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Supporters of Recep Tayyip Erdogan at a rally in Kelsterbach near Frankfurt am Main. There 1,4 million people in Germany eligible to vote in Turkeys referendum in April. Photograph: Boris Roessler/AFP/Getty Images

The ruthless drive by Recep Tayyip Erdoan, Turkeys pugnacious president, to expand his already considerable executive powers knows no bounds. Even cows are not safe. At the height of last weeks furious row with the Netherlands, Turkeys red-meat producers association said it was expelling 40 Holstein Friesian cattle. Dutch cows, like Dutch diplomats, were no longer welcome in Turkey.

If the political backdrop were not so deadly serious, the bovine ban might be funny. But Erdoans rude push to take partisan campaigning in Turkeys fraught 16 April referendum on expanded presidential powers to the doorsteps of western Europes four-million-strong Turkish diaspora is no laughing matter. It has sparked an all-out crisis in Turkey-Europe relations that had been threatening to erupt for years.

When the Dutch banned unsanctioned ministerial rallies and cracked down on Turkish demonstrators, Erdoan denounced them as modern-day Nazis. When Germany, where 1.4 million ethnic Turks have a vote in Erdoans referendum, took a similar stance, he accused Angela Merkel, Germanys chancellor, of Islamophobia and harbouring terrorists. Denmark, Austria and Switzerland, which also have sizeable Turkish minorities, have all been caught up in the furore.

This jagged, ugly confrontation should come as no surprise. It has long been simmering, in particular since elections in 2015 when Erdoans ruling Justice and Development party (AKP) unexpectedly lost its parliamentary majority. The pro-Kurdish Peoples Democratic party (HDP) made historic gains, winning seats for the first time a result enthusiastically welcomed by EU countries.

In response, Erdoan began a fierce crackdown on political and media opponents while deliberately abandoning the 2013 ceasefire with PKK Kurdish separatists. Renewed security-forces repression in the Kurdish-dominated south-east caused numerous casualties and wrought dreadful destruction in Kurdish cities. This violence continues, as the UN made plain in a damning report this month. It is cynically perpetuated by Erdoan to bolster his claim that only he and the AKP can save Turkey from terrorists and foreign co-conspirators.

Last years failed Turkish army coup, provoked by Erdoans autocratic behaviour and a series of devastating terror bombings, accelerated this process of internal polarisation in a country where polls suggest an almost exact 50-50 split for and against the president. Erdoan blamed the coup on a US-backed conspiracy led by the exiled cleric, Fethullah Glen. But he also lambasted Europe for being too slow to support him and too quick to criticise post-coup repression.

Erdoan has persisted with his divisive, Trump-like for us or against us tactics in the run-up to the referendum, denouncing the HDP and other opposition parties as terrorist sympathisers, arresting their leaders and detaining and persecuting independent civil servants, media, academics, police and judges in their thousands.

Erdoans tactics are as simple as they are crude. His demand for quasi-dictatorial powers rests on the claim that he, and he alone, is the saviour of the Turkish republic. Since 2003, when he first became prime minister, his brand of neo-Islamist nationalism has gradually become more extreme and exclusive. He plays on Turks historical fears of foreign meddling. He cynically brandishes the religion card, pitting Muslim Turkey against Christendom. And with the Obama administration gone, Europe and the EU have become his preferred whipping boy.

Erdoan taunted Christian Europe again last Thursday while campaigning in Sakarya, condemning the European Court of Justices ruling that allows companies to ban staff wearing visible religious symbols such as head scarves. Where is the liberty of religion? he demanded. They have commenced a struggle between the cross and crescent I am saying this clearly: Europe is heading towards the days just before the second world war.

Erdoan also mocked Mark Rutte, the Dutch prime minister who won last weeks general election, seeing off a challenge from the far-right Islamophobe, Geert Wilders. Oh Rutte! You may have been first in the elections, but you have lost a friend like Turkey, Erdoan said. Give it up. You have lost. Erdoans surrogates continue to indulge in similar diatribes. Europe was entering an era of religious warfare, said foreign minister Mevlt avuolu. Now the election is over in the Netherlands when you look at the many parties you see there is no difference between the social democrats and fascist [Geert] Wilders. All have the same mentality Where are you taking Europe? You have begun to collapse, Europe Holy wars will soon begin in Europe, he said.

Rhetoric and schadenfreude aside, the causes of Turkish anger are deep-seated and not wholly unjustified. Erdoan has repeatedly complained that Turkeys longstanding EU membership bid, now widely viewed as dead in the water, was, in effect, humiliatingly blocked by France and Germany a decade ago. He now says Turkey does not need the EU anyway.

Erdoan is incensed that visa-free travel for Turks in Europe has not materialised, despite promises made in a deal with Merkel in 2015 on halting Syrian refugee flows. On Friday, Turkeys interior minister rejected a more limited readmission arrangement and challenged the EU to face the consequences of scrapping the refugee pact. Im telling you Europe, do you have that courage? If you want, well send the 15,000 refugees to you that we dont send each month and blow your mind, Sleyman Soylu said.

Erdoans grievances include European criticism of human rights abuses, his treatment of Kurds, and recent attacks on media freedoms, including the detention of a journalist working for the German newspaper, Die Welt. But it seems plain that, with next months referendum result expected to be close, Erdoan is reaching indiscriminately for any ammunition he can find to boost his hardline nationalist-chauvinist-conspiracy narrative.

The view from the other side of the Europe-Turkey confrontation is unedifying, too. Traumatised by Brexit, shocked by the advent of Donald Trump, weakened by eurozone crises and alarmed by neo-populist forces that threaten the centrist establishment in coming elections in France and Germany, the European commission and principal EU members are poorly placed to resist the challenges presented by a tough, unscrupulous opponent such as Erdoan.

For years, the Europeans condescended to or ignored Ankara in the complacent belief that Turkey, a developing country and Nato member with a secular, western outlook, needed the EU more than the other way around. Now the tables are turned. Despite a recent slump, Turkey is growing fast, economically and demographically. Secularism is in retreat. In strategic terms, Erdoan is closer to Vladimir Putin than he is to Merkel (or Trump).

In Syria, Erdoan is allied with the Russians and Iran and at odds with the US over its backing for Syrias Kurds. When it comes to Islamic State, and fighting jihadi terrorism in general, Erdoan has proved unreliable, to put it kindly. Meanwhile, his race and religion-based messages invite a response in kind from Europes hard-right extremists and demagogues, for whom such divisions are grist to the mill.

Responding to Erdoan and his ministers last week, Merkel and Franois Hollande, the French president, said their insults were unacceptable and must cease. But their position is shaky. Given their neediness over refugees and counter-terrorism, they have few options by way of retaliation. In terms of the overall relationship, Europe has lost the initiative and the upper hand it took for granted for so long. As Erdoans allies say, who now is the sick man of Europe?

Europe must stop lecturing Turkey, foreign minister avuolu crowed last week, for one simple reason: It is Turkey that commands. Such claims overstate the case. But there is no denying the forces of xenophobic, anti-democratic, intolerant ultra-nationalism, symbolised by Erdoan, are once again at the gates of Europe and, notwithstanding the Dutch election result, nobody has yet produced a convincing riposte.

On 16 April, Turks will be asked to vote on a plan that would transform a parliamentary system in the country to an executive presidency. A Yes vote would give President Recep Tayyip Erdoan sweeping new powers and allow him to govern as head of state until 2029. Under the changes, a president would be given powers to appoint ministers, choose most top judges and enact certain laws by decree. The president could also announce a state of emergency and dismiss parliament.

Erdoan, right, has staked everything on winning the referendum. His supporters say that, when Turkey is at increased risk of terrorist attacks, the new system will streamline decision-making and give greater stability. Opponents fear it will usher in an era of authoritarian one-man rule when judicial independence and press freedom have already been curtailed.

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How Erdoan's ruthless drive for more power is shaking a divided ... - The Guardian

Bombthrowers:

After their little hatefest in the Netherlands climaxed with riots, shouts of Allahu Akbar and anti-Semitic slurs, Turkeys tyrant, an Islamist named Erdogan, who has more political prisoners than research scientists, decided to call the Dutch, Nazis.

Since its 2017, that involved lots of Twitter trolling and assorted public tantrums. Theres one problem though. If you had to pick a Nazish dictator, it would be Erdogan.

Lets consider the Hitler points in Erdogans favor.

Islamists, including some of Erdogans Muslim Brotherhood pals, are usually big fans of Hitler. Erdogan ought to just go ahead and embrace his Hitler image. He certainly isnt going to convince anyone outside his mad bigoted Islamist mobs of supporters in Europe, who live off the public dole while cheering the return of the Ottoman Empire, that the liberal governments he hates are Hitler.

There was even the time he modeled his new regime on Hitler.

Turkeys controversial President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has sparked mockery and condemnation by defending new powers he wants to give himself as being similar to Adolf Hitlers.

In a statement that surprised even his critics, Mr Erdogan responded to arguments that putting political power in the hands of the presidency would not work in a unitary state.

He said there were other examples of its being successful. There are already examples in the world, he said.

You can see it when you look at Hitlers Germany. There are later examples in various other countries.

This article first appeared at FrontPageMag.

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Why Turkish President Recep Erdogan is still the world's best Nazi - Canada Free Press

In a speech given to supporters in the western Turkish city of Sakarya, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan invoked the medieval religious wars between Christian Europeand the Islamic Middle Eastin the context ofpresent-day escalating tensions between the European Union and Turkey.

"My dear brothers, a battle has started between the cross and the half moon. There can be no other explanation," Erdogansaid on Thursday.

The Turkish presidentalso stated the European Court of Justice's (ECJ) Tuesday ruling, whichpermits companies to ban the Islamic headscarf as part of policies barring religious symbols inthe workplace, was the start of a "crusade" by Europe.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has repeatedly accused Dutch and German politicians of acting like "Nazis" and claiming the "spirit of fascism" is rampant in Europe. He later invoked medieval religious wars in the context of escalating tensions between the EU and Turkey. "My dear brothers, a battle has started between the cross and the half moon. There can be no other explanation," Erdogan said.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, meanwhile, was not to be outdown by his boss. Speaking on Thursday, Cavusoglu said Europe was losing its unity. "Religious wars will soon begin inEurope... If things continue as they are, then it will be so." "You will learn how to behave towards us. If you do not learn, we will teach you."

German Chancellor Angela Merkel welcomed the election victory for the center-right prime minister Mark Rutte in divisive Dutch elections. "I was very happy that a high turnout led to a very pro-European result, a clear signal," she said. "I don't intend to participate in this race to trade provocations." Referring to Erdogan's attacks, she added: "The insults need to stop."

Meanwhile, Germany's Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said Ankara was playing the victim with its attacks on its NATO allies to galvanize support ahead of its referendum in April. Turkish politicians had "no business" campaigning in Germany, he said. France and Germany plan to establish a European center to counter extremist propaganda and deradicalize young people, he also revealed this week.

After a week of heightened tensions between Turkey and the Netherlands, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte emerged victorious in a bruising battle with Geert Wilders. The populist's invective against all things Muslim and anything from the EU failed to earn him the breakthrough that many had come to count on as a given.

French President Francois Hollande congratulated Rutte for his election success and his "victory against extremism." He said that "the values of openness, respect for others, and a faith in Europe's future are the only true response to the nationalist impulses and isolationism that are shaking the world." In a joint statement with Angela Merkel, he denounced Erdogan's remarks as "unacceptable."

After boosts in Britain and the United States over the past year and Wednesday's setback in the Netherlands, populism now heads to France for its next test of political viability. Now it is for Marine Le Pen of the National Front to carry the torch in presidential elections starting next month.

Meanwhile, Germany's far-right kept on message. "I can not hide the fact that we wanted Wilders to have had a better result," the leader of the populist Alternative for Germany (AfD) Frauke Petry said. "Wilders addressed the right issues in the election campaign, but he might not always have had the right tone. Citizens want a clear message, but they are afraid of a hard tone," Petry said.

Konstantin Kosachev, chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee in the Russian parliament, wrote that Europe had been "weakened" by the elections in the Netherlands. "French Presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron and Merkel may breathe for the time being after the victory of Rutte, but the fear among the established European elites facing the challenges of the 21st century remains palpable," he wrote.

Erdogan has recently upped his antagonistic rhetoric towards Europe after Germany and the Netherlands both canceled campaign appearances by Turkish politicians. The events were intended to drum up support for an April 16 referendum that, if approved, would vastly expandErdogan's presidentialpowers.

Erdogan has repeatedly compared the behavior of German and Dutch politicians to that of "Nazis" and accused Europe of hosting the "spirit of fascism."

"Europe is swiftly rolling back to the days before World War II," he said in his speech in Sakarya.

Post-election attacks on the Netherlands

Erdogan and Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu also took aim at the Netherlands on Thursdaydespite the previous day's election result, in which Dutch voters rejected right-wing populist Geert Wilders and his Islamophobic and anti-immigration platform.

"Hey Rutte! You may have emerged as the number one party in the election but you must know that you have lost Turkey as your friend," Erdogan said in his televised speech.

Many analysts believe Rutte's hardline approach to prohibiting Turkish politicians from campaigning in the Netherlands helped him gain the support of undecided voters who buoyed him to victory over Wilders.

Despite Turkey'sprevious criticism of the virulently anti-IslamWilders, Cavusoglu told a Turkish broadcaster on Thursday that there was "no difference" between the liberal Rutte and "fascist" Wilders.

The antagonistic rhetoric and authoritarian power expansions, as well as Ankara's threats to suspend the 2016 migration agreement with the EU, has thrown the EUneighbor's long-standing bid forentry into the bloc into question.

However, Cavusoglu later said in a different interview that "no reason" existed for Turkey to "move away from Europe."

Erdogan and Merkel have butted heads over Turkish campaign appearances in Germany

Merkel: 'The insults need to stop'

For her part, German Chancellor Angela Merkel denounced Erdogan's latest round of accusations. The Turkish president accused Merkel this week of supporting terrorists in theanti-Erdogan Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

"I don't intend to participate in this race to trade provocations," she told the German regional newspaper "Saarbrcker Zeitung."

"The insults need to stop," she added in comments printed in the paper's Friday edition, referencing Turkey's Nazi comparisons aimed at the Netherlands.

Merkel stated that Turkish political leaders are permitted to appear in the country under certain conditions: they must disclose who willappear and for what goal, and the foreign politicians must abide by Germany's laws and constitutional principles.

"We do not give anyone a carte blanche for the future," she added.

The chancellor's comments came the same day the city of Hannover scrapped a Friday rally organized by the Union of European Turkish Democrats (UETD) at which a senior Erdogan government official was set to appear.

The last-minute cancellation indicates tempers could get hotter and the Turkish-German relationship perhaps even cooler.

cmb/sms (AFP, dpa, Reuters)

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Erdogan accuses EU of 'crusade' against Islam - Deutsche Welle

BERLIN Members of Turkey's pro-Kurdish opposition party said on Tuesday they were optimistic that a majority of Turks would vote against expanding the powers of President Tayyip Erdogan in an April 16 referendum.

"Many Europeans here unfortunately think that Erdogan is invincible, but he is stoppable," Hisyar Ozsoy, a Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) member of Turkey's parliament, said after meeting with German lawmakers.

Ozsoy, one of four HDP lawmakers visiting the German parliament this week, said he hoped that the importance of the proposed constitutional change would help boost voter turnout in Turkey and among Turks living in the diaspora in Europe.

The German government said on Tuesday it would allow 1.4 million Turks who live in Germany and are eligible to vote to cast their ballots at 13 voting sites between March 27-April 9.

Tensions between the two NATO allies have spiked since Turkey arrested a German-Turkish journalist last month, and after Erdogan accused Germany of "fascist actions" after local officials canceled some rallies in support of the referendum.

Experts say about 60 percent of Turkish voters casting polls in Germany backed Erdogan's AKP party in the last presidential election, and the vote could turn out similarly this time.

But Ozsoy cited growing concerns among Turks from across the political spectrum about the proposed changes, which he said would "turn Turkey into a dictatorship".

Turkey's parliament last month stripped one of the HDP's two leaders of her status as a member of parliament and jailed the other. The HDP, the second-largest opposition party, says 13 of its lawmakers have been jailed, and as many as 5,000 of its members have been detained.

Erdogan says the constitutional changes will give Turkey stronger leadership. But the HDP and the main opposition secular CHP say it will lead to a one-man rule and erode basic freedoms.

Erdogan and the government say the HDP is an affiliate of the militant Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which has waged an armed insurgency in Turkey's largely Kurdish southeast for more than three decades. The HDP denies direct links to the PKK, which is considered a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union.

Germany has been sharply critical of Turkey's moves to arrest 40,000 people and dismiss or suspend more than 100,000 from the military, civil service and private sector following a failed coup in July.

Sevim Dagdelen, a member of the Left party in Germany's parliament who is of Turkish background herself, said many Turkish voters in Germany would have to travel long distances to participate, which could affect turnout.

People who are not on online lists of eligible voters would also have to go through additional cumbersome steps to get registered, she said.

Kirsten Luehmann, a member of the Social Democrats in Germany, lauded Ozsoy and the other Turkish lawmakers for continuing to fight for democracy.

"They are going back to Turkey this week, despite the fact that they don't know if they will be arrested," she said. "I admire their courage to stand up for democracy in Turkey."

(Reporting by Andrea Shalal; Editing by Catherine Evans)

SEOUL A U.S. policy of strategic patience with North Korea has ended, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said in South Korea on Friday, adding that military action would be "on the table" if North Korea elevated the threat level.

BEIJING China will begin preparatory work this year for an environmental monitoring station on Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea, an official said, as two U.S. senators introduced a bill to impose sanctions on its activities in the disputed waterway.

MANILA The Philippines derided the European parliament on Friday for interfering in its affairs after it issued a resolution calling for the release of a top critic of the president's war on drugs, which it said should target narcotics networks instead of users.

Read more from the original source:
Erdogan is 'stoppable,' pro-Kurdish lawmakers say - Reuters

GETTY

The worrying advice has been called weeks ahead of a Turkish referendum aimed at giving more power to President Erdogan - and in the midst of a keeping fallout between Ankara and EU leaders.

Hayrettin Karaman, the Turkish AK Partys go-to religious leader, attacked the West in a letter which insisted Erdogan should immediately invest in weapons of mass destruction.

In the online post the imam accused Christian countries in the West of egotism and racism - stating the bad attitude towards Turkey has been accelerated.

President Erdogan is in the midst of a deep fall out with European nations including Germany and the Netherlands after both countries banned rallies and kicked out his ministers who had sworn to campaign for his referendum.

GETTY

Mr Erdogan retaliated by comparing them to Nazis and protests were held outside the Dutch embassy in Ankara.

The fallout threatens the 5billion one-for-one migrant deal.

But, if Mr Erdogan listens to his favourite religious leader, the tensions could be ramped up even further.

GETTY

We need to look at inventing these weapons, not buying them, without losing any time and listening to the words and obstacles of the West

Hayrettin Karaman

In a post online Mr Karaman called for the swift development of nuclear weapons.

He wrote: Once upon a time, military forces are arrows and horses, and now weapons are effective weapons invented by the age of science and technology, especially nuclear, and are the means by which they can be used.

We need to look at inventing these weapons, not buying them, without losing any time and listening to the words and obstacles of the West.

We invent, balance, but do not use weapons of mass destruction unless it is necessary; the way of not using it is to have the enemy or stronger.

Getty Images

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The Imam launched a scathing attack on the United States and Europe - insisting modern day developments have been paid for by crimes of the past.

He said: When it comes to values such as human rights, conscience, morality, justice, everyone knows and sees that the West implements a very ugly double standard without being embarrassed and ignorant.

Today, the wealth that the West (including the United States) has is derived from the East more extensively through extortion and robbery (colonialism).

It is not even possible to account for the material and moral values that the West has inflicted on the East for its bloody material benefit.

Mr Karaman wrote the post for the Yeni afak Newspaper in his column titled What to do.

In his post the Imam referred to the West dismantling the great Ottoman Turks and digging up the roots of Islam.

YouTube

He said Turkey must fight fire with fire - and match the weaponry in Europe.

He said: The West relies on material and military power, not on the right, the law, the adjective, the power of contemporary values while doing what it wants to the East and especially the leading potential Turkey.

If you want to get rid of being an oppressed and victim of the East, your right to religion is not justified; You need to be stronger than your enemy, not when you are right, but when you are strong.

As the relationship between Washington and Ankara wavered in 2016, Nato nuclear weapons were in in Turkey were being moved to Romania, it was claimed,

According to a report by the Simson Center, since the Cold War, some 50 US tactical nuclear weapons have been stationed at Turkeys Incirlik air base, approximately 100 kilometres from the Syrian border.

But after the failed coup a removal project began, it was reported.

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NUCLEAR TURKEY? Imam close to Erdogan calls for weapons NOW amid tensions with EU - Express.co.uk