Turkey’s Erdogan Going Anti-Semitic
Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has often shown his true Islamist colors during his years in office, but nothing quite like his behavior and words since Israel decided to attack Hamas eighteen days ago.
He made his first unacceptable public statement when campaigning in a small Turkish village. He told a friendly crowd that “God will punish” Israel and that its actions would lead to its destruction.
The second time he went way overboard in public, Erdogan did not merely show himself as being fiercely anti-Israel, as every Islamist is, but even as an anti-Semite.
While speaking in Parliament Tuesday, Erdogan made clear that he no longer respects Israel, a traditional regional ally of the Turks. “Whoever does not express resentment over the killing of civilians, including women and children, loses his self respect,” Erdogan said.
He then continued, in clearly anti-Semitic words, that “media outlets supported by Jews are disseminating false reports on what happens in Gaza, finding unfounded excuses to justify targeting of schools, mosques and hospitals.”
Although one could certainly criticize Israel for targeting mosques, hospitals and schools at certain times, it is undeniably true that Hamas is hiding in those buildings, while shooting at Israeli soldiers. These are not “false reports”; they are confirmed by every single person with knowledge of the situation and even Hamas itself brags about it.
Erdogan is radicalizing pretty quickly and it seems that Turkish secularists are letting him get away with it, probably because a solid majority of the Turkish people opposes Israel’s operation in Gaza strongly (if not the operation itself, than the scale of it). However, Erdogan is presenting himself as a Caliph rather than as the prime minister of a secular country, which should worry Turks tremendously; he shows his true face, and they are not doing anything about it right now, not even his staunchest opponents.
Someone will have to keep Erdogan in check. He’s radicalizing so much right now that even Hamas describes Turkey as “an Islamic” state. He is not acting in Turkey’s interest; instead, his actions are determined by his fundamentalist beliefs. Secularist Turks should let him know that their country is secular and that any deviation from the secular principles upon which Turkey was founded will result in a massive confrontation between Erdogan and the country’s secular opposition.
Oh dear… Progressive Turks must be red in the face with embarrassment of their uneducated ignorant prime minister.
It’s quite true that there is close to a total “Media Black out” of information in the USA as well as in Canada about the conflict, and what we get to see on CNN and other medias is minimal and published in a propagandist style therefore, distorted.
But I can only speak for North-American medias.
“Someone will have to keep Erdogan in check. He’s radicalizing so much right now that even Hamas describes Turkey as “an Islamic” state.”
I read your source but I couldn’t find the words you quoted?
Michael I actually do not find anti-semitism in his speech. I don’t believe that somebody who believes that the U.S. media has a pro-Jewish bias is an anti-Semite (while I don’t agree with the statement itself). But please, the American movie industry is dominated by a lot more people of Jewish descent than is warranted in the U.S. population. That’s “media” as well. A lot of foreigners bundle up the two while evaluating the media as a whole.
As a Turkish person of Jewish descent has very rightfully stated about this conflict, Judaism is a religion while Israel is a state. Unfortunately the two are too intermingled to make the distinction necessary in order to fairly analyze what is going on without labeling those who critique Israel as anti-Semite or pro-Hamas, pro-terrorist, pro-Islamic, etc. Unfortunately these arguments are repeatedly used by either pro-Isreali or pro-war crowds in making the case for invasions.
On the other hand, I do agree with Michael and Crimson Politics that Erdogan and the AKP are starting to show their colors in everything they do, including “reengineering” the voting population for the upcoming elections (via “teleporting” non-existant AKP voters to anti-AKP spots), their witchhunts of the significant secular personalities in Turkey via their Ergenekon case (intended to intimidate and bully the opposition), their continuous suppression of the media, and all the rest. As they say in Turkish, the village you see before you needs no extra guidance.
Erdogan’s opposition to the Israeli invasion of Gaza is a very calculated one, as the majority of the Turkish constituency is indeed against the bombing of the Gaza territory for humanitarian reasons, and he is definitely investing in the upcoming elections via his rhetoric. Now THIS has nothing to do with ignorance or Islamic radicalism. There is a reason why this guy has become the prime minister of the country of Turkey, so please do not underestimate. Now he has – yet again – painted the picture of a guy who dares to speak out against injustice and in favor of the underdog – and that’s how he rose to the top as well (remember the black Turk – white Turk gibberish)…
It is also one of the reasons why I’m angry with Israel – the ammunition they give to the fundamentalist Islamists in radicalizing even the moderate Islamic populations via their actions. So yes, if the openly Islamic Saadet (Felicity) Party has increased their vote from 4% to 8% in Turkey purely as a result of this latest Gaza conflict, I pay attention.
Crimson Politics, Erdogan is a very smart man and anything but ignorant. Also if Israel is complaining that the footage out of Gaza is “doctored”, perhaps they should allow foreign journalists into the region. But ooops, that way you would also have third parties documenting atrocities too, so we are left with footage that Gazans take on their own. Too bad they own cameras, eh? I guess there is no easy way to control your “PR” when you are killing civilians. George W Bush (and also John McCain) have paid the price for that.
Armand: here.
Selin; that’s because you are not a Westerner. We recognize anti-Semitism because we have heard it all before, for decades even hundreds of years. The “Jewish media” is about as anti-Semitic as one can get. Defending Erdogan on this one truly reduces the respect a Westerner may have for you. Anladi mi?
If the “majority of the Turkish constituency” (or any of the other of Israel’s critics) had any record of consistently being equally condemnational towards Hamas’ endorsements of genocide and its intentional, continual attacks on Israeli civilians, I might be convinced that “humanitarian reasons” were involved. I might also be convinced that “humanitarian reasons” were involved if there was any record of condemning Hamas for its campaign of murder and repression against its Palestinian political opponents.
But since they don’t care about Jewish deaths, don’t care about Palestinian deaths at the hands of other Palestinians, don’t care about Hamas’ use of Palestinian civilians as human shields, and ONLY speak out when Israel does something to actually defend itself, I don’t think it is “humanitarian reasons” at all. I think it is just anti-semitism being dressed up in humanitarian drag when convenient to do so.
If Israel’s critics want to avoid the charge of anti-semitism, then they have a minimal obligation to (1) condemn Hamas’ depravity equally and consistently and prior to the recent Israeli responses (not just as an afterthought or throw-away) and (2) propose some meaningful alternatives (rather than just condemning everything Israel does in self-defense automatically).
Michael, we are going to that confrontation all right. The latest wave of Ergenekon detentions are in my opinion quite a sign.
“Selin; that’s because you are not a Westerner. We recognize anti-Semitism because we have heard it all before, for decades even hundreds of years.”
Of course Michael, that’s because the West invented anti-Semitism. I DO see your point loud and clear. Which is partly why the West is virtually unable to critique Israel on any front at this point.
Michael, thanks for sharing your belief about “respect” (or lack thereof) that a Westerner may have for me. I’ve had many opportunities to figure that out on my own, you did not have to add insult to the injury. Quite a few things happened to me before I even had the opportunity to voice any controversial opinions on politics or religion (like I do here for instance – maybe I should at least deserve some of it. See where I’m going here with this?). Why was that? God knows what would have happened had I voiced – aloud – my initial objections against Iraq invasion in 2003 as well as the current Gaza situation.
Many Westerners critique Muslims as a whole and I’ve received my share of that despite no initial offense initiated by myself. I routinely hear wide blanketed criticisms of Islam. And the same people defend their positions as not “racist” based on the notion that Islam is a religion and not a race.
In my opinion, Erdogan’s statement is anti-Israel, but not anti-Semitic. He is a lot of things, and I absolute do not support him in any way, but he is NOT an anti-Semite.
Jason, I believe that 1000 Palestinian deaths, of which about 200-300 are estimated to be children, count more than the 3 Israeli civilians that died during the conflict. Also because the situation in Gaza is one of humanitarian disaster, in my opinion it takes over priority. For many in the Middle East, it MAY be a form of anti-Semitism that conveniently takes on a humanitarian drag, and I’m sure it does, but not always so.
By the way, Turkish civilians routinely die due to PKK terror and certainly a lot more Turkish soldiers die every year (compared to Israeli soldiers) because of the same terror, but if my government had decided to prison some 1.5 million Kurds in a 300 square kilometer radius and had decided to drop bombs on them you bet I would be outraged even more than I am right now.
I’m confused. How can Turks accuse the Western media of being pro-Israel and western conservatives accuse the same media of only showing the Palestinian side of things?
Selin,
Good points all! It seems once some western minds close there is no room for opposing opinion or facts that are contra their preconceived notions/opinions.
Maybe this will change once Obama Co. replaces “aggression and invasion” with “diplomacy” as the United States primary tool in dealing with the rest of the world. I for one hope so.
.
Even if simply counting corpses were sufficient to gauge fault (it isn’t), the numbers beg the question of who is responsible. Like most of the media and the members of the “trivial left”, you simply assume that Israel is at fault for the death of any Palestinian killed as a result of the IDF invasion. That is a simplistic and easily manipulated way to see things.
The truth is that Hamas is the ones that put civilians into a position to inevitably be killed in the first place. Hamas is the ones that chooses to put their weapons and fighters behind human shields, giving the Israelis the impossible choice between simply suffering endless missile attacks with no recourse and killing Palestinian civilians in order to knock out the missile firing positions and the weapons caches.
I ask this question over and over and over and over and I literally NEVER get a response: What practical alternatives do the Israelis have to military retaliation? Do you expect all Jews in southern Israel to live every night in bomb shelters forever in the hopes that Hamas will become distracted by a pinochle tournament at some point? Do you expect Hamas to magically experience an epiphany and decide to drop their genocidal campaign at some point? WHAT IS ISRAEL’S ALTERNATIVE????
Until some of Israel’s critics answer these questions in a manner that seriously takes into account Israel’s interests here, I for one will not be sympathetic to complaints about how “western minds” supposedly are closed to facts and nuance. I recognize the very serious plight of the Palestinians and I recognize that Israel is morally culpable for much of it. But all of Israel’s flaws are overshadowed by the outright and willful depravity of Hamas. Comparisons to Nazis are almost never justified, but Hamas is the real thing — Hitlerism come back to life.
c3, I cannot talk for other Turkish people but I’ve shifted my opinion on the “one-sided” Western media regarding this conflict. That’s because New York Times (and somewhat BBC) have reported certain things that do view the “other side” of the conflict. It’s the 19th day and the reporting has shifted somewhat, and not in favor of the Israeli perspective.
I think liberal Americans will think that the right wing Israeli-American axis is dominating the news and influenced by AIPAC, whereas the conservative perspective will see the left wing New York Times reports and feel differently.
There is a map that shows how the conflict is viewed all over the world. You vote by picking a “side”. Places (in the West) like Greece, Italy, Spain, England, Sweden, Norway find pro-Palestinian viewpoints as well.
http://www.israel-vs-palestine.com/gz/?stats
@Michael van der Galien
Danke schön
Jason, I supported John McCain for a lot of reasons, one of which was that Obama’s “appeasement” policy would bring out the worst not only in the terrorist players in the region as well as the rouge state of Iran, but in Israel as well. This very scenario is indeed playing out as we speak. I definitely hope (and pray) to be wrong about Obama.
And I don’t like the fact that extreme religious elements in Turkey are using this as an opportunity to recruit youth to their cause. So I’m not a leftie in the sense that an American leftie is.
“I ask this question over and over and over and over and I literally NEVER get a response: What practical alternatives do the Israelis have to military retaliation?”
I dreaded to answer this but since I got embroiled in the commentary yet again I WILL answer this to the best of my abilities. But none of what I say below is news to people who closely follow this conflict.
The idea in Turkey is that Hamas was never given an opportunity to rule in a “normalized” fashion since Israel put an embargo on Gaza after Hamas got elected. Hamas will not be destroyed no matter what, but bombing what more and more looks like an open-air concentration camp will only make Palestinians more willing to join the ranks of Hamas, or even form other groups that are potentially worse and more deadly. (This is also happening – other subgroups are forming as we speak) Bombs dropping on one’s roof or school definitely inspire a youth. So even if it’s not Hamas, the result of this collective punishment is more radicalization. More radicalization is more punishment. The equation brings us to collective death, and we are pretty much on track for that.
“Do you expect all Jews in southern Israel to live every night in bomb shelters forever in the hopes that Hamas will become distracted by a pinochle tournament at some point? Do you expect Hamas to magically experience an epiphany and decide to drop their genocidal campaign at some point? WHAT IS ISRAEL’S ALTERNATIVE????”
In my opinion for that to happen Israel will need to pull back from (at least some) of what has been conquered since 1967. I’m not sure if this is a possibility, for Israel believes that if they give an inch, the other side will ask a mile. But Israel would consider sitting on a negotiating table (or so I hope) if they believed that this would truly move towards real and serious peace. That necessitates for factions in Gaza, including the ruling Hamas, to become less radical and move towards normalization. An immediate truce is necessary if we are to move away from the cycle of destruction, which has not been a possibility up until now.
Egyptian and French efforts of truce have not been successful. Now there is rumor that the new Obama administration will initiate clandestine talks with Hamas in order to do that. Why is sitting down with Hamas a necessity? Hamas needs to be shown that they can have negotiating power without having to throw rockets into Israeli territory. Counterintuitive as it may seem, those rockets are their only power to do anything – they never had the chance to govern the place since the embargo disabled their ability to govern. When they throw rockets, they know Israel will react a lot more strongly causing significantly more destruction than they are capable of causing. That to me makes Hamas suicidal rather than genocidal.
You need to see the “enemy” for what it really is rather than what you want it to be. When Israel classifies Hamas as “genocidal” it is giving itself a carte blance to pre-emptively do what it fears the other side will do. (Again, there is no real “genocide” here as far as we are concerned.) The US also invaded Iraq due to “weapons of mass destruction” (and remember we’re talking about Saddam who invaded Kuwait, slaughtered Kurds, utilized chemical agents, among other things), which were not found.
Until this attack on Gaza, Turkey and specifically Erdogan himself was very involved with Israel as well as the region and wanted to contribute to the peace process. The following is what the Turkish officials are (were) trying to do:
They were trying to mediate between Israel, Syria, as well as Hamas, for at least a year now. If I’m not mistaken Olmert was in Ankara just a week before Israeli attacks where he allegedly told Turkish authorities that Israel was NOT planning on any fresh action in Gaza. Couple of days later when all hell broke lose, guys in Ankara were livid. They thought that Israel purposefully used the Turkish diplomatic efforts to create a facade in order to catch Hamas unprepared. Because that’s precisely what Israel did. This is the moment when Erdogan showed his worst – stopped speaking like a statesman and took more of a Reverend Wright tone.
Knowing how much efforts the AKP administration genuinely spent to try to bring solution (because this effects the entire region), I believe that they were truly disappointed in what happened.
So what is going to happen next? More bloodshed, more killings, more Hamas “rockets”, more real bombs, and more of the same. Until people realize that there may be a chance if Gazans feel like they are being taken seriously. A cease fire will come when Israel stops – when it feels it has done enough destruction. But I believe a longer lasting cease fire that Hamas will obey will require at least a partial lifting of the embargo. If Israel does not trust Hamas and suspects that it will utilize this towards obtaining more weapons (or smuggling through Egyptian tunnels), then we will go through this process over and over again.
But it’s been sixty years, and it sure looks like they are getting ready for another sixty years.
This perception is flatly untrue. The EU and the US had only one condition — that Hamas had to remove the provision in its charter that called for genocide against Israel.
Hamas refused to do this. Then Hamas chose to undertake military actions against Israel in pursuit of their eventual goal of genocide. They concealed themselves and their weapons behind human shields.
How can anyone ignore these facts? And how are we supposed to take anyone that does ignore them seriously?
This has already been tried when Israel withdrew from Gaza. Hamas pocketed that gain and moved forward with no alteration in its plans to kill Jews whenever possible. Immediately upon their seizure of power, they started rocket attacks and suicide bombings against Israeli civilians.
How can you expect Israel to trust Hamas with another set of concessions? When Hamas controls all of Jerusalem, do you think that will be enough? How about when they have cleansed Tel Aviv? Or Haifa?
And what evidence can you offer other than hope that Hamas would obey any such cease-fire? Given the historical pattern, isn’t it more likely that any concessions would simply result in additional demands, up to and including the total destruction of Israel and the death or exile of all Jews in the Middle East?
I just don’t think you are dealing with the lessons Israel has had to learn about Hamas’ untrustworthiness and ill will towards Jews. Think about this — Hamas is complaining about the lack of food in Gaza, but they have had active smuggling for years. What have they smuggled, food or weapons?
Weapons.
Isn’t it more likely that they would conclude that the rocket attacks are precisely what obtained them a seat at the table in the first place?
I think any negotiation that occurs without Hamas stopping the rocket attacks FIRST will only encourage more of them.