Senior Turkish MP: Ankara Supervising Flow of Heavy Arms to Militants in Syria.

Senior Turkish MP: Ankara Supervising Flow of Heavy Arms to Militants in Syria. (Fars).

The foreign-backed militants fighting against the Syrian government in Syria are receiving heavy arms via Turkey under the supervision of the Turkish National Intelligence Organization (MIT), a senior Turkish lawmaker disclosed on Saturday.

"The terrorists who attacked the city of Kassab (near the Turkish border) in Lattakia  (in Northern Syria) have used Turkish soil to smuggle heavy weapons to Syria and this measure has taken place under the supervision of Turkey's National Intelligence Organization (MIT)," Turkish opposition MP Refiq Eryilmaz told the Syrian state news agency.

He underlined that supporters of terrorism in Syria should claim responsibility for their crimes in Syria.

Ankara has on several occasions sent arms to Syrian militants to help them fight against the Damascus government.

In one of such cases in June 2013, Ankara sent 400 tons of arms supplied by some Persian Gulf states to the militants in Syria.

"Twenty trailers crossed from Turkey and are being distributed to arms depots for several brigades across the North," said Mohammad Salam, a rebel operative who witnessed the crossing from an undisclosed location in Hatay at the time.

The delivery was being called the single biggest weapons cache to reach the rebels since the unrest began more than two years ago.

The consignment - mostly ammunition for shoulder-fired weapons and anti-aircraft machine guns - came into Northern Syria via the Turkish province of Hatay and was already being handed out, the sources added.

Saudi Arabia, Qatar and several other Arab Persian Gulf states have backed the insurgents.

NATO 'Ally' and Obama's BFF Turkey takes third place in the World considering the U.S. As an ENEMY.

NATO 'Ally' and Obama's BFF Turkey takes third place in the World considering the U.S. As an ENEMY. HT: pewglobal.

Purely 'Coincidental' the percentage is the same as the AKP voters percentage :)

Hmmm.....As i said many, many times before,  time for the U.S. , NATO and Europe to WAKE UP AND SMELL THE ISLAMIST COFFEE!

So called NATO 'Ally' Turkey stresses expansion of ‘friendly’ Iran ties.

PM Erdogan 'Feels at Home in Iran'

So called NATO 'Ally' Turkey stresses expansion of ‘friendly’ Iran ties.(Taz).

The Turkish ambassador to Iran says his country will not miss any opportunity to further strengthen the "friendly" relations between Ankara and Tehran in different areas.

In a meeting on April 21 with First Vice Speaker of Iran's parliament Mohammad-Hassan Aboutorabi-Fard in Tehran, Umit Yardim described the Islamic Republic as a "friendly" and "brotherly" country and said Ankara would take all opportunities to bolster its bilateral ties with Tehran, Iranian Press TV reported on April 22.

The Turkish envoy also described Tehran-Ankara parliamentary ties as "positive," saying the parliaments of the two countries play a special role in issues of regional and international importance.

Yardim further underlined the significance of cultural exchanges as an important factor in broadening the bilateral relations between the two nations, calling for more frequent visits by officials of the two countries.

The senior Iranian lawmaker, for his part, stated that the expansion of all-out relations with Turkey is among the priorities of Iran's foreign policy.

Aboutorabi-Fard also stressed the need for Iran and Turkey to reach more "common" and "strategic" views on the developments in the Middle East and the Islamic world, saying,

"The West does not favor the presence of Islam and Muslims in the arena of political power at all."

In January 2014, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan signed a document for the establishment of a high council for political cooperation between Iran and Turkey for the first time after the victory of the Islamic Revolution in Iran in 1979.Hmmmm.....When will the US , Europe and NATO realize they have a Huge Islamist problem?........When it blows up in their faces?...Like Russia?

Saudi Arabia threatening to withdraw investment from Turkey if it doesn't declare Muslim Brotherhood terrorists.

Saudi Arabia threatening to withdraw investment from Turkey if it doesn't declare Muslim Brotherhood terrorists.(FT) (odatv) [GoogleTranslate].

British Prime Minister David Cameron's Muslim Brotherhood a "terrorist organization" should be counted to determine whether the purpose of preparing reports to instruct the government in the debate stated that the instructions, Saudi Arabia and the UAE soothe the purposes allegedly.

The Financial Times newspaper, citing progress on this issue in the news "and there has been pressuring the Saudis to Turkey withdrew some of their investment" is reflected in the argument.

British Prime Minister Cameron of Britain Saudi Arabia in the eyes of former ambassador Sir John Jenkins, the Muslim Brotherhood's philosophy, values ​​and alleged "extremism and violence" ties prepare a report on the instructions for making the British government in the "tensions" e way hungry, he says.

Foreign Ministry officials ft Ministry of the investigation "peaceful and relatively moderate organization radicalized after that it was concerned" said described the news that, according to the British Foreign Intelligence Service MI6 from the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt on a bus, the terrorist attack was behind the survey were asked to .

FT, Cameron's instructions Saudi Arabia and the UAE as the country's concerns to defuse the argument that the as also pointed out in the news, a senior British official's "Americans like the Muslim Brotherhood about to do something for our Saudis a big pressure we are under. They see them as a terrorist organization, and we are angry due to a number of reasons " after the quoted writes in the following:

"Muslim Brotherhood (in Egypt), the Freedom and Justice Party, the former spokesman of the foreign policy committee of the Islamic Abdel Rahman 'Saudis, Qatar has put pressure on and they withdrew their ambassadors. Put pressure on Turkey to withdraw and there were some of the investments. You can not exclude pressure on London to be made. "

Turkish Veteran intelligence expert : "Iran-backed Tawhid-Salam most dangerous terror group, has access to top officials in Turkey."

'Two peas in A pod' 

Turkish Veteran intelligence expert : "Iran-backed Tawhid-Salam most dangerous terror group, has access to top officials in Turkey." HT: TodaysZaman.

Former İstanbul Police Department intelligence bureau chief Ali Fuat Yılmazer has said Iran-linked notorious terrorist organization Tawhid-Salam is “the stealthiest and the most dangerous terrorist organization of recent times” Turkey has ever faced.

He lamented that a painstakingly difficult three-year-long investigation into Iran-backed terrorist organization Tawhid-Salam has been foiled and ridiculed by some government officials, leading most suspects to flee the country.

Yılmazer, who has specialized in fundamentalist and extremist religious terror groups, said it was very difficult to expose this clandestine terror network that has access to top officials in Turkey, yet the police have done a solid and careful investigation to expose the wider network of Iranian agents that has been set up in Turkey and discovered connections to senior government officials.

“The Salam terror investigation included very important details,” Yılmazer said in a live TV interview on Tuesday night.The veteran intelligence expert underlined that Tawhid-Salam is a very important terrorist organization that is backed by Iran.

He also lashed out at Justice Minister Bekir Bozdağ, who ridiculed the investigation, saying: “A group of people say hello with ‘Salam alaikum' [Peace be upon you] and others reciprocate with ‘Alaikum salam' [Also upon you]. On some people's say-so, a terrorist organization was supposedly founded, which is called Tawhid Salam. It is ridiculous.”

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan also adopted a cynical stance about the existence of the terrorist group, raising questions of a cover-up in the government just as Erdoğan tried to do for the corruption scandal that was exposed on Dec. 17.

Former intelligence chief said this is a terrorist organization that was responsible for the assassination of several journalists and academics in the 1990s, including Uğur Mumcu, Bahriye Üçok, Ahmet Taner Kışlalı and several other intellectuals.

The organization is also noted for killing US, Saudi Arabian and Israeli diplomats, as well as Iranian dissidents who took refuge in Turkey.

He said the organization stayed dormant for a while until it was reactivated several years ago and started committing bombing attacks and surveillance activities on sensitive targets in İstanbul. Yılmazer said the investigation cannot be hushed up despite government efforts to keep the investigation from going to court.

According to video footage posted on YouTube, Kamile Yazıcıoğlu, a 49-year-old woman who had fled from her abusive husband, Hüseyin Avni Yazıcıoğlu, reported anti-terror units to the Bursa police, saying that her husband had been working for Iranian intelligence and provided documents as evidence to back up her claims.

She later repeated her testimony to İstanbul anti-terror units in depositions given in March and April 2011. The allegations triggered a secret three-year investigation into Yazıcıoğlu and his accomplices and contacts, both among Turkish officials and Iranian intelligence agents.

One document obtained by the police contains notes Yazıcıoğlu took on a conversation he had with two ruling party deputies, S.K. and H.Ç., in October, 2010 in İstanbul.

These two deputies, from the provinces of Bursa and Muş, told the the Iranian informant the Turkish prime minister's thoughts on the NATO early warning radar system to be deployed in Malatya's Kürecik district as part of NATO's missile defense system.

S.K. says Erdoğan was no longer allowing the Iranian border to be used as a garrison for the US, Israel and Europe and was resisting efforts to that end by Turkey's allies. He said Erdoğan was really strengthening political, economic and military ties with Iran and that he was the radar system as a NATO trap to derail Turkey's ties with Iran.Read the full story here.

Crimean Deputy Prime Minister Rustam Temirgaliyev: "Crimean Tatars Will Have to Vacate Land."

KOSOVO II

Crimean Deputy Prime Minister Rustam Temirgaliyev: "Crimean Tatars Will Have to Vacate Land."(RN).

Ukraine’s breakaway region of Crimea will ask Tatars to vacate part of the land where they now live in exchange for new territory elsewhere in the region, a top Crimean government official said Tuesday.

Crimean Deputy Prime Minister Rustam Temirgaliyev said in an interview with RIA Novosti on Tuesday the new government in Crimea, where residents voted Sunday to become part of Russia, wants to regularize the land unofficially taken over by Crimean Tatar squatters following the collapse of the Soviet Union.

“We have asked the Crimean Tatars to vacate part of their land, which is required for social needs,” Temirgaliyev said. “But we are ready to allocate and legalize many other plots of land to ensure a normal life for the Crimean Tatars,” he said.

Temirgaliyev emphasized that members of the Tatar community could receive senior political positions in the new government, in an apparent move to ease ethnic tensions in the region.

“I think that Crimean Tatars will be well represented in the government and parliament,” he said.

The Crimean Tatars, a historic people of the region, were deported en masse to Central Asia by Soviet leader Joseph Stalin 70 years ago. Although many of them returned in the early 1990s, they were unable to reclaim the land they had possessed before their deportation.

Many Crimean Tatars have taken over unclaimed land as squatters by building houses, farms and mosques. Ukrainian authorities have in the past failed to settle the land disputes.Hmmmm.....As i said before the Tatars did not vote in the Crimea referendum, in order to play the Islamic victim card later....prepare for KOSOVO II.

Turkish PM asks Gulen: "Are you a scholar, or an intelligence chief?"

Turkish PM asks Gulen: "Are you a scholar, or an intelligence chief?" (Taz).

"Are you a scholar, or an intelligence chief?" Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan asked U.S.-based Turkish Muslim preacher Fethullah Gulen on Tuesday, Anadolu Agency reported.

Addressing a substantial crowd in his ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party's local election rally in the northwestern province of Canakkale, Erdogan implied that Gulen controlled a network within the state which spies on people's privacy.

"If you are living like a recluse, then why are you interested in people's phone calls?" Erdogan said, referring to Gulen.

Gulen is accused by the government of masterminding an illegal group nestled within key institutions of the state such as the police and the judiciary.

The group, dubbed the "parallel state", is allegedly behind a number of operations including illegal wiretappings of thousands of people.

The prime minister also mocked the opposition parties for forming tentative alliances to beat the AK Party in the upcoming municipal elections.

He claimed the two main opposition parties, Republican People's Party (CHP) and Nationalist Action Party (MHP), were suggesting their followers support whichever party is the strongest against the AK Party in local administrations.

Turkey will go to the election polls on March 30 to choose their municipal leaders.

Erdogan earlier said this election was actually a general election in disguise, demanding a stronger support from his followers.

Erdogan's AK Party's anti-Semitic, anti-Western rhetoric a dangerous trend.

Erdogan's AK Party's anti-Semitic, anti-Western rhetoric a dangerous trend.(Taz).

Abraham Foxman, the national director of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), the world's leading organization in the fight against anti-Semitism, hatred, prejudice and bigotry, has stated that the "demonization of political opponents, foreign countries and religious groups is never an appropriate political tool,” adding that Turkey has a centuries-long history of protecting its Jewish citizens and that the ADL is “hopeful that tradition will prevail in these difficult times.”Read the full story here.

The Turkish Medical Association: 'We are worried about Erdoğan’s emotional state'

The Turkish Medical Association: 'We are worried about Erdoğan’s emotional state'.HT: IstanbulDispatches.By Jim Colella,

The Turkish Medical Association (TTB, or “Türk Tabipleri Birliği” in Turkish) released a statement today passing considerable judgment on PM’s Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s controversial reactions over the past year. For those familiar with events since the start of the nationwide anti-government protests of 2013, the 60-year-old independent trade union — covering 80% of Turkey’s medical professionals, and recognized by the World Medical Assoc. — just questioned the mental health of the Turkish prime minister.

The full English translation of their 15 March press release reads as follows:

WE ARE WORRIED ABOUT PRIME MINISTER ERDOĞAN’S EMOTIONAL STATE!

“The interest lobby provoked the Gezi events.”

“They drunk alcohol in the Dolmabahçe Mosque.”

“They attacked my headscarved sisters.”

We, as doctors, have been watching with anxiety the polarisation, the demonisation of others, and divisive rhetoric Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has been using since the Gezi resistance.

We were terrified when we listened to what he said about Berkin Elvan at the Gaziantep election rally yesterday.

Normally, nobody would try to steer two families who lost their children against each other.

Normally, nobody would declare a child, aged fifteen, who was hit in the head [with a teargas canister] by the police on his way to buy bread and who died after fighting for his life for 269 days a terrorist.

Normally, nobody would distort the truth about marbles put in a child’s grave and call them “iron balls.”

Normally, nobody would get a mother — who lost her child only two days ago — booed at an election rally.

We are doctors.

We know about thousands of different states of mind and the emotional states of a human being.

We are worried about Prime Minister Erdoğan’s emotional state.

We are extremely worried.

We are worried for him, for the people around him, and for our country.

We are sharing our concern with the public.

– The Central Committee of the Turkish Medical Association

Turkish PM Erdogan signals lifting self-imposed three-term restriction.......Turkish PM for LIFE?

Turkish PM Erdogan signals lifting self-imposed three-term restriction.(Taz).

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has indicated that he is open to a change of internal party rules which would let him stand for a fourth term as leader of Turkey, Hurriyet Daily News reported.

"I do not have such a demand. However, if my party wishes so, I may run at the [party] congress," Erdogan said yesterday.

Erdogan's remarks came at a meeting with representatives of local media outlets in Ankara, where he was asked whether he would consider moving on after his third term in office, which began in March 2003, following the first victory of his Justice and Development Party (AKP) in November 2002.

"My wish is to work for three terms and rest for one term, and then move on with the mission," Erdogan said.

As Erdogan has fiercely opposed a change in the internal regulations of the AKP, which prevents party lawmakers from serving more than three consecutive terms, his muted remarks have led to much backstage speculation in the ruling party.

There has been speculation in Turkey that Erdogan, who has dominated Turkish politics for more than a decade, may try to remain prime minister in the next general election in 2015, even though under current party rules he cannot run again.Hmmmm....Hell why stop at Four terms...just make it for life.


Related: Erdogan Turkish PM for LIFE?

Obama's BFF Erdogan's Praetorian Guard or the new Turkish surveillance state.

Obama's BFF Erdogan's Praetorian Guard or the new Turkish surveillance state.(RT).

Turkey's current political leadership has been going through a severe crisis ever since corruption allegations emerged on Dec. 17. Bribery charges and shoeboxes filled with money provided catchy sound bites that are still being reiterated today. 

In conjunction with these embarrassing "facts" coming to light, Turkey's involvement in neighboring Syria's bloody war has also been in the spotlight of late – particularly, the scandal involving trucks carrying either "humanitarian aid" or "weapons and ammunition" into Syria, as part of Turkey's National Intelligence Organization’s (MIT) secret mission.

Founded in 1965, the MIT is tasked to collect intelligence to do with threats to the country and the nation's integrity and security. It reports to the prime minister, the president and the chief of the General Staff.

On Feb. 26, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan approved a new law that gives "broader powers for [Erdogan's] intelligence agency, including more scope for eavesdropping and legal immunity for its top agent," Reuters correspondent Orhan Coskun reported, after it was approved by Turkey's parliament Sunday.

This public scrutiny of a body directly attached to the figure of the prime minister by means of laws #644 (1965) and #2,937 (1984) has prompted the present incumbent, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, well-known for his tendency to micro-manage Turkey's business and other affairs, to undertake a far-reaching revision by means of a law proposal.

This legal adjustment, tabled by the MPs İdris Sahin and Alpaslan Kavaklıoglu late Wednesday, Feb. 19, proposed changes among other things would allow Turkey's intelligence officers (MIT) to perform operations abroad and listen to international telephone conversations. In addition to somewhat copying actions carried out by the now more than infamous NSA, Sahin and Kavaklıoglu's proposals would also stipulate jail terms of up to 12 years for the publication of leaked documents.

In this way, Turkey would not just be replicating the exploits of America's National Security Agency, but even actively participate in President Obama's war on whistleblowers.

The bill would thus also force official institutions as well as private companies to surrender consumer data and technical equipment. In fact, at the beginning of December 2013, the prime minister expressed his feelings on the topic, explaining that "[e]xposing state secrets is not freedom but absolutely treason to the country and homeland." 

The new MIT measures are meant to bring Turkey's intelligence agency "in line with the requirements of the [current] age, grant it the capabilities of other intelligence agencies, and increase its methods and capacity for individual and technical intelligence [gathering]," the bill says.

Sahin and Kavaklioglu's proposals would thus create a direct link between the Turkish and US governments.

Fortuitously, the US President called Tayyip Erdogan on the same day as the bill was being presented.
The White House released a statement indicating that "President Obama spoke by phone with Prime Minister Erdogan of Turkey on a range of bilateral and regional issues. The President affirmed the value he places on a strong, mutually respectful bilateral relationship with the Republic of Turkey and expressed his view that Turkey can demonstrate leadership in the world through positive engagement." The US thus appears to be at pains to placate its Muslim ally to act swiftly with regard to the ongoing corruption allegations so as not to undermine the healthy business relations enjoyed by Turkey over the past decade.

In this way, Barack Obama seems to be expressing his approval of what I have termed “Turkey's pseudo-Ottoman policy” with regard to the erstwhile Ottoman hinterland and beyond. On a related note, the two leaders also discussed the war in Syria, underlining support for "continuing efforts to advance a political solution to the Syria conflict."

But the two men also spoke at length about the energy relationship between Ankara, Erbil, and Baghdad – an indication that Turkey's pseudo-Ottoman ambitions to acquire a significant stake in a regional part of Pipelineistan are also being followed closely by Washington.

 The new internet bill in tandem with the new MIT law would undoubtedly transform Turkey into an "intelligence" and "surveillance state," somewhat rivaling the US.

Ever since the days of Prime Minister (and later President) Turgut Özal (1927-93), the Republic of Turkey has been trying hard to transform itself into a "little America" in its own right. Özal's free market and Islam-friendly policies in many ways stand at the root of the current AKP-led government's success and prosperity. In his day, Özal was a close friend and ally of George H.W Bush and Tayyip Erdogan appears to be emulating his predecessor in this respect as well, cozying up to Obama and trying to turn Turkey into a Muslim nanny state with access to the latest state-of-the-art surveillance infrastructure and technology.

Against the backdrop of these clear moves to turn Turkey into a tightly-controlled, quasi-Orwellian "little America," recordings incriminating the prime minister and his son Bilal have emerged. As a result, Turkey's media and the Turkish population are at present trying to come to grips with a political class trying to extend its hold on power, while being embroiled in an ever-widening corruption scandal, which, in turn, appears to be but a pretext for a power struggle behind the scenes.

The upcoming local elections and the scheduled presidential poll later this year will reveal the direction Turkey will take in the coming years. Will it be steady as she goes or instead a course that would see a return of Turkey's self-proclaimed secularist political class?Hmmm......'By their fruits you will know them'. Read the full story here.

Related:

Obama 'Admin' just rubber stamped the totalitarian rule of Pm Erdogan.

Turkey's robot lobby: “Resistance to transparency is futile.”

Turkey's robot lobby: “Resistance to transparency is futile.” (HD).

When our prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, talked about the “robot lobby” in his speech at the Justice and Development Party’s (AKP) weekly meeting on Tuesday, I thought I was dreaming. 

I thought that I was in the future living in one of Isaac Asimov’s books. Erdoğan said there was a robot lobby conspiring against him. I thought that in the year 2400, when Erdoğan is still the Prime Ruler, the robots had decided to ditch the three laws of robotics and started marching on the capital.

Then I thought that I was in “Star Trek: The Next Generation” and that the Borgs had captured Erdoğan. They were repeating that famous line, too: “Resistance is futile.”

I pinched myself and realized that he was talking about the social media bots that post automatic tweets rather than Borgs. 

With this new addition, the list of lobbies that are now conspiring against him is as follows: interest rate, terror, media, social media, judiciary, marginal, international, montage saltshakers and robot.Read the full story here.

Turkish Parliament amends Internet bill after president Gül’s last-minute intervention.

Turkish Parliament amends Internet bill after president Gül’s last-minute intervention. (HD).

The Turkish Parliament has approved partial amendments to the much-discussed Internet Law, resolving issues that President Abdullah Gül had asked the government to address.

However, the presidency communicated with the Justice Ministry late Feb. 25 after a number of ruling party lawmakers launched an initiative to increase the authority of the head of the Telecommunications Board (TİB) in the event of a cyber-attack.  

A 26-article omnibus bill containing modifications to the Internet Law in line with Gül’s suggestions was approved by Parliament early Feb. 26. According to the approved amendments, the TİB can only ask for limited information concerning users’ Internet traffic from service providers upon a court decision, such as IP addresses, the duration of service, and subscription details. The content of the web communications has been removed from the definition of Internet traffic.


Meanwhile, an attempt by ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) lawmakers to endow the TİB head with the authority to cut all web access in the event of a cyber-attack has been nixed after a message from the presidency was conveyed to the Justice Ministry.Read the full story here.

Thousands demonstrate during Protests staged across Turkey over tapes incriminating PM Erdogan and son.

Thousands demonstrate during Protests staged across Turkey over tapes incriminating PM Erdogan and son.(HD).

Several protests were held in Turkey’s main cities on Feb. 25 to denounce the latest leaked tapes featuring a conversation between Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his son over the hiding of a large sum of cash in the wake of the Dec. 17.

Police crushed protests on Istanbul with tear gas and water cannons as hundreds gathered in the Asian-side district of Kadıköy, calling on the government to resign.

The intervention started after protesters attempted to march in front of the ruling Justice and Development Party’s (AKP) district headquarters, Doğan news agency reported.

Police also resorted to tear gas and water cannon during protests in Ankara and İzmir. Other demonstrations were staged in İzmit, Trabzon, Eskişehir, Bursa, Antalya, Antakya and Çanakkale. 

The latest tapes to emerge amid a massive graft scandal are sending shockwaves through Turkish politics, with the government denying claims as “fabrications” and the opposition urging Erdoğan to resign.

                                           New demonstrations starting again this morning.

"TURKISH SPRING ?" - Thousands across Turkey call for Erdogan’s ouster.

"TURKISH SPRING ?" - Thousands across Turkey call for Erdogan’s ouster.(TOI).

Protesters take to the streets in 11 cities after recordings surface, purportedly of Turkish PM discussing how to hide money

Protesters took to the streets across Turkey on Tuesday, after audio recordings purportedly of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan ordering his son to dispose of vast amounts of cash amid a graft probe surfaced and went viral on the Internet.

Thousands of people demonstrated in 11 cities, including Ankara and Istanbul, shouting anti-government and anti-Erdogan slogans, according to China’s Xinhua news agency.

Police in the capital fired tear gas and water cannons to disperse the crowd that chanted, “The government resigns” and “Thief Erdogan.”

In Istanbul, protests were reportedly held at 10 locations, with the biggest demonstration in the district of Kadikoy, where some 5,000 people marched to the district center, carrying banners reading, “Where are the thieves?” and “You will answer to the people.”

Protests were also held in the cities of Izmir, Antalya, Antakya, Samsun, Trabzon, Eskisehir, Kocaeli, Bursa and Canakkale, according to Xinhua. Clashes between riot police and the crowds were reported in Istanbul, Bursa and Eskisehir.

A chief prosecutor’s office on Tuesday initiated an investigation into the audio recordings in question, Turkish state-run media reported, as opposition parties demanded that the government resign.

Erdogan met with Turkey’s intelligence chief shortly after voice recordings of two people — alleged to be Erdogan and his son — circulated on the Internet on Monday.Read the full story here.

Hmmmm....Finally Spring came to Turkey expect a very hot March......Anything can happen.

Iran will not reduce gas prices for Turkey.

Iran will not reduce gas prices for Turkey.(Taz).

Turkey's request for a discount on gas price is not acceptable, Iranian deputy oil minister, Hamid Reza Araqi said, Mehr news agency reported on Feb. 24.

Commenting on the latest situation of Turkey's complaint against Iran on the exported gas price, Araqi said that the lawsuit will not lead anywhere. He also went on to say that Iran will accept the decision of the international arbiter on the issue.

Turkey has made the demands according to the 1996 agreement, adding that if it doesn't lead anywhere, they will be going to the International Criminal Court (ICC) or World Trade Organization.

Turkey's claim has not yet been proven in international arbitration, Araqi added.

He also underlined that the time it takes to reach a verdict will depend on the court, saying that it may be three to six months.

Commenting on Turkey's claims that Iran's gas delivery is unstable, Araqi said that currently billions of dollars have been invested for stretching the pipeline, pressure boosting installations, and other projects to ensure stable flow of gas to Turkey.

He underlined that Iran fully supplied Turkey with gas, despite the severe cold weather, arguing that Turkey's claims in the international court will not lead to any result.

On, Feb. 22, Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said that Iran is willing to lower the gas price supplied to Turkey, upon condition that it will increase the volume of imported gas from Iran.

Earlier in February, Turkish media outlets quoted Energy and Natural Resources Minister Taner Yıldız as saying that Turkey is expected to get more than $2 billion from its lawsuit against Iran.

In March 2012, Ankara appealed to International arbitration over the high price of Iranian gas.
The agreement on supplies of 10 billion cubic meters of gas to Turkey on an annual basis was signed with Iran in 1996. The prices are not officially disclosed, but according to Turkish media outlets, Turkey buys Iranian gas for $490 per thousand cubic meters.Hmmm.......And Europe is crazy enough to purchase Iranian gas instead of Russian?  I've got a Bridge For sale !

The ‘gray wolf’ threat to Erdogan and the AKP.

The ‘gray wolf’ threat to Erdogan and the AKP. (Almonitor).

During the first weeks of the Gezi protests in June 2013, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan organized five major “Respect the National Will” rallies. I was watching one of them with a group of “ultranationalist” friends.

They belong to the Nationalist Movement Party, or MHP. Many of them had supported the Gezi protests. As we were watching Erdogan’s rally, all of a sudden Erdogan said, “I want to thank my brothers from the MHP.”

Cameras zoomed to a corner in the crowd, and MHP flags with three crescents on a red banner were raised. My friends ("gray wolves" as I joke with them; the term is used to symbolize militant Turkish ultranationalism) were in a state of shock to see MHP members in the crowd raise their flags and wave them for the cameras as Erdogan asked. In the next couple of weeks, we kept seeing MHP images, slogans and banners “supporting” Erdogan in the matter of the Gezi protests.

Intriguingly MHP Chairman Devlet Bahceli echoed the comments of several other CHP members by saying, “No MHP members were at Erdogan’s rallies; these were staged events by the AKP (Justice and Development Party)."

Erdogan’s reply to Bahceli was to say, “Would it be wrong if I called MHP members “my brothers”? Would it be wrong to call Saadet (Felicity) Party members my brothers?” (The Felicity Party is a small Islamist party that refused to be absorbed by the AKP).Read the full story here.

Erdogan Turkish PM for LIFE?

Erdogan Turkish PM for LIFE? (HD).

Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) could change its rules to allow Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to stand for a fourth term as prime minister in an “emergency” although such plans are not currently on the agenda, deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç said Feb. 20.  

There has been speculation in Turkey that Erdoğan, who has dominated Turkish politics for more than a decade, may try to remain prime minister in the next general election in 2015, even though under current party rules he cannot run again. 

He has long been expected to stand for president in an August vote. President Abdullah Gül is, in turn, seen as a possible candidate for head of the AKP and prime minister.

“If we feel the need, we can change the principle (on three-term limits) even though it is not on our agenda yet,” Arınç told a small media briefing in London. Hmmmm....Hell why stop at Four terms...just make it for life.Read the full story here.

New intel law will turn 'Islamist' Turkey into ‘al-Assad state’: CHP chief

New intel law will turn 'Islamist' Turkey into ‘al-Assad state’: CHP chief. (HD).

Republican People’s Party (CHP) head Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu has harshly criticized the government’s move to equip the intelligence organization with expanded powers, accusing the prime minister of creating a Mukhaberat-style secret police à la Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

“Turkey is rapidly becoming a dictatorial regime. The entire world has realized this dictatorial regime as well. This amendment on the MİT [National Intelligence Organization] is another step in this direction,” Kılıçdaroğlu said in an interview with daily Hürriyet yesterday.

No institution is equipped with extraordinary powers, he said, noting that such powers were not even given to MİT during states of emergency. “Turkey is becoming an intelligence state. [Prime Minister] Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is trying to build an ‘al-Assad state.’ Syria is an intelligence state and the same is being applied here,” he said.Read the full story here.

Related:

Obama 'Admin' just rubber stamped the totalitarian rule of Pm Erdogan.

Obama 'Admin' just rubber stamped the totalitarian rule of Pm Erdogan.

Obama 'Admin' just rubber stamped the totalitarian rule of Pm Erdogan.(HD).

U.S. President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan held a lengthy phone conversation Feb. 18 to discuss developments in Syria and the launch of talks to reach a solution in Cyprus.

In their first phone conversation in six months, Obama and Erdoğan talked for nearly one-and-a-half hours and exchanged views on strategic issues.

The two sides mutually decided to hold the phone call in the wake of the launch of the new round of unification negotiations in Cyprus, according to diplomatic sources.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, sources said the two leaders’ agenda did not include the ongoing corruption operation or the government’s legal amendments on key issues, such as the bills on the Internet and the Supreme Council of Judges and Prosecutors (HSYK).Hmmmm.......It seems the Obama 'Admin' just rubber stamped the totalitarian rule of Erdogan, makes me wonder why Obama lets a new potential 'Assad' do what ever he wants? Read the full story here.

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