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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan gestures as he delivers a speech during a City Planning Council meeting at Bestepe People's Congress and Culture Center in Ankara on January 27, 2017. (Photo by AFP)

Turkey has decided to reconsider its controversial refugee deal with the European Union after the Greek Supreme Court refused to return the eight suspects allegedly linked to the countrys failed Julycoup.

A political commentator believes Turkeys response is quite threateningin terms of maintaining peace within the EU," adding that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has played this migrant card very well over the past year.

I think that Erdogan is flexing his muscles obviously and quite brazenly and pointing out that if you do not like the way I am running Turkey, just remember the position that I hold with this card, Daniel Patrick Welch told Press TV in an interview on Friday.

He also described Erdogan's use of the migrant card as a very cynical move,arguing that it is playing to the outright racistfears in Europe about the refugeescoming from countries that are being bombed by European states.

The commentator went on to say that it is ridiculous that the Europeans are trying to keep people out when they have created the refugee crisisin the first place, noting that Erdogan is keeping the key to the door and using it as a diplomatic weapon."

Elsewhere in his remarks, Welch stated that the Greek governments concern about the fate of the eight suspects is legitimate given Erdogans fanatical response to the coup with all the purging and the mass arrests, which were very scary and undemocratic for a lot of observers.

However, he said, the European polity is so obsessed with the migrant issue that they might try to force Greece to back down, because they're desperate to address this problem because the far-right has made it such an impossible political issue that they have to solve it on some level."

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Erdogan playing migrant card very well: Commentator - Press TV

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In my estimation, nearly 1 million people have died in Syria. These deaths are still continuing without exception for children, women and men. Where is the United Nations? What is it doing? Is it in Iraq? No. We preached patience but could not endure in the end and had to enter Syria together with the Free Syrian Army, said Erdogan, as reported byHurriyet Daily News.The Free Syrian Army is a moderate rebel group.

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Why did we enter? We do not have an eye on Syrian soil. The issue is to provide lands to their real owners. That is to say we are there for the establishment of justice. We entered there to end the rule of the tyrant al-Assad who terrorizes with state terror, Erdogan continued, insisting his forces were not in Syria for any other reason.

TheDaily Sabahnotes that Erdogan spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin about Syria during two telephone calls last week. Since Russia launched a massive military operation to secure Bashar Assad in power, Putin would presumably have been interested in anything Erdogan had to say about toppling the regime in Damascus, and probably would not have kept quiet about it.

Erdogans calls to Putin came two days after the event widely seen as changing Turkeys posture in Syria, the death of four Turkish soldiers in an airstrike Ankara blamed on the Syrian regime. The Turkish troops were conducting a joint operation with Syrian rebels at the time.

It is clear that some people are not happy with this battle Turkey has been fighting against Daesh. This attack will surely have a retaliation, declared Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim after the airstrike on Thursday.

Turkey claims Russian officials have confirmed it was not a Russian jet that bombed the Turkish soldiers near the ISIS-occupied city of al-Bab, leaving the Syrian military the only likely suspect for the bombing. Syria has expressed displeasure over the presence of Turkish troops near al-Bab, and has threatened to respond to further incursions decisively and with force.

Syrian officials would not confirm or deny whether their aircraft hit the Turkish positions, but it didnt help ease tensions between the two countries when the Syrian government blamed Turkey for the death of its soldiers.

If the Turks want to complain they should complain to themselves. What happened was inside the territory of the Syrian Arab Republic, said Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad on Saturday, in the first public comments a Syrian official has made on the bombing.

As the Associated Press noted last week, Turkey has said its helping Syrian rebel forces attack al-Bab because taking the city would put pressure on the ISIS capital of Raqqa, creating what Erdogan called a region there that is free of terror.

Most observers suspect that Turkeys real priority is to create a region free of Kurds. Another town Erdogan has talked about capturing, Manbij, is currently held by Kurdish forces, not ISIS.

A Reuters analysis on Tuesday suggested Turkey is pulling its allies out of Aleppo, where the Syrian-Russian alliance is throwing a brutal haymaker punch at the rebellion, in order to secure the no-Kurds buffer zone along the Turkish border that Erdogan most eagerly desires. This could explain why the reaction to Erdogan technically declaring war on the Assad regime has brought such a muted response. What he called for on Tuesday is quite different than what he appears willing to settle for.

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Erdogan: Turkey Entered Syria to 'End the Rule of the Tyrant ...

The Turkish Parliament passed constitutional amendments last weekend that could allow President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to amass unprecedented power. Amidst terrorist attacks by the so-called Islamic State and Kurdish militants, Erdogan and his far-right allies are presenting the deal as a way out of chaos, promising that terrorism will cease once the constitutional amendments are approved in the upcoming referendum in April. But with an 80-million-strong population comprised of more than 20 ethnic and religious minorities, the further centralization of decision-making will only exacerbate the countrys ills.

With the proposed amendments, Erdogan seeks to consolidate all powers executive, legislative and judicial in one office: his palace. The Parliament will have little power to hold the president and his cabinet accountable. Erdogan will also appoint two-thirds of the countrys most senior judges, further undermining checks and balances in a country with the worlds worst record of press freedom. He will now be able rule by decree and even declare a state of emergency unilaterally. In short, Turkey already one of the most centralized systems in the world will turn into an over-centralized regime.

Turkeys political instability, chronic security problems and economic volatility have as much to do with power-hungry leaders as with the burdens of top-down and undelegated policy-making. For a country already marred by economic slowdown and secular-Islamist polarization, at the brink of civil war with its Kurds, over-centralized rule is the worst course to follow.

Turkey entered 2017 with a devastating, ISIS-claimed attack at an Istanbul nightclub that killed at least 39 people. But the jihadists are but one group that has been targeting the country. In December alone, Kurdish militants conducted two suicide bombings in Istanbul and another in central Turkey, killing 58 citizens. Between ISIS and Kurdish militants, there have been more than 30 bombings over the past year and a half.

The economy is suffering, too. Despite a whopping 24 percent increase in government spending in the last quarter, in December, the economy contracted for the first time since 2009 interrupting 27 quarters of continuous growth. Even the Turkish Statistical Institutes highly questionable accounting failed to find a way to paper over the slip in third-quarter economic indicators. As global markets reacted to news of contraction, Turkeys five-year bond yields hit 11.51 percent, the highest since the 2009 crisis. Meanwhile, the lira fell to 3.80 a dollar, a record low.

Turkey is caught in a downward spiral and needs an urgent reversal of its political and economic course. But leaders in Ankara are pouring gasoline on the fire instead.

In July 2015, the Turkish governments peace talks with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) ended after a two-year respite. More than 300 people lost their lives in resumed clashes since then. But Ankaras response has been to crack down not only on the PKK but also on the pro-Kurdish Peoples Democratic Party (HDP). Incidentally, the HDP formerly a fringe party became Turkeys second largest opposition last June, a success hinged on its vociferous opposition to Erdogans presidential designs.

In the run-up to the constitutional debates in Parliament last month, Turkish authorities detained hundreds of HDP local executives countrywide. As of today, 11 HDP lawmakers, including the partys co-chairs, Selahattin Demirtas and Figen Yuksekdag, are in jail. After vandalizing the HDPs Istanbul headquarters, the police also spray-painted threatening graffiti on the walls. Such retaliation, reminiscent of the extrajudicial methods of Turkeys Dirty War against Kurdish insurgents in the 1990s, only alienates moderate Kurds while also playing right into the hands of the militants. Punishing the HDP for the PKKs sins is destined to backfire: The more Ankara pushes the HDP out of the political system, the more disenfranchised Kurdish youth will turn to extremist groups like the PKK.

Erdogan and his far-right allies in Parliament are presenting the draft constitution to the public as the only solution to Turkeys terrorism problem, arguing that a powerful presidency is the best way not only to help secure the country but also to resuscitate its economy. But further consolidation of power in one office and person is not what the country needs. Ankara paranoid of delegating any authority to local governments is crushed under the burden of micromanagement. A 2013 study shows that up to 60 percent of the cabinet decisions concerned real estate and zoning issues.

Turkeys politics and economy could benefit immensely from subsidiarity by handling decisions at the lowest possible level of competence. Decentralizing a country as populous as Germany, and twice as large, would not only strengthen governance and boost the economy, but also pave the way for the political and socio-economic inclusion of Kurdish citizens and the resolution of internecine bloodletting. Remedying gross inequality in regional income which hits majority Kurdish areas hardest requires more than generous incentives and handouts. It necessitates effective governance that allows locals to partake in decision-making and implementation.

This is easier said than done in a country where the public is highly skeptical about decentralization, seeing it as a threat to the countrys national unity and territorial integrity. The French, however, have proven with the 1982 Decentralization Act and 2003 constitutional amendments that the unitary state model which the Turks hold dear can go hand-in-hand with decentralization. Moreover, the Council of Europes Charter of Local Self-Government, which Turkey has been party to for nearly three decades, provides a roadmap for delegating power to local authorities.

Turkish voters will head to the polls in April for possibly the most consequential referendum of their lives. An overly centralized polity and a weak legislature unable to hold the executive accountable, combined with Erdogans reckless and authoritarian style, are exactly what have brought the country to the brink. Any steps towards de jure one-man rule would only accelerate Turkeys downward spiral.

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Erdogan's Further Consolidation Of Power Would Cement Turkey's Demise - Huffington Post

Turkeys President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has urged African countries to close schools associated to an exiled cleric, whom the president accused of planning the countrys abortive coup in July 2016.

Erdogan undertook a three-legged tour to East Africa this week, with stops in Tanzania, Mozambique and Madagascar. During a public address in the Mozambican capital Maputo Wednesday, the Turkish leader asked the government for support in cracking down on followers of the cleric Fethullah Gulen.

We know that cells of this group are present here in Mozambique, and are replicating their initiatives and their hidden agendas in several parts of the world, said Erdogan, sharing a platform with Mozambiques President Filipe Nyusi, the African News Agency reported.

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Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi (L) and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (R) inspect a guard of honor during a state visit to Mozambique on January 24 in Maputo. Erdogan claimed "terrorists" linked to Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen were active in Mozambique. ADRIEN BARBIER/AFP/Getty

Erdogan blamed Gulen and his followers for the failed coup. Tens of thousands of people from all walks of Turkish societyincluding soldiers, teachers and police officershave been arrested or detained in the wake of the coup, during which a faction of the Turkish military attempted to seize control of several key cities and fired upon the Turkish parliament and presidential palace.

Gulen has denounced the coup attempt and denied any involvement. The Islamic cleric, a former Erdogan ally who went into exile in the United States in 1999, leads a global socioreligious movement known as the Hizmet (the Service), though the Turkish authorities have dubbed it FETOa Turkish acronym for Gulenist Terror Organization.

The movement runs a large network of Islamic schools and other associations in different parts of the world, including Africa. The Turkish ambassador to Nigeria asked the countrys authorities to shut down 17 schools in the West African country that were purportedly run by Gulens supporters in the wake of the coup. In Mozambique, one of the countrys most prestigious schoolsthe Willow International School in Maputois reportedly run by the Gulenist movement and is where many high-ranking officials send their children for education.

Nyusi did not mention publicly whether he would act upon Erdogans warning. Newsweek reached out to the Mozambique High Commission in the U.K. but received no immediate reply. Newsweek also asked the Willow International School for confirmation of its status but had not received comment at the time of publication.

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Turkey's President Erdogan Warns Coup-Plotting 'Terrorists' Are Active in Mozambique - Newsweek

The writer Ahmet Tasgetiren is one of a number of prominent Islamists who have been targeted recently for criticizing President Erdogan. Tasgetiren, seen in a photo uploaded on Facebook on Aug. 14, 2013, wrote about the president in his column in the daily Star. (photo byFacebook/AhmetTasgetiren)

Author:Mustafa Akyol Posted January 26, 2017

There is a new theme these daysin Turkey's hard-core pro-Erdogan media: The unreliability ofopinion leaders or activists who have led Turkeys Islamist movement for decades, and who have also been strong supporters of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Lately, some prominent Islamists have raised criticism about corruption by power in the ruling circles. The Islamistsalso have criticized the pro-Erdoganpropaganda machine, which intimidates, threatens and libels anycritic of the president. Although all these Islamist critics used as friendly and respectful a tone as possible, they could not escape being labeled as disloyal or treacherous.

One dramatic example of this Islamist disenchantment with Erdoganism was a piece by Ismail Kilicarslan, a veteran pundit in Turkeys Islamist movement, in the daily Yeni Safak. Titled O Chief, we are so depressed, the piece was an emotional open letter to Erdogan who is now commonly called the Chief by his supporters. Kilicarslan listed a few recent examples of immorality he saw in the rhetoric of some hard-core Erdoganists and noted that he feels shame to be in the same camp with those people. He also said that he is sick of being called a traitor (or crypto Gulenist) from the ruling zealotry whenever he raisessuch complaints.

Erdogan naturally did not give any answer to this open letter, which went viral in social media. But the hard-core Erdoganists in question gave an answer: Kilicarslans dissent was just another example of how unreliable some of these Islamists are. Theyarearrogant people who dont understand the value of Erdogan, and who do not appreciate the privileges they have only thanks to Erdogan.

A particular website that carries out this hard-core Erdoganist propaganda iswww.duvardibi.tv, which is conspicuously anonymous, but it is widely believed to be the killer website of the clique that had also penned themysterious blogthat practically ended Ahmet Davutoglu's time as prime ministerin May. Its posts are all about exposing and defaming the covert dissidents of Erdogan in the AKP universe. BesidesKilicarslan, their recent targetsincludeAhmet Tasgetiren, a very prominent Islamist writer and community leader, who also dared to raiseinhis columnconstructive criticismof Erdogan in the daily Star. Another usual targetis the daily Karar, a mildly pro-AKP newspaper that was founded in early 2016 by prominent journalists in the Islamist movement such as Mustafa Karaalioglu and Yusuf Ziya Comert. The Duvarbidi website condemns the daily Karar team asDavutoglu fans who act as a Trojan horse within a movement whose sole leader is, and must be, Erdogan.

Does this mean that Turkeys Islamists are no longer supporting Erdogan? No, that would be a misleading conclusion. Most Islamists still support the Erdogan regime, at least publicly, and the hard-core pro-Erdogan propaganda machine includes some Islamists as well. But the same propaganda machine also includes some overtly secular people former Marxists, nationalists, mere opportunists, some Kurds and even an Armenian. Their common ground is not Islamism, but Erdoganism, which is now an ideological position of its own.

Erdoganismseems to have two simple rules for itself: First, Erdogan is always right. Second, all critics and dissidents of Erdogan are unpatriotic people, who knowingly or unknowingly serve the evil Western powers that conspire against Turkey. All the rest follow from these two axioms.

The anti-Westernism in this ideological blueprint appeals to most Islamists, but they sometimes seem to have a problem with the first rule that Erdogan is always right. After all, they have certain ideological positions of their own, to which the ever-pragmatic Erdogan may not always subscribe. For example, Erdogans June 2016reconciliation with Israel, which came with the official forsaking of the legal claims of the families of the Mavi Marmara victims, came as a shock to Islamists especially when Erdogansuddenly disownedthe Gaza flotilla campaign that he had championed for years in political rallies. Erdogans silent abandonment of the Syrian revolutionby cozying up with Russia and accepting to live with the Assad regimealso disillusioned some Islamists who have been eager to see a post-Assad Syria.

Besides such foreign policy issues, some veteran Islamists of Turkey seem genuinely concerned with the blunt corruption, nepotism and authoritarianism that has more and more characterized the current regime. They see, with disillusionment, that all the ugly aspects of old secular Turkey that they once criticized are now revived under Islamic garb perhaps only in uglier and more aggressive forms.

One of these veterans,Kemal Ozturk, another columnist for Yeni Safak, wrote a nostalgic piece titled What is left of journalism. He wrote that during the '90s, when Islamists were in the opposition and their media had intellectual depth and professional ethics. They had "sincerity and quality." But now, with power, that age of innocence is gone. "It is just like a flood came and took away all the values we had accumulated," Ozturk wrote. For him, this was quite evident in the new propaganda machine, "which throws libels against everyone other than itself, and creates an aura of hatred." In return, Ozturk found himself among the treacherous Islamists listed by the Duvardibi website.

The tragedy of these disillusioned Turkish Islamists is that they dont have much of anoption. All their life, from jobs to friends to social network, is within the conservative-Islamic camp of Turkey, which is today almost totally dominated by Erdogan and his enthusiasts. That is why their timid criticisms of the current regime target hard-core Erdoganists especially the new recruits with a secular background but never Erdogan himself. They act as if the Chief is surrounded by some bad people, and that is the only problem at hand.

The Chief himself, however, may have a more realistic sense of the reality. To further consolidate his rule, he does not need Islamists or adherents of any other abstract idea. He just needs Erdoganists, plain and simple. And there are plenty of them, coming from all backgrounds and identities, who are ready to outperform the good old Islamists.

Read More: http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2017/01/turkey-why-islamists-are-no-longer-erdogan-favorites.html

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Why Islamists are no longer Erdogan's favorites - Al-Monitor