February 18, 2014

PM Erdoğan continues with insults, threats against Hizmet movement

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has continued to unjustifiably insult and direct threats at the Hizmet movement, inspired by Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen, implicitly claiming that Hizmet is involved in treason.

What will emerge from March 30?

Mümtazer Türköne

It is well known that Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is a leader who believes strongly in the importance of public research polls. For years now, he has had three different companies carry out research on voter trends as well as on topics occupying the national agenda.

Baseless allegations damage publicly traded firms

Turkish Association of Capital Market Intermediary Institution (TSPAKB) Chairman Atilla Köksal said on Monday that baseless news stories circulating in the Turkish media about companies, banks and intermediary institutions are harming those institutions.

MGK plan in action

Mehmet Baransu

A National Security Council (MGK) plan -- dated Aug. 24, 2004, titled the “Plan to Crack Down on the Fethullah Gülen Group in Turkey” and undersigned by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, ministers and military commanders of the time -- is already being implemented.

Toward the 'Mubarak model'

Bülent Keneş

A brief look at the developments of the last two months reveals that the picture we are facing is completely new. The graft investigation which was conducted on Dec. 17, 2013 has exposed hair-raising claims about the corrupt practices of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP). Doubts about these corrupt practices were further reinforced by the fact that the second wave of operations planned under the same investigation was halted by the panicked government on Dec. 25, 2013. Despite the sheer number of gross scandals that would force any ruling party to resign at once in a normal state governed by rule of law, the Recep Tayyip Erdoğan administration continues to rule the country. In all respects, the situation in our country can hardly be reconciled with democratic values, basic legal principles or norms or ordinary ethical values.

Brussels, Paris and Berlin

Ali Yurttagül*

I think this was the first time when real progress was made in discussions over Turkish-EU ties in two weeks of meetings. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan visited Brussels on Jan. 21, 2014; one week later, French President François Hollande made his long-expected visit to Ankara. One week after this visit from Paris, the Turkish prime minister flew to Berlin.

“Somalis will remember your aid”

Kimse Yok Mu Foundation continues its efforts to meet the water, hot meal, clothing and medication needs in Somalia, stricken with terror and famine. The foundation’s school in the capital Mogadishu and scholarships too are aimed at securing a better future for Somalis.

Gülen media, pro-government media, is it the same thing?

Barçın Yinanç

“Alo Fatih...” could become a campaign motto for the opposition Nationalist Movement Party (MHP). Alo is the word we use when we pick up the phone. “Alo Fatih…” refers to a telephone conversation between Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Fatih Saraç, a high level official of Habertürk TV channel. Erdoğan calls Saraç from Morocco during the Gezi protests last June, requesting that he stops broadcasting MHP leader Devlet Bahçeli’s speech. In a second recording, Saraç phones a Habertürk TV editor and gives the necessary instructions. In a third one he calls Bilal Erdoğan, the prime minister’s son, offering his apologies adding, “I get really sad when my big brother [in reference to PM] gets sad.”

Who is Behind the Pennsylvania Protests?

Aydoğan Vatandaş*

The most important message of last summer's Gezi protests in Turkey was that Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's government had lost its legitimacy in the eyes of some segments of Turkish society.

Kimse Yok Mu to send aid for Syrian refugees with 50 TIRs

Turkish charity organization Kimse Yok Mu will distribute aid materials to the Syrian refugees with a total of 50 TIRs (International Road Transport) as part of a large-scale aid campaign called Sana İhtiyacım Var (I Need You).