Miami Herald | Turkey, a US ally, muzzles the media Miami Herald Some may think that Erdogan started to silence critical media only after failed coup on July 15, 2016. But this is not true. Like many other journalists, Karaca became target long before the coup attempt as the president declared a war on free media ... |
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Turkey, a US ally, muzzles the media - Miami Herald
BRUSSELS (AP) High-level talks that European Union officials had with Turkeys foreign minister Tuesday did not appear to ease tensions between the 28-nation bloc and Ankara over a wave of detentions of human rights defenders, journalists and others.
After the meeting in Brussels, European enlargement commissioner Johannes Hahn expressed very strong concern about the detentions, while Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu defended them as a necessary part of his countrys fight against extremism.
Turkey has been mired in a diplomatic row with EU powerhouse and fellow NATO ally Germany following the arrests last week of a group of human rights activists, including a German national, on terror-related charges. Earlier, a German-Turkish journalist was arrested for allegedly spying and aiding Kurdish rebels.
Before the talks in Brussels started, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan signaled that the era of Turkey bowing to Western pressure was over.
The West wants Turkey to bring about their demands no questions asked I am sorry to say that Turkey no longer exists, Erdogan told a meeting of his ruling partys legislators.
The meeting in Brussels was formally about Turkeys long-stalled bid for EU membership, the fight against terrorism and energy and trade ties. But they were held in the shadow of the sweeping government crackdown that came in the aftermath of a failed coup last year.
More than 50,000 people, including journalists and opposition lawmakers, have been detained since the July 15, 2016 coup attempt. Critics say the purge initially targeted people suspected of links to the leaders of the failed military takeover, but has expanded to include government opponents.
Human rights, the rule of law, democracy, fundamental freedoms including media freedom are all basic imperative requirements for any progress towards the European Union, Hahn said.
The EU wants to see progress in all these areas, he said.
I would like to stress once again our very strong concern about the imprisonment of a large number of journalists, writers, academics, lawyers and human rights defenders and we expect a due legal procedure in respect of the presumption of innocence, Hahn said.
Cavusoglu, however, defended the arrests of activists and journalists by saying they were detained on suspicion of involvement with extremists.
Turkey applied to join the EU three decades ago, and it started negotiating in 2005. But of the 16 negotiating chapters on issues as varied as capital movement and food safety, only one science and research has been provisionally closed.
Ankaras minister in charge of EU issues, Omer Celik, said Tuesdays discussions were constructive.
Its clear that we have differences, that we have disagreements, but dialogue, discussions and (the) search for settlements will of course continue, Celik added.
Celik called accession negotiations the backbone of EU-Turkey relations and said the best way to discuss differences would be to open accession chapters.
He said the chapters that cover the judiciary, fundamental rights and security should be opened.
Before the meeting, human rights activists urged the EU to use the meeting to press Ankara to release detained rights activists. Amnesty Internationals Turkey director, Idil Eser, and its chair, Taner Kilic, are among those being detained.
Our call is very simple. We want the unconditional and immediate release of these human rights defenders, Amnesty International Secretary General Salil Shetty said.
___
Associated Press writer Suzan Fraser in Ankara contributed to this report.
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President Erdogan ramps up rhetoric ahead of Turkey-EU talks - The Seattle Times
DOHA (Reuters) - Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan left Qatar on Monday after two days in the Gulf trying to mediate in the worst row among Arab states for years but there was no sign he had made any progress.
Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt severed diplomatic and travel ties with Qatar in June, accusing it of supporting Islamist militants. Doha denies the claims.
Turkey has been Qatar's most powerful ally in the dispute, rushing through legislation to send more troops to its base in Doha as a sign of support.
Kuwaiti and Western efforts to end the crisis have yielded little so far. The four Arab states want Qatar to reduce ties with their arch-foe Iran, close down the Turkish military base and shut the Al Jazeera TV channel, which they view as critical of their governments.
Qatari state news agency QNA said that Qatar's ruler, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, had "reviewed regional developments, specifically the Gulf crisis and efforts to contain it and to resolve it through diplomatic means..." in talks with Erdogan.
The agency said the talks also covered joint efforts to combat terrorism and reviewed defense and economic cooperation.
UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash said Qatar would achieve more by reconsidering its position.
"The Turkish president's visit did not carry anything new, and the hasty stand his country had taken made neutrality as the best option for Ankara" Gargash wrote on his Twitter account. "A Qatari review will achieve more than repeated visits."
Erdogan was the latest senior official to tour the region to try to resolve the crisis. U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and foreign ministers from France, Britain and Germany also toured the area in recent weeks.
Several contingents of Turkish troops with columns of armored vehicles have arrived in Doha since the crisis erupted on June 5.
Under a 2014 agreement, Ankara could send in as many as 1,000 troops.
Turkey and Qatar have been important backers of the Muslim Brotherhood movement that has challenged entrenched Arab rulers and Erdogan has his roots in an Islamist political party.
Saudi Arabia and the UAE have designated the Brotherhood a terrorist organization.
Before he arrived in Qatar, Erdogan visited Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. In Saudi Arabia, he discussed with King Salman "efforts to combat terrorism and its sources of funding", state news agency SPA said, without elaborating.
Reporting by Aziz El Yaakoubi in Doha and Ali Abdelaty in Cairo; Editing by Louise Ireland and Andrew Hay
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Turkey's Erdogan ends tour with no sign of Qatar progress - Reuters
alan
Sounds like the ground being prepared for an end to the refugee policy agreed with Turkey brace yourselves, again
Posted on 7/24/17 | 2:28 PM CEST
Dictators must get a response and it must be fast and swift. The longer you appease dictators the harder it get to control. lets give Erdogan a response that he get the message or we will be here in a year looking back and saying why Germany didnt respond to the early small provocations Lets make sure we have plan B with the German navy at the border so the Turks cannot push refugees on EU
Posted on 7/24/17 | 3:07 PM CEST
The issue here is that Germany has a very recent habit of being the ones forcing other countries to do what Germany wants (I would use the word dictates but it is really more strong influence). While the Turkish President is in the wrong, I also feel that the German approach over the last few years hasnt helped the international relations. It will be interesting to see the end game from both sides, and how that will have a domino effect on other areas. I think it is a case that the blame game has started for bad decisions made in Germany over the past few years, and the likely consequences of the future breakdown of relationships. Perhaps all politicians should remember that todays soundbite has a habit of turning into tomorrows wound.
Posted on 7/24/17 | 5:54 PM CEST
Nothing here that a hundred thousand revoked German green cards could not fix.
Posted on 7/24/17 | 6:45 PM CEST
Why does the EU have so many enemies all of a sudden?
Posted on 7/24/17 | 9:57 PM CEST
@wow
Because it is perceived as weak and ineffective.. and the sharks smell blood
Posted on 7/25/17 | 7:28 AM CEST
The Germans (Schauble) when they want to get a country IN the EU:
We want to have good relations with this big and important countryTurkey
But if you want to LEAVE the EU:
You are insignificant small country and will never last without us!!
OH DEAR!! its so see-through, one wonders if they really think people have no memories! SOmetimes they say opposing things to different countries on the same day and believe nobody will notice their duplicity!!!
Posted on 7/25/17 | 12:21 PM CEST
Berlin has already been blackmailed by Erdogan: that entire refugee deal was a piece of blackmail that Merkel cooked up unilaterally to save her political career other EU members, although they would have to pay a share of the 6bn euro deal, were not asked as the deal was being crafted, only after it was done.
No analyst worthy of the name would do anything but jeer at Schaubles assertion. Merkels blunder put Erdogans fingers around her and the EUs throat. If he lets those gates open before the election in September, Merkels career will never recover, and as the migrants flow to Europes shores on two fronts, the reopened Aegean/Balkan and the Mediterranean, watch the AfD and the FN and the Sweden Democrats suddenly begin to gain in the polls.
So, yes, Germany is being blackmailed and Merkel will do almost anything Turkey wants to keep those migrants in Turkey.
Posted on 7/25/17 | 11:03 PM CEST
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Schuble: Germany won't be 'blackmailed' by Erdoan - POLITICO.eu
Young people sit on the stairs next to the Roma bostan to take in the view. Lorena Rios
Its former mayornow Turkeys authoritarian presidentsaid the Gezi Park protests of 2013 were merely for the sake of a few trees. Today, activists are struggling to preserve green space against a sea of government-supported construction.
The first time I milked a cow was three years ago, Rana Soylemez, a 30-year-old Istanbulite, admits. The historic city is known around the world for its beauty, but only 2 percent is classified as public green space.
I am not dreaming about living in rural areas, Soylemez says, inside a hidden caf surrounded by a lush canopy of trees in a trendy central neighborhood. You [shouldnt] have to escape the city if you want a quality life, she adds. You dont have to be part of this madness; we can change it.
Istanbuls population has risen from 1 million to 14 million since 1950. Its current construction boom is a trademark of Turkeys ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).
Holding a firm grip on procedures such as zoning permits, building licenses, land allocation, and the selection of companies in public tenders, the AKP uses construction as leverage to achieve its goals. Currently, $64 billion in government funds are earmarked for big infrastructure investments like airports, bridges, motorways, and hospital complexesprojects as utilitarian as they are controversial.
Turkeys president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, dreams of positioning his country among the worlds top ten largest economies by 2023. In 2013, then-Minister of Transport, Maritime Affairs, and Communication Binali Yildirim boasted a 10-year, $250-billion infrastructure portfolio. Yet many locals resent trading green public space and heritage for glitz and glamour. City government attempts to soften the environmental damage from the building boom include planting about 26.5 million tulips across the city every year. Its a mostly appreciated effort, as tulips were very symbolic for the Ottomans and people still value them; however, the occasional sight of security guards standing in front of Taksim Squares new flower beds takes away from the pleasantness.
While Istanbul won European Capital of Culture in 2010, it lost its bid this year to become the European Green Capital. Erdogans Turkey Vision 2023 differs greatly from the dreams of citizens like Soylemez who want to protect green space from further development and privatization.
Soylemez is part of a small group of volunteers tending the Roma bostan (Turkish for garden) in the heart of the city. The bostan grew out of the 2013 Gezi Protests. Hundreds of thousands gathered in Istanbuls main square at the time to support environmentalists after the government announced it would demolish it for a mosque and a shopping center. The construction of the mall has been halted, but work on the mosque is underway. The protests, which Erdogana former mayor of Istanbulpublicly denounced as being for the sake of a few trees, served as an awakening for those unhappy with the governments murky policies and exclusionary planning process. At least three protesters at Gezi Park were killed and 8,000 injured at the hands of Turkish security forces.
Roma Bostan sits on a hill in the affluent neighborhood of Cihangir, facing the historical peninsula, the throne of the Ottoman and Byzantine Empires. During the violent dispersal during Gezi, protesters retreated from Taksim Square into nearby narrow streets to find shelter. Since then, the neighborhood has kept an anti-establishment reputation with anti-AKP youth often hanging out in its bars and cafes.
Striking domes and minarets unfold in all directions, but a city block of concrete buildings and construction cranes now obstructs the once-impeccable view of the Bosphorus strait from the one-acre garden. By law, Roma Bostan is designated as public space, but its prime location in front of the sea makes it a likely candidate for development. In fact, the municipal government now wants to turn it into a four-story caf, but the plan has faced opposition from a small group of activists.
Cinhangir is full of cafs, Soylemez says intensely. The last thing we need is another place to drink tea.
Roma Bostan is well-known locally as a spot where people bring their own drinks and sit on the hill to enjoy the view. In 2015, Soylemez joined a group to get visitors to stop leaving their trash behind and turn it into a place where people can grow their own food and still socialize.
Today, the garden now grows 20 different fruit species and runs on a permaculture design that saves water while fostering a sense of community. The bostan is mostly funded out of pocket, a smiling Soylemez says. We have a donation box and receive donations of seedlings and chicken manure from local farms. A pizza restaurant in the neighborhood gives us ash from their ovens to enhance soil, she adds. The people who still gather next to the garden to enjoy a few beers stopped littering. And Soylemez, who lives near the garden, now picks up fresh produce whenever she feels like it.
There are instances across the country of people standing up to AKP-supported, environmentally destructive constructionfiling lawsuits and collecting signatures, facing tear gas and police brutality in the process. In the Black Sea Region, locals have resisted the erection of hydroelectric plants and power plans at the expense of the environment. Back in February 2016, the small province of Artvin, for example, blocked roads, set tents, staged protests, and earned the title of a junior Gezi from Erdogan. Their resistance managed to keep the mining projects away, but their fight will continue, as Turkeys High Court recently rejected the 2016 cancellation of the project.
Construction is a visible act of development, of a bustling economy, explains Aslihan Demirtas, an architect based in Istanbul and New York City. Its a show. Your open spaces are always prone to being converted overnight into a 20th floor condominium.
On August 2016, Turkey inaugurated the Yavuz Sultan Selim bridge, $3 billion USD project that connects Istanbuls European and Asian sides. Work on a new airport, is expected to cost $14 billion and will be Europes biggest when it opens. It will also will wipe out 15,000 acres of forested land and disrupt more than 300 bird habitats and flight paths.
It is estimated that Istanbul will lose about 2.7 million trees from its northern forest with the construction of these two projects combined. Such initiatives are works of political and financial maneuvering that leave the government indifferent to the environmental impact. The [airport] and the [bridge] going through the northern forest is a natural crime, Demirtas says. Its an incision in the lungs of Istanbul. That will leave a scar.
Other megaprojects include the Eurasia Tunnel, an undersea motorway between the European and Asian shores of the Bosphorus, and a highwaycomplete with a suspension bridgefrom the industrial hub of Gebze outside Istanbul to Turkeys third-largest city, Izmir. Theres also Canal Istanbul, a man-made waterway still in the planning stage, and Three-level Big Istanbul Tunnel, the worlds first three deck undersea tunnel.
Istanbul can only have more green spaces if half of the city is destroyed by the upcoming earthquake, Ali Taptik, an Istanbul-based artist trained as an architect, says glumly. (The city sits on an active fault line.)
In the construction industry in Turkey everything is managed for immediate profit. People want to see immediate economic benefit, he says. It's the commodification of Istanbul. This approach makes it difficult for architects and urban planners to develop projects that value cultural wealth and heritage. It is not the environment vs. the city; it doesnt work that way, he adds. We need to limit construction.
This goes for proposed parks, too. Taptik and Demirtas are outspoken activists for the protection of the Yedikule Bostan, a memorial garden along Istanbuls ancient city walls. Gardening in the Yedikule Bostan is a 1,500-year-old practice, and the architects along with a group of historians, environmentalists, artists, and concerned civilianscame together to protect the space in 2013 after the government announced plans to turn it into a modern public park.
The activists want to protect not only the heritage and historical value of the Yedikule Bostan, but also the livelihoods that the particularly green and fertile land sustain. Takptik says the park proposal, which would include cafes, an artificial river, and paving over of the bostan, is unnecessary and another step towards the citys commodification. The citys plan instantly sparked a heated debate. Activists wanted to see the bostan preserved while residents supported the park proposal.
We consider the bostan and the bostanci [gardener] our cultural heritage, Demirtas explains. So we acknowledge that our fighting is very paradoxical; fighting to prevent a privately cultivated land from becoming a publicly usable park.
Gardeners and ecological activists have been the best supporters of Yedikule, Taptik says. Their work has stopped the municipalitys plan to build a park and has given visibility to the cultural and historical heritage of the garden. For the people behind Roma Bostan, their resistance has also yielded fruit. The neighborhood association where the garden is located just won a court case that forbids the municipality from building over existing green spaces.
Since Gezi, a lot of community gardens emerged from the movement with the name of bostans, Taptik continues. They have been called gardens of resistance.
Correction: A previous version of this article misspelled the name of Aslihan Demirtas.
Lorena Rios is a freelance journalist formerly based in Istanbul. She now resides in New York.
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Making Room for Nature in Erdogan's Istanbul - CityLab