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Turkish Politics & Internal Affairs

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They always been the most anti Qatar country (yes even more than SA), they didn't liked Turkey to siding with them.

Understood, but doesn't explain anti-Turkish behavior much. What about the leaks from UAE? It seems they are against Turkey also.
 
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Understood, but doesn't explain anti-Turkish behavior much. What about the leaks from UAE? It seems they are against Turkey also.
Because they are under control of Israel teror state. Their loyalty to Israel, not to Turkey. And Israel sees Turkey as a potential threat to their future. And manipulate all their tools against to Turkey.
 
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Because they are under control of Israel teror state. Their loyalty to Israel, not to Turkey. And Israel sees Turkey as a potential threat to their future. And manipulate all their tools against to Turkey.

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Turkey journalists reject 'terror' claims as trial opens

Bulent KILIC, Stuart WILLIAMS
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AFP•July 24, 2017


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A total of 17 staff at one of Turkey's most respected opposition newspapers are in the dock (AFP Photo/OZAN KOSE)

Istanbul (AFP) - Staff from one of Turkey's most respected opposition newspapers on Monday rejected as absurd "terror" charges laid against them, on the first day of a trial which has intensified alarm over press freedom under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The 17 defendants from Cumhuriyet daily were detained from October last year and a dozen of them have now spent more than eight months in jail.

They have been held under a state of emergency imposed after the July 15, 2016 failed coup aimed at ousting Erdogan that the authorities blame on US-based Muslim preacher Fethullah Gulen.

The case has further raised tensions between Turkey and the European Union, in particular Germany, which fears the crackdown is being used to target any critic of Erdogan.

The Cumhuriyet journalists, cartoonists and executives were applauded by supporters crammed into the Istanbul courtroom as the trial opened.

Supporters released dozens of multicoloured balloons outside the courthouse, chanting: "Don't be silenced! A free media is a right!"

If convicted, the journalists face varying terms of up to 43 years in jail.

In an extraordinary coincidence, the trial opened on Turkey's annual national day of the press which marks the end of official censorship in the Ottoman Empire in 1908 under Sultan Abdulhamid II.

- 'Illogical' -

Those on trial include some of the best known names in Turkish journalism including the columnist Kadri Gursel, the paper's editor-in-chief Murat Sabuncu, cartoonist Musa Kart as well as its chairman Akin Atalay.

They are charged with supporting in the newspaper's coverage three groups considered by Turkey as terror outfits -- the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), the ultra-left Revolutionary People's Liberation Party-Front (DHKP-C) and Gulen's movement, which Ankara calls the Fethullah Terror Organisation (FETO).

The indictment accuses Cumhuriyet of beginning a "perception operation" with the aim of starting an "asymmetric war" against Erdogan.

But supporters insist the paper has always been bitterly critical of the three groups, including Gulen's organisation. Gulen denies any link to the failed coup.

"To say I was in contact with FETO members is illogical and against good sense," Gursel told the court in a powerful testimony where he sought to refute the accusations charge-by-charge.

"There is nothing to justify my jailing -- nothing apart from slander," he added. "The claims are totally without basis."

Atalay said it was the authorities who were scared. "But Cumhuriyet will not give in... independence and liberty are written into the DNA of the paper," he said.

Cartoonist Kart meanwhile denounced the accusations against him as "unfair, unfounded and unacceptable".

- 'Test for Turkey' -

Cumhuriyet (Republic), which was set up in 1924 and is Turkey's oldest mainstream national title, has been a thorn in the side of Erdogan in recent years.

It is one of the few genuine opposition voices in the press, which is dominated by strongly pro-government media and bigger mainstream dailies that are increasingly wary of challenging the authorities.

Also being tried in the case is the investigative journalist Ahmet Sik who in 2011 wrote an explosive book "The Imam's Army" exposing the grip Gulen's movement had on the Turkish state.

Eleven of the 17 including Gursel, Sabuncu, Kart and Sik, are being held in custody. The trial will resume Tuesday and this preliminary stage is expected to last until Friday.

Since their arrests, Cumhuriyet has continued publishing the columns of the jailed journalists but with a blank white space instead of text.

"This trial is a test for Turkey," Aydin Engin, one of the writers on trial who was freed after his initial arrest. "Erdogan says justice is balanced in Turkey. Now we will see."

Being tried in absentia is the paper's former editor-in-chief Can Dundar, who was last year sentenced to five years and 10 months in jail over a front-page story accusing the government of sending weapons to Syria.

He has now fled Turkey for Germany.

- 'Criminalising journalism' -

Steven Ellis, director of advocacy at the International Press Institute (IPI), said outside the court that the case aimed at "criminalising journalism."


"If it works... then they will do it again and again," he said.

Turkey ranks 155th on the latest Reporters Without Borders (RSF) world press freedom index, below Belarus and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

According to the P24 press freedom group, there are 166 journalists behind bars in Turkey, most of whom were arrested under the state of emergency.

Erdogan, however, insisted in an interview earlier this month there were just "two real journalists" behind bars in Turkey and anyone else was jailed for offences including robbing ATMs.

The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention said last month that the detention of the staff was arbitrary and that they should be immediately released and given the right to compensation.

Solomon2 comment: it isn't discussed much that while Turkey has a high arrest rate the rate of dismissals and failed convictions is also high due to insufficient evidence. Plus, even politically-motivated convictions may be released early, like the 230 out of 330 officers convicted in the "Sledgehammer" affair.
 
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Understood. We have a great action plan to integrate this refugees. We see them as next citizen of our country. Maybe we need them because of low birthrate. Currently we hosts more than 1 mio refugees. I don't know how much the other EU hosts, but it is not significant.
:woot::rofl::rofl::rofl:


I have never said that you would cease to exist, but it would be an economic nightmare if you lost your biggest trade partner. Don't you.
It will hurt in the short term, in the middle and long term...I doubt really, that it would be a nightmare for the Turkey. :laugh:
The only problem i see, if the AKP will survive the period until the turkish exports get their strenght back by new markets.

Tayyip uses Feto as an excuse to get rid of his political rivals but this doesn't mean he's wrong all the time. I would close every single German foundation in Turkey [especially the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung].
Do it, it would be your right to do, what is needed to protect your nation.:tup:
 
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???

:woot::rofl::rofl::rofl:
It will hurt in the short term, in the middle and long term...I doubt really, that it would be a nightmare for the Turkey. :laugh:
The only problem i see, if the AKP will survive the period until the turkish exports get their strenght back by new markets.

Okay, we agree that will hurt in a short and middle term. Which new market can replace us?
 
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@Bismarck

I`m laughing about your comment. My a**, great action plan, refugees as citizen, syrian crisis to an end? Come on, I appreciate your vision from a Germany, what has everything under control, but we should stay serious.
Our government isn`t still able to find their own a**, even with a map and GPS, regarding this question. So no, I`m still seeing only minor portions of some plan, nothing like a great masterplan you had described. The only reason, why this refugee, at least the Syrians, crisis has stopped for now, are the eastern European states and Turkey, which has closed their gates. But the next is already in the beginning...
And to replace our birthrates, hm, you should take a deep view in our industrial sector to see, that this isn`t really a problem, quite the opposite, rather, untrained people are a problem that is completely unsuitable for it.
Finally, I`m really curious, where you get this from, that Germans seeing every single refugee as the next citizen, can you show me the survey, on which you base your opinion.

As for the issue of the markets...markets are not a static size ... they are changing daily, depending on supply and demand and I for my part are impressed by the turkish development. You should not underestimate them...maybe they drive the car against the wall, but rather not. Maybe they will get even our share at some markets. :lol:
 
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While his supporters were pouring Coca Cola on the street while protesting against the Zionist Americans some years ago and were calling on people to start drinking Fanta instead (even though the same company produces them :D) the President leads the opening ceremony of a new Coca Cola factory in Isparta. :enjoy:


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