to influence other Bulgarian elections since the fall of communism 26 years ago, and "now, there is nothing that is a way different".

More than 400,000 Bulgarian nationals live in Turkey, most of them Bulgarian Turks descended from Ottoman-era Turkish settlers in the Balkans. Bulgarian Turks are estimated to be more than half a million of Bulgaria's 7.2 million population.

Recalling an ambassador for consultations is a way of protesting that stops short of suspending diplomatic relations.

The move by Bulgaria's interim government, which has limited powers, follows a row between Ankara and The Hague in the run-up to this week's Dutch election which saw Turkish ministers banned from holding rallies in the Netherlands.

Other European Union countries including Germany have also angered President Tayyip Erdogan by barring campaigning among Turkish expatriates to drum up support for a referendum in April that would increase Erdogan's powers.

"The interim government is concerned that Turkey may create tensions that go beyond the normal diplomatic process, as it happened in the Netherlands," said Vessela Tcherneva, Sofia-based analyst with the European Council on Foreign Relations.

"The problem is that if Turkey presses on, the Bulgarian nationalists may try to block the border to prevent Bulgarian citizens from Turkey crossing into the country to cast their ballots, and that will create a scandal."

The spat with Turkey was credited with giving center-right Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte a last-minute boost in the polls after an election campaign in which immigration and integration were key issues.

Opinion polls suggest the nationalist coalition United Patriots will come third in a tight race for the Bulgarian parliament and play a key role in forming the next government. Support for the party has grown as a result of Europe's migrant crisis.

DOST, which split from the traditional ethnic Turkish MRF party last year, is not expected to pass the minimum threshold to win seats.

EU member Bulgaria seeks to maintain good relations with Turkey, which it shares a 260 km border with and relies on to stem a possible increase in migrant inflows. Amid the rise in tensions with EU countries, Turkey's foreign minister said this week that Ankara may cancel a deal with bloc over migrants.

https://www.usnews.com/news/world/a...-steps-to-prevent-election-meddling-by-turkey

 

[Arkain2K]

I wonder why only the part about the kids is emphasized though...

You have to take account on how small some of these developed European countries are, their dropping birth rates, and the Turks' general unwillingness to integrate and assimilate where ever they migrate to in the West.

There are more than 3,000,000 Turks living in Germany alone, and they certainly don't consider themselves German, despite holding dual citizenships.

In a massive rally held by Germans of Turkish descend in support of Erdogan last summer in Cologne, there were many more Turkish flags than German flags, the Turkish anthem is played by the organizers before the German one, everybody sang the Turkish national anthem loudly, but hardly anyone in this crowd of 50,000+ people even knows the words to the German national amthem that immediately follows. Most importantly, they're ecstatic about Erdogan cracking down on journalists and dissenters in Turkey.

The German government was so irked by this, they actually calls for people who hold dual citizenship to be loyal to their adopted home first, especially when the guy leading their old home is promoting ass-backward things that directly clashes with German values.

Things like that makes Europeans paranoid about Erdogan's call for population replacement (which is already happening in many places at the city level), especially when they see that ratio-wise, there are more fanatical Erdogan-supporting Turks in their own countries than back in Turkey.

 

[Islam Imamate]

You have to take account on how small some of these developed European countries are, their dropping birth rates, and the Turks' general unwillingness to integrate and assimilate where ever they migrate to in the West.

There are more than 3,000,000 Turks living in Germany alone, and they certainly don't consider themselves German, despite holding dual citizenships.

In a massive rally held Germans of Turks descend in support of Erdogan last summer in Cologne, there were many more Turkish flags than German flags, the Turkish anthem is played by the organizers before the German one, everybody sang the Turkish national anthem loudly, but hardly anyone in this crowd of 50,000+ people even knows the words to the German national amthem that immediately follows. Most importantly, they're ecstatic about Erdogan cracking down on journalists and dissenters in Turkey.

The German government was so irked by this, they actually calls for people who hold dual citizenship to be loyal to their adopted home first, especially when the guy leading their old home is promoting ass-backward things that directly clashes with German values.

Things like that makes Europeans paranoid about Erdogan's call for population replacement (which is already happening in many places at the city level), especially when they see that ratio-wise, there are more fanatical Erdogan-supporting Turks in their countries than back in Turkey.

Definitely a cause for concern. I don't like to use public events like rallies as yard sticks for things like integration just because the kind of Turk who is integrated would, I imagine, be less likely to attend such a rally than one who holds on dearly to his or her Turkish identity.

That said, I can't say I'd be too surprised if a reputable survey found a non-negligible number of Turks living in Germany prioritized their Turkish identity and nationality over their German one.

But my point was perhaps Erdogan's comment was more along the lines of "success is the best revenge" given the references to nice cars and houses and whatnot.

 

[Arkain2K]

Turkey's Erdogan warns Europeans 'will not walk safely on the streets' if diplomatic row continues
By Samuel Osborne | March 22, 2017​

A Turkish tabloid depiction of Angela Merkel​

Europeans across the world will not be able to walk the streets safely if they keep up their current attitude towards Turkey, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has warned.

Turkey has been mired in a diplomatic row with Germany and the Netherlands after they banned Turkish officials from campaigning in support of an April referendum on boosting the Turkish President’s powers.

“If Europe continues this way, no European in any part of the world can walk safely on the streets,” Mr Erdogan told journalists in Ankara.

He added: “We, as Turkey, call on Europe to respect human rights and democracy.”

Turkish government officials are still participating in events for expatriate Turks across Europe, but are not campaigning for the referendum, the Turkish deputy prime minister has said.

Numan Kurtulmus said the row had helped Turks in Europe better understand the constitutional changes proposed in the referendum.

He said the “footsteps of neo-Nazism and extreme racism” were being heard in Europe.

Germany’s new President, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, used his first speech in the role to accuse Mr Erdogan of jeopardising everything Turkey has achieved in recent years.

“The way we look [at Turkey] is characterised by worry, that everything that has been built up over years and decades is collapsing,” Mr Steinmeier said.

“President Erdogan, you are jeopardising everything that you, with others, have built,” he said, adding he would welcome “credible signs” to ease the situation.

Nato member Turkey has repeatedly accused Germany of using Nazi tactics and has caused anger by detaining German-Turkish journalist Deniz Yucel.

“End the unspeakable Nazi comparisons,” Mr Steinmeier added. “Do not cut the ties to those people who want partnership with Turkey. Respect the rule of law and the freedom of media and journalists. And release Deniz Yucel.”

Mr Erdogan has previously branded the Netherlands “Nazi remnants” and accused Germany of “fascist actions”.

He has said his country may review its ties with Europe after the referendum, which he hopes will give him sweeping new powers, and has described Europe as “fascist and cruel”, saying it resembles the pre-Second World War era.

European leaders have made repeated calls for Turkish officials to avoid Nazi comparisons and the head of the Central Council of Jews in Germany accused Mr Erdogan of disrespecting the memory of the victims of the Holocaust.

“The comparisons between today’s Federal Republic of Germany and National Socialism, which we have heard in recent days, are not only insulting and absolutely false – they also relativise the Nazis’ rule of terror,” Josef Schuster said.

“The comparison is monstrous and denigrates the suffering of the victims of the Shoah.”

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said Turkey should stop Nazi comparisons “with no ifs or buts”.

The controversy deepened last week when a Turkish pro-government newspaper depicted Ms Merkel as Adolf Hitler on its front page, branding her “Mrs Hitler”.

The right-wing tabloid accused the German chancellor of attempting to lead a fascist movement against Turkey.

It came days after Germany’s biggest-selling newspaper Bild attacked Mr Erdogan for threatening the stability of Europe through his “lust for power”.

“Bild tells the truth to Erdogan’s face – you are not a democrat! You are hurting your country! You are not welcome here!” the German newspaper said.

Turkish hackers also spread Nazi accusations across high profile Twitter accounts, posting pro-Erdogan messages from accounts including Amnesty International, BBC North America and Forbes.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/w...rning-europeans-not-walk-safely-a7642941.html

 

[Arkain2K]

Will Erdogan be banned from U.K. for threatening Europe?
Turkish president issued warning just before London terror attack

​

Shortly before the attack Wednesday at the Parliament building in London, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan warned Europeans worldwide that they would not be able to “walk safely on the streets” if Europe continued to resist his efforts to build more power.

“If Europe continues this way, no European in any part of the world can walk safely on the streets. We, as Turkey, call on Europe to respect human rights and democracy,” Erdogan said Wednesday at an event for local journalists in Ankara, Reuters reported.

The news wire said Turkey has been in a dispute with Germany and the Netherlands over the barring of appearances by Turkish officials who are campaigning for a referendum that would increase Erdogan’s powers.

In London, an assailant who has yet to be identified ran over pedestrians on Westminster Bridge and stabbed a police officer on the grounds of Parliament. At least four people are dead, including an armed police officer, and 20 have been injured.

British officials have not released the identity of the terrorist.

Last November, Erdogan threatened to allow 3 million refugees into Europe. He previously had warned that he could put refugees “on buses” to Europe.

The U.K. has a list of people it has banned for “hate speech” deemed to be a threat to civil order and security.

In January, the British Parliament debated banning Donald Trump from entering the U.K. shortly before his inauguration as president. A Muslim Labour Party member of Parliament said Trump’s “words are poisonous,” charging they “risk inflaming tension between vulnerable communities.”

In 2009, popular nationally syndicated talk-radio host Michael Savage was banned from entering the U.K. by Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s government, which lumped him together with Muslim jihadists and leaders of racist groups for “seeking to provoke others to serious criminal acts and fostering hatred,” as WND reported.

The British government, however, has never specified what Savage has said that might threaten the nation’s security.

Europe has been trying to cope with a refugee crisis since April 2015 that has coincided with major terrorist attacks in Paris, Brussels and other cities along with civil unrest. European Union member states received more than 1.2 million first-time asylum applications in 2015, more than double that of the previous year, according to Eurostat.

http://www.wnd.com/2017/03/will-erdogan-be-banned-from-u-k-for-threatening-europe/

 

[ShinkanPo]

This is just very dissapointing Erdo could be poking the bear.

 

[Arkain2K]

Turkey referendum: Erdogan camp set to win after most votes counted
16 April 2017

The referendum has divided Turkey - a country facing no shortage of problems​

Turks have backed President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's call for sweeping new presidential powers, partial official results of a referendum indicate.

With about 97% of ballots counted, "Yes" was on about 51.4% and "No" on about 48.6%.

Erdogan supporters say replacing the parliamentary system with an executive presidency would modernise the country.

Opponents have attacked a decision to accept unstamped ballot papers as valid unless proven otherwise.

A "Yes" vote could also see Mr Erdogan remain in office until 2029.

Three people were shot dead near a polling station in the south-eastern province of Diyarbakir, reportedly during a dispute over how they were voting.

About 55 million people were eligible to vote across 167,000 polling stations, and turnout is said to have been high.

Deputy Prime Minister Veysi Kaynak said the "Yes" votes were lower than expected. "But still they are ahead," he added.

How significant are the changes?

They would represent the most sweeping programme of constitutional changes since Turkey became a republic almost a century ago.

Mr Erdogan would be given vastly enhanced powers to appoint cabinet ministers, issue decrees, choose senior judges and dissolve parliament.

The new system would scrap the role of prime minister and concentrate power in the hands of the president, placing all state bureaucracy under his control.

What is the case for 'Yes'?

There is just a simple "Yes" or "No" choice on the ballot​

Mr Erdogan says the changes are needed to address Turkey's security challenges nine months after an attempted coup, and to avoid the fragile coalition governments of the past.

"This public vote is [about] a new governing system in Turkey, a choice about change and transition," he said after casting his vote in Istanbul.

The new system, he argues, will resemble those in France and the US and will bring calm in a time of turmoil marked by a Kurdish insurgency, Islamist militancy and conflict in neighbouring Syria, which has led to a huge refugee influx.

Mr Erdogan voted in Istanbul accompanied by his wife and two grandchildren​

The referendum, the BBC's Mark Lowen reports, is effectively one on Mr Erdogan and the Turkey he has moulded in his image: fiercely nationalist and conservative.

And what about for 'No'?

Critics of the proposed changes fear the move would make the president's position too powerful, arguing that it would amount to one-man rule, without the checks and balances of other presidential systems.

Turkish academic Oget Oktem Tanor, 82, voices her fears for her country
They say his ability to retain ties to a political party - Mr Erdogan could resume leadership of the AK Party (AKP) he co-founded - would end any chance of impartiality.​

Kemal Kilicdaroglu, leader of the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), told a rally in Ankara a "Yes" vote would endanger the country.

"We will put 80 million people... on a bus with no brakes," he said.

"No" supporters have complained of intimidation during the referendum campaign and that Turkey's highly regulated media has given them little coverage.

A country of two halves
A divisive campaign has ended and Turkey now faces the biggest political choice in its modern history.

I watched as queues of voters turned up to a polling station in Ankara where the voting process was quick and efficient. After two identity checks, they were handed the ballot paper. Behind the curtain they stamp their chosen side - "Yes" or "No" - determining the future of this crucial and deeply troubled country.

Peering down above the ballot box was a picture of the Republic's founding father, Kemal Ataturk. If the constitutional reform is accepted, President Erdogan could eclipse even his power.

One voter told me a "Yes" would lead Turkey into dictatorship - and that for his grandchildren's future he had voted "No". Another said he had backed "Yes" for a stronger republic and that "the outside world is against Turkey".

Turkey's polarisation runs deep. And whichever way this goes, one half of the country will feel defeated.


What's the wider context?
Many Turks already fear growing authoritarianism in their country, where tens of thousands of people have been arrested, and at least 100,000 sacked or suspended from their jobs, since a coup attempt last July.

The campaign unfolded under a state of emergency imposed in the wake of the failed putsch.

Mr Erdogan assumed the presidency, meant to be a largely ceremonial position, in 2014 after more than a decade as prime minister.

This once stable corner of the region has in recent years been convulsed by terror attacks and millions of refugees, mostly from Syria, have arrived.

At the same time, the middle class has ballooned and infrastructure has been modernised. Under Mr Erdogan, religious Turks have been empowered.

Relations with the EU, meanwhile, have deteriorated. Mr Erdogan sparred bitterly with European governments who banned rallies by his ministers in their countries during the referendum campaign. He called the bans "Nazi acts".

In one of his final rallies, he said a strong "Yes" vote would "be a lesson to the West".

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-39612562

 

[Arkain2K]

 

[Arkain2K]

 

[Arkain2K]

 

[Arkain2K]

 

[Arkain2K]