Posted on 04/06/2018 3:20:56 PM PDT by Texas Fossil
Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey’s ruler for 15 years, has established himself as Turkey’s most consequential leader since Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the republic’s founder. But while Ataturk’s legacy was to orient Turkey toward the West and lay a foundation upon which successors could cultivate democracy, religious tolerance and a reasonably free press, Erdogan seeks the opposite: He has placed Turkey firmly in the Islamic bloc and increasingly prefers Russia over NATO. He fans the flames of religious incitement not only against Jews and Christians, but also against Muslims who reject his more conservative views.
It is time for the United States and its allies to show Erdogan that his crackdown, at home and abroad, comes at a cost. The West can start by using some of the same mechanisms it has applied to bad behavior from Russia — in particular, the 2012 Magnitsky Act, which imposed sanctions on individuals who could be shown to have committed serious violations of human rights.
We would be well-advised to start by looking at the president’s treatment of the press. Eviscerating free speech and press freedom have been central to Erdogan’s strategy. If the opposition has no platform, then Erdogan need not win arguments — he can simply impose them and eschew accountability for his policies. The warning signs were there from the start: In 2005, after Musa Kart, an editorial cartoonist for Cumhuriyet, lampooned Erdogan as a cat entangled in yarn, Erdogan successfully sued Kart for $3,500. When Kart again lampooned the president, he ended up in prison.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Good article with quite a few explanatory links. Reading the entire article is recommended.
Who’s “we”?
It’s outlets like WaPo that don’t want opposing viewpoints here at home.
How is what Erdogan does in Turkey any of our concern?
If they looked in the mirror, they'd see Erdogan.
im serious, that someone should file a criminal complaint against this comptroller person
No piecemeal action should be taken against Turkey. Any action, assuming action is taken, should be part of an overall strategy to accomplish whatever goal Trump has in mind. Turkey’s turn to Islam, its embrace of Russia and its alliance with Iran, along with the Syrian/Kurdish adventure probably indicates that Turkey and NATO should part ways.
Everybody is whistling past the graveyard hoping that nothing involving Turkey will get any worse. But problems like this don’t get better with neglect.
And Rubin want's help from his constant target, PDJT.
FUMR you're lower than, but identical to, Erdogan.
Michael Rubin has exposed a great deal of truth connected with the actions of Erdogan and the Halkbank which bypassed sanctions on Iran.
Turkey had a huger reward on Michael Rubin’s head.
The rest, you can think and say what you like.
Totally agree.
When Turkey cuts ties with NATO, Putin will treat him differently. Over time, he will be devoured by his own actions.
How is what Erdogan does in Turkey any of our concern?”
Turkey is a NATO member gone Islamic. He is trying to buddy up to Iran and Russia. He is trying to decimate the Kurds. He is a cancer.
Tea and Crumpets?
Don’t look for a formal invitation nor an acceptance.
Yes, I know what The Washington Compost is. No illusions.
How? Because he openly states he wants to reconstitute the Ottoman Empire with him at the helm.
Do you have any idea how much of the ME that was?
And with proximity to Israel? We are talking about WWIII.
So, yes we are affected by Erdgoan the Islamist dictator of Turkey.
Besides, we have a couple of thousand troops in Syria. We were doing a fine job of eliminating ISIS Terrorists until Turkey invaded Efrin.
Tea for the Tillerson improved the State Department.
Please pray for Andrew Brunson, an American citizen who has been a Christian pastor in Turkey for many years. He has been imprisoned there for 17 months on charges of plotting against the government. His trial is April 16.
I'm aware that they recently escalated the penalty against him. It has nothing to do with Law in Turkey, the courts act upon the will of Erdogan the Islamist. They know if they find other than he wants, they will be swiftly replaced like so many others before them.
Such crap. There is no ethics issue other an he’s not a radical leftist scumbag.
Erdogan isn’t a radical leftist scumbag. He’s a radical Islamic fundamentalist scumbag. He wants to resurrect the Ottoman Empire with himself in charge. As Texas Fossil will tell you, that would make the Near and Middle East an even hotter Hell’s Kitchen than it already is.
All Trump needs to do is declare a free and independent Kurdistan
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