Re: Turkey & Arab world
choro
Why do you think lots and lots of Armenians sneak into Turkey illegally
to find jobs there that are so lacking in Armenia. And the wages in
Armenia? The less said the better.
Your bum getting itchy, Macreau?
--
choro
*****
On 26/02/2011 16:14, Macreau wrote:
>
> As most of the Arab world is actively seeking answers to the economic
> inequality; and fights for better quality of life, pro-Turkish
> propagandists and their lackeys are fast at work to promote Turkey's
> image at the expense of Egypt, Tunisia, Yemen, Bahrain and most
> recently Libya.
>
> One such lackey is Professor Norman Stone of Bilkent University
> in Ankara. Recently, Stone reared his head out of the woodwork to
> deify Mustafa Kemal Ataturk by belittling a very respected and loved
> legendary pan-Arab leader Gamal Abdul Nasser of Egypt.
>
> He blatantly mischaracterized "modern" Turkey's "founder" as a hero
> who
> in reality has been notorious in completing the final phase of Turkish
> state's policy of genocide and land-grab against Armenians, Greeks,
> Assyrians and others. He shamelessly noted: "The very first thing with
> which Ataturk is associated is simply national independence. At the
> end
> of the First World War, Turkey might have been partitioned between the
> victors or their Greek and Armenian and other Christian associates. As
> things were, Ataturk saw them all off and established a republic."
>
> He even took a jibe at Egypt, boasting that "Egypt Isn't Turkey. If
> history is any guide, there will not be an Ataturk in Cairo,"
> grudgingly acknowledging that "a hundred years ago, Egyptians looked
> down on Turks: etrak bi itrak, ran the pun. 'Turks are clods.'
> Egyptians had Westernized first, had a modern Army that defeated the
> Turks twice, and then got a huge amount of money from the tolls of
> the Suez Canal. Cairo had resplendent mosques and religious schools,
> whereas the Turks, speaking a Central Asian language the grammar of
> which was tortuous and the vocabulary limited to physical activities
> of a rudimentary nature, did not rate. Egyptian money was all over
> the Turkish capital, and there are still splendid buildings to mark
> that era."
>
> Eagerly attempting to earn kudos from Turkey, Stone resorted to drown
> Egypt in the Nile, claiming "How things have changed. On any measure
> Turkey is now so far ahead as to be out of sight."
>
> But much to the chagrin of Prof. Stone and his likes on this planet,
> "Not everyone (in Turkey and beyond) agrees that Turkey has already
> made it. ... There are widespread concerns about some anti-democratic
> behavior: journalists jailed for criticizing the administration,
> the prime minister's authoritarian streak and institutionalized
> discrimination against ethnic and religious minorities are some
> examples. ... As far as being a model, Turkey is a complicated
> country," wrote Matthew Brunwasser in PRI's The World magazine.
>
> "Thirty-eight percent (of Turks) call the country's economy 'poor'
> or 'very poor,' and just 34 percent expect their personal financial
> situation to improve over the next five years. Negative perceptions of
> the country's economy appear to drive Turks' outlook on their nation
> and even their home life. Among those who describe the economy as
> 'poor,' 87 percent say the country is headed in the wrong direction,
> and only 34 percent say they are generally happy with how things are
> going in their lives. Likewise, this group is less apt to trust the
> nation's institutions and leaders to do what is right," reported The
> Washington Post.
>
> "Turkish default risk climbs to 5-month high on Mideast unrest. The
> cost of insuring Turkish debt against default increased to the highest
> level in more than five months, while bonds and lira weakened as
> unrest
> in the Middle East spread. The cost of default protection has jumped
> 30 basis points since Jan. 25, following the outbreak of protests in
> Egypt," wrote Benjamin Harvey and Steve Bryant in Bloomberg.net.
>
> Apparently Prof. Stone forgot or - however ludicrous it may sound -
> probably isn't aware of the fact that not too long ago, Turkey came
> to the brink of financial collapse. Saturday, February 19 marked
> the 10th anniversary of the Feb. 19, 2001 crisis resulting from the
> economic meltdown that cost over 250 billion Turkish liras.
>
> The biggest Turkish economic and political breakdown occurred when
> State Minister for the Economy Hikmet Ulugbay tried to commit suicide,
> on July 6, 2000. Ulugbay survived and in 2005, he wrote a book,
> "Siyasi Linc" (Political Lynching), to explain the reasons for his
> attempted suicide. "Every morning, I would wake up and ask myself,
> 'Will the crisis come today?' With its burden, the insurance system
> may go bankrupt at any time. The straw that broke the camel's back
> was the ever-increasing stress. At that time, suicide seemed the only
> way out," he wrote in his book.
>
> One of Stone's fellow propagandists, a Belgium-based blogger boasted
> onwww.hurriyetdailynews.com: "10 years have been passed? Man, times
> really go fast! It is great to see how Turkey changed in this period!
>
> Now we are the 15th economy of the world with a booming economy! The
> future is ours! No Turkish bank went bankrupt in the 2009-2010 crisis
> while Europe and Greece still suffer!"
>
> Another blogger, David countered: "I see that no mention has been made
> of the over $97 billion in US backed IMF funds that Turkey received
> since the year 2000. How selective some Turkish memories are, many
> mock the Greek financial problems while ignoring the fact that Turkey
> had its own crisis a mere 10 years ago and needed the IMF to bail
> out the country."
>
> Adding to Stone's woes, back in Dec. 2010, his beloved Turkey's Prime
> Minister Erdogan was rewarded with the Gaddafi International Human
> Rights Award. The prize-giving ceremony was organized on the occasion
> of Erdogan's visit to Libya. As reported by the Turkish news channel
> NTV-msnbc, Erdogan said in his speech held during the ceremony, "We
> demonstrate a dignified stance against all sorts of injustice and
> illegality on earth and we are mature enough to question ourselves
> and our environment if necessary". The award is given to "a person
> or an institution that show a great effort to protect human rights
> and freedoms and to advocate for peace all over the world".
>
> Can Prof. Stone explain how Turkey's PM "protects human rights
> and freedoms" when in fact during his tenure, the undemocratic and
> oppressive law no. 301 on "Insulting Turkishness" is well and alive,
> and that has directly encouraged Turkish criminal elements to commit
> yet one more act of genocide by killing world-renown journalist Hrant
> Dink, the late founding editor of Agos newspaper?
>
> Can he kindly explain how PM Erdogan and his Turkey "advocate for
> peace all over the world," when in fact Ankara continues its illegal
> blockade of Armenia since 1993? The ongoing blockade is a belligerent
> move, and constitutes an act of war against neighboring Armenia.
>
> Contrary to Turkey's claim that it is regaining its Ottoman era
> position as supreme authority of Islam, many fellow Muslims in the
> Arab world remember with disdain the Turkish Ottoman rule. Many
> remember vividly the mistreatment that "Muslim" Turks inflicted
> on Muslims in the entire Middle East. As for Shia Muslims in Iran,
> "ordinary Iranians have little love for Mr. Erdogan and don't look to
> him as a model," underlines Husseyin Bagci, head of the international
> relations department at the Mideast Technical University in Ankara.
>
> Will Turkey and its cronies get away with exploiting the crises in the
> Arab world to further Ankara's political and economic interests? It
> remains to be seen.
>