Obama's BFF Erdogan threatens to expel foreign ambassadors.

Obama's BFF Erdogan threatens to expel foreign ambassadors.(TOI).

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan threatened on Saturday to expel foreign ambassadors from Turkey, following what he termed “provocative actions” on their part amid an ongoing corruption investigation that has shaken his government.

“Some ambassadors are engaged in provocative actions … Do your job,” Erdogan said in televised remarks.“We don’t have to keep ambassadors in the country who exceed the limits of their duty,” he added.

Erdogan did not name names but the remarks were considered a warning to US Ambassador to Turkey Francis Ricciardone, who, according to pro-Erdogan media outlets, had told EU envoys that Washington had advised the state-run Turkish bank Halkbank to cut ties with Iran.

“We asked Halkbank to cut its links with Iran. They did not listen to us. You are watching the collapse of an empire,” Ricciardone was quoted as telling EU ambassadors, according to remarks carried by AFP based on reports in Aksam, Bugun, Yeni Safak and Star newspapers.

Ricciardone on Saturday denied the media reports as “baseless allegations,” in his Twitter account in the Turkish language. ”Nobody should put US-Turkish relations into jeopardy through baseless allegations,” he said, according to AFP

The head of Halkbank was arrested earlier this week along with the sons of two government ministers in the investigation, bringing the total number of those detained to 24. The private Dogan news agency said the ministers’ sons and other suspects were accused of taking or facilitating bribes. The son of a third minister and a construction magnate were freed from custody pending trial.

Istanbul police said they seized shoeboxes stashed with $4.5 million in cash at the home of the bank chief.

According to Businessweek, “police have said the inquiry targets organized graft, money laundering and gold smuggling.”

The police raids have threatened to rock Erdogan’s 11-year tenure.

Many believe the police operation is the fallout of a deepening rift between Erdogan’s government and a powerful US-based moderate Islamic cleric, Fethullah Gulen, whose followers are reported to have a strong foothold within Turkey’s police and judiciary.

Erdogan said the corruption investigation is a “dirty operation” to unsettle his government and has vowed to go after those who have instigated it. The Turkish PM has also indicated that there was an “international dimension” to the probe.Hmmmm......"International Dimension".....Read 'Zionist plot'.

Related: 

Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen curses purge of Turkish police officials in emotional speech.

Turkey Will Either Lose Obama's BFF Erdogan or Democracy.

Turkey Will Either Lose Obama's BFF Erdogan or Democracy.

Turkey Will Either Lose Obama's BFF Erdogan or Democracy.(Aina).By Marc Champion

Bloomberg

There are two reasons Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan may not survive the current government corruption scandals in Turkey. And if he does, the cost to the "Turkish model" will be enormous.

The first is, well, the corruption charges. An important key to the success of the AK, or Justice and Development, Party that Erdogan helped to create in 2001 lay in its initials: AK means "white" in Turkish, and it can also mean "pure." Turks were sick of the unaccountable corruption of previous governments. The AK Party rode a promise of purity to power.

Suddenly, the AK Party is looking decidedly grubby. Yes, the 89 people who have been detained so far in the corruption and money-laundering probe are all innocent until proven otherwise. And yes, the prosecutors in charge are the same ones who based the so-called Sledgehammer trial against the military on forged documents. Still, the three simultaneous cases that have been initiated, as outlined in the news media, are damaging.
One case, for example, involves about $70 million worth of alleged bribes connected to an Azerbaijani businessman, who is accused of running cash into Russia and trading gold into Iran and is now under arrest. Police found $4.5 million stuffed into shoe boxes at the home of another suspect, Suleyman Aslan, the general manager of state-run Turkiye Halk Bankasi AS.

That's a lot of money even for Jimmy Choos. This is the same bank that was the focus of a May 14 letter, signed by 47 U.S. congressmen, complaining about its gold-swap financing of trade with Iran.

So far, no cabinet ministers have been arrested, but the sons of three have been detained. According to the latest Turkish news media reports, prosecutors have asked parliament to lift the immunity that was granted to their fathers as well as a fourth minister.

All of this makes Erdogan vulnerable. He was already weakened because the coalition of religious conservatives, nationalists and liberals he had built since 2001 had disintegrated by the end of this summer's Gezi Park protests. Now he is also at war with former close allies among his religious conservative base, a group led by faith leader Fetullah Gulen.

Precisely because Erdogan has concentrated power so closely around himself in just a few men, any perception that they are corrupt will immediately infect his personal image and support. This is why Erdogan hasn't fired the four ministers: He says the allegations against them are part of a plot to unseat him. My guess is that he's right, but his response gets to the second reason Erdogan may not survive, despite being far stronger than Gulen: himself.

To make it stick and purge Gulen's supporters from the police force, prosecutor's office and courts, Erdogan will have to crack down in ways that will destroy what remains of Turkey's independent law enforcement institutions and media freedoms. That will deal a huge blow to the so-called Turkish model, the idea that Turkey had cracked the code for implementing genuine democracy in the Muslim world. And that would be a tragedy, because the Turkish model is real and important, if overhyped, oversimplified and already under strain.Hmmm.....As i Always said "SANCTIONS THAT BENEFIT".Read the full story here.

(Marc Champion is a Bloomberg View editorial board member. Follow him on Twitter.)

Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen curses purge of Turkish police officials in emotional speech.

Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen curses purge of Turkish police officials in emotional speech.(TZ).

Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen has cursed those responsible for a purge of police officials involved in a corruption investigation, in his first comments on the case that has struck at the heart of the ruling elite.

Gülen's words, invoking God's punishment, was first curse in his life and came four days after the sweeping raids that resulted in the arrest of sons of ministers, businessmen and public officials, including the chief of biggest state bank.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has called the detention of scores of people seen as close to the government a "dirty operation" aimed at undermining his rule. Dozens of police chiefs have been removed from their posts since the detentions began.Erdoğan has refrained from naming Gülen as the hand behind the investigation and he referred to an “illegal gang within the state” and systematically purged officials, including journalists in public broadcasters.

"...Those who don't see the thief but go after those trying to catch the thief, who don't see the murder but try to defame others by accusing innocent people - let God bring fire to their houses, ruin their homes, break their unities," Gülen said in a video recording uploaded to herkul.org, a website that usually publishes his speeches.

Gülen first recalled his earlier teachings and reminded that he always emphasized that individual crimes should not be made public and that Muslims should keep flaws of others “secret.”

He added that the important part of the respect to humans is to embrace them wholeheartedly and that treat them as “you treat with your own child.”He said a Muslim should behave according to the teachings of Qur’an and the Prophet Muhammad regardless of how others behave. “In this framework, being occupied with someone else’s flaws is absolutely not a right thing,” Gülen added.

Gülen said there is an “assymetrical assault” on the Hizmet movement and that there is an effort to finish it off. He urged members of the Hizmet movement to stand firm and trust in God.

Gülen said some crimes constitute a “violation of rights of the public” and that the Islamic law and modern legal system don’t allow “tolerance” in these cases.

“The issue is about the rights of the public. If the public property is being robbed, you cannot somehow soften this [crime] by either regulations or demagogy and dialectics. This is the right of the public. ... If someone overlooks this, then they are acting jointly with that thiefs. There you cannot ignore that,” Gülen underlined.

He stated that blaming others for the crimes they committed in the hope of distracting the agenda is a “dialectic to the religion and the fundamental basics of the religion.” 

He noted that this amounts to doubling of the crime. “If those who go after these negative things.. I don’t know who they are.. If those who go after these [corruption allegations] because it is essential for the law as well as the system, for the religion as well as democracy and if they (police officials) … have done things that are in contrary to the spirit of the religion… and they’re counting us in so that I will also refer to us.. if they have done things that are in contrary to the spirit of the religion, if things they have done are in contrary to the fundamental disciplines of Qur’an, if it is against the teachings of Prophet Muhammad, if it is against the Islamic law, against the modern law, against the accepted rules of democracy today.. then may God bury us and them into the earth, bring fire to their houses, ruin their homes.

But if this is not the case, those who don’t see the thief but go after those trying to catch the thief, who don’t see the murder but try to defame others by defame innocent people – may God bring fire to their houses, ruin their homes, break their unities, keep their feelings (wishes) within their chests, block their path, prevent them from being something.”

He said he was unable to prevent himself from saying what he has just said. He added that he remained silent for a long time although “they showed their teeth ... provocated so many people, all those damned thoughts spread around without a visa on Twitter,” but that he can no longer be silent. “And I said what I haven’t so far,” Gülen added.Hmmmm.....Something tells me Turkey is in for a very hot 'Turkish Spring'.

Related:  "The Just Us Department"  - New law: Police chiefs have to inform superiors, governors before investigation

Video - Live feed of protesters crowd growing at Taksim square.

Video - Live feed of protesters crowd growing at Taksim square.

Turkey has deployed riot police at Taksim Square in Istanbul, the focus of the ongoing anti-government protest in the country. Hundreds of security troops have arrived at the scene early morning. The square itself was mostly empty of protesters at the time.Hmmm.......Obama's BFF Erdogan, a man is known by the company he keeps. ~ Matthew 7:16

More live feed here.

Turkish PM Erdogan plays 'martyr' card in battle with protesters: Analysts.

Turkish PM Erdogan plays 'martyr' card in battle with protesters: Analysts.(AO).

Embattled Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has chosen to portray himself as a martyr battling dark forces as he faces unprecedented protests against his government. It's a role that served him well in the past but this time round it is more a sign of weakness and panic, analysts said.

On Sunday he held a marathon six rallies of his supporters in three different cities during which he insisted he would stand firm against the "looters" and "extremists" calling for his resignation.

Erdogan, who is facing by far his greatest challenge since his Islamist-rooted AKP party came to power a decade ago, said the protesters were being manipulated either by the Turkish opposition or mysterious powers such as the "interest rate lobby."

He also drew comparisons between the current unrest and the era when the Turkish army, in its role as guardian of the secular state, intervened repeatedly in the country's politics. It notably ousted four governments between 1960 and 1997.

"Today we are in the same situation as 27 April, 2007," he told supporters Sunday at Ankara airport.

On that date the military publicly condemned plans to have Abdullah Gul, who co-founded the AKP along with Erdogan, run for president as the party's candidate.

Tens of thousands of supporters of the secular principles established by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, seen as the founding father of modern Turkey, took to the streets to protest.

Erdogan's government was expected, like other administrations before it, to bend to the will of the generals.
But instead it stood up to the military and the AKP party went on to win legislative elections just months later, in July 2007.Gul was elected president in August the same year and remains in the post today.

"Erdogan is pulling up the martyrdom card. It always worked very well for him in the past," said Amberin Zaman, an editorialist at the liberal daily newspaper Taraf.

"I think he is reverting to that mode of portraying himself as a martyr, as a victim of so-called dark forces who try to undermine him and the country, the dark forces as he paints them who want the return of Turkey to the bad old days." But it is unlikely to work this time round, she said.

Erdogan has made Turkey's army, many of whose top generals have been jailed after alleged coup plots against him, much less of a player in the country's politics.

"The paradigm has shifted in Turkey, and largely thanks to him. So in some ways you can say that he is a victim of his own success, the fact that the military have been tamed," Zaman said.

"It is almost comical to characterise the protesters as he does, as agents of so-called foreign and internal powers coalescing to drag Turkey down. The fact that he paints this as the legitimate democratically elected government versus coup plotters, because that's what he has called them, just doesn't really hold," she said.

Cengiz Aktar, a political scientist at Istanbul's Bahcesehir University, argued that Erodgan does not understand what is driving the protesters, most of whom are educated, middle-class city dwellers who reject what they see as Erdogan's growing authoritarianism and the creeping Islamisation of their country.

Until recently, those who opposed him were the elite of the secular state who sought to defend their interests against the rising power of the AKP, whose support comes mostly from Turkey's more conservative Muslims, he noted.

Nuray Mert, a politics expert at Istanbul University, said Erdogan is in disarray.

"This time he has reacted in an abnormal way. I do not know if we have ever seen anywhere in the world a prime minister holding six rallies in the same day. It is because he feels threatened. With the interest the international media has shown (in the protest movement), he has succumbed to fear about his own imminent end," she said.

"There is this idea of great Turkish leaders working for the good of Turkey but who are destroyed by internal or external enemies of the country. Clearly Erdogan has this mentality, and that returns as soon as things start going badly," said Mert. Read the full story here.

Video - Turkish police oust Taksim protesters with tear gas as Obama's BFF Erdogan cheers removal of ‘rags’.

Video - Turkish police oust Taksim protesters with tear gas as Obama's BFF Erdogan cheers removal of ‘rags’.(RT).Hundreds of Turkish police clashed with protesters after taking over Taksim Square in Istanbul. The raid allowed removal of barricades and banners. PM Erdogan praised the troops for removing the ‘rags’ as he branded the revolutionary symbols. Hundreds of security troops have arrived at the scene early morning. The square itself was mostly empty of protesters at the time.

The few protesters present at the square when police arrived were quickly dispersed with tear gas, eyewitnesses report. They retreated to neighboring areas and are launching sporadic assaults at police forces, being beaten back each time.

While the square itself saw relatively low level of violence during the first hours of the operation, the surrounding streets have become a place of serious confrontation, RT’s crew reports from the scene.

“There are serious clashes in the small streets surrounding the square. They are running after each other tossing stones, bottles and smoke grenades there. It’s a real meat grinder in there,” reports RT’s Ashraf El Sabbagh. At the square, some of the police have dismantled barricades which protesters erected over the days of action. They have also taken down protest banners from the buildings surrounding the square.

Others were using water cannons to scatter the protesters trying to retake the square. The activists threw firebombs and fireworks at the armored police trucks.

One of the trucks with water cannon mounted on it caught fire after a Molotov cocktail hit it, but another one doused the flame.

Speaking in parliament on Tuesday following the raid on Taksim Square, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan called for national unity. The conciliatory tone of the first part of the speech contrasted the sharp criticism of the protesters and the hardline stance that the Turkish leader demonstrated in the earlier days of the protest.

Erdogan’s speech went harsher later, as he went on to separate the peaceful protesters at Gezi Park from the violent “mobs”, whom he blamed of causing public disturbances, damaging property, injuring police officers and scaring off international investors. "95 per cent of the protesters in Taksim did not know" the location of the Gezi Park before the protest started, he claimed. He also lashed out at what he called misinformation spread across the social media and all the way to the reports of the international media.

"If my reaction is considered too tough, then I'm sorry. I am Tayyip Erdogan, and I can't change that," the prime minister told MPs from his ruling AKP party. Read the full story here.

Obama's BFF Erdogan Agrees to Meet Protest Organizers.

Obama's BFF Erdogan Agrees to Meet Protest Organizers.(INN).

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has agreed to meet with leaders of the protest movement whose opposition to the razing of an Istanbul park was a catalyst for anti-government demonstrations that began more than a week ago, the government said Monday, according to the New York Times.

The meeting between Erdogan and the protest leaders is scheduled for Wednesday, according to deputy prime minister and government spokesman Bulent Arinc.

It was the first sign that Erdogan, who has denounced the protest organizers and warned them to quit the protests, was willing to engage them in a dialogue.

“They asked to meet the prime minister, and he agreed to meet with the organizers,” Arinc was quoted by Turkish news agencies as telling reporters in Ankara.

Erdogan earlier began to lose his patience and ordered police to "intervene" with protesters across the nation.

He has faced international condemnation for his handling of the unrest in Turkey, a NATO member and key strategic partner in the region for the United States and other Western allies.

The EU on Friday called for a “swift” probe into police violence in the clashes, but Erdogan hit back, saying those involved in a similar protest would in any European country “face a harsher response.”

The prime minister has rejected claims that he is a “dictator” and has also accused social media of playing a major part in the protests against his government.Read the full story here.

Turkey - live feed from Istanbul's Taksim park with protesters.

Turkey - live feed from Istanbul's Taksim park with protesters.HT: IsraelMatzav.

Video of police intervention earlier today here.