Dark Propaganda
Erdoğan has announced that he's cut off talks with Syria. The language he's used to announce this is fascinating:
The Syrian government has launched a dark propaganda against Turkey. It is really obnoxious.
The back story is that the Syrian opposition here accused the government of handing a defector, Hussein Harmoush, back to the Syrians.
No one quite knows how Syrian dissident Hussein Harmoush went from the safety of a Turkish refugee camp into the clutches of the regime he thought he had escaped. But his case has his fellow political exiles nervous.
The military defector’s plight has highlighted the vulnerability of foreign political dissidents in Turkey. Some analysts are questioning Ankara’s ability or willingness to protect those seeking refuge.
Lt. Col. Harmoush, the highest-ranking soldier yet to abandon the Syrian regime, was paraded on Syrian state television on September 15, when he “confessed” to his role in the six-month-old resistance to President Bashar al-Assad’s government.
The story, the government has implied (without mentioning the accusation directly), is just dark propaganda.
This theme comes up over and over in Turkey: dark propaganda. Erdoğan complained of dark propaganda against his party in the run-up to the election. Today's Zaman calls critics of the government dark propagandists on a near-daily basis. Criticism of Turkey's policy toward Israel is of course dark propaganda. Wikileaks? Dark propaganda. Concern about press freedom? Dark propaganda.
Meanwhile, We've had a very exciting day, Cyprus-wise:
Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan described offshore gas drilling by estranged ally Israel and Cyprus as "madness" on Wednesday, raising the stakes in a confrontation over potentially huge deposits in the eastern Mediterranean. ...
Erdogan again emphasised Turkish military prowess on Wednesday: "Our assault boats and frigates are already in the region," Anatolian quoted him as saying.
The United Nations is trying to unite Cyprus as a federation and wants talks to conclude by mid 2012. The European Commission has called for Cyprus and Turkey to show restraint in the gas row and work toward a settlement on the island.
Turkey's new tension with Israel makes the issue even more explosive at a time when the Arab Spring revolts are reshaping the balance of power in the region. Erdogan said last week that Turkish warships could be sent to the eastern Mediterranean at any time and Israel could not do whatever it wants there.
And we've had more news about the dead Chechens and the Russian assassin:
According to officials, the passport found in Garkov’s hotel room suggests that the Russian suspect was in İstanbul in 2009 when Chechen commander Ali Osaev was also killed in Zeytinburnu. There are now questions as to whether the murder in 2009 and those on Friday could have been perpetrated by the same individual. Osaev, who moved to Turkey with his family after participating in the Chechen-Russian war, was killed in front of his house in the Gökalp neighborhood. Police are now investigating the possible link to Garkov, having noted further that he fled the country immediately after Osaev’s death.
Berg Khazh Musavei, who was known as the “Hamzat Commander,” took over this position as leader of the Chechen community from Osaev following his death. Musavei was tasked with collecting aid for Chechen families, handling problems faced by former Chechen fighters and providing them with hideouts and shelter from Russian secret service agents.
The murders on Friday were followed by severe criticism from Chechens of the Turkish state for its inability to protect the Chechen community.
Turkish jets bombed Kandil, 2000 ground forces went into Tunceli, and of course yesterday's PKK (assumed) attack in Ankara is causing worry that this might be the beginning of an urban campaign.
The head of the main opposition CHP--the most incompetent little mouse of a politician on the planet, without a doubt--surveyed this series of bungled policies and took aim: He complained that the NATO radar would turn Turkey into a "shield for Israel." Kılıçdaroğlu has managed to make himself look even more unappealing to the West than Erdoğan, which these days is not easy to do.
Turkish Daily Weird factor (WF) about 8 and rising.
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Comments :
Feb '11
Re: Dark Propaganda
I'm told the Turkish Daily Weird Factor, like Spinal Tap's amplifiers, goes to 11.
I'm sure I'm one of many readers who are increasingly worried about you. Stay out of the explosions, please.
Edited on Sep 21, 2011 at 11:52amFeb '11
Re: Dark Propaganda
Dark propaganda. That seems like a huge opening for a lot of political satire. Is that the case in Turkey?
Sep '11
Re: Dark Propaganda
Claire,
An earlier post of yours included a map showing (what I assume to be) oil and/or gas fields south and southwest of Cyprus--which is to say, between Cyprus and Israel.
Is this where Turkey is proposing to explore? Is this where they're proposing to assert naval power?
Or are they talking about exploring for gas and/or oil between north Cyprus and Turkey--north of the island?
Or are they being vague about where, leaving one to wonder what exactly they have in mind?
Dec '10
Re: Dark Propaganda
Claire, in English, the word "dark" can have connotations of race and of evil magic, beyond the mere connotation of "sinister." Does the Turkish expression "dark propaganda" hold any such connotation of race or of demonic magic?
Dec '10
Re: Dark Propaganda
John Murdoch: Claire,
An earlier post of yours included a map showing (what I assume to be) oil and/or gas fields south and southwest of Cyprus--which is to say, between Cyprus and Israel.
Is this where Turkey is proposing to explore? Is this where they're proposing to assert naval power?
Or are they talking about exploring for gas and/or oil between north Cyprus and Turkey--north of the island?
Or are they being vague about where, leaving one to wonder what exactly they have in mind?
Turkey doesn't have territorial waters that extend to the south of Cyprus: Syria and Lebanon are in the way.
If Cyprus truly becomes an undivided state, Turkey won't be able to claim joint exploration rights with just the northern Turkish part. And while Cyprus remains divided, oil and gas income to the southern Greek part will make it all the more difficult for Turkey to press to keep the island divided.
So finding petrochemical energy is probably not Turkey's main priority in dealing with northern Cyprus. Preventing southern Cyprus from becoming wealthy enough to attract the north to reunify with it is a bigger concern.
Re: Dark Propaganda
No, it comes from the Cold War and from periods of military rule. There's black, grey, and white propaganda--but if you want to make it sound less weird, try replacing it with the word we hip Americans use: "spin."
Apr '11
Re: Dark Propaganda
From the inimitable Spengler…
“The left (and the European left in particular) doesn’t like certain facts because they are dying — literally. The triumph of the secular welfare state in Europe is associated with a catastrophic population decline. Three-fifths of southern Europeans will be elderly pensioners by mid-century. Of course, they’re going to go bankrupt. And Muslim society is fragile, and much of the Muslim world has entered a tailspin from which it won’t recover. The left clings to the magical idea that if only Israel would roll over and die, and validate the illusions of the Muslims, that somehow this horrific future might be avoided.
The sociologist Eric Kaufmann is an enlightened liberal, because he observes that liberalism is a self-liquidating proposition: “The weakest link in the secular account of human nature is that it fails to account for people’s powerful desire to seek immortality for themselves and their loved ones,” he wrote in a recent book titled Shall the Religious Inherit the Earth? Secular liberals don’t have children while people of faith do.”
http://pajamasmedia.com/spengler/2011/09/21/why-wont-liberals-listen-to-reason/?singlepage=true