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Turkey Wants Strong Ties with Arab Spring Countries
ANKARA — Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan will on Monday begin an "Arab Spring" tour to Egypt, Tunisia and Libya in a bid to forge stronger ties as relations with Israel are sinking to new lows over a flotilla row.
Turkish premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan is a strong sympathizer of the Palestinian cause. Erdogan will on Monday begin an "Arab Spring" tour to Egypt, Tunisia and Libya in a bid to forge stronger ties as relations with Israel are sinking to new lows over Israel's refusal to apologize for massacre on a humanitarian flotilla ship in 2010. The visit to Egypt comes amid a state of high alert declared on Saturday in Cairo after protesters stormed the building housing Israel's embassy and clashed with police, prompting a mass evacuation of the ambassador and other staff, a Turkish diplomat said.
Erdogan, a popular leader on the Arab street due to his strong challenge to the Jewish state, will seek closer economic and military ties with the new rulers of Egypt as Turkey is positioning itself as a regional player.
A strong sympathizer of the Palestinian cause, Erdogan in the past embarrassed Egypt with his outspoken condemnation of Israel's treatment toward Palestinians, in contrast to the restraint of now ousted president Hosni Mubarak's regime.
In Cairo, Erdogan will meet with his Egyptian counterpart Essam Sharaf as well as Marshal Tantawi, head of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces.
He will also deliver a speech at the council meeting of the Arab League foreign ministers, according to his official program.
Besides his official talks, Erdogan will meet Egypt's young leaders who spearheaded the country's popular revolt that ousted the 82-year-old strongman.
In February, those young activists who gathered in Cairo's central Tahrir square listened live to Erdogan's calls for Mubarak to step down, as carried by Al-Jazeera television.
Erdogan's visit to Egypt comes at a time its relations with Israel have reached a new low after last-ditch efforts to reconcile between the once-regional allies over last year's deadly flotilla raid on a Gaza-bound Turkish ship failed.
In retaliation for Israel's refusal to apologize for the killing of nine people in the raid, Turkey's Islamist-rooted government announced a set of measures including expelling the Israeli ambassador and suspending all bilateral military agreements.
Erdogan went even further by saying that Turkish ships would appear more frequently in the eastern Mediterranean.
On Thursday, Erdogan expressed his government's will to allow more ships to break the Israeli blockade of Gaza, saying that Turkish warships would escort the country's aid vessels, a move sparking fears of a confrontation with Israel.
He also threatened to visit the Hamas-run Gaza Strip, entering via neighboring Egypt, but Turkish officials ruled out such a trip for the time being, saying that Ankara did not want to become a problem for the new Egyptian administration.
Observers say the Turkish measures against Israel could boost the country's popularity in the Arab world as Ankara is also a fervent supporter of the Palestinians' drive for statehood at the United Nations later this month.
In a sign of solidarity, Erdogan will continue his tour with a trip to another Arab Spring country, Tunisia, before traveling to Libya the next day.
In Libya, he will confer with Mustafa Abdul Jalil, head of the now-ruling National Transitional Council (NTC) based in the eastern city of Benghazi.
Turkey, the only mainly Muslim member of NATO, gradually took a hard line against the old Libyan regime, after at first criticising Western air strikes against the forces of Moamer Kadhafi.
In July, Turkey recognized the NTC as Libya's legitimate government.
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Show AllLibya is NOT a member of the so-called Arab Spring nations. Erdogan has displayed very poor judgement by confering any form of legitimacy to the NATO frontgroup. In many respects, that judgement renders the increasing angst against Israel moot.
I smell war.
I see a "STOP" sign in the road saying "Israel, you have finally gone too far."
That, unfortunately, is tantamount to war. Israel is too foolish not to regard that as an intolerable provocation.
I agree that Libya is not part of the Arab spring, and I am sure Erdogan realizes this. But he seems to want to make the big jump into real political power in the Arab world. As the most powerful Muslim country in the region, Erdogan could become a powerful counter force to American/Israeli domination of the region. We don't know what will happen, but it should be interesting.
In prior CD posts people have speculated whether Israel and Turkey could come to a real military confrontation and what would the US and NATO do as Turkey belongs to NATO, but Israel runs US policy. I don't think they will shoot at each other because of the nasty implications for domestic policy in the US, Israel, and Europe.
But Erdogan does pose a real threat to the status quo, so I wouldn't be surprised if Erdogan suffered a stroke or had a terrible accident. What would Jack Bauer or Jason Bourne (i.e. Jack Bauer without the alcoholism problem) do?
I don't think the Turkish military (which hates Erdogan) will revolt, but it could happen, too. That would lead to huge social disruption in Turkey and the military knows it. But as Syria has shown, even if the entire population revolts, they stand little chance against modern military weapons in the hands of people willing to use them. (see also Bahrain, Yemen, Saudi Arabia)
Turkey is very complicated. Erdogan in concert with Turkish civil society has made great strides in ending the vast corruption in the military that served to strangle the Turkish economy while continuing the longstanding campaign against the Kurds. Becoming a key player in Pipelinestan has also proved an economic and geopolitical boon as has the long awaited rapprochment with traditional enemy Russia. And the Turk's secular version of Islam is favored by a large majority, which sees both the Saudi and Iranian extremes as repulsive. Their was great pride when Turkey stood up to the criminal intent of BushCo and refused to be party to the supreme crime of the aggressive war launched on Iraq. Both the US and Zion counted on Turkey remaining destabilized by its military corruption; but the Turks are proud, and it seems that even the military has decided to no longer be used as a pawn. It should also be noted that it isn't just Erdogan; rather, there's been an evolution at the institutional levels, implying that Erdogan would be replaced by someone quite similar. Lastly, Turks are now counting their blessings that they were shunned by the Eurozone as they are mostly immune to the economic upheval caused by the US. Many opportunities exist for Turkey, and it ought to be considered as one of the few worthy places to relocate to for those young enough.
Thanks for the information, Karlof1. I need to learn a lot more about Turkey. I knew they had gone through a lot of changes, but haven't followed it as well as I should.
karlof: There is no such thing as "secular Islam;" that is a contrived dichotomy that's been advanced in the past few decades. Islam and Islamic law are inseparable, but that does not in any imply that minorities in a real Islamic state have fewer rights than Muslims. Muslims seek answers and guidance as to how a Muslim society should organize itself from the example of the prophet of Islam and, to a lesser degree, from the first four caliphs, who in Sunni Islam are referred to as the rightly guided caliphs. Muslims do not want to turn the clock back 1400 years (and go back to to riding camels and horses and living without electricity) but they look back to that time as setting the principles from which Islamic law is derived.
Dude, have you been to Turkey and observed Turkish behavior in relation to the laws of Islam? I thought not. People appropriately perform their ablutions, enter the Mosque, and then go to the corner cafe and have a beer. And that's the easiest, perhaps most trivial, example I'll present amongst the many I might employ.
Yes, and I grew up among Southern Baptists who drank, cursed, and divorced/remarried. Didn't make them any less "born again" in their own minds.
Merhaba Karlof1,
Two years ago I was invited on a cultural exchange program sponsored by Turkish members of the so-called Gülen Movement inspired by Turkish expat writer and theologian Fethullah Gülen. From what I gather, he advocates one-on-one fellowship and conversation as a way of building interfaith and intercultural bridges, and has inspired LOTS of Turkish professionals to work toward this goal and establish foundations to provide financial support for these exchanges.
I was impressed so much by the juxtaposition of opposites that seemed to be Turkey: Europe and Asia, ancient ruins and youthful population, minarets playing the call to prayer five times per day and a secular political order. Turkish families welcomed us into their homes, provided us with meals and gifts, and one even shared water he and his wife had gotten while on the Hajj. I was so inspired that I have been studying the Turkish language for the last year and a half and hope to return, and possibly even to work, there.
For people who think that Muslims and the modern world cannot come together harmoniously, I encourage them to look no farther than Turkey for an example to the contrary.
"Islam and Islamic law are inseparable" - as both are (arguably) human constructs, they are as separable or inseparable as those who practice them desire them to be. Religious people aren't all robots who follow their scriptural programming to the letter, after all. Of course, in theory (especially that bandied about by Islamophobes), there is no separation in idealized Islam between "religion" and any other aspect of society, just like there wasn't between Christian religion and society after Constantine and until the Radical Reformation. In practice, however, many Muslims believe in modern, secular notions like separation of church and state. Turkey is a perfect example of this separation, especially for the millions of Turks who live in urban areas, and in fact, if anything, the Turks err on the side of too little religion rather than too much (following the French model of church-state separation, rather than the American), prohibiting women who work for the government to wear hijab and prohibiting men who work for the government from having bushy beards like mine.
I support Prime Minister Erdogan and think he is doing the right thing. A powerful Turkey with close, warm relations with the Arab world is definitely desirable.
Interesting. I don't think Turkey is as powerful as people here want to make it out to be - it's not as resource rich as other, neighboring countries, and thus has little economic power. However, it is a member of NATO (providing it immunity) and its location is strategic... somewhat. I can't help but feel that most of this is out of self-interest, as political gestures are by most states. Of course, Turkey has the right to promote its own interests. It's great to see a head of state make a statement about Gaza, too.
Who is innocent?
Perhaps the children and the adolescents, and the mentally impaired.
How many are willfully ignorant, among the adults?
Is a willfully ignorant, and often deluded adult really responsible in any meaningful sense?
Many of us, perhaps most, tell ourselves stories that make us feel good, with little or no supporting evidence, or more realistically, with cherry-picked facts.
Same result - willfully ignorant people.
Perhaps it is not our fault. Then democracy is a sham from the get go.
Deluded fanatics, addicted to sports, self-absorption, money, power and fame, a variety of creation epics and religions - anything but reality.
We are committing global ecocide, thinking electric cars will save us.
Not since the cyano-bacteria poisoned the skies with oxygen has this planet seen such a lifeform. But the cyano-bacteria thrived - they did not self-annihilate.
Manysummits
=======
Good points, but, hey, watch who you go callin' adolescent, dude. : )
You know, since I've had a few too many, I feel like answering.
The human brain has been growing throughout the Ice Ages, all two million years of them. We are a work in progress, and very high variability in mental competence should be and is the reality.
We are an adolescent species - the third (or fourth, or fifth) ape, and we are so tribal still.
Are there a few who can actually think? Maybe - but I'm not really sure.
But science is the most trustworthy of our new attributes,,and I have faith in its machinations.
Whether you study the mathematics of non-linear dynamics, or biology, or paleoanthropology, or climate science - the results are very disturbingly the same. This puppy is out of control, and we are about to leave not only the Holocene, scene of agriculture, but the Pleistocene, scene of hominids period, with consequences so profound we will have to have an Irish horseshoe or three simply to be around a century from now.
It appears, from the evidence, that there is an inverse relation between power and privilege and intelligence, and that is not a good thing.
Without fossil fuels and the machine, we were damaging to others and ourselves, but not a planetary force of nature.
Now - we are a threat to everything alive save the jellyfish, the insects and certain bacteria.
I am currently listening to our artists - they give me some idea that we are not all of us - insane.
Mamusummits
==========
You know, you're right, again. Have you read Vonnegut's "Galápagos"? In it, the human species "evolves" to some sort of seal-like animal with drastically reduced intelligence. It's pretty entertaining. I think he might not be far off the mark in predicting where we are all headed.
I mean really, look at the title of this article.
A country is an invention - a piece of paper - conceived by power-drunk apes.
So one of these fantasy creations wants good relations with some other fantasy creations, and the apes are all reading this with rapt attention and normal credulity.
Unsustainable means NOT SUSTAINABLE.
So how many are changing what they DO and what they THINK - how many?
Less than one percent - less than one tenth of one percent?
Manysummits
========
You're a riot. Alcohol appears to be a truth-serum for you. Some of my finest moments have occurred when I had had one too many, too, and I'm not joking, either.
I suppose having boundaries for countries helps keep some form of organization for humankind. Kind of like how ants have colonies that are distinct from one another. I think that is where our social organization has evolved - from some common ancestor with the ant.
But, breaking it down even more: we're all just a bunch of masses of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, with a few handfuls of nitrogen and sulfur and a dash of metals for good measure, just like any other living being on this planet. Not much special about us humans.
i was just reading an article about torture and mass execution of political prisoners in turkey. fascist regime of turkey is no better then arabic dictatorships. progressive forces of turkey are already struggling to overthrow Erdogans regime.
Actually, it's considerably better than a lot of the Arab thugocracies we prop up. Even more to the point, one of the reasons the Turkish military hates Erdogan is because he's reined in their human rights abuses somewhat.
that is what imperialist media wants you to belive. they want to show governments of countries like turkey, india, peru, malaysia, indonesia and ... as democratic governments. but torture, rape and "disappearance" of political prisoners and opposition activists are common in these countries.
in turkey being a kurd is a crime by itself. both islamists and so called seculars have repressed people for many years. erdogan and his party are criminals and murderers. they have supported terror against kurds and progressive activists of turkey. they have killed thousands but imperialists media does not wish to expose their crimes.
As the bulk of Israel's weaponry comes from the USA of course we'd intervene, even if such intervention took the form of surreptitiously shipping all sorts of toys to Israel to help murder Turks. It's academic, however, as there isn't going to be a shooting war between Turkey and Israel. What's going on is a bunch of posturing and chest-thumping by the Turks (legitimately aggrieved at having her citizens executed by psychotic pariah state Israel).
i think that turkey, being an islamic state, should be more qualified to be the custodian of the two holly muslim shrines: mecca and jerusalem replacing the current saudi rulers. one should observe the turkish stance, in words and deeds,about palestine and its holly mosque that the saudi government pays only lip service to.