Turkish FM Davutoğlu slams ‘jihadist Erdoğan’ translation in English media

How dare they call him a jihadist.

Turkish FM Ahmet Davutoğlu  slams ‘jihadist Erdoğan’ translation in English media.(TZ).

In remarks that appeared to be targeting Today's Zaman, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu has slammed the use of the word “jihadist” in an English translation for the Turkish word “mücahid” to describe the slogan employed by some of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's supporters, saying it is the reflection of a crusader and neo-Orientalist mentality.

Columnists and commentators in pro-government media have attacked Today's Zaman after its Ankara representative and columnist Abdullah Bozkurt translated on Twitter a slogan by Erdoğan's supporters at a rally in İstanbul as “jihadist Erdoğan.” 

The original slogan was “Mücahid Erdoğan,” the Turkish version of the Arabic word “mujahid,” which literally means “holy warrior” or “religious warrior.”

“PM Erdoğan fans chant ‘Jihadist Erdoğan' in another public rally next to his home in İstanbul late Friday night,” Bozkurt wrote in a tweet on Dec. 27.

Bozkurt instantly became the target of a wave of criticism by pro-government scribes on Twitter and later on in pro-government media, who claim that he intentionally attempted to present Erdoğan as a radical to the West and the US in particular knowing that the word “jihadist” has a very negative connotation there.

Burak Bekdil, a columnist for Hürriyet Daily News, also translated the same slogan as “jihadist Erdoğan” in a column published on Jan. 1, although it went largely unnoticed among the pro-government commentators.

Without openly naming Today's Zaman or Hürriyet Daily News, Davutoğlu on Friday said that the translation was an “attack which has no moral basis.”“Referring to our prime minister by translating the word ‘jihadist' in an English translation for the Turkish ‘mücahid' is an aggressive attitude that does not have any moral basis. I am saying it openly; this is crusader mentality or the reflection of neo-orientalist mentality,” Davutoğlu said during a televised program aired on Kanal 24 TV on Thursday.

Davutoğlu maintained that it was an aggressive attitude not only against the prime minister but to the Islam civilization and its beliefs.“Why shouldn't they [supporters of Erdoğan] chant? The names of the ones who resisted in Cyprus were also ‘mücahid.'

Davutoğlu also said there has been no official criticism directed at the government from the European Union regarding the reassignment of hundreds of police officials and proposed changes to the structure of the Supreme Board of Judges and Prosecutors (HSYK) -- the body responsible for appointments in the judiciary -- which has been criticized by the government since a corruption scandal erupted on Dec. 17 with detentions of officials, businessmen close to the government and sons of three ministers, who were later removed from their posts."There has been no direct criticism or statement [from the EU] directed towards us. I have had no contact [with EU officials]," said Davutoğlu in response to a question.Hmmmm..... Dutch EP rapporteur Oomen-Ruijten: Erdogan's International plot claims ‘pure nonsense'.Read the full story here.

Ria Oomen-Ruijten, a member of the European Parliament and the EP rapporteur on Turkey, said the recent events have shaken the image of Turkey, not just in Europe but all around the globe, the result being “an absolute bad image.”

Oomen-Ruijten has already completed the draft of her report on Turkey and the draft is expected to be voted on at the EP plenary at the end of February.

Reacting to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's characterization of Prosecutor Muammer Akkaş as a “disgrace,” the EP rapporteur noted that combating corruption was of utmost importance for the good functioning of the rule of law “whether politicians like it or not.”