Turkey's Love Affair With Hamas -- As It Whispers Sweet Nothings in Their Ear

The following by Burak Bekdil is reposted here with permission of  the Middle East Forum:

Turkey's Love Affair with Hamas

by Burak Bekdil
The Gatestone Institute
October 19, 2014

http://www.meforum.org/4866/turkey-love-affair-with-hamas

Then-Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan warmly greets Hamas chief Khaled Meshaal in Ankara, March 2012.

"The Palestinian cause" is a unique charm that brings together Turks from different ideologies. Turkish Islamists view it as an indispensable part of "jihad;" the conservatives feel attached to it because it has a religious connotation; for the leftists it is part of an "anti-imperialist" struggle; the nationalists embrace it just because most Turks embrace it. In the 1970s, when a dozen Turks a day on average were killed in street violence, the "Palestinian cause" was the only issue that otherwise warring fractions of the Turkish left, right and Islamists could agree on.

But it was the Islamists who, in the 2000s, made the biggest gains from the concept. Since 2002, when they came to power, they have reaped enormous political gains from the "Palestine-fetish," to which they also love to be ideologically attached. For the Turks, it has been like abusing alcohol and wanting to have a healthier life. It still is.

David P. Goldman: The End of Erdogan's Cave of Wonders

The following by David P. Goldman is resposted here with permission of the Middle East Forum:

The End of Erdogan's Cave of Wonders
An I-Told-You-So

by David P. Goldman
PJ Media
December 27, 2013

http://www.meforum.org/3705/end-of-erdogan

David P. Goldman

Turkey is coming apart. The Islamist coalition that crushed the secular military and political establishment—between Tayip Erdogan's ruling AK Party and the Islamist movement around Fethullah Gulen—has cracked. The Gulenists, who predominate in the security forces, have arrested the sons of top government ministers for helping Iran to launder money and circumvent sanctions, and ten members of Erdogan's cabinet have resigned. Turkey's currency is in free fall, and that's just the beginning of the country's troubles: about two-fifths of corporate debt is in foreign currencies, so the cost of servicing it jumps whenever the Turkish lira declines. Turkish stocks have crashed (and were down another 5% in dollar terms in early trading Friday). As the charts below illustrate, so much for Turkey's miracle economy.

Two years ago I predicted a Turkish economic crash.

The "Arab Spring" Has Turned Into An "Israeli Spring" -- Now Go Solve The Middle East's Real Problems

In short, the more violent and chaotic the Middle East becomes, the more secure and exceptional Israel appears.
Victor Davis Hanson

Victor Davis Hanson writes that thanks to 'The Israeli Spring,' Israel’s enemies are doing more damage to each other than Israel ever could:

In terms of realpolitik, anti-Israeli authoritarians are fighting to the death against anti-Israeli insurgents and terrorists. Each is doing more damage to the other than Israel ever could — and in an unprecedented, grotesque fashion. Who now is gassing Arab innocents? Shooting Arab civilians in the streets? Rounding up and executing Arab civilians? Blowing up Arab houses? Answer: either Arab dictators or radical Islamists.

As Erdogan's Facade of Secularism Slips, Will The West Either Notice or Care?

The following by Sam Nunberg is reposted here with permission of The Legal Project:

Silencing a secularist in Turkey
Erdogan has abandoned his moderate facade

by Sam Nunberg
The Washington Times
August 8, 2013
http://www.legal-project.org/4175/silencing-a-secularist-in-turkey

The Turkish criminal courts have increasingly been used to further Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's Islamist agenda through hate-speech prosecutions. The May 22 sentencing of Turkish-Armenian Sevan Nisanyan continues this disturbing trend of strangling political and social discourse.

Daniel Pipes: Must Islamists Be Autocratic?

The following by Daniel Pipes is reposted here with permission:

Must Islamists Be Autocratic?

by Daniel Pipes
July 19, 2013
Cross-posted from National Review Online, The Corner

http://www.danielpipes.org/blog/2013/07/must-islamists-be-autocratic

Mohamed Morsi's recent ejection as president of Egypt prompts a contrast-and-compare with his Turkish counterpart, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Their careers at the top contain major dissimilarities:

Neither The Obama Administration Nor The Media Have Realized They Are Being Played By The Islamists

"It’s remarkable how America’s enemies fool them and the mass media, too."
Barry Rubin

Barry Rubin notes that Fools Rush In Where Statesmen Fear to Tread:

How many of those enthusiastically cheering on giving arms to the Free Syrian Army really comprehend that they are going directly to the Muslim Brotherhood? Even though they should know this, they don’t really seem to comprehend who these people are and what this means. (We cannot say it too often: the Muslim Brotherhood are unrepentant Nazi collaborators, among other things.) There are about 300 nationalist officers in Turkey but all the soldiers in the field pretty watch are Brotherhood types (though not necessarily under the Muslim Brotherhood's direct discipline.

Interview With Barry Rubin on the Situation in Turkey and Syria

The following is from an interview Barry Rubin gave to National Review's Kathryn Jean Lopez on June 13: What’s Happening in Turkey? And how will it end? It is reposted here with permission.

Middle East expert Barry Rubin

Q: Are the protests in Turkey more Arab Spring or Occupy Wall Street?


A: The ideas that this is some far left thing is a slander by Islamists. Those involved include a wide front of social democrats, liberals, and conservatives (usually called center-right in Turkey), and all sorts of people who are tired of a ten-year-long march toward Islamism. This is the kind of thing we should be supporting. Instead, unfortunately, the Obama Administration is on the side of the democratically elected dictator, so to speak. (See: ‘Model’ Muslim State Turkey Accelerates Towards Tyranny)


Q: What is this exposing about Erdogan?

Is Obama's Buddy, Tayyip "Mosques Are Our Barracks" Erdogan Also A Reformist?

We have been informed by the media that newly elected Iranian president Hassan Rohani is a moderate -- this despite the fact that

• Rouhani boasted that while talks were taking place in Teheran, Iran was able to complete the installation of equipment for conversion of yellowcake
  
  
• In 1999, Rowhani declared that protesters who damaged public property would be tried as enemies of the state -- a crime carrying the death penalty [the 1999 describes Rohani as a hardliner].
  
  
• According to an indictment by the Argentine government prosecutor, Rohani was on the Iranian government committee that plotted the 1994 bombing of a Jewish community center in Buenos Aires.

But Rohani is not the first Islamist to be hailed as a moderate -- take Turkey's Erodgan, for example.

Daniel Pipes: What Turkey's Riots Mean

The following by Daniel Pipes is reposted here with permission:

What Turkey's Riots Mean

by Daniel Pipes
The Washington Times
June 19, 2013

Rebellion has shaken Turkey since May 31: Is it comparable to the Arab upheavals that overthrew four rulers since 2011, to Iran's Green Movement of 2009 that led to an apparent reformer being elected president last week, or perhaps to Occupy Wall Street, which had negligible consequences?

The government of Istanbul told mothers to "bring their children home" but instead they joined the protests in Taksim Square.

The unrest marks a deeply important development with permanent implications.

Video From Last Year: Latma's Song in Honor of Turkey's Erdogan

The English translation to this week's Latma has not appeared on YouTube yet, so I am reposting a segment from last year's Latma about Erdogan, "the Turkish Dumbell" (Tembel).

I'll post this week's Latma when it comes out later today.

Here is the Erdogan video:

Mideast Media Sampler 6/05/13: Review of Events Leading Up To Protests Against Erdogan in Turkey

by David Gerstman, contributing blogger at Legal Insurrection


1) Talkin' Turkey

Claire Berlinski provides the recent background for the foment going on in Turkey:

Of late, almost every sector of the electorate has felt unease about one part or another of Erdogan’s agenda. Restrictive new alcohol legislation, rammed through parliament, as usual, with contempt for the minority opposition, has prompted outrage; the so-called peace process with the PKK, which no one understands, has caused great unease. Anxiety is growing as well, not only about press censorship, but also about the prosecution of those who insult government officials or “Islamic values” on social media.

Daniel Pipes on The Good News About The Protests in Turkey Against Erdogan

The following by Daniel Pipes is reposted here with permission:

The Good News in Turkey

by Daniel Pipes
Los Angeles Times
June 4, 2013

http://www.danielpipes.org/12960/turkey-good-news

How to interpret the recent unrest on the streets of Istanbul and about 65 other Turkish cities? Specifically, is it comparable to the Arab uprisings over the last 2½ years in Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Syria, Yemen and Bahrain?

Turks have fun picturing Prime Minister Erdoğan as an Ottoman ruler.

On one level, they appear unrelated, for Turkey is a far more advanced country, with a democratic culture and a modern economy. But two connections — autocracy and Syria — do tie them together, suggesting that the Turkish demonstrations could have a potentially deep importance.

David P. Goldman on The Economics of the 'Turkish Spring'

The following by David P. Goldman is reposteed here with permission of Middle East Forum:

The Economics of the 'Turkish Spring'

by David P. Goldman
Asia Timesne 3, 2013

http://www.meforum.org/3522/turkish-spring-economics

Pitched battles between anti-government demonstrators and Turkish police over several days at Istanbul's Taksim Square constitute a national uprising against Recep Tayyip Erdogan's incipient Islamist dictatorship. As of this writing on June 2, tens of thousands of regime opponents are in control of the heart of Istanbul while police have withdrawn. The economic distress of Turkish households is an important factor in the country's political upheaval.

News media have already dubbed the demonstrations a "Turkish Spring". That is a turnabout, for the "Turkish model" was touted two years ago as the solution to the economic and social problems of the failing police states of Arab nationalism. Erdogan's supposedly moderate Islamism and dynamic economic management supposedly offered a way out for Egypt and other failed economies of the Middle East.

Arlene Kushner on Kerry's Push For Peace -- And Why It Will Fail

From Arlene Kushner:
May 29, 2013

Reprise

Ah that I were a mind reader.  But, alas, I am not.  So I garner as much information as I can, and rely on my analysis and my intuition.  Sometimes that's not enough.

Last time I wrote, I alluded to a statement by Strategic Affairs Minister Yuval Steinitz (Likud), who had  criticized Peres' eagerness for that "two state solution" and his fawning over Abbas.  Peres doesn't speak for the government, he said, and, "every declaration of this sort, certainly on the eve of negotiations, does not help Israel's stance." 

I caught that "on the eve of negotiations," and pointed it out with some unease, but with no certainty about what he was saying.

~~~~~~~~~~

Yesterday, Steinitz had something else to say.  "The government’s position is very clear, and I support it: We do support two states for two peoples..."  he told Times of Israel."

Obama Praises Turkey's Erdogan As Erdogan Puts A Knife in the US's Back

The situation is getting very dangerous and with a "friend" like Erdogan it is clear that Obama’s policy toward Syria, Iran, the advance of revolutionary Islamism, and the Israel-Palestinian “peace process,” is in serious trouble.
Barry Rubin

Barry Rubin writes about further signs of Obama's failed foreign policy as Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan Praised at White House as He Subverts U.S. Interests

Rubin notes 5 factors that should have mitigated against the warm reception that Obama gave Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan during his visit to the White House -- yet didn't. Here is a summary of 2 of them:

Secretary of State Kerry Blunders Again In Turkey, As Erdogan Rebuffs Him And Will Go To Gaza

Jonathan Tobin writes that Turks Show Kerry Who’s the Boss after Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan rebuffed Kerry's request that he delay his trip to Gaza and told him in no uncertain terms that not only was he going as scheduled, and that it was no business of the US to interfere:

The Turkish insistence on going ahead with a gesture designed to prop up the Islamist dictators of Gaza shows that the entire premise of Kerry’s plan for a new bout of Middle East peace negotiations is based on false hopes and misperceptions. While Kerry already seemed to be setting himself up for failure with the Palestinians, the umbrage expressed by Ankara seems to indicate that more is wrong here than the new secretary’s faith in shuttle diplomacy. It’s not only that the administration seems blind to the realities of the Middle East. The former senator, who thinks of himself as a skilled and sophisticated envoy to the world, is handicapped by his blind faith in diplomacy and determination to ignore the power of Islamist ideology. And as this latest spat with Turkey illustrates, that failure may lead to Kerry making a bad situation even worse.

The Reason For Erdogan's Continuing Rage Against Israel

The following by Steven J. Rosen is reposted here with permission of Middle East Forum:

Erdogan and the Israel Card

by Steven J. Rosen
Wall Street Journal
June 10, 2010

The deaths of nine Turkish citizens in the Gaza flotilla incident would have brought a severe reaction under any circumstances. What is nonetheless striking in this incident is the unbridled anger and fiercely hostile reaction of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the Turkish public. Mr. Erdogan said Israel was guilty of "state terrorism" and a "bloody massacre." His foreign minister, Ahmet Davutoglu, said "This attack is like 9/11 for Turkey," comparing it to a premeditated act of aggression that took 2,900 lives.

Mr. Erdogan does not always display such reactions to allegations of human rights violations. Last year, he defended Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, indicted by the International Criminal Court for killing half a million Sudanese Christians and non-Arab Muslims. In March 2010, he denied that Turks ever killed Armenian civilians. He labeled a U.S. congressional resolution on the Armenian deaths "a comedy, a parody." He said that the Turkish military garrison stationed in Cyprus since 1974 is "not an occupier" but "[ensures] the peace." On tens of thousands of Kurds killed by Turkish security forces from 1984 to 1999, he says nothing.

Could it be that there is something more to Mr. Erdogan's rage against Israel than just a spontaneous reaction to the loss of life here?

Arlene Kushner on Turkey, Syria, The Palestinians -- And The Tamar Gas Field

From Arlene Kushner:
April 2, 2013

Heads Held High

Pesach concluded last night here in Israel, and will end at dark tonight elsewhere.  My hope is that each of you has had a joyous and meaningful holiday -- and that the joy and sense of purpose it conveyed will remain.

I'm going to go backward in this posting and look at some of what has occurred during the days that I was away from my computer.  But I want to begin here with an excellent talk by Chief Rabbi of England, Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks, who just weeks ago addressed the AIPAC Conference in Washington DC.  (With thanks to Rebecca M.)  It sets an important tone for us.

Rabbi Sacks begins by addressing the state of the world, with its growing anti-Semitism, which today takes the guise of anti-Zionism.  And then...then he speaks about the glories of Israel -- most specifically about Israel as the most stunning expression of the Jewish commandment to choose life.  No editorial comment is necessary.

Mideast Media Sampler 3/31/13: Netanyahu Apology to Erdogan a Coup for Israel

By David Gerstman, contributing blogger to Legal Insurrection

1) The counter-intuitive truth
David Ignatius, recently peddling conventional wisdom about President Obama's recent Middle East, Obama's Pragmatic Approach, trip listed three accomplishments of that trip. Two of them were:

Obama breathed a little life back into an Israeli-Palestinian peace process that had all but expired. He did this largely by the force of his March 21 speech in Israel. What he accomplished was the diplomat's trick of riding two horses at once: The speech was a love letter to Israel, as one commentator noted, and it was also a passionate evocation of the Palestinians' plight, and the need to "look at the world through their eyes."
...
Obama brokered an important reconciliation between Netanyahu and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. With the region in turmoil, this was a matter of vital national interest for both Israel and Turkey, but it took Obama to provide the personal link that made it happen. This was a payoff for Obama's cultivation of Erdogan since 2010, and for his "reset" with Netanyahu.

Contrary to these claims, Charles Krauthammer and Barry Rubin have argued that President Obama has acknowledged that the peace process is going nowhere.
Now Lee Smith argues that Netanyahu's apology to Erdogan was not Obama's coup, but Netanyahu's:

Why Netanyahu's Apology To Erdogan May Have Been A Good Idea

The following by Daniel Pipes is reposted here with permission:

On Second Thought … Maybe that Israeli Apology to Turkey was a Good Idea

by Daniel Pipes
March 29, 2013
Cross-posted from National Review Online, The Corner

http://www.danielpipes.org/blog/2013/03/on-second-thought-maybe-that-israeli-apology-to

I was appalled to learn a week ago that the Israeli prime minister had apologized to his Turkish counterpart for his government's actions during the Mavi Marmara incident, seeing this as feeding the Turkish government's inflated sense of grandeur and power.

That prediction was born out in spades.

The municipality of Turkey's capital city, Ankara, put up billboards on city streets reveling in the Israeli apology. They are not subtle, showing a sad-looking Netanyahu beneath a larger, buoyant Erdoğan, separated by the Mavi Marmara itself. Addressing Erdoğan, they read: "Israel apologized to Turkey. Dear Prime Minister, we are grateful that you let our country experience this pride."