AKP Watch

AKP Watch August 22nd, 2007

“If he is not yours [your president], then abandon your [Turkish] citizenship here, and go elsewhere where you can elect your president” said Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (RTE), and he added “I have the right to tell people who cannot accept him [Abdullah Gül] that you must first abandon your Turkish citizenship and go elsewhere where you can elect whoever you want”

PM Erdoğan spared these words -during a live interview at a national broadcast network- against a well known journalist, Bekir Coşkun, who wrote on his column two weeks ago that Abdullah Gül could not be his president and he would not see him as such. After less than one month of AKP’s broad victory in general elections, Mr. Erdoğan has expressed his understanding of democracy as clearly and sharply as possible while many have been declaring Mr. Erdogan and his party, AKP, as the champion of democracy.

PM Erdoğan once more makes it clear that anybody who disagrees with them should leave his democratic Turkey. His democracy well fits in the frame of majority-dictatorship, and his election victory seems to be hardly more democratic than Hitler’s overwhelming election victories back then, which led his country to be transformed into the worst regime in the world.

PM Erdoğan is well known with his actions against journalists who criticize him publicly, and he had taken many of them to courts although courts rejected the most of such legal claims. In less than one month of his election victory, the accumulated power the election has provided to him has encouraged PM Erdoğan to openly implement his anti-democratic and fascist agenda. After the long-lasting pressure of PM Erdoğan and his party on a widely circulated national newspaper Hurriyet, another well known journalist, Emin Çölaşan, was dismissed from his position, which he held for 22 years. Hurriyet newspaper had been under intense pressure of the ruling party for a few years for Mr. Çölaşan’s dismissal. After the broad election victory of ruling party, Hurriyet could not resist the pressure any longer.

Unfortunately, we expect to see more of these kinds of outrages actions and expressions in the coming term of this fascist Islamist party administration and his satellite president when he takes the office.

• AKP , Erdogan , Free Speech , Freedom of Press , Islamist , Islamofascism , Opposition , Turkey
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AKP Watch August 20th, 2007

“This is the end of the republican period,” Mr Gül says flatly. “If 60 per cent of Ankara’s population is living in shacks, then the secular system has failed and we definitely want to change it.”

These are the words of the next to-be president, Abdullah Gül, of Turkey during an interview with The Guardian journalist Jonathan Rugman, and it was published on November 27, 1995.

After having run three Islamist political parties that were shutdown by the secular judicial system (those decisions were also approved by European Human Rights Court in response to appeals by Abdullah Gül and others), the current Islamist ruling party, AKP, is the fourth attempt, and it has developed a completely different strategy in order to be able to survive in secular democratic system by hiding its ultimate Islamist, anti Atatürk agenda.

With the lessons learned from previous three unsuccessful Islamist parties, AKP leader Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (RTE) and other younger generation Islamist politicians have adopted a much smarter strategy to gain the power and execute their agenda to transform Turkey into an Islamist state while not being shut down again.

RTE and his company founded AKP in 2001, and won the general election one year later by loudly stating that they had changed and they were not followers of the three previous Islamist parties although they were all founders and high-ranking managers of those previous parties as well.

Not long time ago did they express their long lasting pro radical Islamist thoughts about various subjects, while they would soon, two or three years later, be adopting the new language of change, which is completely contrary to their almost three decades of political standing.

We want to put here some of these words that, in addition to Mr. Gül’s statement above, they said just before the new strategy has been adopted under the roof of the new Islamist party:

“Mosques are our barracks, domes our helmets, minarets our bayonets, believers our soldiers.” – RTE, 6 December 1997

“Democracy is not an aim but a means to an end.” – RTE

“We will turn all our schools into İmam Hatips [religious schools]” — RTE, Sept. 9, 1994

“Thank God Almighty, I am a servant of the Shari‘a.”— RTE, Nov. 21, 1994

“I am the imam of Istanbul.” — RTE, Jan. 8, 1995

“Democracy is like a train, we shall get out when we arrive at the station we want.” – RTE

Defying European Human Rights Court Decision on Headscarf Ban; PM RTE:
“Ulema, Not Courts, Have Right to Speak on Headscarf”
(Ulema: the arbiters of shari‘a law)

Defying Turkish Higher Court Decision on Headscraft Ban; PM RTE:
“Gentleman, what do you think who you’re? mecelle (shari’a law) may decide.”

There are many other these kinds of expressions against the spirit of the separation of the state and religion. It would be very naive to expect anybody to believe that they have changed and they now truly believe in democracy and its fundamentals such as secularism. They generally take subtle steps to undermine secular system but they in some occasions push for big steps up until there become significant public opposition and presidential veto.

One of such steps was to change the education system in the favor of religion. In May 2004, PM Erdoğan pushed an educational-reform bill that would have eased entry of religious-school graduates into Turkey’s university system. After the veto of President Sezer, the Turkish general staff — which has constitutional rights as defenders of secularism and the constitution — balked, forcing the AKP to shelve in order to prevent RTE from being sent the same bill to President again in which case President Sezer would have had to sign it into law since President cannot veto the same bill if the congress passes it without any change.

With the accumulation of significant power after the July 22nd general election, RTE have the chance to have his close friend elected as the next President of Turkey so that he can turn his power into an unchecked one, and he can get bills like education-reform bill signed into law without any difficulty and public debate. Unfortunately, Turkey’s absence of checks and balances is going to be observed dramatically in coming years. It may cause either significant diversion from Atatürk’s reforms or ending up with another military intervention since armed forces has constitutional rights to protect Atatürk’s reforms, especially secularism.

• AKP , Gül , Islamist , Islamofascism , Turkey
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AKP Watch August 20th, 2007

Well known AK Party connected Islamic Cult leader Adnan Oktar obtained a court order to block wordpress.com from Turkey.

People trying to visit WordPress.com from Turkey are seeing this message: “Access to this site has been suspended in accordance with decision no: 2007/195 of T.C. Fatih 2.Civil Court of First Instance.”

Adnan Oktar, also known as Harun Yahya, an islamist, spearheaded an effort to attack Turkish academics who taught evolutionary theory. A number of academics were harassed, threatened and slandered in fliers that labeled them “communistsand Maoists” for teaching evolution.

Oktar’s group had been found to engage in extensive criminal activity. These crimes included blackmail, possession of unlicensed weapons and sexual intercourse with individuals under age 18.  Oktar (recorded by police cameras, leaked and shown on Turkish TV channels such as Kanal D, ATV, Star) confessed to blackmailing people who they regarded as an obstacle to their enterprises. These people included the former reporters for the newspaper Hurriyet, Emin Colasan, and Fatih Altayli, after they questioned some of Harun Yahya’s activities such as bribing the municipality of Ankara.

Both of the journalists lost their posts later. Journalist Emin Colasan fired from his post in Hurriyet because of the heavy pressure from Islamic AK Party. Fatih Altayli also was forced to resign from his post as chief editor of daily newspaper Sabah.

Despite of the countless bribery scandals Ankara municipality is still led by AK Party’s Melih Gokcek who was the responsible of recent droughts in the city.

• AKP , Adnan Oktar , Free Speech , Freedom of Press , Harun Yahya , Islamist , Wordpress
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AKP Watch August 20th, 2007

Turkish Daily Hürriyet reports that Islamofascist AK Party’s Interior Minister, Osman Güneş, fired Muğla Governor over Red Wine Risotto served during an offical dinner he attended.  

On 25th July 2007, in Muğla -a city in southern Turkey widely known by its seaside towns Bodrum and Marmaris-, Interior Minister Güneş attended Annual Government Auditors Dinner where  Risotto with Wine was among the main course entries. Since Islam forbids consume any food cooked with alcohol, Minister of an Islamic AK Party was very upset about the carte and said: “How could you offer food cooked with alcohol? This is a scandal! You are forcing people to eat haram.”

Minister Güneş immediately left the dinner and fired the Muğla Governor Mustafa Temel Koçaklı due to serving Risotto with Wine.

Governor Koçaklı becomes first public servant in the history of man kind who dismissed due to serving Risotto.

Source: Daily Newspaper Hürriyet, 19th August 2007

• AKP , Islamofascism , Turkey
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AKP Watch August 18th, 2007

Former member of parliment and deputy chair of opposition Young Party  (Genç Parti), Emin Şirin has been arrested earlier today.  

Şirin was a former AK Party MP and was the strongest opponent voice within the party. He criticized Erdogan over AKP’s hidden Islamic agenda and was forced to resign from AK Party.

After his resignation, Şirin joined opposition Young Party (Genç Parti) but failed to be re-elected for the next term in General Elections held on 22nd July 2007. Şirin lost his parliamentary immunity from prosecution last week since his term was over and immediately arrested afterwards.

It’s widely known that AKP has authoritarian tendencies and PM Erdogan does not hesitate to crush their political opponents. Earlier this week AKP has forced Doğan Media Group to fire the prominent AKP opponent Journalist Emin Çölaşan from his post in a widely circulated national newspaper, Hürriyet .

Also last month, a leading investigative author and journalist, Ergün Poyraz arrested because of his long time best seller books about Erdogan and AK Party.

AKP Watch will closely monitor free speech and freedom of press under authoritian pressure of AK Party rule in Turkey.

• AKP , Free Speech , Freedom of Press , Islamofascism , Opposition
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