When will anti-government protests kick off in Turkey?

August 29, 2011

Which regime will be the next to collapse after Syria? Obviously, Iran is waiting in line, and so are Hamas and Hezbollah. Such terrorists’ organizations and regimes can no longer be tolerated and must be gotten rid of, but what ensues that, will the Arab Spring eventually come to an end?

There is one more capital that will soon witness hundred thousands of its young demonstrators pouring to streets to call for the speedy departure of its Islamic fundamentalist autocratic regime and implementation of rapid reforms or encounter the same destiny of Egypt, Libya and Tunisia.

The US has been awarding Turkey much concession, totally overlooking its worsening Human Rights Records. Turkey has been aggressively cracking down on anti-regime dissents recently. Thousands of political prisoners are decaying behind bars in notorious Turkish prisons without Human Rights Groups access. Women Rights have been increasingly violated under Islamic-rooted AKP’s ruling party. Religious and ethnic minorities in Turkey are facing extremely difficult economic and social conditions, including high unemployment, rising food prices, constraints on personal freedom, and endemic corruption, especially in South Eastern parts of the country (Turkish Kurdistan).

Since its triumph in elections, the Justice and Development Party has made absolutely no positive strides in advancing democratization and the liberalization of Turkey’s political culture. The new theocratic administration is viewed as a potential threat to democracy, and it poses a threat to the power, bureaucratic privileges and economic interests of the secular ruling class.

Erdogan's is precisely practicing the teachings of his political mentor who was touting to "rescue Turkey from the unbelievers of Europe," wrests power from "imperialists and Zionists," and launch a jihad to recapture Jerusalem.

“ Erdogan’s government consists of “closed-minded, hate-spouting xenophobes and anti-Semites.” Comparing the current Turkish government to the Ottoman Empire, his regime is “anti-western, anti-Christian, or anti-Jewish. It has infiltrated all secular institutions with its Islamist followers in order to consolidate power”, argues Barbara Lerner in his Writing in the National Review.

When Mr Erogans ascended to power, he vowed to broaden cultural and political rights for the 25 million underrepresented Kurdish ethnic minority. His ruling circle seems now split between those who advocate granting broader autonomy for the Kurds and others favoring continued repression. Recent bombarding of Iraqi Kurdistan border areas have substantiated that Erdogans promises were nothing more than election hypes. Most gracelessly, his alleged Islamic regime has repudiated killing innocent civilians. Mr. Erdogan and his predecessors have failed to comprehend that addressing Kurdish dilemmas require more than just sloganeering.

Turkey’s deteriorating ties with the U.S. and Israel and closer relations with Iranian president Ahmadinejad also demonstrate how the NATO’s sole Muslim-majority member is playing double-standard policies.

Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan had warned that Ankara is prepared to react to any potential Israeli offensive against Lebanon. He has threatened Israel on many occasions, most recently stating on Turkish national television that his country would not “sit with its arms folded in the event that Israel attacks in Gaza once again. Turkey has gone even further by adding Israel to its so-called "Red Book," the top-secret security document that lists the country's threats and enemies.

According to a wide-ranging survey carried out by the Ankara-based Metro POLL Strategic and Social Research Center in December, some 43% of Turks said that they perceive the U.S. as the country’s biggest threat, followed by Israel, with 24%. 63% of Turks now want to freeze diplomatic relations with Jerusalem.

Turks are continuing the second phase of “Armenian Genocide of 1915” against the Kurds. The US continues to back Turkey in its brutal commitments of its war crimes. During an interview conducted by Rudaw, a Hawler-based English newspaper in Iraqi Kurdistan,www.ekurd.netwith Spokesperson for the US embassy in Baghdad, Michael McClellan, it became further evident that the US government is still turning a blind eye to Turkey’s disrespect for Human Rights, a unfortunate act that has further emboldened certain totalitarian ally regimes to carry on their routine abuses.

In the Mavi Marmara affair, in which nine Turkish activists were killed after Israeli commandos acted in self-defense, Turkey has been defiant in its demand of an apology from Israel whereas, few days ago, its own armed forces shamelessly carried out an air strike inside the territory of another sovereign country, culminating in killing twice as much innocent’s civilians. Pictures of the victims were immediately published by numerous Kurdish media outlets.

Until now, Turkish rulers have relied on their US and Western powers to protect themselves. The military, secular elites and Islamists who have run Turkey for so long were all anti-democratic and illiberal regimes, denying Kurdish basic rights. To gain accession to EU and to be a member of civilized world, the United States will eventually have to side with the strong public resolution to oust Islamic extremists and dictators. And Turkey is no exception to it.

The United States can rebuild its shattered image and win the hearts and minds of the oppressed and lead the democratic world for the next century to come only on provision that it applies the identical set of rules and principles towards every nation, regardless of any prejudice, including some of its close allies.

The regime in Ankara is fearful of similar unrest, and it must be. If the state of affairs continues, the anti-democratic regime in Ankara should also gear up for its demise. The Turkish citizens will no longer accept to be subdued by military dictators and Islamic extremists.

Rebwar Hassan, a freelance writer from Iraqi Kurdistan.

Copyright © 2011 www.ekurd.net. All rights reserved

 

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