President of Turkey--Literally--Embracing the Iranian Regime
For all I've been dubious of the Obama Administration's handling of recent events in the Middle East, at least he hasn't found himself in this awkward position:
Nice display of flowers on that table, but there aren't flowers enough in the world to make what's happening in Iran smell like roses:
Surely this isn't the image of Turkey the AKP wants the whole world to see at a time like this?
Well, perhaps it is. Seems like a PR disaster, if you ask me, but I guess by now they know that no one really notices these things that much.
Let's review Prime Minister Erdoğan's remarks on Egypt:
I am sending greetings on behalf of the Turkish nation to the people of Egypt,” Erdoğan said in an address in the northwestern province of Sakarya. “The people of Egypt should rest assured that they have Turkey, which always wants peace for them.”
Over the past two weeks, Erdoğan has backed protesters’ demands and called for elections for transition to democratic rule. He repeated that call once again in Sakarya, saying, “Free and fair elections should be held as soon as possible, with no toleration of chaos, instability or provocations, and constitutional democracy should be secured.”
“The will of the Egyptian people should be reflected in the election results without any doubt cast on the legitimacy of the election,” Erdoğan said. Immediately after Mubarak’s resignation, Erdoğan’s press office also issued a statement expressing support for the Egyptian people’s demands for democracy and freedom, and calling on the military to hand over power to a new government after holding an election.
Consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, I suppose.
Once again (this will fall on deaf ears, but I'll say it anyway): Don't go overboard in interpreting this as a warning of encroaching Islamism in Turkey. There's that for sure--you could not persuade yourself this is a good idea without that ideological inclination--but the key word you're looking for here is greed.
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Re: President of Turkey--Literally--Embracing the Iranian Regime
Or opportunism -- the opportunity to score a point against a regime not allied with Hamas.
Jun '10
Re: President of Turkey--Literally--Embracing the Iranian Regime
So, we've established Erdoğan's profession. He's just a high-priced one.
Nov '10
Re: President of Turkey--Literally--Embracing the Iranian Regime
I guess this answers in the affirmative a question I asked about Erdogan in a previous discussion (but never got an answer).
Re: President of Turkey--Literally--Embracing the Iranian Regime
Sorry, TeeJaw, I must have missed that--which thread was that? Would you mind steering me to it again?
Dec '10
Re: President of Turkey--Literally--Embracing the Iranian Regime
Erdogan's response is not that different from that of the U.S. Obama did allow, today, that the killing of Iranians was not approved, but didn't exactly inspire the Iranians in the street.