Habemus Papam: Francis I

‘Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina was elected in a surprise choice to be the new leader of the troubled Roman Catholic Church, taking the name Francis I and becoming the first non-European pontiff in nearly 1,300 years. (13 Mar ch 2013)’.

‘The first Latin American pope, Argentina’s Jorge Bergoglio is a moderate known for his strong negotiating skills as well as a readiness to challenge powerful interests’.

The first non-European Pope may have been born on the other side of the world, in South America, but his heritage is still resolutely European and white . . . still he seems to be quite different from his two staunchly conservative predecessors, John Paul and Benedict. The BBC gives this short press review: ‘The first non-European leader of the Catholic Church for 1,300 years is pictured on most front pages, waving to the thousands of people gathered in St Peter’s Square. “Pope Francis the humble” is the main headline in the Daily Telegraph, which says he appeared “as surprised as anyone” by his election. The paper describes him as the “antithesis of Vatican pomp”, highlighting that he is “a man known for catching the bus and eschewing the luxuries of high office”. For the Independent, he’s an “inspired and original choice” and a signal that “change has come” to the Catholic Church. The Sun says that when Pope Benedict announced it was time for a younger man, “few imagined his replacement would be 76″, but the paper reckons Francis has “energy and charisma”. The Guardian welcomes an “extraordinary leap” from the conservatism of the last two papacies, and a “decisive shift in the church’s centre of gravity”. The Daily Mail asks simply whether he can “clean up his troubled Church?”. The Times believes the new leader of the Catholic Church gives “every indication of inspiring admiration, even devotion, as well as respect”. But it goes on to add that the Argentine is “not untainted by controversy”. The Sun reports, bluntly, that “Pope Francis wants Britain to hand back the Falklands”. The former Archbishop of Buenos Aires has said previously that the islands were “usurped” by Britain, and in 2010 he insisted the Falklands “are ours”. Several papers also report that he’s been accused of complicity in the kidnapping of two liberal Jesuit priests by Argentina’s military junta, during the so-called dirty war. He has denied the allegations, and insists he helped many dissidents during the dictatorship’.[1]

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[1] “Newspaper review: Press react to new Pope Francis” BBC News (14 March 2013). http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-21781637.

Red Lines & Patriots: Iran, Turkey and Syria

On Sunday, 20 January, the news agency Reuters reports that a ‘senior aide to Iran’s supreme leader warned against the overthrow of Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad, saying his fate was a “red line”, in one of the Islamic state’s strongest messages of support for the Damascus government. Iran has steadfastly backed Assad’s rule since an uprising against his rule began almost two years ago and regards him as an important part of the axis of opposition against arch-foe Israel’.[1]  Following President Obama’s much-publicised declaration that Assad’s use of chemical weapons against his adversaries would constitute a red line, now finally, President Assad’s only regional allies have come out with their own declaration. Speaking on Lebanon’s Al-Mayadeen satellite television, Ali Akbar Velayati, who could very well be Ahmadinejad’s successor in June, declared the following: “If the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is toppled, the line of resistance in the face of Israel will be broken . . . We believe that there should be reforms emanating from the will of the Syrian people, but without resorting to violence and obtaining assistance from the (United States of) America”.[2]

It is assumed that about 60,000 people have perished in Syria as a result of the violent opposition to the Assad regime, which the mainstream media are at pains to portray as yet another chapter in the ongoing saga of the Arab Awakening. As I pointed out in a piece published in Hürriyet Daily News, it would even be foolhardy to regard these uprisings across the wider Arab world as spontaneous emanations of any popular will.[3]  Even so, it seems to me that the situation in Syria is in many ways similar to the violent “Assisted Rebellion” in Libya, as an orchestrated uprising that could be seen as a proxy-conflict in the New Cold War between the U.S., its NATO allies and the up and coming superpowers of Russia and China, while at the same also targeting the Islamic Republic of Iran.[4]

At the same time, Turkey, that appears to have been part of the Syrian conflict since the very beginning,[5] is now in the process of receiving the promised Patriot missiles to “protect” its borders against Syrian incursions: ‘Germany has sent 240 soldiers to southern Turkey as part of a NATO mission using Patriot missiles to deter cross-border airstrikes from war-torn Syria. Units are also being provided by the Netherlands and the US. The main German contingent flew out of Berlin Sunday [, 20 January], headed for Kahramanmaras, 100 kilometers (62 miles) inside Turkey’s border with Syria, where two German Patriot units are to be fully operational by early February [2013]. An advance Bundeswehr team is already on site and the missiles with launch equipment arrived by ship in Turkey on Monday [, 21 January]. The deployment will number some 350 German soldiers, including medics’, as reported by the Deutsche Welle.[6]  Using a somewhat warped form of logic, German Defense Minister Thomas de Maiziere explains that these Patriot missiles are supposed to produce a “deescalating effect” on the Assad regime. The Minister explained further that “We learnt during the Cold War that deterrence can only function when in doubtful moments one is ready to use the weapons . . . Should Syrian rockets be fired at Turkey then NATO will use the Patriot missiles”.[7]

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[1] “Assad’s overthrow “red line” for Iran: supreme leader’s aide” Reuters (20 Jan 2013). http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/01/20/us-syria-crisis-iran-idUSBRE90J08320130120.

[2] “Assad’s overthrow “red line” for Iran: supreme leader’s aide”.

[3] Cfr. C. Erimtan, “Behind the scenes of Egypt’s revolution”. http://tiny.cc/fz7tf.

[4] Cfr. C. Erimtan, “The Arab Awakening and the never-ending Cold War”. http://tiny.cc/p7q3b.

[5] Cfr. “Op-Ed: The Road to Intervention in Syria” A Pseudo-Ottoman Blog (06 June 2012). http://sitanbul.wordpress.com/2012/06/06/op-ed-the-road-to-intervention-in-syria/.

[6] “German Patriot missile troops arrive in Turkey” Deutsche Welle (21 Jan 2013). http://www.dw.de/german-patriot-missile-troops-arrive-inturkey/a-16536356.

[7] “German Patriot missile troops arrive in Turkey”.

Tayyip goes to Africa: Rising MIST!!!

On Monday, 7 January 2013, one can read in Hürriyet Daily News that ‘Turkey aims to increase its trade volume with African countries to $50 billion by 2015, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan told journalists at Istanbul Atatürk Airport before his departure to Gabon. “Turkey has been exerting efforts in the development of Africa,” Erdoğan said. The prime minister will visit Gabon, Niger and Senegal in his first foreign trip abroad in the new year, where he will meet with heads of state, chair meetings between the countries’ officials, participate in business forums and sign several agreements during the six-day African tour. In Gabon, Erdoğan is set to meet with Gabonese President Ali Ben Bongo Ondimba and the country’s prime minister, Raymond Ndong Sima, as well as appear in a joint press conference. Accompanied by a large delegation of Turkish businesspeople, Erdoğan will speak at a Turkish-Gabonese business forum that would seek opportunities for cooperation in trade and investment. Erdoğan will then visit Niger on Jan. 8 on the second stop of his African tour and meet with President Mahamadou Issoufou. On Jan. 10, the last stop of the tour, Erdoğan is set to arrive in Senegal to meet with President Macky Sall and Prime Minister Abdoul Mbaye. Turkey’s exports to Senegal stood at $109 million in the January-October period of 2012, down from $116 million over the same period a year earlier. Turkey has opened embassies in 19 African countries in the last three years to bring the total number of its top diplomatic missions in the continent to 31’.[1]

The Financial Times’ Turkey correspondent Daniel Dombey puts forward that over “the past three years, Turkey has opened 19 embassies on the continent [of Africa]. It now has 26 south of the Sahara and will have opened delegations in Chad, Guinea and Djibouti by the end of January [2013] as Recep Tayyip Erdogan, prime minister, visits Gabon, Niger and Senegal”.[ii]  Dombey explains further that these diplomatic efforts are “part of a concerted push by Turkey deep into Africa, as it follows China, Brazil and India in seeking to secure economic and political influence on the continent. As Ankara looks to diversify away from the stuttering European economy, it is searching not only for new markets but also a more prominent role on the world stage”.[3]

And this is part of yet another trend, step aside BRIC here comes MIST: ‘Jim O’Neill, the Goldman Sachs economist who came up with the now-mainstream “BRIC” catch-all for four quite different economies – Brazil, Russia, India and China – has done it again. “MIST” – or Mexico, Indonesia, South Korea and Turkey – is O’Neill’s latest rhetorical agglomeration, pulling four more far-flung countries together and talking-up the next tier of large “emerging economies”. Pundits might have a field day with this, with MIST obviously more vapid and perhaps lacking the solidity of its BRIC antecedent. Still, all four have in common a number of factors: a large population and market, a big economy at about 1% of global GDP each, and all are members of the G20’.[4]

As an up and coming MIST country, Turkey is attempting to crack the African market now. In previous months, Turkey’s commitment to Somalia was apparent as part of its more overt Islamic image; but now, the cold reality of economics seems to be taking a front seat. But, the ever-diplomatic Turkish PM instead appears to use his trip to criticise Europe for its colonial legacy, highlighting Turkey’s difference and suitability as an equal business partner with no harmful colonial heritage. In Niger, for example, attending a Turkish-Niger Business Forum in Niamey, he stated plainly: “That is why we are in Niger today. We do not aim to take this country’s oil, gold and diamonds, but to show how we can build brotherhood, make an effort to advance development and fight for freedom of a colonial logic that has endured here for centuries”.[5]  According to Today’s Zaman, ‘Erdoğan said [further that] Ankara will continue supporting Turkish small businesses to increase their investment in Niger and that Turkey will be delighted to see its construction companies take part in Niger’s development projects’.[6]  But Turkey is not just an interesting destination for smart investors and relaxing tourists, ‘up to 50 intrepid Arab tourists arrive in Istanbul every day to undergo [a certain] procedure [to do with facial hair]. Moustaches are seen as a sign of virility and seniority in many Middle Eastern countries, and visitors are arriving in Turkey in droves for procedures designed to provide thick and impressive hair on their upper lips. The surgery is performed under local anesthetic, with doctors taking hair follicles from more hirsute areas of the body and implanting them in the face. Costing anywhere up to $7 000, the procedure has seen a spike in popularity in patients from the Middle East. In fact the job has become bread and butter work for Turkish cosmetic surgeon Dr. Selahattin Tulunay, based in the fashionable Nisantasi district, the so-called Beverly Hills of Istanbul, and who performs up to 60 follicular transplants a month’.[7]  In fact, about a month ago, the Young Turks did a piece on this very topic.

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[1] “Turkish PM Erdoğan sees $50 billion in African trade” Hürriyet Daily News (07 Jan 2013). http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/turkish-pm-erdogan-sees-50-billion-in-african-trade.aspx?pageID=238&nID=38502&NewsCatID=344.

[2] Daniel Dombey, “Turkey flexes economic muscle in Africa” FT (06 Jan 2013). http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/d9b175de-4849-11e2-8aae-00144feab49a.html#axzz2HHH5gKqZ.

[3] Daniel Dombey, “Turkey flexes economic muscle in Africa”.

[4] Simon Roughneen, “After BRIC comes MIST, the acronym Turkey would certainly welcome” The Guardian (01 February 2011). http://www.guardian.co.uk/global-development/poverty-matters/2011/feb/01/emerging-economies-turkey-jim-oneill.

[5] “Erdoğan: Turkey desires lasting cooperation with Africa” Today’s Zaman (08 Jan 2013). http://www.todayszaman.com/news-303502-erdogan-turkey-desires-lasting-cooperation-with-africa.html.

[6] “Erdoğan: Turkey desires lasting cooperation with Africa”.

[7] “Moustache hunters travel to Turkey for facial hair implants” AFP Relaxnews (06 Jan 2013). http://www.timeslive.co.za/lifestyle/2013/01/06/moustache-hunters-travel-to-turkey-for-facial-hair-implants.

Vladimir goes South: Putin meets Erdoğan in İstanbul, 3 December 2012

PRESIDENT OF RUSSIA VLADIMIR PUTIN:

  Mr Prime Minister, ladies and gentlemen,

 The trusting & open spirit in which today’s talks took place and the level of our trade and economic ties give us every reason to consider that we have come to a friendly country. We have come not only to visit a partner and neighbour, but truly have come to a country that is our friend. The High-Level Cooperation Council, which just held its third meeting, has once again confirmed its importance as a bilateral partnership mechanism that has already proven its worth.

 The Council’s sector-specific expert groups have done a lot of preparation and ensured that we had a very substantive agenda indeed. We discussed in detail a wide range of issues.

 I note that our bilateral trade continues to develop fast. Russia is now in solid second place among Turkey’s trade and economic partners. Last year, despite the general decrease in global trade, our bilateral trade increased by 26 percent, and by a further 14 percent over the first nine months of this year. This is an excellent trend and a good result, especially when set against the global economy’s current difficulties. Our objective, as the Prime Minister just said, is to raise our bilateral trade to the $100-billion mark in the coming years. This is a completely realistic goal.

 We just signed the trade & economic and science and technology cooperation programme through to 2015. The programme aims to bolster our industrial cooperation and develop bilateral ties in construction, the metals industry and agriculture. It also contains measures to promote cooperation in science-intensive sectors such as telecommunications, space exploration and developing satellite systems.

 Of course, one of our big cooperation areas is the energy sector, and here, our work together is not limited to fossil fuels, even if they do play a very important part. As the Prime Minister knows, Russia is always ready to give our Turkish partners a shoulder to rely on at difficult times, and if there are any glitches with energy supplies from other countries, we will increase our deliveries at the first demand.

 We thank our Turkish friends for their decision on the South Stream project. Construction work will begin in a couple of days, and our Turkish partners and friends have been invited to attend this event too.

 I note too our joint plans to build Turkey’s first nuclear power plant at Akkuyu. This is a big and promising project involving substantial investment – $20 billion. Russia is taking care of the project financing completely. At least a quarter of the total amount will be spent on creating new jobs in Turkey itself.

 We have just overseen the signing of a number of financial sector agreements. Russia’s Sberbank acquired DenizBank, Turkey’s ninth-biggest bank, in September this year, in a deal worth a total of $3.6 billion. This is one of the biggest deals, if not the biggest, in Europe’s banking sector over the last year.

 The Council also discussed humanitarian matters at today’s meeting. Our bilateral public forum is beginning its practical work now.

 As far as humanitarian issues go, education and science are both important areas. I spoke about the nuclear project before, and I want to note that more than 100 students from Turkey are studying in this particular field in Russia. In other words, if the project goes ahead — and so far it is going to schedule — it will help to create a whole new high-tech professional sector in Turkey.

 There is the tourism sector too. As the Prime Minister noted, 3.5 million Russian tourists visit Turkey every year, and the figure will be even higher this year. This is a sign of our trust in Turkey and its government, a sign of our confidence in your country’s stability. This is what you could call ‘voting with one’s feet’ in the good sense of the term.

 Russia & Turkey are neighbours and we share many common pages in history, sometimes dramatic pages. It is very important that we treat this heritage with respect.

We have gone through all manner of events in our history, but this is all part of the past now, and we must look toward the future. It makes me very happy to see that our Turkish friends share this view and that this is what we do.

Of course, as was mentioned too, we also discussed the international agenda, including the settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Syria, and the situation in North Africa and the Middle East in general.

Let me conclude by once more thanking the Prime Minister and all of our Turkish friends for these very constructive and productive talks. We have agreed to hold the fourth meeting of High-Level Cooperation Council in Russia in 2013.

Thank you for your attention.

Sırrı Süreyya Önder Talks about İdris Naim Şahin

While on hunger strike recently, the independent member of parliament (as an affiliate of the Emek Özgürlük ve Demokrasi Bloğu) Sırrı Süreyya Önder wrote a poem about the Minister of the Interior, İdris Naim Şahin, adding that the latter’s presence as a minister constitutes a great hope for the Turkish people . . . if İdris Naim Şahin can become Minister of the Interior today, then now anybody can really achieve any goal in the Republic of Turkey (22 Nov 2012).

Kurbanam kalın kaşına

Taç yakışan başına

Birgün görmesem

Ey İdris Naim

Yanaram ataşına!

Blasphemy in Turkey Today: To Say or not to Say???

Last May I posted an entry on Fazıl Say and his tweets,[1] and now, at long last, there seems to be some movement in his case, as related by Veli Şirin, the Director of the Center for Islamic Pluralism in Germany: “Say appeared in an Istanbul court on October 18 and was charged with hate speech and insulting religion for Twitter messages mocking the conduct and beliefs of Islamic fundamentalists. He faces a potential sentence of 18 months in prison. In one tweet, he commented on a muezzin, who calls Muslims to prayer, for his hurried style. In traditional Islam, the call to prayer, or ezan, is supposed to be delivered melodiously; muezzins from different mosques compete to see who can recite it in the most extended and pleasing tones (even though it is now usually played on speakers from a sound recording at the top of a minaret, rather than being rendered by a live person [as an aside, let me point out that since the mid-1990’s, the call to prayer is once again delivered live in most cases, but not from the top of a minaret rather from terra firma into a handy microphone]). A Muslim adage says that a discordant call to prayer or an ugly mosque is against religion. But following the example of the Saudi Wahhabi sect,[2] fundamentalist muezzins now read out the call to prayer in a brusque manner resembling that of a grumpy public transit driver announcing a series of stops”.[3]

The pianist appeared on CNN Türk‘s programme Aykırı Sorular (‘Contrary Questions’), presented by Enver Aysever, and pronounced the following choice words: “Is the government now going to determine if a man believes in Allah or not?”, adding “they want me to believe in Allah by condemning me to one year and a half of prison time”. [4]  The above-quoted Şirin, not coincidentally writing on the website of the neoconservative and right-wing Gatestone Institute, gives the following verdict: “The case of Fazil Say exposes the falsity of the modern and democratic image of Turkey that the Erdogan government is trying to project to the world. Free speech is limited to members of the political elite – except for criticism of religion, which is prohibited even to them. As the influential journalist Semih Idiz wrote in the leading Turkish daily Hürriyet on October 23, the case against Fazil Say “has nothing to do with ‘justice’ in the objective sense of the word . . . Say has become a nemesis for most Justice and Development Party (AKP) followers and religious conservatives, who would be more than happy to see him receive a prison sentence, regardless of what this does to Turkey’s image abroad. As for his ‘virtuosity’ and ‘international fame’ these mean little for a large proportion of the conservative Turkish public, which has no appreciation of Western classical music – or any form of Western high culture – anyway.” Idiz expressed his doubt that the outcome of the Fazil Say case will demonstrate that the current Turkish government has a positive commitment to freedom of speech”.[5]  And the pianist himself laconically remarked “The whole world is laughing at Turkey, just look at this court case I am involved in”.[6]  

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[1] “Insulting Islam: Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Turkey” A Pseudo-Ottoman Blog (27 May 2012).  http://sitanbul.wordpress.com/2012/05/27/insulting-islam-pakistan-afghanistan-and-turkey/.

[2] Cfr. “Tayyip’s Mosque: The Legacy Project” A Pseudo-Ottoman Blog (23 September 2012). http://sitanbul.wordpress.com/2012/09/23/tayyips-mosque-the-legacy-project/.

[3] Veli Şirin, “Turkey: Fazil Say, Composer, Charged with Blasphemy for Tweets” Gatestone Institute (13 November 2012). http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/3448/turkey-blasphemy-fazil-say.

[4] “Say: Hapisle Allah’a inanmamı istiyorlar” NTVMSNBC (14 November 2012). http://www.ntvmsnbc.com/id/25397543/.

[5] Veli Şirin, “Turkey: Fazil Say, Composer, Charged with Blasphemy for Tweets”.

[6] “Say: Hapisle Allah’a inanmamı istiyorlar”.

No Extradition for McKinnon

(16 Oct 2012)

Lucky hacker Gary McKinnon, but no such luck for either Julian Assange or Mustafa Kamel Mustafa better known as Abu Hamza . . .

 

Cameron on Letterman

David Camerons decision to brave one of Americas most-watched chat shows. left the Prime Minister red-faced as he struggled to answer David Letterman’s questions about British history (27 Sept 2021).

Charlie Hebdo: Nothing is Sacred!!!

The police protection provided for journalists proves that a physical threat is taken seriously. In this story, offended Muslims are thought to pose a potential danger to French satirical weekly newspaper Charlie Hebdo. It prizes freedom of expression to an extent many consider extreme. In its turn, Charlie attacks what it considers extreme, and always has. No subject is untouchable, certainly not religion, not even the Prophet Mohammed. Those at the paper don’t see it as inciting hatred, but as pushing thinking beyond conformism. The publishing director Charb (Stephane Charbonnier) said: “What? We can’t lampoon Mohammed in France? Yes we can. We can caricature everyone in France. I don’t hold it against a Muslim for not laughing at our drawings, but he’s not going to tell us what law we have to follow. I live under French law. I don’t live under the law of the Koran.” The team at Charlie Hebdo has a history of not backing down, with a mantra that says no one’s going to do their thinking for them. Charb said: “It’s plain to see that the sole subject that poses a problem is radical Islam. When we attack the Catholic extreme right, very strongly, no one talks about it in the papers. But we’re not allowed to laugh about Muslim fundamentalists. Well, there’s a new rule that will have to be written up, but we won’t respect it.” Charlie won’t be bullied. Last year someone burned the offices with a Molotov cocktail and its website was hacked as it was preparing an issue commenting on the Islamist electoral victory in Tunisia, an issue headed ‘Sharia Hebdo’. Even veterans of left politics in Europe have said the satirists are masochists, pushing as hard as they do. The paper started out called ‘Hara-Kiri’. It was shut down by the Interior Minister in 1970, a few days after a fire in a disco had claimed more than 140 lives. Then the father of the Fourth Republic, General de Gaulle passed away in his home, and it ran the headline: ‘Tragic dance in Colombey – one dead.’ It came back from the ban, borrowing the leader’s first name in its new masthead – or was that just a coincidence?  As British parallels to this approach to the sacred we can perhaps cite Monty Python or Private Eye. Only lack of readers put Charlie Hebdo out of business for a decade. Resurrected in 1992, it put the boot into all faiths, the Jews as well, and the editors faced lawsuit after lawsuit. They weren’t gentle with politicians either. An early reader slammed them as ‘dumb and nasty’ (‘bête et méchant’). They made the label their motto. They say what many people might say behind closed doors, only they put it in print, and say damn the risk (26 Sept 2012).

Another Muhammad Controversy: Charlie Hebdo Cartoons

‘A French magazine published vulgar caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad on Wednesday, inflaming global tensions over a movie insulting to Islam and prompting France to step up security at its embassies (19 Sept. 2012)’.

The Business Insider’s Adam Taylor adds that ‘Charlie Hebdo, a long-running French satirical magazine, angered hardline Islamic groups last year with a magazine guest-edited by “Mohammad”, the Islamic prophet. For their efforts, the magazine eventually found that their offices firebombed. Luckily no-one was injured, and the magazine went on to put up another shocking issue, with a cover that showed a traditionally-dressed Muslim man (perhaps Mohammed?) sloppily kissing a male Charlie Hebdo cartoonist. Now, according to Le Monde, the editors of Charlie Hebdo are preparing to cause controversy again with an issue [to be] released tomorrow. The cover shows a Muslim man in a wheelchair pushed by an Orthodox Jew with foil cap and under the title “Untouchables 2″, an imaginary sequel to a recent French film. The pair are saying (rough translation) “You must not mock us!” According to Le Monde, there are more shocking cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad inside the magazine “in daring positions”. Of course, given recent protests around the world about an anti-Islamic YouTube video and a new, higher reward on Salman Rushdie’s head, we suppose the timing of this issue is . . . brave?  France’s Foreign Minister, Laurent Fabius, is currently in Cairo and has condemned the cartoons, saying “I am against provocations”’.[1]

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[1] Adam Taylor, “The French Magazine Firebombed Last Year Is Planning To Anger Hardline Islamists Again Tomorrow” Business Insider (18 September 2012). http://www.businessinsider.com/charlie-hebdo-new-mohammed-cartoons-2012-9.