"Military’s grip in Turkey is waning; New questioning of old order by confident public" by Janine Zacharia, Washington Post | April 25, 2010
That can only be good news since works for Mossad.
ISTANBUL — Since the Turkish republic’s founding 87 years ago, the military has stood as unquestioned guardian of secular democracy, intervening when it deemed necessary to keep religion out of politics in this overwhelmingly Muslim nation.
But
Another five cents in my cup.
now, battered by allegations of corruption and scandal, the authority of the once-unchallenged military is being whittled away by an increasingly assertive and confident public.
Yeah, and the thing about the nominally Islamic government is CORRUPTION -- unlike the "secular lootocracies" of USrael and friends -- THEY VIEW the LOOTING of PUBLIC TREASURIES as a theft against GOD!!!
I'm a bit envious, I will tell you that.
The critics are a diverse array of democracy advocates, head-scarf-wearing Muslim women, journalists, and others who complain that the military’s grip on power has largely benefited wealthy and secular elites.
Translation:
It is the ENTIRE POPULATION who is -- to quote a phrase I saw somewhere -- FED UP!
Old taboos are collapsing amid the new questioning of a military-political order established by revered national founder Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.
This is EXCITING READING, readers!!!!!
Ceren Kenar, 25, a graduate student in Istanbul, recalled marching in the streets of Ankara to protest against a blunt military foray into domestic politics in 2007. She said that when she wasn’t detained, “that was the moment I knew Turkey had changed.’’
Turks now freely discuss and criticize the military.
We can do that here; however, nothing really changes.
The wars drag on.... and on.... and on.... and.....
Most remarkably, senior officers, once immune from any kind of prosecution, have been arrested in an alleged conspiracy to oust Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s party from power.
Yes, it was an ISRAELI-BACKED COUP because of this phenomena described in the article and Turkey's criticism of the Gaza war crimes.
The officers are accused of taking part in an underground organization, known as Ergenekon, that allegedly plotted to overthrow Erdogan after he was elected in 2002. The arrests have deeply demoralized and rattled the military upon which Washington depends.
Yeah, we are REALLY UP for Turkish "democracy," huh?
If it is an "Islamic" democracy, we don't want it (unless we can point to it with pride like Iraq)!
The United States wants Turkey to continue with democratic reforms, but it also wants its military to remain a strong, reliable ally in the region.
The cup fills up fast, does it not?
President Obama signaled the importance of Turkey — which borders Iran, Iraq, and Syria — a year ago when he made it his first international destination as president. The Turkish military is not clearly controlled by civilian leaders — unlike that of the United States, where the president is commander in chief of the armed forces....
We don't want them to have what we have? Since when?
I guess we didn't write that constitution after an invasion and occupation.
Because of her dangerous central role publicizing the Ergenekon plot, Yasemin Congar, 43 and editor of Taraf, the two-year-old Turkish newspaper that has broken most of the Ergenekon stories, travels with bodyguards. She is careful not to take the ferry to work across the Bosporus, presumably for fear that she could be assassinated and dumped overboard.
And I think we have a pretty good idea which intelligence service would be looking to do a hit. So whose passports did they steal this time?
Beyond more open criticism of the military, society is shifting in more subtle ways.
Ataturk’s image is still just about everywhere, but when Turkey issued a new currency last year, the founder of the republic was put on only one side of the bill rather than both.
Maybe the Turks are FINALLY COMING to see the STUFFING of Ataturk, 'eh?
"In the 1930's, the revolutionary secularist leader, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, invited many eminent Jewish professors to escape persecution in Germany and settle in Turkey, and during the war provided a safe passage for many to Palestine."
Also see: http://m-kemal.blogspot.com
The great Muslim liberator of Turkey was a secret Jew?
The military no longer guards the parliament building, a symbolic change.
I smell a FALSE FLAG TERROR ATTACK, don't you?
That is the FIRST SIGNAL -- REMOVAL or "breakdown" of SECURITY!
Still,
Clink, cup.
the military has many fans who believe it has nobly guarded against religion undermining the nation’s secular character.
Unless, of course....
Many here suspect, for example, that Erdogan wants to turn Turkey into an Islamic state.
Oh, horrors of horrors!
Of course, it is OKAY to have a JEWISH STATE -- even if it is BUILT UPON MASS-MURDERING WAR CRIMES!!
Critics cite Erdogan’s push to allow women to wear head scarves at state universities — a major political issue here — and to make adultery illegal.
What, AFRAID they might IMPROVE the SOCIETY?
He failed at both.
Then WHY the OVERBLOWN, UNFOUNDED, and and INFLAMMATORY FEA.... oh, yeah, agenda.
Erdogan’s biggest political problem may be that he has failed to convince much of the traditional elite that he won’t take away their secular freedoms.
STILL in CHARGE after ALL THIS, huh?
One prominent critic, retired Brigadier General Haldun Solmazturk, said he doesn’t trust Erdogan to make decisions that will preserve Turkey’s secularism.
And HOW CAN THEY TRUST a AGENT of a FOREIGN GOVERNMENT with their country's security?
Still,
I'm going to have to get a bigger cup, dear readers!
many Turks are questioning whether Ataturk’s vision is appropriate in modern, diverse Turkey, a burgeoning economic and regional power with aspirations to join the European Union.
Yes, the WORLD is WAKING UP and it IS a TIME of REVEALING!!!
Kenar, the Ankara graduate student, predicted that protests against the military’s dominant role in society would continue to grow. “The overuse of Ataturk created a generation like mine,’’ she said.
SHE SAID?
:-)
--more--"
Of course, that is why the Turks must be flogged with the accompanying article:
"Armenians mark 95th anniversary of genocide" by Avet Demourian, Associated Press | April 25, 2010
YEREVAN, Armenia — Hundreds of thousands of Armenians laid flowers yesterday at a monument to the victims of mass killings by Ottoman Turks, marking the 95th anniversary of the start of the slaughter. President Obama called it “one of the worst atrocities of the 20th century.’’
Historians estimate that as many as 1.5 million Armenians were killed by Ottoman Turks around the time of World War I. Turkey denies that the deaths constituted genocide, saying the toll has been inflated and those killed were victims of civil war and unrest....
Why does no one scream Holocaust denial, 'eh?
And what is with Turkey under the military and Ataturk, anyway?
First the Armenians and now the Kurds.
Yeah, you are excused if you say who, readers.
The slaying began on April 24, 1915 when about 800 Armenian intellectuals were rounded up and murdered. The Ottoman authorities then evicted Armenians from their homes in actions that spiraled into the mass slaughter of Armenians. Scholars widely view the event as the first genocide of the 20th century....
Hey, I LOVE HISTORY (despite being lied to about it all by my state school); however, WHAT ABOUT the CURRENT and ONGOING HOLOCAUSTS ALL OVER the PLANET?
Isn't that "news?"
Turkey has warned the US administration of diplomatic consequences if it fails to prevent the passage of a congressional resolution that would brand the killings of Armenians genocide. The House Foreign Affairs Committee last month passed a resolution declaring the killings genocide, but it is unclear if the full House will vote on it.
They are NOT!
See: House Hides Turkey's Holocaust Denial
Not that unclear, so why.... sigh.
Countries recognizing the killings as genocide include Uruguay, Chile, Argentina, Russia, Canada, Lebanon, Belgium, Greece, Italy, the Vatican, France, Switzerland, Slovakia, the Netherlands, Poland, Lithuania, and Cyprus. Last month, Sweden’s Parliament narrowly approved a resolution recognizing the slaying of Armenians as genocide. Obama’s statement, which did not use the word “genocide,’’ said: “It is in all of our interest to see the achievement of a full, frank, and just acknowledgment of the facts.’’
Then why do you lie about so many things, sir?
And HE is the one who convinced the House to block the vote!
What a HYPOCRITE and -- dare I say it -- HOLOCAUST DENIER!!!!!
--more--"
Yeah, I can see where the Armenians would be a bit peeved, what with being the first and then having to play second fiddle to that other Holocaust™.
