Europe Is Not Complete Without Istanbul

Sonisphere Festival ran from Friday to Sunday last week in Istanbul's BJK Inonu Stadium.

Metallica was among the bands that gave unforgettable concerts to 40.000 delighted Turkish fans.

"I can't think of a better place to complete our European tour," Lars Ulrich has told them from the stage.

Tell that to Nicolas Sarkozy...

Or tell Angela Merkel that the best playmaker in her national football team has got his roots in Turkey...

The Secret Constitutional Amendment

According to the National Security Document, which details the official domestic and foreign policy strategy of Turkey, Iran and some domestic Islamic sects are still defined as threats.

However, Milliyet has reported today that the so-called "secret constitution" is about to be amended. The new National Security Document won't define Iran and those domestic Islamic sects as threats.

Democratization or radicalization?

Dialogue with Terrorists

Today I learned another tragic fact about Buse Sariyag, the 17 years old student who has recently been killed by a PKK bomb.

Here is one of the latest messages on Buse's Facebook profile:

"PKK has killed 37 people in two months, but who cares as Gaza is in a desperate situation?! I wish I could meet one of those terrorists and ask: Why do you kill people?"

Who Does Control the Terror?

In the last two months, PKK, a terrorist organization according to Turkey, the United States and the European Union, killed 41 people in Turkey.

PKK's latest attack occurred today in an Istanbul neighborhood just a couple of kilometres away from my home. A pressure cooker with a bomb inside was remotely detonated on the roadside as a crowded shuttle which was carrying military personnel as well as their children was passing by. Five people, including a 17 years old girl, were killed and 14 people were injured.

The name of the slain girl is Buse Sariyag. She is the second civilian victim of PKK terrorism in this month. The first one was Pinar Akdag, 22.

PKK claims that it represents the Kurdish minority in Turkey and it legitimizes violence as a tool to pursue political goals. Though, in the last couple of years, nothing has changed dramatically in Turkey, in terms of domestic policies. Kurds have the same political rights with Turks and there has been no negative development in this sense. However, somehow PKK has suddenly started to kill people, including civilians in the cities.

The only change in Turkish policies have been recorded in the foreign policy recently, as Ankara fell out with the long-time ally Israel. So one may ask if the revival of PKK terrorism is related to this dynamic. Is Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan right this time? Does someone really use PKK as a subcontractor?

I don't want to take the bait so easily, so I have more questions: Hasn't PKK been always a political leverage for several countries anyway? Should we keep complaining about it or should we act against this sinister reality?

I believe that Buse and Pinar would like to see our politicians to take the latter way, instead of what Erdogan is doing nowadays.

A Familiar EU Double-Standard and Its Global Reflections

The Hamas-run Al-Aqsa TV station will be taken off the air in 48 hours, as the French government has recently given an ultimatum to Eutelsat, a Paris-based satellite provider, arguing that the channel incites people to hatred.

I support the decision, because Al-Aqsa TV is nothing but a harmful propaganda machine, directly targeting the minds of the youth by abusing religious values. Letting this channel broadcast its pseudo-Islamic indoctrination via satellite is a shame, so legally stopping it is totally justified in my eyes.

However, when it comes to the traditional double standards of several Western European countries, even such a rightful decision may sound misguided.

The countries which can easily restrict Hamas' right of free speech generally defend that they can't do anything to the EU-based propaganda machine of PKK, because it would be against media freedom.

The number of countries and international organizations that list PKK as a terrorist organization is greater than the number of countries and international organizations that list Hamas as a terrorist organization. So we can say that the international consensus is more widespread when it comes to the PKK terrorism. However:

"Despite Brussels' designation of the group as a terrorist organization, the EU continues to permit the broadcasting of the organization's networks on the Hot Bird 3 satellite owned by the French company Eutelsat. Medya TV started transmissions from studios in Belgium via a satellite uplink from France. Medya TV's license was revoked by the French authorities. A few weeks later Roj TV began transmissions from Denmark. It has also been argued that the Netherlands and Belgium have supported the PKK by allowing its training camps to function in their respective territories. On November 22, 1998, Hanover's criminal police reported that three children had been trained by the PKK for guerrilla warfare in camps in the Netherlands and Belgium. After the death of Theo van Gogh, with increasing attention on domestic security concerns, the Dutch police raided the 'PKK paramilitary camp' in the Dutch town of Liempde and arrested 29 people in November 2004. Denmark allows Kurdish satellite television stations (such as Roj TV), which Turkey claims has links with the PKK, to operate in Denmark and broadcast into Turkey."

Danish newspaper Berlingske Tidende has recently proven without doubt that Roj TV is organically linked to PKK. Later, they even published the photographs of some Roj TV officials in PKK's headquarters in northern Iraq, documenting their financial links to the terrorist organization.

So it's basically the same situation with Al-Aqsa TV and Roj TV. Even the satellite provider is same. And considering the number of civilians who have recently been killed by these terrorist organizations, it is clear that Turkey is even in a more urgent situation.

Unfortunately, the European Commission who has recently warned the French authorities to stop the Hamas broadcast don't do so when it comes to PKK. So Denmark keeps playing three monkeys, continuing its self-centered, cowardly immoral policies.

As if this is not enough, the very same countries which are the main reasons that a terrorist organization like PKK could remain so powerful, can still shamelessly ask for support from Turkey, say, in the bid of their prime ministers as a candidate to the leadership of NATO or in the war on terrorism or in curbing illegal immigrants or in defending their rights to develop nuclear energy.

Here, I obviously mean the United States, the UK, several northern European countries including Denmark, as well as Russia, Greece, Cyprus, Iran and Syria; but they are not the only problem here.

Such developments can really show why the EU, as well as the whole international system, is doomed as long as they persistently try to live on with such double standards.

With the AKP government, it is shown that neither Turkey is an exception anymore, as it also started to develop its own double standards, especially when it comes to grand-scale international issues which cannot be solved without starting by adopting an ethical position first.

Though, can you expect political ethics from the majority of the officials in countries like Denmark, France, Belgium and the Netherlands which are all surrendered to racism and xenophobia as it's also demonstrated by the latest election results? And what about Turkey?

You say.

In Brussels, the capital of the EU, you can't organize a massive march with Osama bin Laden portraits, even if it's totally peaceful; because Al Qaida is listed as a terrorist organization by the EU. However, on March 6th, hundreds of PKK supporters rallied in the middle of Brussels with the portraits of Abdullah Ocalan, the imprisoned leader of PKK, as well as PKK flags. They attacked the Turkish shops around and the Belgian police didn't pop up before a Turkish shopkeeper was beaten severely by the mob. Don't tell me that Belgium is a small, vulnerable country who is really afraid of a PKK backlash. Weren't they also small when they were exploiting and colonizing Africa with genocides? Maybe now they should start using some of the loot to invest to protect some of their own citizens, Belgian-Turks, and to be in harmony with the international community which includes Turkey as a significant actor.

A Victim of Terror

I'm a bit busy nowadays, because of the newspaper routine, as well as an academic work that I needed to rush to finish. It seems that I won't be posting regularly until mid-July. However, when I've read the tragic story of Pinar Akdag, I felt an urge to write something here.

Pinar Akdag was just 22 years old. She had married a lieutenant only 40 days ago. Her husband was an officer in Osmaniye province in southern Turkey.

On June 10th, a group of PKK militants attacked the public housing facilities in Osmaniye with automatic rifles and RPGs. Pinar Akdag was just sitting in her balcony. She got shot from her head.

The military police fired back, but the militants escaped. Pinar Akdag died in the hospital. They buried her in Izmir yesterday.

Now...

Associated Press, Reuters, Agence France Press, New York Times, Washington Post, CNN, BBC or all the other big names of the international media...

You should know that every time you refrain from naming PKK as a terror organization, its militants as terrorist and its acts as terror attacks, you become an accomplice of such murders.

The language can hurt people almost as severely as bullets. Especially when you refer to some people as terrorists and when you don't do it for some other people who commit a similar crime...

Welcome, Brave Peace Activists of Israel!

I always believe in the universality of human stupidity. Here is another instance that I'm confirmed by life:

Some nationalist Israeli students are organizing a counter-flotilla.

Boaz Toporovsky, the chairman of National Student Union, told that they will sail to the northern part of Cyprus, or to southeastern Turkey, where there is a concentration of Kurds.

Now which idea is more stupid?

Trying to sail from Israel to southeastern Turkey where there is no sea?

Or sailing to the northern part of Cyprus, which is occupied by Turkey?

These Israeli students should learn more about geography AND political history.

They should know that Turkish Cypriots in northern Cyprus will welcome them with open arms in Famagusta.

With the full support of Turkey, Turkish Cypriots have been trying to convince the international community to stop their isolation, which is the continuing result of the unjust policy of Greek Cypriots.

A direct cruise from Israel to northern Cyprus will be a symbolic victory for the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), as well as Turkey.

I hope that the Israeli peace activists can find a ship, visit northern Cyprus and help TRNC and Turkey to start to abolish the international isolation.

Don't make fun; these bright students will be breaking a taboo, though not a blockade.

Introduction to Turkish Fascism

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has managed to done what he wanted, triggered an instance of popular fascism in Turkey, at least on a local scale.

Sonisphere Music Festival will be organized in Istanbul on 25-27 June. Many famous metal bands from all around the world, including Manowar, Megadeth, Metallica, Slayer, Antrax, Rammstrein and Alice in Chains, will perform in Inonu Stadium.

Orphaned Land, an Israeli heavy metal band, was also invited. However, after some stupid teens from Turkey founded a Facebook group called "We don't want an Israeli band in Sonisphere", Orphaned Land gig is abruptly canceled.

For their disappointed Turkish fans, the Israeli band made the following announcement in Turkish: "After all the turmoil, the security company of the festival told us that they can't guarantee our security throughout the event, so we shouldn't participate in it this year. You should know that we always feel completely secure in Turkey and we wanted to come anyway. Our goal was to dedicate this show to international peace, friendship and brotherhood. (...) Our orphaned brothers and sisters, please don't forget that our flags may have different signs and colors, but only one flag is being waved deep inside our hears: the flag of hope, friendship and brotherhood."

What can be said after these words? Orphaned Land members always emphasize the commonality of cultures and religions not only in their words, but also in their art. If there will be a lasting Middle East peace one day, it will be thanks to people like Orphaned Land and Emily Henochowicz, not Tayyip Erdogan or Benjamin Netanyahu.

All in all, a bunch of Turkish wanna-be fascists, who probably didn't even know anything about Orphaned Land, have really angered me with this scandal. We have a saying in Turkey: "the fly is small, but it can turn your stomach." So we must drain the swamp before there are more flies. Then, I hope, Orphaned Land, will return to their second home.

At the same time, many Israelis should also see that they face a similar problem, because they have surrendered to this irresponsibly populist Netanyahu government with far-rightist tendencies. If you ask me, they have even more flies in Israel nowadays, turning the stomach of the whole world.

The Crying Israeli Soldier

Hürriyet has published the photos of "crying" Israeli commandos aboard the Turkish aid ship yesterday, after recovering them from the memory card of a Turkish activist which was seized and "erased" by the Israeli forces.

The Israeli government has announced that the photos prove their argument, which simply about alleging that the activists violently resisted the Israeli military operation in international waters. In the short term, the Israeli government may really benefit from these photos to support this weak argument.

However, from a legal point of view, these photos cannot justify the killings of civilians who carried no firearms. In an international court, they won't be counted as any sort of evidence. The counter-argument, which says that Israel used illegal and disproportionate military force, is still stronger.

Moreover, same photos will probably be another blow for the image of the Israeli army in the long term, as they prove what a disastrous operational management it was and how easily the Israeli commandos can be made weeping.

Now many people, especially in the Arab world, are probably thinking: "Are these the elite soldiers of the IDF? First, they should be taught to be tough, then their commanders should take more lessons on fast-roping. What would they do if it was a real war, instead of an ambush on a civilian ship without firearms?"

Isn't it also ironic that these Israeli commandos were probably trained in cooperation with the Turkish army, as there are two treaties between Turkey and Israel on military education which were signed in 1996?

The most surprising news for me was seeing those weeping soldiers welcomed home like heroes. All the praises from the Israeli government, etc... They got a similar training with the Turkish counterparts, but their difference with a Turkish soldier lies here. If a Turkish soldier could have killed several civilians after being neutralized by them and crying to cameras like that, he wouldn't dare to return home.

To conclude, Israel may still repair the damage done to her historically friendly relationship with Turkey; but she has lost a lot in many other areas, solely because of her foolish government...

Click the picture to enlarge

Why Does Israel Need These Lies?

The latest audio tape released by Israel through the official Youtube channel of Israel Defence Forces is just a farce.

Considering how obviously fake it sounds, only morons can believe that this tape is authentic. It seems that the Israeli army couldn't convince even the Israelis about this travesty.

I understand that all states are into such deceptions, but how did the Netanyahu Government end up as such a compulsive, shameless liar, reminding us of the Nazi propaganda machine? Why does it need such fradulence to prove that killing at least nine people with dozens of bullets fired from close range on board a civilian ship in international waters was righftul? I can understand that they want to take advantage of their edge in modern PR instruments to manipulate the public opinion; but why, why should it be like that?

I've just googled to find a scientific explanation and I've found the following words of Dr. Gail Saltz:

"Everybody lies. (...) White lies, those concocted to protect someone’s feelings, are not a big deal at all. The person, however, who seems to feel compelled to lie about both the small and large stuff has a problem. We often call these folks pathological liars (which is a description, not a diagnosis). They lie to protect themselves, look good, gain financially or socially and avoid punishment. Quite often the person who has been deceived knows that this type of liar has to a certain extent deluded him or herself and is therefore to be somewhat pitied."

What an accurate explanation for the lies of the Israeli government and the people who can see the naked truth... I wish that all Israelis could see that truth one day and send Netanyahu et al to the political graveyard that they deserved to be.

Turkey's Foreign Policy Is Not Islamist

It seems that Hugh Pope agrees with me that the current Turkish foreign policy is not Islamist, but I add that I don't think that this trade-based, stabilization-oriented policy is the optimum choice for Turkey.

The Turkish economy doesn't support such high profile diplomacy yet. Opening new markets and trade routes can only benefit Turkish companies which produce nothing, but serving as intermediaries between producer countries (like the EU or China) and the Middle East. If this ambitious foreign policy brings about unnecessary risks for such an insignificant material advantage, why should we follow it?

To summarize, I believe that Ahmet Davutoglu is an asset for Turkey, but he pursues the foreign policy of next decade, not ours.

Arrest Flotilla Organizers AND Netanyahu

If I were a Turkish prosecutor, I would ask the court for an arrest warrant for two groups of people:

1) The Turkish organizers of the Freedom Flotilla, who risked the lives of many civilians by sailing into a conflict zone in the face of a stern warning of the Israeli navy, which had got the right to perceive this cruise as a provocation. The Turkish president of the association says that they could organize a flotilla to Tel Aviv, too, if the Jewish children were living under such inhumane conditions. However, he still failed to guarantee the well-being of the activists on board, including a child. The reaction to this illegal Israeli attack should have been in accordance with passive resistance.

2) The Israeli authorities who had ordered the bloody assault on a civilian ship in international waters, namely Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who admitted that he gave the final order. Shooting four times in the head of an 19-year-old American-Turk who carried no firearms (below) is the definition of disproportionate force. Furkan Dogan was killed brutally not by an Israeli commando, but by Netanyahu himself, who obviously let the military to use disproportionate force for political aims.

These two groups of people are a danger not only for the Turkish and the Israeli people, but also for the Middle East peace in general. They should be prosecuted and sentenced, if found guilty.

Furkan Dogan

Shot in the Head

The cargo of Mavi Marmara ship, which was confiscated by the Israeli authorities while carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza, included toys and footballs.

The following account of a Brazilian who was on the passenger ship that was attacked by Israel may be regarded as an evidence that Israeli commandos had deliberately killed some of the activists, possibly according to an assassination plan:

Iara Lee, a Brazilian filmmaker who was also on the Mavi Marmara, claimed the Israeli troops had invaded the ship after cutting all communications and "started shooting at people". She spoke to Brazil's TV Globo from the prison in southern Israel where an estimated 600 foreign activists, including around 40 Britons, were being held.

Lee said: "[The attack] was a surprise, because it happened in the middle of the night, in the darkness, in international waters, because we knew there would be a confrontation but not in international waters. Their first tactic was to cut all of our satellite communications and then they attacked. All I witnessed first hand was the shooting. They came on board and started shooting at people."

She said the commandos then sent the women to a lower level of the ship.

"They said we were terrorists – it was absurd. They came into the part where the women were, lots and lots of them, dressed in black and with gigantic weapons as if they were in a war. They confiscated all of our telephones and all of our luggage and took everything out of the bags and put it on the floor."

"We expected them to shoot people in the legs, to shoot in the air, just to scare people, but they were direct," she said, in a separate interview with the Folha de São Paulo newspaper. "Some of them shot in the passengers' heads. Many people were murdered – it was unimaginable."

Netanyahu Wants an Islamist Turkey

To remember what kind of a serious mistake Israel had done by attacking a civilian Turkish ship in international waters, let's turn back to international law.

According to the UNCOHS, a warship can board another sovereign nation's ship only if it suspects the ship is engaged in piracy or slave trade. Otherwise such an act constitutes a casus belli. Turkey, alongside other flotilla countries like Greece and Sweden, has got the right to retaliate against Israel now.

Of course, neither Turkey nor any other country will wage a war. Netanyahu administration may have done it intentionally. Israel is very angry at Turkey because of her mediating role in Iranian nuclear crisis. Turkey and Brazil had managed to strike a compromise deal with Iran last week, delaying further UN sanctions.

According to Fatih Cekirge, a Hurriyet columnist, the bloody operation is just a part of the new strategy of Netanyahu administration. Now Israel tries to manipulate the global image of Turkey, which is getting more and more stronger. Best way to do it is creating incidents that will drive the Turkish public closer to radical Islamism, forcing AKP government to leave its trade-based foreign policy for a more ideological one, hence giving up her "honest broker" role in international conflicts.

The headlines of yesterday's Turkish newspapers show the widespread anger in Turkey, following the Israeli military operation against a civilian Turkish ship. It seems that Netanyahu couldn't manage to provoke the mainstream media in Turkey yet, but the Islamist press is already where he wants:

--Mainstream Newspapers--

Hürriyet: World Stands Up

Habertürk: State Terror

Milliyet: State Terror

Vatan: Villainy

Sabah: Global Intifada Against Israel's Massacre

Aksam: Gaza Cries, Taksim Stands Up

Zaman: Whole World Stands Up

--Islamist Newspapers--

Vakit: Zionist dogs

Yeni Safak: Hitler's sons

Bugün: State Terror

Tercüman: State Terror

--Leftist Newspapers--

Cumhuriyet: Israel Hits Humanity

Birgün: Israeli Terror

Netanyahu & Hamas Should GTFO

Let's start speaking about the legitimacy of Israel's Gaza blockade...

I dislike Hamas, like I dislike all people -whether Muslim or not- who mix politics with religion, harming both of them.

However, it doesn't mean that I approve Israel's suffocating Gaza blockade, which is being pursued with the help of the Egyptian dictatorship.

I can understand that Israel has been trying for the last three years to create the biggest open-air prison in Gaza to force Palestinians to overthrow Hamas.

According to the Israeli human rights group Gisha.org, items barred from Gaza by the blockade include:

“sage, cardamom, cumin, coriander, ginger, jam, halva, vinegar, nutmeg, chocolate, fruit preserves, seeds and nuts, biscuits and sweets, potato chips, gas for soft drinks, dried fruit, fresh meat, plaster, tar, wood for construction, cement, iron, glucose, industrial salt, plastic/glass/metal containers, industrial margarine, tarpaulin, sheets for huts, fabric (for clothing), flavor and smell enhancers, fishing rods, various fishing nets, buoys, ropes for fishing, nylon nets for greenhouses, hatcheries and spare parts for hatcheries, spare parts for tractors, dairies for cowsheds, irrigation pipe systems, ropes to tie greenhouses planters for saplings, heaters for chicken farms, musical instruments, size A4 paper, writing implements, notebooks, newspapers, toys, razors, sewing machines and spare parts, heaters, horses, donkeys, goats, cattle, and chicks."

Sedat Laciner, the president of the Turkish think-tank USAK, emphasizes that the Israeli navy has been preparing for this operation for several weeks. They had all the names and photos of all the people aboard. He alleges that Israeli commandos shot some people deliberately for two reasons: 1) To eliminate the leaders of this convoy who were really linked to Hamas. 2) Giving a warning to all other people who may think of breaking Gaza blockade.

I don't agree with Laciner. I believe that it was just a spontaneous mistake by the IDF, like once Russian forces had done in Beslan or the Moscow theatre. But Middle East expert Juan Cole agrees that the Israeli army may have intentionally used excessive force as a brutally frank warning to any future Gaza aid activist.

All in all, the Israeli government still continues its stupid and inhumane Gaza policy which pursue to force Gaza people to vote for any party but Hamas.

OK, they can keep going like that...

Then the international community should also start pursuing a common policy on Israel to force the Israeli people to vote for any party except Netanyahu and Lieberman's...

But the big question about the international leadership remains:

When will US President Barack Obama see that the problem of Hamas is being fed by the problem of Netanyahu?

How many innocent people should die before extremism of any kind is eliminated?

I care about those innocents, especially the anonymous little boy in Gaza who knows nothing about Hamas and dreams of being an astronaut in the future.

Now I'm worried about him even more.

As NaderHosni has said:

"Oh Gaza! If this is what Israel does while the world watches, what have they done while our backs were turned?"