Turkey's Erdogan condemns Israel over Gaza

07.18.14 

By SUZAN FRASER

Associated Press

Source:Miami Herald

 ANKARA, Turkey -- Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan intensified his fiery rhetoric against Israel over its ground invasion of Gaza on Friday, accusing the country of state terrorism and genocide and saying the two countries will not mend ties on his watch. 

Earlier, hundreds of protesters pelted the top Israeli diplomat's residence in Ankara with stones, and the private Dogan news agency said police in Istanbul used tear gas and water cannon to disperse protesters trying to enter the Israeli Consulate grounds. Turkish legislators leaving a late-night debate in parliament also protested against Israel.

Turkey intensified security around Israeli missions but the demonstrations prompted Israel to call home the families of Israeli diplomats and to keep staff in the embassy and consulate to a minimum.
Tzachi Moshe, a spokesman for Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, said Israel "sharply protested the flagrant violation of diplomatic rules."

Erdogan told reporters after Muslim Friday prayers: "Israel threatens world peace. Israel threatens peace in the Middle East. Therefore, I personally, can never contemplate anything positive with Israel as long as I remain on duty."

"Israel is at the moment waging terrorism; Israel at the moment is carrying out genocide," he said.
Turkey and Israel had been working toward improving ties that were soured after Israeli commandos stormed a pro-Palestinian aid ship in 2010, killing eight Turks and one Turkish-American. Turkey expelled the Israeli ambassador and recalled its own top envoy following the incident.

Israel apologized to Turkey for the deaths and agreed to pay compensation under a U.S.-brokered arrangement in 2013. Turkish officials said in March the sides were close to reaching a compensation deal that would lead to a restoration of ties.

U.S. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the department believes Erdogan's statements are "offensive and wrong."

"And, of course, this kind of provocative rhetoric is unhelpful and distracts from urgent efforts to bring about a cease-fire," she said.

Tia Goldenberg in Jerusalem and Matthew Lee in Washington contributed.

 

Link:  http://www.miamiherald.com/2014/07/18/4242388/turkeys-erdogan-condemns-israel.html.

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By SUZAN FRASER

Associated Press

By SUZAN FRASER

Associated Press

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Erdogan criticises Gul for congratulating Al-Sisi: We do not congratulate coups

27 June 2014
Source: Middle East Monitor

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has criticised his country's president, Abdullah Gul, in front of EU ambassadors in Turkey.

The criticism came during a meeting between Erdogan and EU ambassadors over dinner, when Erdogan criticised Gul's congratulations for Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi, the leader of the recent coup in Egypt, upon his assumption of the post of the presidency. Jordan' s As-Sabeel newspaper quoted Erdogan as saying: "I must be honest, this congratulations to me holds no meaning, because it is not possible to offer congratulations to a coup leader."

Erdogan said that Egypt still plays a pivotal role in the future of the Middle East, expressing his wishes for Egypt and its people to enjoy actual democracy and stressing that his government's attitude towards Egypt stems from this point.

He added that Egypt's legitimate president, Mohamad Morsi, who came to power after winning a popular election with 54 per cent of the vote, was deliberately isolated to allow the army to bring about a military coup against a democratically elected government.

Erdogan stressed that the Turkish position has not changed on the issue of Egypt, and he criticised those countries that are avoiding calling what happened in Egypt a coup and accepting what he called the recent non-transparent sham of an election.

Link:  www.middleeastmonitor.com/news/europe/12400-erdogan-criticises-gul-for-congratulating-al-sisi-we-do-not-congratulate-coups.

President Rouhani's Turkey visit a turning point in relations between D-8’s two important members

9 June 2014
Source: developing 8.org

Iranian President Hasan Rouhani, who pays a historic visit to Turkey with an Iranian delegation composed of one vice president, seven ministers and a number of businessmen, described partnership between Turkey and Iran as 'strategic' and 'strong' with future plans to deepen relations in every field.

Iranian President Hasan Rouhani arrived in Ankara early June 9 for crucial talks on a number of key issues in his first official trip to Turkey since he took over the presidency last year.

Rouhani was welcomed by Turkish President Abdullah Gül at an official ceremony. The two presidents announced they have decided to improve bilateral relations at the joint press conference following their meeting. “[Rouhani] is the first Iranian president who has paid an official visit to Turkey in the last 18 years. This is why the visit is historic,” Gül said, describing Iran as “an old, valuable friend.”

“The visit carries our bilateral relations forward in every area. We expressed our common will during the meeting,” Gül said, stressing that several deals from culture to economy have been agreed upon. “Our relations are not just about two countries. They are important for the whole region and the world,” Gül said.

Rouhani emphasized the joint target of increasing bilateral trade from $15 billion to $30 billion. “Instability [in the region] is not in the favour of anyone in the world,” Rouhani said, adding that integrating Turkish railroads with Iranian ones in the border town of Bazergan was one of the deals agreed upon during the June 9 meeting.

The two presidents also said they will meet businessmen from both countries on June 10 to encourage them to invest in the respective countries.

Iran and Turkey have signed 10 accords of cooperation in a meeting both presidents attended. The agreements reportedly were intended to ‘deepen bilateral relations between Tehran and Ankara’ more than ever. Rouhani and Gül attended the joint meeting to sign the agreements. The agreements addressed cooperation in cultural and scientific exchange programs, tourism, cultural heritage, post, standard institutes, and two customs agreements.

Rouhani’s Meeting with PM Erdogan

Turkey will bolster its trade ties with neighbouring Iran by speeding up the implementation process of a preferential trade agreement signed in January. We had set a goal during my visit to Iran in January: to raise the trade between the two countries to $30 billion by 2015," Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan told a joint press conference with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on 9 June.

Erdogan said the trade between Turkey and Iran stood at $22 billion in 2012 before dipping to $14.5 billion in the following year due to economic sanctions imposed on Tehran. "As part of our endeavour to fix this, we have reaffirmed the necessity of forming a High Council of Strategic Cooperation and establishing a preferential trade zone between the two countries," he said. Trade volume between Turkey and Iran stood at $3.2 billion in the first quarter, according to Turkey's official statistics office.

For his part, Iranian President Rouhani said Erdogan and himself exchanged views on bilateral ties and regional developments. Calling on Turkish businessmen to invest in Iran's railways and ports, he said Iran and Turkey reached agreements to boost cooperation in energy, transportation, tourism and banking. Also discussed in the meeting were international and regional issues as well as cooperation between the two states in international organizations such as the U.N., Organization of the Islamic Cooperation and especially the D-8. 

Describing Turkey as one of the most important countries in the region, Rouhani said his administration’s foreign policy priority was to increase relations with neighbouring countries. Recalling his meeting with Erdogan in Tehran in January, Rouhani said important agreements on transportation, customs, tourism, culture, security and political relations would be signed during the talks. 

The two officials reiterated their objectives to increase the trade volume to $30 billion by the end of 2015. Erdogan said Turkey is planning to ratify the agreement of preferential trade with Iran until the end of this month so that they could reach their objective.

In Turkey visit, Rouhani heads a delegation of his cabinet members including ministers of foreign affairs, roads and city planning, oil, information technology, interior, intelligence, culture and Islamic guidance, and economic affairs.

Link:http://developing8.org/Latestnews.aspx?NewsTitle=President%20Rouhani%27s%20Turkey%20visit%20a%20turning%20point%20in%20relations%20between%20D-8%E2%80%99s%20two%20important%20members.

Turkey's Erdogan vows to 'liquidate' treachery at home and abroad

April 8, 2014 
By Jonny Hogg and Gulsen Solaker
Source: Yahoo News

ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday local elections had given him a mandate to "liquidate" the enemies he sees as contriving a corruption scandal and would go after their international activities and sources of funding.

In his first parliamentary speech since his ruling AK Party dominated March 30 municipal polls, Erdogan said "traitors" responsible for a stream of graft allegations and the illegal tapping of thousands of phones would be brought to account.

Erdogan accuses Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen, a former ally now based in the United States, of orchestrating the graft scandal to undermine him. Gulen's Hizmet network claims millions of followers and holds influence in the police and judiciary.

Erdogan has accused the movement of running a "parallel state", spying on thousands of government officials over years and leaking manipulated recordings in a bid to unseat him ahead of last month's elections.

"March 30 is the day when the page was turned on tutelage, when the monuments of hubris were felled, and the privileges (of an elite) were lost forever," Erdogan said.

"The nation gave us a mandate for the liquidation of the parallel state. We will not have the slightest hesitation. We shall never forget the betrayal," he said.

He said the government would follow up on what he called the network's international links and investigate all "illegally collected monies and donations".

The movement, also known as Cemaat (JEH-maat), "The Community", has for decades been a spearhead of Turkish cultural influence and commerce overseas, especially in the assertive moves into Africa, the Middle East and Asia in the years after the AK Party took power in 2002.

Cemaat says the Turkish government is already putting pressure on governments to close down its global network of schools which have been a major source of influence and revenue. Government officials say Turkish embassies have stopped backing schools and business linked to Gulen.

Hizmet denies using followers in the police and judiciary to launch a graft inquiry targeting Erdogan family members, ministers and businessmen, or any involvement in the illicit recording of top officials.

Erdogan's Islamist-rooted AK Party relied on Hizmet to break the grip on politics of the army, which carried out three coups between 1960 and 1980 and forced an Islamist-led government from power in 1997. But he now casts the fight with Hizmet as a continuation of that struggle against tutelage in any form, the final chapter in a battle for democracy and justice.

"They will answer before the courts. But not in front of their parallel courts; they will answer before the court of the nation," Erdogan said.

PRESIDENTIAL AMBITION

Erdogan has made little secret of his ambition to take up a powerful presidency, but such is his determination to finish the battle with Gulen that it remains unclear whether he will run in the first direct elections for the post in August.

He is barred by AK Party rules from standing for a fourth term as prime minister, currently a more powerful role than the largely ceremonial presidency; but the party could amend those rules with relative ease if it feels his leadership is needed to see out the feud with Gulen, senior officials have said.

Erdogan would seek to shape the presidency as a more powerful role than that played by incumbent Abdullah Gul. Erdogan was quoted on Tuesday as saying the direct election of the next president would automatically bestow the role with greater powers.

"The responsibilities will be different after these elections. It will not be a president of protocol, but one that sweats, runs around, works hard," he was quoted as saying by the pro-government Sabah newspaper.

Until now, Turkey's parliament has elected the head of state. Gul is a close Erdogan ally and co-founder of the AK Party, tipped as a possible prime minister if Erdogan were to run for what he would shape as the top job.

Main Turk opposition loses bid for election recount in Ankara

April 4, 2014
Source: Yahoo News

ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkey's main opposition CHP party has lost a bid to force a recount of the results of Sunday's local election in the capital Ankara, a party source said on Friday.

Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan's Islamist-rooted AK Party largely dominated Turkey's electoral map in the nationwide communal polls, keeping control of the main cities including Istanbul and Ankara.

The source said the CHP would appeal the decision against a recount taken by the Ankara election board.

But a reversal of the Ankara result would have been little more than a consolation prize for the opposition, who failed to dent Erdogan's support nationally in a vote that became a referendum on his rule as he battles allegations of corruption.

Erdogan dismisses the allegations as politically motivated. No official results have been announced, but informal tallies from Turkish news channels put the AK Party at 45 percent nationwide, compared to 28 percent for the CHP.

In Ankara, the AK Party's candidate and incumbent Mayor Melih Gokcek secured 44.6 percent of the votes, narrowly beating CHP nominee Mansur Yavas on 43.8 percent, according to provisional electoral board results.

Since Monday, hundreds of volunteers, mostly students, have been comparing and recounting votes for CHP after widespread allegations of irregularities spread on social media.

(Reporting by Gulsen Solaker; Writing by Nick Tattersall; Editing by Dasha Afanasieva/Mark Heinrich)

Turkey PM has boost in apparent local election win

March 31.2014
Source: mail.com

ISTANBUL (AP) — Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday hailed what appeared to be a decisive victory for his party in local elections, providing a boost that could help him emerge from a spate of recent troubles.

Erdogan was not on the ballot in the countrywide polls, but he campaigned as if he were. Hours after the polls closed, Turkish newswires suggested that his party was significantly outstripping its results of about 39 percent in the last local elections in 2009 and roundly beating the main opposition party.

With nearly 70 percent of the votes counted, Erdogan's party was above 46 percent of the votes while the main opposition CHP was at just over 30 percent, according to state-run TRT television. "I thank my Lord for granting such a victory, such a meaningful result," Erdogan said at a victory rally in Ankara, speaking to a crowd of supporters who had been chanting, "Turkey is proud of you!"

Incumbent candidates from Erdogan's Justice and Development Party, better known by its Turkish acronym AKP, also were leading in high-profile races in Istanbul and Ankara. Voter turnout appeared to be heavy, with people forming long queues at polling stations.

The strong results were a big boost for the prime minister following a tumultuous corruption scandal. In recent days, Erdogan has also provoked outrage at home and abroad by blocking access to Twitter and YouTube.

Fadi Hakura, a Turkey analyst at London-based independent policy institute Chatham House, said neither corruption issues nor media freedoms determined the elections. "Overall, the people are happy with the government's economic performance," he said.

"His victory speech was uncompromising, tough and polarizing," the analyst added. "It is an indication that he will intensify his current robust style of leadership." The result could embolden Erdogan to run for president in an election scheduled for August. Prior to Sunday's showing, he had appeared to be leaning against that route, which has risks. In a direct vote, he would have to win 50 percent in a country that is deeply polarized over his rule.

Erdogan and his party have dominated Turkish politics over the past decade in a period of great prosperity. The party came to power backed by a pious Muslim base looking for greater standing in a country that had for decades favored a secular elite. But AKP, whose party symbol is a light bulb, has also cultivated an identity of pragmatism and competency.

That image has been damaged by the corruption scandal, with a series of leaked tapes bringing down four ministers with revelations of bribe-taking and cover-ups. One tape allegedly involves Erdogan and family members, but he and his allies have rejected the allegations as a plot orchestrated by followers of U.S.-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, a former Erdogan ally who has split with him.

Following the results, Erdogan promised retribution against Gulen's movement. "We shall enter into their caves," he said. "They will pay and account for their deeds." In the wake of the scandal, Erdogan has shuffled thousands of police officers and tightened control of the judiciary, which had launched investigations. The moves prompted concern that Erdogan was moving toward more authoritarian rule.

But in his victory speech, Erdogan said that democracy in Turkey is strong. "We have the democracy which the West is longing for," he said.

Ahead of vote, Erdogan paints picture of Turkey besieged by enemies

19 hours ago
By Ralph Boulton
Source: Yahoo News

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - To the adulation of the cheering crowds at his election rallies, Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan paints a picture of an "evil alliance" plotting to topple him and break Turkey. In another place, on another day, his chief rival portrays him as a rogue doomed to jail or exile.

Sunday's local polls have taken on a significance far beyond what anyone could have dreamt before a graft scandal broke around Erdogan with police raids in December. Emerging from the harsh rhetoric of what can now scarcely pass as debate is a vision of two Turkeys that are scarcely compatible.

Elections will be held across Turkey, a Muslim NATO state of huge significance to Europe and the United States because of its place on the edge of a volatile Middle East; but Erdogan's fate is in essence a tale of two cities, the capital Ankara and the city seen as the treasure chest of Turkish politics, Istanbul.

"The polls this weekend are truly critical," a senior government official told Reuters.

"The results in Ankara and Istanbul will be serious indications of the future of the government as well as the decisions concerning presidential elections and early general elections," said the official, who declined to be named.

"Everyone knows that in this election it is not the parties that are being voted on, but Erdogan and his rivals."

As an ex-mayor of Istanbul himself, Erdogan is all too aware of this and has stepped up his campaign with evening rallies, his voice becoming hoarser as the days go by.

Sunday will be the first electoral test since a harsh crackdown on summer anti-government protests and a graft scandal fed by anonymous Internet postings of hacked Erdogan telephone calls. The prime minister accuses the secretive Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen, who lives in the United States, of manipulating recordings to give the impression of corrupt acts.

 "If AK loses Istanbul, he is in dire straits," said Today's Zaman newspaper commentator Yavuz Baydar, remarking on what he sees as silent concern about Erdogan among some in the party since the summer riots. "If he loses Istanbul, a lot of people will begin to stick their heads up out of the trenches."

FEAR OF RETURN TO CHAOS

Erdogan created the AK Party in 2001, a virtual 'emergency coalition' of conservative religious Muslims, nationalists and reforming center-right elements. At polls a year later, it dealt a crushing blow to traditional secular parties mired in graft and economic failures from which they have yet to recover.

He remains the figure who holds AK together. Even opponents who wish him gone fear his departure could herald the disintegration not only of AK but also of the broader party political landscape, with a return to the chaotic coalitions and economic crises of the 1990s.

In the absence of reliable polls, the outcome in the European Union candidate state is uncertain.

Turkish stocks and the lira, hit by the graft scandal and the related power struggle with Gulen, rose on Wednesday on what traders saw as likely success for Erdogan's party, with the promise of a more settled political climate.

A vote significantly above the 40 percent that AK won in the last local elections in 2009 would probably secure Istanbul and Ankara, and could encourage Erdogan to run for the first directly-elected presidency in August.

That, however, would have its risks.

 AK won almost 50 percent of the vote in the 2011 general election, but there are doubts whether he could match that to win outright in a first round of presidential polls. If opposition forces then united behind a single candidate in the runoff, Erdogan could lose.

Erdogan must also reckon with the unpredictable effects of further Internet postings. There is no firm evidence so far that the tapes have had any substantial effect on his popularity and supporters argue that, with their murky provenance and the implications for state security of hacking confidential state communications, they could even turn people against Gulen and rally them behind Erdogan.

If AK's support slips on Sunday, he might take the cautious path of changing party rules to allow him to run for a fourth term as prime minister in next year's parliamentary election.

The opposition CHP, having suffered three successive defeats to Erdogan, believes Turkey will turn against him over the graft scandal and his moves to purge the police force, strengthen the internal intelligence agency loyal to him and ban Twitter to impede the release of any more tapes.

A KIND OF COUP?

CHP head Kemal Kilicdaroglu said Erdogan was leading Turkey into another period of dictatorship.

"He will do or say anything because he is fighting for his life, because he knows full well what will happen if he loses power," he told Reuters at a rally. "He knows that he will be jailed. He would most likely have to flee the country."

Erdogan has criss-crossed Turkey excoriating his former ally Gulen as the engineer of a stream of anonymous Internet postings of tapped calls implicating him and his family in graft. Erdogan says the tapes were manipulated to give a false impression.

At a rally in Istanbul, he described Gulen's Hizmet network, which played a key role in Erdogan's early reforms, notable for pressing the army out of politics, as a terrorist organisation locked in an "alliance of evil" with the main opposition parties.

While the CHP, the nationalist MHP and the Kurdish BDP party hold their final rallies, none quite as colourful and dramatic as Erdogan's, Hizmet will not be visible on any podium, or anywhere else, for that matter.

Through its schools and business activities, Hizmet has over decades built up a covert network in most areas of state. Gulen compares it with a fully democratic pressure group, denies involvement in the police graft investigation and says he has no intention of forming a political party.

Polls suggest in any case it would gain few votes.

Link:  http://news.yahoo.com/ahead-vote-erdogan-paints-picture-turkey-besieged-enemies-123010766.html.

Turkish PM denounces pro-Gulen channel's designation of Palestinian resistance as terrorists

16 March 2014
Source: Middle East Monitor

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan denounced a pro-Gulen channel for framing the Palestinian resistance in Gaza as "terrorists".

In a speech before his supporters in the southern Turkish city of Antalia, Erdogan said he was not surprised at the fact that the Gulen group would label Palestinian resistance as terrorism, since they did so before when their media outlets dismissed the Mavi Marmara's Gaza Freedom Flotilla humanitarian activists as terrorists.

"The results of municipal elections of March 30 will dash the hopes of this group," Erdogan said.

Erdogan slammed the recent phone taping attempts as a crime, vowing to prosecute all those involved, hinting at the "parallel entity" which the government accuses of carrying out these operations.

On Saturday, the Gulen-owned STV channel broadcast a news story which read: "The Israeli Air Defense forces bombed 7 terrorist sites in Gaza."

Link: /www.middleeastmonitor.com/news/europe/10326-turkish-pm-denounces-pro-gulen-channels-designation-of-palestinian-resistance-as-terrorists.

Erdogan: I will not give in to any coup attempts

21 February 2014
Source: Middle East Monitor

Turkey will not give in to future coup attempts or pressure, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Thursday.

"We will face any future coup attempts just as we have faced them over the past 12 years and as we faced the recent coup attempt. We will not give in to any conspiracies or pressures," Erdogan said in a speech made before the Confederation of Turkish Labour Unions.
He went on to stress that the political factions are facing the recent attacks collectively "because we stopped the wheel of treason. However, these attacks will not affect us, we have grown used to them since the February 28 [1997] coup, the organisers of which did not commit as much immorality as we are witnessing today."

Link: https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/news/europe/9895-erdogan-i-will-not-give-in-to-any-coup-attempts.

Turkish PM reportedly sued for for libel by former ally

February 4, 2014
Source: Yahoo News

Istanbul (AFP) - Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's ally-turned-rival Fethullah Gulen is suing him in the wake of a deeply damaging corruption scandal, a newspaper close to Gulen's movement reported Tuesday.

Gulen, an Islamic preacher living in self-imposed exile in the United States, is claiming 100,000 lira (32,700 euros, $44,200) in damages from Erdogan for allegedly denigrating and insulting remarks, the Zaman daily said.

Erdogan, 59, Turkey's strongman premier since 2003, has blamed a "parallel" state of Gulen's associates within the judiciary and police for a major graft probe that opened in December implicating members of Erdogan's inner circle and their families.

Erdogan has sacked or reassigned hundreds of police and prosecutors, portraying the allegations of shady dealings as part of a plot to weaken his government ahead of local elections on March 30 and a presidential poll in August.

The purges, coupled with a heavy-handed police crackdown on protests last June, moves to exert more control on the judiciary and mooted Internet legislation have raised deep concern at home and abroad about mainly Muslim Turkey.

Gulen's Hizmet movement does indeed wield considerable influence in the judiciary and police but he has denied being behind the corruption probe.

His organisation issued a statement last month saying the government "seems to be poisoned with power".
The Journalists and Writers Foundation, a group linked to Gulen, listed on Tuesday a string of recent "deeply worrying developments" that risk making Turkey "lose its character as a state governed by the rule of law".
These included limits on the freedom of expression, unlawful wiretaps, "purging" civil servants, pressure on the media, the use of "hate-centred language", accusations of "treason" and efforts to place the judiciary under government control, it said.

EU voices concern over Turkey as graft scandal deepens

January 8, 2014
By Burak Akinci
Source: Yahoo News

Ankara (AFP) - The European Union voiced its concern Wednesday over the political turmoil convulsing Turkey as the government conducted a new mass purge of senior police officers.

In its strongest comments yet on the widening corruption scandal engulfing Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the EU called for Turkish authorities to ensure they acted impartially. 

The turmoil has rocked Erdogan's government to its very core just weeks before crucial local elections in March and has sent Turkish financial markets tumbling.

In the latest development, 16 police chiefs in several major cities including Ankara, Izmir, Antalya and Diyarbakir as well as the deputy head of national security, were fired Wednesday under a decree signed by Interior Minister Efkan Ala.

 

The latest purge came just a day after the government fired 350 police officers in the capital Ankara -- bringing the total number sacked to over 700 since mid-December when the graft scandal broke, according to local media tallies.

News reports said Tuesday that another 25 people had been detained on suspicion of bribery and fraud in the widening corruption probe that has targeted several key Erdogan allies.

One of the main prosecutors in the probe, Zekeriya Oz, has also been reassigned following media reports of a Dubai holiday paid for by a Turkish construction company.

"If allegations (of wrongdoing) are proven, I will resign. But if they are proven to be baseless, I expect this honourable act from those who make these accusations against me," Oz said in a statement.

Oz also said he met with two legal officials sent by the prime minister who urged him to end the corruption probe.

"They told me that the prime minister is very angry at me. They asked me to halt the probe and to write a letter to apologise to the prime minister," Oz said about the meeting in a hotel in the western province of Bursa

Erdogan, currently in Japan on an official visit, denied Oz's allegation.

"The statements made by Zekeriya Oz are lies and slander. It is out of the question that I sent him members of the high judiciary," Erdogan said in a written statement.

Mehmet Tezkan, a columnist with the liberal Milliyet newspaper, wrote that Turkey was going through "one of the deepest crisis in its history. If the allegations are true, it means that the government is rotten to the core."

The EU -- which Turkey has long aspired to join -- said the crisis was a "cause of concern".

EU urges transparent probes.

"We urge Turkey, as a candidate country committed to the political criteria of accession, including the application of the rule of law, to take all the necessary measures to ensure that allegations of wrongdoing are addressed without discrimination or preference in a transparent and impartial manner," the bloc said in a statement.

The government vowed to overcome the crisis.

"The government is in charge. We will never let the political and economic stability of Turkey be disturbed," Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan said.

Battling to contain the biggest threat to his 11 years in power, Erdogan has branded the investigation a "dirty" plot to try to topple his Islamic-rooted government.

He and his allies have blamed supporters of a powerful Muslim cleric who lives in exile in the United States but wields considerable influence in Turkey's judiciary and police.

The crisis erupted in December when dozens of leading businessmen and political figures -- including the sons of three ministers -- were detained.

Erdogan was forced into a major cabinet reshuffle after the three ministers concerned resigned and the government has since gone on the offensive to root out foes in the police and judiciary.

Erdogan's critics accuse him of desperately trying to protect cronies caught up in the investigation which has focused on alleged bribery in construction projects and illicit money transfers by a state-owned bank to sanctions-hit Iran.

Media reports have said Erdogan's son was also set to be rounded up last month but the prosecutor involved was subsequently removed.

"There are some allegations about the sons of ministers. The court is dealing with this. If there are unlawful actions, corruption or bribery, this will eventually be revealed. But we cannot take allegations as fact," Huseyin Celik, spokesman for the ruling AKP party, told reporters.

In a new twist to the increasingly complex powerplay, the Supreme Board of Judges and Prosecutors (HSYK) -- Turkey's top judicial body -- said Tuesday it would investigate allegations that the new Istanbul police chief was blocking prosecutors from carrying out further arrests, as well as alleged misconduct by prosecutors.

Turkey's financial markets remain jittery, with the Istanbul stock market down slightly while the dollar rebounded fractionally from an all-time low hit on Monday.

Turkey purges regulators, state TV in graft probe backlash

January 18, 2014
By Humeyra Pamuk
Source:Yahoo News

ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkey has extended a purge of official bodies to the banking and telecoms regulators and state TV, firing dozens of executives in moves that appear to broaden Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan's backlash against a corruption investigation.

The authorities have already reassigned thousands of police officers and about 20 prosecutors, and fired some state television officials in response to the corruption investigation, the biggest challenge to Erdogan's 11-year rule.

Investigators are believed to have been looking into allegations of corruption and bribery involving trade in gold with Iran and big real estate projects, although full details of their charges have not been made public.

The combative prime minister says the investigations, which began a month ago with arrests of high profile figures including the sons of three of his cabinet ministers, are part of an attempted "judicial coup".

His opponents say they fear a purge of official bodies will destroy the independence of the judiciary, police and media.

"It's like reformatting a computer. They are changing the whole system and people in various positions to protect the government," said Akin Unver, assistant professor of International Relations in Istanbul-based Kadir Has University.

Among dozens of officials dismissed in the latest sackings, Turkish media reported on Saturday that the deputy head of the banking watchdog BDDK and two department heads had been removed.

Five department chiefs were fired at the Telecommunications Directorate (TIB), a body that carries out electronic surveillance as well as serving as telecoms regulator, and a dozen people were fired at Turkey's state channel TRT, including department heads and senior news editors.

A government official said the firings were carried out for "the benefit of the public" and more could come: "Right now we are working on this issue and if we identify cases problematic to the public's benefit, more dismissals could be considered."

Pictures of money-counting machines and reports of cash stacked in the homes of people linked to the graft probe have caused uproar among the Turkish public.

Unver said the aim of the purge at the telecommunications watchdog could be to prevent further videos and pictures being published on the Internet.

"They are seeking a monolithic structure over the Internet," he said.

Several thousand people took to the streets in Turkey's biggest three cities on Saturday demonstrating against a government-led draft bill to increase controls over the Internet.

The bill would give the courts the power to rule on removing online material that "violates individual rights", an article that opponents say is murky and could lead to the arbitrary closure of websites.

In Istanbul's Taksim Square, where police fired teargas and water cannon to disperse the crowd, protesters called for the government to resign. Some chanted: "There are thieves around," referring to the corruption allegations.

SEIZURE OF ASSETS

Erdogan has suggested the graft inquiry, which has led to the resignation of three cabinet ministers and detention of businessmen close to the government, is an attempt to undermine his rule by Fethullah Gulen, a U.S.-based cleric with influence among the police and judiciary.

Earlier in the week the government reassigned twenty high-profile prosecutors, stepping up the purge of the judiciary.

Many of the people who have been fired are believed to be associated with the cleric's Hizmet movement, which claims more than a million followers and runs schools and charities throughout Turkey.

Gulen's lawyer says the cleric has nothing to do with the graft investigations, and his followers say they are victims of a witch hunt.

In a separate move denounced by the opposition as an attempt to target it, Turkish authorities have seized the assets of Mustafa Sarigul, the main opposition CHP party's mayoral candidate for Istanbul.

The state Savings Deposit Insurance Fund (TMSF) said it seized Sarigul's assets after he and his business partners failed to repay a loan dating back to 1998.

Sarigul denied he had an outstanding debt, describing the move as "a provocation".

"I have not received one single letter from TMSF in 16 years... Those who have lost the trust of the people and carried out this political attack on me will get the answer at the ballot box on March 30," he said, referring to local elections.

Erdogan, who has presided over an extended economic boom that has transformed Turkey and lifted millions of people from poverty, remains the country's most popular politician.

He and his moderate Islamist AK Party have long battled for influence against the secularist military establishment that dominated Turkey over the past century. Conflicts with the judiciary, police and Gulen followers add to his list of enemies.

It is still not clear what effect the crisis will have on Erdogan's political fortunes ahead of local elections approaching in March.

Last year saw mass street demonstrations among Turks who accuse the prime minister of authoritarianism, but those protests did little to undermine Erdogan's support among his conservative base of followers.

 (Additional reporting by Orhan Coskun and Mert Ozkan in Ankara, Ayla Jean Yackley in Istanbul, Reporting by Humeyra Pamuk; Editing by Peter Graff and Andrew Heavens)

Erdogan threatens to unveil graft accusations against rival

January 24, 2014
Source: Yahoo News

ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan threatened on Friday to t divulge a file of corruption allegations against the main opposition candidate for Istanbul mayor, raising the stakes in a political battle after a graft investigation implicating his own government.

The opposition accused Erdogan of bullying and defied him to make public any accusations he cared to level.

Erdogan, speaking to party members in the capital Ankara, also accused a key business leader of "treason" for saying the government's efforts to reform the judiciary might unnerve investors and deter foreign capital from coming to Turkey.

Erdogan called on Kemal Kilicdaroglu, chairman of the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), to disclose what he called corruption allegations in a party file against Mustafa Sarigul, the CHP's candidate for Istanbul mayor in March municipal elections.

"I'm giving you until Sunday. If you don't disclose the corruption file on the Istanbul municipal candidate, I will," Erdogan said in comments aired live on television.

 

He did not make clear what such a file would contain.

CHP Deputy Chairman Haluk Koc, responding to Erdogan, said:

"No one is holding you back. The security forces, judiciary and police are yours. The CHP is here, Sarigul is here, disclose whatever you know.

"Bring it on. Does extortion suit a prime minister? CHP has never bowed down to bullies. It won't take a step back."

Erdogan also accused Kilicdaroglu himself of involvement in the leak of a 2010 sex tape that forced the resignation of his predecessor at the CHP, Deniz Baykal. Erdogan did not elaborate.

 

Turkey's popular leader sees a police investigation into corruption and bribery charges that came to light last month and included the arrest of family members of cabinet ministers and businessmen close to the government as a "coup plot" against the ruling AK Party, in power since 2002.

 

He has responded by removing thousands of police officers and about 120 prosecutors from their posts and reassigned them and by pushing through legal changes that tighten his control over the judiciary.

 

On Thursday, Muharrem Yilmaz, chairman of the business group Tusiad, said such legal changes may not comply with European Union norms and could raise concerns about the rule of law.

 

Erdogan lashed out at Yilmaz, saying such a warning amounted to a threat against the government.

"You can't say, 'International capital won't come.' If you do, it's treason against this country.

"They are threatening their own government by saying foreign investment won't come ... We will take a stance against those who take a stance against the AK Party," Erdogan said.

 

The political turmoil has weighed on Turkish financial markets, with the lira plumbing record lows.

But capital outflows have been relatively limited, with Thursday's successful sale of a $2.5 billion eurobond issue seen as a vote of confidence from foreign investors.

(Reporting by Ayla Jean Yackley; editing by Ralph Boulton)

Erdogan tells Turkish ambassadors to spread word of 'treacherous' plot

21 hours ago
By Tulay Karadeniz
Source: Yahoo News

ANKARA (Reuters) - Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan ordered his ambassadors on Wednesday to confront allies with the "truth" that a graft investigation shaking Ankara was the result of a foreign-backed plot to sabotage Turkey's international standing.

 

Erdogan, visiting Brussels next week, also mockingly rejected European Union expressions of concern about his moves to tighten control over a judiciary he sees as central to the conspiracy. His finance minister said political turbulence may hinder Turkey in reaching a 4 percent growth target this year.

What erupted a month ago as a corruption inquiry involving the sons of three ministers and businessmen close to the government has grown into one of the biggest challenges of Erdogan's 11-year rule and damaged Turkey's image abroad.

Erdogan said politicians, domestic and foreign media and financiers were conspiring against Turkish interests.

"We expect you to exert more effort to defeat this treacherous operation targeting Turkey by telling our partners the truth," Erdogan told the conference of Turkish ambassadors in the capital Ankara.

Details of the corruption allegations have not been made public, but are thought to relate to construction and real estate projects and Turkey's gold trade with Iran.

Erdogan's supporters see U.S.-based Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen - a former ally whose network of followers is influential in the police and judiciary - as a prime mover in a plot backed by foreign collaborators.

"They are trying to deal a heavy blow to Turkey's economy. They are making efforts to push interest rates higher. In order to make international investors uneasy they use every means.

"Most importantly they are working hard to harm Turkey's image in the world," Erdogan said.

He has responded by purging the police of hundreds of officers and seeking tighter control over the appointment of judges and prosecutors, raising alarm in Brussels in particular, which has been engaged in years of protracted EU membership negotiations with Ankara.

EU enlargement commissioner Stefan Fule told Turkey's new EU minister Mevlut Cavusoglu in their first meeting this week that any changes to the judiciary must not call into question Turkey's commitment to meeting EU membership criteria.

Erdogan rejected such concerns.

"I'm sorry but we won't be taken in by evaluation like 'this is contrary to the European Union acquis'. We know how to read and write. We can see what is going on," he said.

ECONOMIC FALLOUT

Erdogan's AK Party has proposed a draft bill giving government more say over the High Council of Judges and Prosecutors (HSYK), which makes top judicial appointments, a move the opposition says would violate the constitution and sees as an attempt to stifle the corruption investigation.

President Abdullah Gul, who would have to ratify the bill, called for compromise on Wednesday, saying Turkey's rival political parties should instead agree on changes to articles in the constitution governing the judiciary.

"There is agreement among the parties that there should be an HSYK which is independent and impartial and within the framework of EU principles," Gul said, adding prospects for a deal should become clear within a couple of days.

But the main opposition CHP said it would only negotiate if Erdogan withdrew the draft bill first, while a senior AK Party official said he was not optimistic of reaching a compromise.

The feud has shaken investor confidence and raised questions about the credibility of Turkey's institutions, helping drive the lira - already battered by waning investor appetite for emerging markets - to historic lows.

Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek said the political turbulence was among factors which could prevent Turkey reaching its target of four percent economic growth this year.

"It makes investors tense both domestically and abroad. This tension will be reflected in consumption and investment decisions and hence in growth," he told a news conference.

Erdogan has overseen strong economic growth in Turkey since coming to power in 2002, transforming its reputation after a series of unstable coalition governments in the 1990s ran into repeated balance of payments problems and economic crises.

The AK Party's reputation for economic management has been one of the cornerstones of its three successive election wins over the past decade, a record Erdogan wants to maintain in the run up to local elections in March and a presidential race which he is expected to contest in August.

(Additional reporting by Adrian Croft in Brussels; Writing by Daren Butler and Nick Tattersall; Editing by Ralph Boulton)

Turkish graft scandal triggers feud over judicial independence

January 10, 2014
By Orhan Coskun
Source: Yahoo News

ANKARA (Reuters) - One of Turkey's most senior legal figures warned Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan's AK Party on Friday that efforts to tighten its grip on the judiciary would breach the constitution, deepening a crisis triggered by a damaging corruption scandal.

Erdogan has cast a wide-ranging graft investigation, which poses one of the biggest challenges of his 11-year rule, as an attempted "judicial coup" and has responded by purging the police force of hundreds of officers and seeking tighter control over judicial appointments.

His AK Party unveiled plans this week, due to be discussed by parliament's justice commission, to give government more say over the appointment of judges and prosecutors, rolling back reforms championed by the European Union.

"These regulations concerning the independence and impartiality of judges ... will be in contravention of the constitution," said Ahmet Hamsici, deputy chairman of the High Council of Judges and Prosecutors (HSYK), in a 66-page report.

"It is clear that this situation represents a contravention of the principle of judicial independence (and) the separation of powers," said the report, submitted on Friday to the parliamentary commission and seen by Reuters.

The AKP bill, published on parliament's website, proposes changes to the structure of the HSYK, the body responsible for appointments in the judiciary, which would give the justice minister greater power over its activities.

Erdogan's supporters have cast the corruption probe as a smear campaign contrived, ahead of elections this year, by a U.S.-based Islamic cleric, Fethullah Gulen, who exercises broad, if covert, influence in the judiciary and media.

The affair, exposing a deep rift within the Turkish political establishment, has driven the lira to new lows and shaken investor confidence in a country whose stability has largely derived from Erdogan's strong grip on power.

But it is the government's reaction, seeking tighter control over the judiciary, police and even the internet, which risks doing the deepest long-term damage, not least to Turkey's ambitions to join the European Union and to its relations with Washington, already critical of its record on human rights.

Erdogan denounces 'judicial coup' against Turkey

January 4, 2014 
By Burak Akinci
Source: Yahoo News

Comments: I found the comments  to the article almost as interesting as the article itself. I would like to share what some of those comments were and my response to them.

"At a luncheon in Istanbul with generally pro-government intellectuals, writers and journalists, Erdogan reiterated his view that shadowy groups in Turkey and abroad are conspiring to oust him from power.

If anyone has been following the events in Turkey over the last few years. It has been Mr. Erdogan and his party who have been trying to bring the shadow of conservative Islam over a country that although Muslim has a secular government. He has jailed dozens of high ranking military officers, opposition activists, countless news people and anyone else he views as a possible political threat to himself or government. He has several time tried to change various clauses in turkey's constitution to take a more conservative Islamic view. He is an ardent supporter of the I.H.H. which in many countries has been labeled a terrorist organization. He is also a firm supporter of the Muslim Brotherhood another well know terrorist organization. He was not only close but highly vocal against the recent events taking place in Egypt and has been know to have had dealings with Hamas in Gaza. Just few things I thought you should know about the man."

My response:  " a firm supporter of the Muslim Brotherhood another well know terrorist organization" Who said that the Muslim Brotherhood is a terrorist organization? Al Sisi and his gang of murderous criminals- who have been murdering peaceful civilians- have accused the Muslim Brotherhood of being a terrorist organization. Are you a supporter of Sisi and company? Are you a supporter of military coups? Anyone who knows what is happening in Egypt- and has a conscience-is disgusted with the barbaric behavior of Sisi's Junta.
Prime Minister Erdogan's support for the Muslim Brotherhood is to his credit. When the coup in Egypt happened all political parties in Turkey stood in unity against it. Apparently, you are ignorant of this fact.

 "Three of his ministers' son got caught red handed hiding millions of dollars in their homes. Because the operation by the police was not reported to his internal affairs minister (whose son was also arrested in the operation), Erdogan reshuffled the police organization, and by-lows that now requiring police to report all the operations to his ministry... so how is this a plot against Erdogan's government? He is so successful picking the thieves as his ministers and he complains about a "plot"?!? I do not get it. This guy is such a manipulator."

My response: 
 " He is so successful picking the thieves as his ministers.." Who said that his ministers are thieves? The sons of a few ministers have been accused of illegal activity. How does that prove that the ministers, themselves, have done anything illegal? Also, there is the legal principal of innocent until proven guilty. Or are you saying that anyone who is accused of any crime should be punished? It seems that you are very prejudiced against Prime Minister Erdogan. Everything that you say is nonsensical.


" THE BIGGEST THIEF --ERDOGAN'S-- DAYS NEAR AND AS LONG AS HE STAY MORE PROBLEMS
WILL BE IN TURKEY AND HE IS THE FATHER OF THE CORRUPT MINISTER AND GUL THE PRESIDENT APPEARED YESTERDAY TO PROTECT HIM AS HE IS ALSO IN THE LIST OF CORRUPT
PEOPLE .
WHEN HIS 50% CABINET MEMBERS RESIGNED OR CHANGED WHAT ALL OF US WILL THINK
THT ALL MEMBERS IN HIS GOVT. ARE THIEVES.
WHEN HE WILL KICK OUT THEN TO TAKE HIM TO TRIAL WILL BE EVERYTHING CLEAR WHAT
PRPERTIES HE HAS IT IN OTHER NAMES AND SO ON.
HE IS SCARES TO RESIGN BECAUSE IF HE DO IT WILL BE TAKEN TO THE COURT FOR TRIAL.
THAT IS WHY HE IS KEEPING HIMSELF IN HIS POSITION , OTHERWISE WILL BE TREATED LIKE MURSI OF EGYPT WHO HAS VISITED HIM TOO IN TURKEY.

PEACE ACTIVIST"

My response:
 "Peace Activist"? You don't sound very peaceful to me. Why are you using all capitals? I have news for you, it is the sons of a few ministers who have been accused of illegal activity- not the ministers, themselves. You mentioned President Morsi of Egypt. Why? Are you against President Morsi? Do you support Al Sisi's Junta -which is responsible for murdering peaceful civilians? Is what happened in Turkey related to what happened in Egypt? Yes, the two are related. The NWO/ Illuminati is behind the coup in Egypt, just as it is obviously behind the scam against Erdogan's administration. Prime Minister Erdogan is correct to think that what is happening in Turkey is a scam from an international organization.

" At least Erdogan has shown h0w much a claim Islam still has upon this country, and hopefully Europe will finally and forever denyTurkey membership -- Islam's trappings even if suppressed is not enough -- Islam needs to be eradicated forceibly. Forcibly because it's the only Islam will go down."

My response:
    Membership in The European Union is a death sentence for democracy and human rights. It is in the best interests of Turkey to stay away from the EU.


 "Good chance Israel and the the US Media (owned by Jewish Interests) in concert with the CIA and President Gull (hiding in the US since 1999) together with Jewish Banking Interests (Goldman Sachs, Blackrock, Rothschild etc.- who have made a Fortune Shorting the Turkish Lira over the past two years) have jointly launced these disturbances in Turkey and funded the Protestors. Uprooting Government corruption is by itself a Good Thing however the clandestine interests of third parties behind causing these upheavals are perhaps least known to the general public. Israel wants wants chaos in the area until all Muslim Brotherhoods are removed from power in their geographic area of the world. Mr Gull (in Exile) stupidly thinks he is forwarding his own interests to return in glory to Turkey after the next elections when in fact he will be Removed from Power. Erdogan, whether directly complicit in the Corruption has been caught flat footed and embarassed by the International Media - therefore embarassing the Country and making it likely that he too will be dethroned in the next elections. I am sure the Turkish people have had enough of all this drama surrounding their Country of 76 Million - who are generally hard working family people."

My response:
           I am confused. I don't know if I should applaud you or scold you. Yes, you are right about the Zionists, US government and the one percent/NWO/ Illuminati being involved. But you are assuming that there is corruption. Prime Minister Erdogan is not embarrassed by the international media. Most of the international media is owned by the Zionists and the NWO. What PM Erdogan is saying is correct. From what you said about international parties being involved is correct, but it is wrong for you to assume that the corruption charges are valid. Didn't you consider the possibility that some of the judges of Turkey are under the control of the Zionists and the NWO?

" Strangely enough he has not denied the crimes committed by his inner circle. He thinks while people look for secret plotters under every stone, people will forget the theft and graft. It will not happen that way at all."

My response: 
      Why should he deny crimes which have not be proven? Who says that his "inner circle" has committed any crimes?

" An Islamist trying to manage a secularist nation, therein lies the problem. Some would say similar to the challenge faced by the US. In any case a (another) military response would not be surprising."

My response:
  "A secularist nation"? Who says that Turkey is-or should be- a "secularist nation"?

Here are a couple of comments which are positive-most comments were negative.
" Here is thThe Opponent of PM Erdogan of Country are envious of his successful terms as PM. He has turned around the economy of Turkey from a very weak economy to one of the strongest in Emerging Markets. Turks Income has risen 4 times, since his taking the power. No one would mind that if Average American's income increased 4 Fold in just 10 years, but the fact is in US, middle class is shrinking and there has been almost no increase in Middle Class's income since 1970's while Upper Richest Class's income has increased 100's if not 1000's of times."
  " PM Tayyip Erdogan and President Abdullah Gul's rule has been Best thing that ever happened to Turkey in recent times. It has ushered Turkey into a High Income country. Before the AKP Party came to Power in 2001, Turkey's Banking sector was on brink of collapse, Turkish Lira was 100,000 for 1 US Dollar, after Election of Erdogan, Turkey's economy boomed faster than any country in Europe, now 2 Turkish Liras are traded for 1 US dollar. Average Per Capita Income is almost $10,000 US dollars, up from $2500 or so dollars back in 1999. So,"

Here is the article:

Istanbul (AFP) - Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday hit out against a corruption probe that has dragged down members of his government, calling it an "attempted assassination" and a "judicial coup".

At a luncheon in Istanbul with generally pro-government intellectuals, writers and journalists, Erdogan reiterated his view that shadowy groups in Turkey and abroad are conspiring to oust him from power.

"What they wanted to do was an attempted assassination of the national will," he said in the address later broadcast on television.

"They tried to carry out a judicial coup in Turkey.... But we are going to oppose this operation, this December 17 plot that targeted the future, the stability of our country," Erdogan said.

A string of public figures including high-profile businessmen and the sons of three ministers were detained on December 17 over allegations of bribery for construction projects as well as illicit money transfers to sanctions-hit Iran. 

Several MPs including a former culture minister have resigned from the ruling party AKP since the raids, which the government has suggested were instigated by supporters of an influential US-based Turkish cleric. 

Erdogan was also forced into a major cabinet reshuffle after the resignation of three ministers whose sons were implicated in the probe. 

 

The corruption scandal has sparked a fresh wave of protests against Erdogan, half a year after he faced down a series of nationwide anti-government demonstrations.

It has also hurt the economy, sending the Turkish lira currency to a record low against the dollar and shares tumbling on the Istanbul stock exchange.

Erdogan on Saturday expressed confidence that Turkey would overcome its current difficulties and pointed to municipal elections set for March as a test for his government ahead of presidential elections in August.

"We will not allow a cloud to be cast over Turkey's future," he vowed.

Meanwhile Turkish President Abdullah Gul has promised that any corruption would not be hushed up.

"If acts of corruption are covered up, society will disintegrate," said Gul on television Friday night. "Nothing must be hidden. Those who have not committed a crime, have nothing to fear." 

Gul and Erdogan were co-founders of the AKP in 2001. 

Since a government crackdown in June on protesters opposed to plans to develop an Istanbul park, the two leaders have carefully avoided any confrontation but have been demonstrating different styles in the crisis -- Erdogan is seen as authoritarian while Gul has appeared as a unifier.

Erdogan's government, in power since 2002, has accused loyalists of US-exiled cleric Fethullah Gulen, whose movement wields influence in the police and judiciary, of instigating the corruption probe.

A journalist at the meeting with Erdogan Saturday, Fikret Bila, said the premier told them that he had received a letter from Gulen's movement, "possibly drafted by Gulen himself", calling for reconciliation between the two sides.

But Gulen's movement said in a statement that "this letter was not addressed to Mr Prime Minister and it includes no references to bargaining."

Gulen, who left Turkey for the United States in 1999 after being accused of plotting to form an Islamic state, has denied involvement in the graft investigation.

  

Turkey's Erdogan seeks to further curb army power

2 hours ago
by: Parisa Hafezi  
Reuters
 Source: Yahoo News

ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan's government, which faced a wave of street protests and riots this month, moved on Thursday to amend an article of the Armed Forces charter cited by generals in the past to justify coups as defense of public order.

Since he was first elected in 2002, Erdogan has radically cut back the power of a military that had toppled four governments in forty years. The last administration felled, in 1997, was led by an Islamist party to which Erdogan belonged.

Deputy prime minister Bekir Bozdag told reporters the government had submitted proposals to parliament to amend article 35 of the charter, promulgated after a 1960 coup that resulted in the hanging of a prime minister. Erdogan has cited that prime minister, Adnan Menderes, as a political model.

The article was later used as the basis for interventions in 1970 and in 1980, to end months of left-right streetfighting, as well as 1997 when the army saw a danger from political Islam.

The amendment would replace the declared duty to "protect and watch over the republic" - a reference that for many Turks would imply strictly enforcing a secular order - with a more limited obligation to defend "the Turkish homeland against foreign threats".

COUP ALLEGATIONS

Erdogan, who has won three elections and despite recent protests has no clear political rivals, denies accusations he seeks to overturn the 90-year-old secular order. But in speeches in recent weeks he has railed against what he sees as the oppression of pious Muslims under previous governments.

Opponents accuse him of becoming increasingly authoritarian.

Hundreds of top officers have been arrested in recent years as part of an investigation into alleged plots against Erdogan. One, codenamed 'Ergenekon' foresaw the engineering of street protests and killings opening the way for an army takeover.

Erdogan blamed this month's protests and rioting - the largest show of public defiance of his time in office - on a foreign-backed conspiracy involving market speculators, "terrorist" groups and looters.

The demonstrations drew in leftists, secularists, nationalists, professionals, unions and students after police used water cannon and tear gas in a heavy handed attempt to disperse an initial demonstration against the development of an Istanbul park.

Parliament will discuss the bill in October after its summer recess.

(Writing by Parisa Hafezi; Editing by Nick Tattersall and Ralph Boulton)

How Turkey’s chaos has undercut Kurdish and Israeli oil and gas ambitions

3 hours ago
By Steve LeVine | Quartz
Source: Yahoo Finance

Until a few days ago, there seemed to be an inexorable reordering of two major swaths of the Middle East. The region’s Kurds seemed on the cusp of achieving greater political autonomy, and Israel appeared to be at least potentially on its way to obtaining an export pipeline for its natural gas. But Turkey’s now five-day-old protests—which intensified today when unionized public workers called an anti-government strike—seem likely to disrupt both of these trends.

The reason: Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the target of the demonstrators, is an architect and an essential political actor in both the Kurdish and Israeli shakeups, part of a strategy of expanding Turkey’s influence abroad. But rather than pushing along these aims, Erdogan seems bound to spend weeks or months distracted by domestic unrest, which also threatens his ambitionto change the constitution and win re-election as president next year.

Erdogan’s Kurdish initiative first attracted attention in April 2011, when he visited Erbil, the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan. He was two years into a campaign to finally resolve a long, bloody conflict with Turkey’s own Kurdish population, which made the Erbil visit—the first of any senior Turkish leader to the northern Iraqi province—highly emotive. For decades, much of the region—Iran, Iraq, Syria and Turkey—had violently suppressed its restive Kurdish populations. Now Turkey was expressing sympathy for the cultural and political freedoms that the Kurds had long sought.

Just six months later, the Iraqi Kurds signed an oil exploration deal (paywall) with ExxonMobil. Together with Erdogan’s visit, the agreement stirred regional politics: Defying the wishes of Baghdad, Turkey and Exxon would help the Iraqi Kurds establish economic independence, starting with the construction of direct oil and natural gas pipelines. The agreement with the Iraqi Kurds also involved an Erdogan truce with the PKK, the militant Kurdish movement in Turkey.

Two years later, on May 14 of this year, Erdogan announced that Turkey’s state-oil company itself would partner with Exxon in the Kurdistan deal. That put Turkey’s economic benefit at the center of Iraqi Kurdistan’s objective to pull away from Baghdad.

The protests in Istanbul’s Taksim Square only weeks later have not yet focused on Erdogan’s foreign policy, apart from voicing the national resentment over his support for Syrian rebels. But Ross Wilson, former US ambassador to Turkey and now head of the Eurasian division of the Atlantic Council, says they nonetheless undercut both Erdogan’s reconciliation with Turkish Kurds and the oil developments in Iraqi Kurdistan.

ExxonMobil declined to comment. But in Iraq, Erdogan’s high-stakes policy flouts both Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and Washington, who have warned the Turkish leader to stop backing the Kurds. That makes him a necessary general without whose authority the delicate process will likely stall. His approval is required in particular to push forward the planned construction of dedicated oil and gas pipelines to Turkey, the key to monetizing Iraqi Kurdistan’s natural resources.

“In order to export substantial quantities of oil, the Iraqi Kurds need the acquiescence of Turkish authorities,” Wilson said. “The pipelines are on hold and will remain on hold.”

Similarly, there seems little chance of progress on the idea of building a natural gas pipeline from rich offshore Israeli fields to the Turkish market.

Israel’s eastern Mediterranean fields have the equivalent of 5 billion barrels of oil, sufficient to provide the country energy security for decades, along with a robust flow of export earnings. Butwithout Turkey the gas may be bottled up: Experts say that proposed alternatives, including an undersea pipeline to Greece and a liquefied natural gas facility, are too expensive.

But the proposed pipeline had been stalled by Erdogan, who broke off relations with Israel over its 2010 raid on a Turkish flotilla to Gaza that left nine people dead. Erdogan had been demanding an apology as a condition of reopening relations between the two countries. In March, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu called Erdogan with the apology.

Since then, the two countries have been in talks over reparations, another required step before pushing forward with fully restored relations and movement on the proposed pipeline. But with Erdogan’s attention now focused on Taksim, Israel has no one of decisive authority on the Turkish side to advance the reparations discussion, or the pipeline plans.