29 April 2013 Volume 7, Issue 17
Serbia's President Declines to Define Killing of 8,000 in Srebrenica as Genocide Serbia's president apologized Thursday for the 1995 massacre of 8,000 Muslims in the Bosnian town of Srebrenica, but declined to characterize the killings as an act of genocide. "I kneel and ask for forgiveness," President Tomislav Nikolic told Bosnian TV. "I apologize for the crimes committed by any person in the name of Serbia." Nikolic came under fire last year short after he was elected by declaring, according to published reports; there was no "genocide" in Srebrenica. He has since been urged by Bosnian leaders to acknowledge the killings, which the prosecutors at the International Crimi-
nal Tribunal for the former Yugo- the advancing Bosnian Serb slavia have described as a sysarmy. tematic extermination. Over a period of five days in July 1995, the Continues in Page 2... Bosnian Serb army conducted a brutal takeover of the town. About 8,000 men and boys were rounded up and killed, with many buried in mass graves. At the time of the massacre, Srebrenica had been designated a U.N. "safe area" for people, predominantly Bosnian Muslims, trying to escape
Withdrawal Starts on May 8 Following an appeal from PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan, KCK Executive Council declared that PKK guerrillas within Turkey's border would gradually withdraw in groups starting from May 8. Karayılan said PKK guerrillas within Turkey's border would gradually withdraw in groups starting from May 8 and they would stop the pullout and defend themselves if they were confronted by any attack. He also underlined a three-stage process which was named as “democratic resolution process”. Saying that
the first stage would complete after the full withdrawal of PKK guerrillas, the declaration announced the second and third stage as follows: “On the second stage, a series of constitutional reforms will give birth to the conditions in the genuine democratization of Turkey and the resolution of Kurdish problem. It is nec-
essary to eliminate entities like village guard, special team and private army, and create conditions in harmony with a democratic civil society environment. Continues in Page 10...
THIS WEEK
EUROPE PAGE 2
AMERICAS PAGE 3
OPINION PAGE 4-5
ASIA PAGE 6
MIDDLE EAST&AFRICA PAGE 7
ARTICLE OF THE WEEK PAGE 8-9
TURKEY PAGE 10
SOCIAL PAGE 11
EDITORIAL PAGE 12
EUROPE Serbia's President Declines to Define Killing of 8,000 in Srebrenica as Genocide Continues from Page 1... The people of Srebrenica, which sits a short distance from the Serbian border, were protected by just 100 lightly equipped Dutch peacekeepers. Without reinforcements, the Dutch were forced to stand aside while Serb troops took the town. Then-Bosnian Serb commander-in-chief Gen. Ratko Mladic -now on trial on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity- allegedly told one woman everyone taken out of Srebrenica would be reunited with their loved ones, according to Serbian TV footage previously shown in court. Truckloads of men and boys were taken from Srebrenica to execution sites where they were bound, blindfolded, and shot with automatic rifles, prosecutors contend. In the aftermath of the massacre, the United Nations gave NATO the authority to launch large-scale airstrikes against Serb targets, a move that eventually forced the Serbs to the negotiating table. CNN/ April 26, 2013 A gunman in the north German town of Hamelin has shot dead the top district executive before shooting himself fatally, according to police. BBC/ April 26, 2013
A committee of the Council of Europe, the continent's main human rights and democracy watchdog, has recommended monitoring Hungary. BBC/April 25, 2013
Austerity Blamed as Unemployment Soars in Spain and France More than 6 million without jobs in Mariano Rajoy's Spain while figure in Franรงois Hollande's France is 3.2 million. Unemployment has soared to records in both France and Spain as the impact of government spending cuts and a collapse in consumer confidence forced employers to shed thousands of workers. Spain's persistent rise in unemployment reached new heights over the first three month of this year, leaving a record 27% of the workforce jobless. In France, the number of people out of work reached a record 3.2 million in March in a blow to socialist president Hollande, who has struggled to stabilise the economy in the face of declining exports and a fall in domestic demand. The Guardian/ April 25, 2013
Eta 'Top Commander' Gets Life Sentence in France A suspected military leader of the Basque separatist group Eta has been sentenced to life in jail for the 2007 murder of two policemen in France.
Relief in Parliament contrasts with ugly street battles as right-wing protest turns violent after French gay marriage law clears last hurdle. Independent/April 24, 2013
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A court in Paris ruled that Mikel Kabikoitz Karrera Sarobe must spend at least 22 years behind the bars for the shooting of the Spanish officers. Saioa Sanchez Iturregui, a co-defendant, was jailed for 28 years. Eta is blamed for more than 800 deaths during its decades-long campaign of violence for Basque independence. The court in Paris also acquitted Asier Bengoa Lopez de Armentia of the murder charges. However, he was sentenced to 15 years in jail on other charges. The two Spanish officers, Raul Centeno Bayon and Fernando Trapero Blazquez, were killed in the French town of Capbreton, near the Spanish border. The authorities said they were attacked while travelling in their vehicle on assignment in France. In 2011, Eta announced an end to its armed struggle for the Basque independence in northern Spain and south-western France. Spain is rejecting Eta's offer to enter talks with its leaders, demanding the group's unconditional dissolution first. BBC/ April 25, 2013
AMERICAS Boston Marathon Bombing Suspect Moved to Prison Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev has been transferred from hospital to prison, US police say. The US Marshals Service said the 19-year-old had been moved from the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center to a facility at Fort Devens, Massachusetts. He has been in hospital since his capture following a huge police operation a week ago. The US Marshals Service said the accused, whose condition has been described as fair, was taken overnight to the Federal Medical Center Devens some 40 miles (65km) west of Boston. The facility, on the decommissioned Fort Devens US Army base, treats federal prisoners who require specialised long-term medical or mental healthcare. Many of those injured in the marathon blasts were also being treated at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, and were reportedly unhappy at having the suspect in the same building. New York police said on Thursday the Tsarnaev brothers had concocted a spur-of-the-moment plan to drive the hijacked car to Times Square and detonate their remaining explosives: a pressure cooker device and five pipe bombs. BBC News / April 26, 2013
Venezuela Says US Citizen Plotted Unrest An American citizen has been arrested by Venezuelan authorities who said that he had been taken into custody as he had been trained as a spy.
A U.S. military spokesman says 84 prisoners held at Guantanamo Bay are on hunger strike. Associated Press, April 23, 2013
Interior Minister Miguel Rodríguez identified the man as Timothy Hallett and said he was involved in a plot to destabilize the country after the recent presidential election and was connected to what Mr. Rodríguez called rightwing groups seeking to provoke violence. “The mission was to bring us to a civil war,” Mr. Rodríguez said. Officials with the UN Embassy in Caracas said they could not discuss the case because of privacy issues. Mr. Rodríguez said that Mr. Hallett had become close to a group of students involved in protests of the election results and that he had received money from nongovernmental groups and passed it on to the students. The New The Tunisian Embassy says one of two men York Times / April 25, 2013 accused of plotting to derail a train in Canada is a Tunisian citizen. Associated Press, April Wealthy businessman Horacio Cartes has been elected president of 25, 2013 Paraguay.
Horacio Cartes Wins Paraguay Presidential Election
A political newcomer, Mr Cartes beat the Liberal Party's Efrain Alegre by nine percentage points. The result restores the Colorado Party to power after its defeat by the left-wing candidate Fernando Lugo in 2008. Mr Cartes faces the challenge of fighting high levels of poverty and of ending the country's isolation in the region following last year's disputed impeachment of President Lugo. Regional bodies Mercosur and Unasur suspended Paraguay over the issue. Mr Cartes won 45.8% of the votes, compared to 36.9% for Efrain Alegre of the governing Liberal Party. Mr Alegre conceded defeat shortly after the results were announced. In his victory speech, Mr Cartes said that that he would lead Paraguay in "a new direction". BBC / April 22, 2013
The UN has appointed Brazilian General Carlos Alberto dos Santos Cruz to lead a team of peacekeepers in a mission to the DR Congo. The Global Post, April 25, 2013
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OPINIONS TURKEY PKK Quo Vadis? The highly anticipated announcement by Murat Karayılan was finally made at a press conference in Kandil : “PKK will begin withdrawing its militants on May 8th.” With the disarmament of PKK, a new process will begin in Turkey. Instead of security instruments, now, the political instruments will be used for the solution. But the question that comes to mind is what did PKK receive? Were they deceived or will they become sidelined? PKK faces with the challenging process in which it tries to get through all humiliating descriptions that both Turkish government and citizens try to give them for many years. When an armed struggle cut out, PKK will have to prove itself as a 'political device'. Now they want to get rid of this “terrorist” brand on them. Democratic Society Congress, a platform that brings together Kurdish non-government organizations, made a declaration in this direction and called the removal of the PKK from the list of the terrorist organization. In fact, the transition of war organizations into political organization has always been difficult to deal with. But like the ETA and IRA which are not seen as a terrorist organizations by EU anymore, PKK would soon come to this point. Öcalan has already been selected in Time list of the world's most influential people. Gerry Adams who wrote the portrait of Öcalan for the Time, was a bomb throwing IRA terrorist before he became a politician. I think, Karayılan’s statements to a group of journalist is more important than what he told at a press conference. He told that they give a lot of importance to the process and it will bring the solution of Kurdish problem which eventually leads the peace among other peoples in the Middle East. We can understand from the countless emphasis on “Middle East” by both Karayılan and Öcalan that despite the Kurdish problem in Turkey may triggered and developed the movement, the main goal is now to work for the recognition of the Kurdish identity in the Middle East and become an actor in the region. Not in the form of a nation state but in the form of democratic federalism in which all the peoples of the Middle East live as brothers in an equal and democratic environment.It is clear that avoiding the demands of Kurds by “Islamic brotherhood” discourse is not an option anymore. The solution is only possible by moving Kurds to the center of the system with their new dress on them. Let us hope they will. Hazal AKGÜL
AMERICAS Hunger Strike in a Grave Hunger strike in Guantanamo prison has been continuing since February. Prisoners in the Guantanamo are protesting their inhumane life conditions, the nonexistence of human rights and freedoms, and the unfairness of their condemination. The USA which is “the most civilized” country in the world has a prison in which humans do not even get the chance to be treated like animals. America which always tries to end torture, psychological pressure and other barbarous situations like in other “uncivilized” countries actually does nothing when the issue is its own shameful mistakes. It misuses the power it has and finds the right to think that no one can ever dare to oppose it. One can draw the conclusion that the USA does all these just because it can. The USA has been using this huge prison in order to punish the so called criminals. Actually, most of detainees are there because they are denounced by people who wanted to benefit from the USA money payment or by the people who wanted to get revenge on them. Therefore, I believe there is no legality in Guantanamo. When the prisoners want to end that inhuman, illegal and painful situation, their attempts to go on hunger strike have been prevented by the guards who feed the detainees by force which is regarded as a form of torture. People in Guantanamo are having the worst years of their lives, and the USA government does not do anything but promising to change the location of prison, and it cannot even realize that one. People who let that happen and who cannot dare to be brave enough to respond to that torture should be ashamed of their humanity! Özge YÜKSEKKAYA
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OPINIONS EUROPE LONG AWAITED APOLOGY Serbia finally apologizes from Bosnia for Srebrenica. What does that mean? In 1995, the worst tragedy in the continent of Europe after the Second World War took place. Bosnian War fought between 1992 and 1995 caused the deaths of thousands of people and countless miseries. Srebrenica Genocide, which is by far the most memorable tragedy of the war, happened in July 1995. Led by Ratko Mladic, Serbian forces massacred over 8000 people. Ironically, Slobodan Milosevic, who was the real architect of the genocide, went unpunished at that time. Only after the Kosovo War, Europe decided that Milosevic was a war criminal. In 2001, Serbian authorities handed their former President to The Hague. This was mostly a political move of course. Serbia wanted to be integrated to the Europe and the only way of doing this was to ask for forgiveness for what was done during the Bosnia and Kosovo wars. Last week, the President of Serbia, Tomislav Nikolic finally apologized for Srebrenica Genocide on behalf of Serbia and Serbian people. It must be seen as the continuation of “washing the hands” policy. As an official candidate of the European Union, Serbia has lately made a large progress in terms of overall democracy scores. With Croatia becoming the full member of the EU in July 2013, Serbian authorities might have decided to quicken things. Better relations with Bosnia not only will ensure a better cooperation in the region in economic and political sense, it will also slowly change the image of Serbia in the eyes of EU, given that the bad memories of the wars are still fresh. In short, regardless of the motivation the apology, it is a good sign. Better interstate relations and cooperation among the states are necessary for a region as historically problematic as Balkans. Umut YILMAZ
MIDDLE EAST & AFRICA Women Rights On The Western Wall Women rights are in subordinated position in the Middle East because of some religious and traditional rules. Although Israel society is different from other countries’ society in the Middle East, we cannot say that women are not subordinated in Israel. However, there are some positive developments which can question the place of women at least in the religious places. For several months, a group of women, dubbed the Women of the Wall, have held prayers in the female side, wearing traditional shawls and reading aloud from the Torah. This caused outrage and protests from Orthodox Jewish groups, who say women should not perform the rituals. In this atmosphere, on 11 April, five of these women were arrested and charged with disturbing the peace. A lower court had dismissed the charges and the women were freed, but the police appealed against this. However, Judge Moshe Sobel rejected the appeal, saying that the 2003 ruling "did not ban the Women of the Wall from praying in any particular place" and that there was no "reasonable suspicion" that the women had broken laws relating to holy sites. All of these resulted that the Women of the Wall speak loudly because this arrest was an attack to their rights of belief. Moreover, they can defend their rights because the ruling supported them –at least the court enforced the law fairly. For example, Anat Hoffman, who chairs the women's group, said the ruling had "liberated the Western Wall for all Jewish people". As a result, Natan Sharansky, the head of Jewish Agency, will present some suggestions in the parliament in order to solve the conflicts between the Women of the Wall and ultra-Orthodox Jews. It is hopeful that we see some incidents which can advance woman’s position in the society. On the other hand, Netenyahu is preparing for elections with the support of ultraOrthodox parties. Therefore, this situation should not be used as a political strategy because it may cause negative result for the women. Deniz AYYILDIZ
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ASIA
ASIA Hollande Aims to Energise Exports with China Visit Mr Hollande is travelling with a large trade delegation, which is looking to strike deals for France's luxury goods, energy and auto industries. It’s not your average business trip – French President Hollande is in China on a two-day visit aimed at boosting exports. His focus: energy and aerospace. His efforts have already been rewarded with an agreement to buy 60 Airbus planes by China. That may silence some critics at home, where his approval rating has hit an all-time low. Hollande is the first Western leader to be received by the new Chinese President Xi Jinping. Analysts say the invitation is a signal to London. British PM David Cameron has been snubbed by Beijing since he met with the spiritual leader of Tibet, the Dalai Lama, last year. Previous French President Sarkozy also felt the diplomatic freeze over a similar meeting. With only a 1.3 percent share of Chinese foreign trade, France may just stick to talking shop. Euronews / April 25, 2013 At least 21 people have been killed in fierce fighting in China’s troubled far-west region of Xinjiang. A confrontation involving knives, axes and a gun ended with a house being burnt down in an act local authorities have blamed on “terrorists”. Euronews / April 24, 2013 Indian police have arrested a second man in connection with the rape of a 5-year-old girl in New Delhi. This case sparked protests and raised questions about the treatment of women in India. Many demonstrators are members of a political party of the leading anticorruption activists. CNN / April 23, 2013
Japan Calls China Envoy over Disputed Isles Japanese prime minister threatens force if China attempts to land on island chain in East China Sea. Japan has called the Chinese ambassador in protest over a flotilla of Chinese government ships that entered territorial waters near a disputed island chain. The waters around the islets are rich fishing grounds and also have potentially huge oil and gas reserves. The Chinese boats drove out a flotilla of 10 boats carrying about 80 Japanese activists from the nationalist Ganbare Nippon group. They then began to withdraw from the area on the orders of Japanese Coast Guard patrol ships, when Chinese government control ships came nearby. Japanese and Chinese patrol ships have been playing a cat-and-mouse game near the Japanese-controlled East China Sea islands, where China is seeking to assert its claim to sovereignty by sending ships into the disputed waters. An accidental collision could lead to a broader clash, which is te raising fears. Al Jazeera / April 23, 2013
Taliban Detain Turks in Eastern Afghanistan Nine people captured after helicopter makes emergency landing in Logar province, according to local officials.
Taliban fighters have seized ten people from a civilian helicopter which made an emergency landing in eastern Afghanistan, including eight Turkish nationals, officials said. The helicopter made an emergency landing in bad weather on Sunday evening, said Rais Khan Sadeq, the deputy police A Pakistani court has chief of Logar province, south of Kabul. "Security forces found the helicopordered a three-day house ter but the nine people were not in it. They are taken by the Taliban," Sadeq arrest on former military said. Eight of the people captured are Turks, along with one Russian and ruler Pervez Musharraf over one Afghan, according to the helicopter company. Hamidullah Hamid, govthe murder of ex-Prime ernor of Azr district where the helicopter came down, also confirmed Minister Benazir Bhutto that the Turks on board had been seized by the Taliban. Local tribal elders more than five years ago. are reportedly working to secure their release. Hamid said the aircraft, Aljazeera / April 26, which had come from the eastern city of Khost and was heading for Kabul, 2013 belonged to a Turkish company which has a big project in Khost, but gave no further details. Al Jazeera / April 22, 2013
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MIDDLE EAST & AFRICA US: Intelligence Points to Small-scale Use of Sarin in Syria The United States has evidence that the chemical weapon sarin has been used in Syria on a small scale, Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel said Thursday. In a letter sent to lawmakers before Hagel's announcement, the White House said that intelligence analysts have concluded "with varying degrees of confidence that the Syrian regime has used chemical weapons on a small scale in Syria, specifically the chemical agent sarin." The Obama administration said it is working to gather more information on the reports and is calling for a fullscale United Nations investigation into what may have happened. Earlier this week an Israeli intelligence official said Damascus was using weapons banned under international law against its own people in the country's civil war. On Wednesday, Israeli President Shimon Peres said that he expected the United States to fall in line with its estimate on chemical weapons use in Syria. CNN/ April 26,2013
Sectarian Violence Flares in Iraq Nearly 50 people were killed in clashes on Thursday in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, sources said, on the third day of the most widespread violence in Iraq since U.S. troops withdrew in December 2011. More than 100 people have been killed in fighting since Tuesday, when troops stormed a Sunni protest camp, triggering clashes that quickly spread to other Sunni areas in western and northern provinces. Shiite PM Nuri alMaliki's coalition took the lead in eight of the 12 provinces that held provincial elections at the weekend, including the capital Baghdad, preliminary results showed on Thursday. Iraqi politics are deeply split along sectarian lines, with Maliki's government deadlocked over how to share power among Shiites, Sunni Muslims and ethnic Kurds, who run their own autonomous region in the north. Violence, including bomb attacks that have killed dozens of people at a time, has increased across Iraq this year. Provisional figures from rights group Iraq Body Count indicate about 1,365 people have been killed so far in 2013. Reuters / April 25,2013
EU Eases Oil Export Embargo on Syria The EU has decided to ease its embargo on Syrian crude oil to help the country’s opposition movement.
Intense fighting between the military and Islamist militants in northern Nigeria is reported to have killed at least 185 people, however the army has disputed this figure. BBC / April 22,2013
The Israeli air force has shot down an unmanned “enemy” drone over its airspace, with suspicion immediately falling on Hezbollah, the Lebanese militant group which boasted about a similar incursion seven months ago. Independent /April 25,2013
It means that European firms will be allowed to import crude and petroleum products from opposition-controlled areas. Foreign ministers from the 27member states agreed to the measure following talks in Luxembourg. The EU first slapped oil sanctions on the Syrian oil industry in September 2011.At that time, it counted for an estimated 25 percent of the Syrian state’s revenues. Euronews correspondent in Luxembourg Andrei Beketov said: “It appears that the EU isn’t counting on a quick resolution to the Syrian conflict. With the debate on arming the rebels is heading nowhere, an economic approach is preferred instead.”
France's embassy in Libya was hit by an apparent car bomb on Tuesday, injuring two F re n ch g u ar ds an d bringing violence to the capital after attacks on foreign missions in the Haaretz /April Euronews / April 22,2013.Graph: eia (US Energy east. Information Administration) 2010.
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ARTICLE OF THE WEEK Larbi SADIKI Senior Lecturer in Middle East Politics at the University of Exeter, and author of Arab Democratization: Elections without Democracy
Why Turkey isn't a model for the Arab Spring Turkey needs a new and robustly democratic constitution - only then can we talk about a regional democratisation model. Nothing is more fallacious than projecting Turkey as a model for the fledgling Arab Spring democracies. Not for lack of good practices on the Turkish side. Rather, the problems rest with the Arab side, in my view. The software (Turkish know-how), as it were, does not suit the existing hardware (Arab Spring republics). How and why? A few areas call for attention. The eruption of Arab revolutions has done wonders to Turkey. It is all of a sudden catapulted into the limelight as the most relevant transitional example. That is, one on which new Arab transitional candidates may potentially be modelled. It is not just democracy that advocates have in mind. It is precisely "Islamic" or AKP-type democratisation that draws the advocates' attention. Even here, the argument could not be more flawed. The brand of AKP democracy invokes "Muslim politics" - the use is intended to take precedence over "Political Islam" and "Islamism". The difference is often missed until Dale Eickelman and James Piscatori put the question to bed. The two scholars launched the career of the concept in the 1990s. In its gist it refers to how Islam's ideals are wedded to reality, by recycling, reviving, selecting, re-thinking and reinterpreting the wide range of symbols and intellectual resources cumulatively added to the religious canons over a period of 1,400 years. The upshot are contests and counter-contests over meaning, fragmentation of sacred authority, and unprecedented access of arguably more educated Muslim masses to the interpretive vocation, once the exclusive bastion of the learned. Islamism seeks civic re-branding of Islam. It is generally driven by a top-down movement in which the symbols of Islam are re-arranged to suit political ends: systematic Islamisation of state, society and culture. This movement has had its ups and downs, including periods of attrition (confrontation with the national-secular state) and disputations amongst various Brotherhood schools (Sudan, Jordan, Palestine, Gulf and Maghreb countries' reinterpretations fine-tuning those of the "mother-organisation" in Egypt). The difference between Turkish and Arab Islamism is as follows: Arab Islamists have privileged theory over practice; Turkish Islamists have almost done the opposite. Not directly tied to Turkish Islamists, but Fethullah Gulen's eclecticism (open to market economics), pragmatism (gradual renaissance, less emphasis on dogma, stress on education) and spirituality (with a Sufi content), and nationalism (Turkish, local knowledge derived from Nuri Said's teachings) are difficult to match with Arab seminal ideologues, which count amongst their ranks brilliant thinkers such as the he late Shaykh Muhammad al-Ghazali of Egypt (open to democracy, equal gender relations, universal citizenship and rule of law).The lineage of both brands of Islamism and the "workshops" where they are forged are different. Muslim politics more or less facilitates participation by the previously excluded multitude. The gates of speech, too, are flung wide-open. This is where the AKP comes in handy: building resourcefulness in politics to crystallise and prove the utility or relevance of Islamic symbols. There are no clerical oligarchs who pontificate - AKP has no analogue to Hassan al-Banna, Sayyid Qutb, Hassan al-Turabi or Rachid Ghannouchi. However, they have amongst their ranks thousands of successful industrialists, businessmen, entrepreneurs, artisans, professionals and civil servants. As if the AKP builds "Islam-city" bottom-up, acquiring the savoir-faire of both politics and Islam by engaging with the horizontal dimensions of life: how to build modern infrastructure, alleviate poverty, transfer factories from Europe to Turkey and construct a robust work ethic. For Arab Islamists, "Islam-city" remains largely discursive: that is of course until the election of Islamists into power such as in Egypt and Tunisia in the context of the Arab Spring.
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There is a Turkish distinction without Arab equivalence. Since the time of Kemal Ataturk, secularism in Turkey has opened up continuous workshops in which polarities forged the dynamics of diversity within unity, and opposites who pluralised the system and eventually set it on a democratising track. Arab secularisms have been incoherent, rigidly rejecting all opposition. When socialism was state policy, defenders of the market or and liberal politics were constructed as state enemies. When times changed and an open-door policy evolved as the state's political mantra, discourses, moralities and ideologies on the left of the political spectrum became the new marginal. By and large, the vagaries of the "left" and the "right" proscribed religious voices and forces. East-West divides have been turned into grounds for creating a workable synthesis, on Turkish terms, through which the excesses of Ataturk's quest for Europeanisation are blended with Turko-Islamic yearnings. Turkey has transcended the "Western complex". Arabs, generally, and Islamists more specifically, have turned the "West" as a constant antithesis, a kind of "Orientalism in reverse", countering Western theses of "exceptionalism" about Arabs and Muslims. Moreover, Turkish "Muslim politics", by under-stating dogma and verifying the symbols of Islam in engaging with modernity in a vast territory in which the bar was raised for the country's industrialists, entrepreneurs, human rights and democracy advocates, and even EU advocates, has gradually learnt how to reconcile the imperatives of secularism and Islamism. Arab Islamists are, in varying degrees, too dogmatic to raise the level of the discursive and the sophistication that derives from an appreciation of "Smithean logic" (metaphorically) in making wealth for their nations, building countries that work and in competing or developing a vigorous work ethic. Only in these workshops the complex of secularism may be tested, adjusted, and, perhaps, superseded. Declarations of the much-vaunted "Islamic state" thus far lack the practical engagement with modernity's complexities, innovations and scientific, medical and technological revolutions. That Turkey is today on course to economic greatness and democratic consolidation must be understood within Turkish specificity: "democratising dialectics" that locked polity and society into a reformist logic of no return. It is through this that structural achievements over a 60-year period, since multi-partyism was launched, that the building blocks of political and economic development have been laid. En route to the current context, Ataturk and Erdogan represent, on the surface, opposites. In practice, combined, respectively, as thesis-antithesis, have created the synthesis that is today Turkey. Thus each of the political figures in the leadership phalanx in Turkey represents a necessity to mother the invention of the systemic processes of Ataturkist nationalism, military-bureaucratic centralism, followed by multi-partyism, including religious parties, through to democratisation. Ataturk preserved the Anatolian motherland, and dismantled the Ottoman imperial regime, founding a brand of centralised republicanism. By introducing multi-partyism , "Neo-Ataturkist" Ismet Inonu rebelled against Ataturk's single-party and patrimonial polity, and reaching to the periphery. He ended the dominance of Ataturk's Republican People's Party (RPP), and along with RPP rebels, they had the Democrat Party (DP) as a contender for power by the 1946 general election. Four years later, multi-partyism was in full swing, with the DP winning the 1950 election and leading the government for close to 10 years. The 1960s, which was marked by a coup against Prime Minister Adnan Menderes' government, created sufficient democratic dialectics the upshot of which was a momentum pitting civil society against the military and bureaucracy. This was a prime example of how opposites created the transformative dynamics of internal sparring between the forces of paternalistic political patronage and democratic pluralism.Even throughout the 1960s and 1970s, under military tutelage and faรงade democratic competition, from Suleyman Demirel's Justice Party politics through to Bulent Ecevit of the RPP, Turkey's polity was acquiring the structural conditions of democratic transitions and society was enabling itself by consolidation of the agency to organise politically. By the 1980s, the military under General Kenan Evren waseager to steer politics from the sidelines, aided by constitutional guardianship, as new dialectics began with the birth of Kemalism's most vigorous antithesis: the National Salvation Party and its leader Necmettin Erbakan. Just as qualitative as the rise of Muslim politics in Turkey, which shook the military, the defenders of the Kemalist republic, was Turgut Ozal and the Motherland Party who helped modernise and transform Turkey in the 1980s and early 1990s. This was an historical moment that marked the severing of the umbilical cord with the generals, unlike under the Demirel and Bulent Ulusu's governments, which pandered to the top brass. The 1983 election fought under a proportional system, and won by Ozal , asserted society's thirst for autonomy from the army, setting in motion the process of civilianisation of polity. Erdogan closed the circle: deepening Ozal's quest for civilianisation of polity (hence the systematic dismantling of the deep state), economic development and globalisation, and closer ties with the European Union. There would have been neither Ozal nor Erdogan without Ataturk, Evran, Demirel, or Erbakan. Ozal has no Arab analogue in any of the republics ousted by three revolutions in 2011, Egypt, Libya and Tunisia. Arab politics were drenched in deep singularity, literally with ruling mass-mobilisation parties occupying the state, eventually privatising politics. The difference could not be starker: Turkey's statebuilding began with a narrow ideational and leadership base, which continuously widened, creating openings generated by democratic dialectics, through which thesis and antithesis yield synergy. Arab state-building started with a wide power base, which had been tattered gradually under the juggernaut of eliminating all opposition in the name of national unity and uniformity. Al Jazeera
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TURKEY Withdrawal Starts on May 8 Continues from Page 1... It is essential to draft a new constitution that will democratize Turkey, end the denial of Kurdish people and accept their existence and freedom, ensure the rights and freedoms of all faiths and sects, and establish equilibrium. On the third stage, the 'normalization process' will begin. This process is the process of perpetuation of peace, societal reconciliation, freedom and equality. Upon the emancipation of everyone including our leader Apo, it will also bring the discussion on complete farewell to arms and guerrillas' demilitarization."Asked about what these guerrillas would do after the withdrawal, BDP Deputy Sirri Sureyya Onder said that militants would leave for political training in the Kandil Mountains of northern Iraq. “KCK staff is currently working on a program for involvement of guerrillas in civil democratic politics on the basis of democratic liberation. Nobody will return to their homes, everyone will go to Kandil to receive this training and an overall democratization campaign will be launched in the country. Bianet / April 26, 2013 Police seized a large number of arms in a Libyan-flagged ship off the coast of Istanbul’s Tuzla distinct during customs procedures. As a result of operation, the ship’s captain and another crewmember were detained. Today’s Zaman / April 24, 2013
Turkish PM to Visit Gaza Despite US Request for Delay There will not be any change in PM Erdoğan’s Gaza visit plans despite U.S Secretary of State John Kerry’s demand to postpone the visit. Speaking to the press following the Friends of Syria Core Group meeting which took place in Istanbul, Kerry stated, "We have expressed to the PM that we really think it would be best if Erdoğan’s planned trip to Gaza were delayed and that we feel it shouldn't take place at this point in time." PM Recep Tayyip Erdoğan responded to US Secretary of State John Kerry's request for him to delay his planned visit to Gaza by saying “Kerry’s diplomacy on Gaza trip was incorrect. Delaying my trip to Gaza is out of question. As I said in the past the Gaza trip will take place after my trip to the US. There will be no delay.” US Secretary of State John Kerry has also announced a doubling of US aid to Syria's rebels and told a Friends of Syria meeting its members were committed to a peaceful transition. Sabah / April 23, 2013
The investigation into the murder of Hrant Dink is set to start again from square one, as the new prosecutor in the case has collected new testimonies and asked for the re-interrogation of key witnesses. Hurriyet Daily News / April 27, Turkey and Israel have agreed on the compensation for the Mavi Mar2013 mara incident and to hold a second meeting in the near future. Two journali sts were released in the case of KCK. Turkish and Israeli officials met in Ankara to discuss details regarding IsSadık Topaloğlu and Zeynep rael’s pledge to pay compensation to the families of the Turkish victims of the incident after issuing an official apology to Turkey. But the families of Ku ray we re rele ased nine victims who were killed in an Israeli raid aboard the Mavi Marmara pending trial at a hearing in aid ship in 2010 have harshly criticized the government ahead of talks with the KCK case in which the Israeli delegation to negotiate compensation for the families held week dozens of people face in Turkey. The families have also insisted charges of aiding and that the blockade on the Gaza Strip be lifted, abetting the terrorist underlining that without ending the blockorganization or being ade and embargo, Israel’s apology and compensation for the victim’s families and those members of it. Today’s injured would have no meaning. Today’s Zaman / April 26, 2013 Zaman / April 25, 2013
Turkey to Sign Deal With Israel For Compensation
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INFO & ADS GENERAL DIRECTOR Alper AKGÜN CO-EDITOR Yiğitcan ERDOĞAN COORDINATORS Hazal AKGÜL, Cansu BULUKLU, Recep Sinan USTA, Asude Dilan YİĞİT EUROPE CORRESPONDENTS Ekin BOZKURT, Özge YÜKSEKKAYA AMERICAS CORRESPONDENTS Didem ELERMAN, Ayça ŞEN ASIA CORRESPONDENTS H. Sinan GÜLER, Ayşenur ŞANLI M. EAST & AFRICAS CORRESPONDENT Meriç YAŞAR, Merve O'KEEFE, Deniz AYYILDIZ TURKEY CORRESPONDENT Okan İDUĞ, Deniz PERÇİN SOCIAL EVENTS CORRESPONDENT Yağmur ÇİFTÇİ Twitter: @metunewsreport
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