Mr. Çağaptay has not written a single positive thing about the AKP government in 6 years. He is acting as if a deposed ruler in exile fighting back. His words could be more meaningful if he weren’t such a biased person. His reliance on neo-con anxieties of islamophobia is passé. The only loser in this game is these seemingly credible news media whose space he occupies…There is a quote from his latest bullshitting below. At the very end, there are two bullying views from Jerusalem Post.
In the mean time, Şahin Alpay writes Why do most Turks side with Erdoğan at Davos?
Turkey’s Turn From the West
Turkey is a special Muslim country. Of the more than 50 majority-Muslim nations, it is the only one that is a NATO ally, is in accession talks with the European Union, is a liberal democracy and has normal relations with Israel. Under its current government by the Justice and Development Party (AKP), however, Turkey is losing these special qualities. Liberal political trends are disappearing, E.U. accession talks have stalled, ties with anti-Western states such as Iran are improving and relations with Israel are deteriorating. On Thursday, for example, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan walked out of a panel at Davos, Switzerland, after chiding Israeli President Shimon Peres for "killing people." If Turkey fails in these areas or wavers in its commitment to transatlantic structures such as NATO, it cannot expect to be President Obama’s favorite Muslim country.
Why do most Turks side with Erdoğan at Davos?
The top news story last week in Turkey was surely about Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan walking off the panel on Gaza held at the World Economic Forum in Davos when he was prevented by the moderator from responding to Israeli President Shimon Peres, who with a raised voice and pointed finger railed at him for criticizing Israel’s deadly offensive against the Palestinians.
Will the AK Party be alienated from the West?
Some writers from the Turkish media and US neocon spokespersons have been complaining that the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) has alienated Turkey from the West, turning its face toward the East. They know very well that this is not true. Regardless, they want to mobilize support from the West to beat the AK Party.
After the Davos row: What now?
I visited my regular fisherman at his shop yesterday. He is a person who has been very cautious in balancing his Kemalism-inspired secularism with strong sympathies for the Justice and Development Party (AKP).
Is there life after Davos?
What impact will Prime Minister Erdoğan’s emotional outburst at Davos have on Turkish-American relations?
Support for Erdoğan’s Davos walkout
There has been growing support for Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan both from Turkey and from the Arab world for the stand he took in Davos, where he left the stage during a World Economic Forum session on Gaza after being denied a chance to rebut arguments from Israeli President Shimon Peres, who used humiliating language against Erdoğan while dismissing his criticism of Israel’s recent assault on Gaza.
Arabic press praises Erdogan
There was criticism in some Turkish papers of Prime Minister Recep Erdogan after he stormed off stage during a Davos debate.
Newsweek Interview with Turkey’s Tayipp Erdogan
US Jews welcome Turk PM’s post-debate remarks, urge for softer tone
Anti-Defamation League (ADL), a leading Jewish Organization in the U.S., welcomed Saturday Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan’s remarks after the heated debate with Israeli president in Davos saying his criticism did not target Israeli people or Jews. The group, however, urged Erdogan to use a more moderate tone in his criticisms.
NGOs in Gaza: humanity vs politics, Hugo Slim
The Israel-Palestine conflict is striking for the intense emotions that it generates. These encompass not just the people directly involved on both sides but outsiders, especially in the western world – from cyber-activists waging a "virtual’ war in the blogosphere and comment-forums to NGOs, civil-society movements and international humanitarian agencies.
I’m a statistics and a map lover so I was surprised exploring the website Gaza Solidarity Maps. As they say: “The Gaza Solidarity maps are but a small contribution from us to the Palestinians in Gaza.” found in Gaza Solidarity Maps
Eyeless in Gaza
Turkish politicians have a longer shelf life than many of their counterparts elsewhere, or at least that appeared to be true of a previous generation of Demirels and Ecevits, all of whom seem possessed of Rasputin-like powers to survive any number of attempts to engineer their political demise.
The human arsenal of the Middle East
The Gaza debacle has resulted in two major developments to be reckoned with in the Middle East. One of these developments is the emerging rift within the American Jewish community.
Boycott Israel? – More anthropologists on Gaza (II)
(text changed, name removed, see comments below) Four anthropologists are among a long list of scholars who in The Guardian call for a boycott of Israel:
We must do what we can to stop Israel from winning its war. Israel must accept that its security depends on justice and peaceful coexistence with its neighbours, and not upon the criminal use of force.
We believe Israel should immediately and unconditionally end its assault on Gaza, end the occupation of the West Bank, and abandon all claims to possess or control territory beyond its 1967 borders. We call on the British government and the British people to take all feasible steps to oblige Israel to comply with these demands, starting with a programme of boycott, divestment and sanctions.
Turkish Jews disagree over allegations of rising anti-Semitism
Only Jews can save Israel
No one should underestimate the Jews, as this would be a great blunder. And no one should treat Jews as a homogeneous community, as this would be another error.
AK Party would have been closed if …
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has given a pro-Hamas image with his recent speeches. Then came the Davos incident on Thursday evening.
Turk PM may turn Israel reaction into opportunity
On Thursday, I wrote an article on Davos that I liked and which I saw as important. But I withdraw it from publication in the newspaper after the argument erupted between Prime Minister Erdogan and Israeli President Shimon Peres.
Israel may reject Turkey’s arms request on strained ties over Gaza
Israel is considering rejecting a number of requests by Turkey to purchase advanced military platforms from the Jewish state after ties between the two countries became strained over the latest Gaza operation, the Jerusalem Post wrote on Monday.
Echoes of Davos walkout still resonating worldwide
ANKARA – The Davos incident is the peak of a month of strong rhetoric from Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan against Israel since its military operation into the Gaza Strip began Dec. 27. Erdoğan had previously termed the offensive as ’savagery’ and a ’crime against humanity’ and said Israel should be barred from the United Nations. Turkey’s prime minister has earned widespread praise from Islamic entities in the Middle East including Iran.
US Jews now seek to calm Turk tension
WASHINGTON – Major mainstream U.S. Jewish groups are now trying to calm the situation with Turkey, after Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s harsh criticism of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza was earlier met with equally fiery responses of their own.
Slate Who Won the Gaza War?
Israel says the war was a success, but in Gaza, Hamas is more popular than ever.
Linda Gradstein
An Unfolding Pattern of Genocide: Notes from Gaza
After a Palestinian rocket attack, Israel’s Interior Minister urged in late September 2008, “the IDF should…decide on a neighborhood in Gaza and level it.”
– Dr. Norman Finkelstein, “Behind the Bloodbath in Gaza: Foiling Another Palestinian ‘Peace Offensive’.” Counterpunch, 28 January, 2009
Norman Finkelstein argues in his latest article that we are wrong to assume that Israel launched its war against Gaza purely for narrow political purposes (an upcoming election — there was no upcoming election during the Israeli war against southern Lebanon in 2006), while the claim that Israel reacted in “defense” against “Hamas rockets” has already been thoroughly discredited by a wide range of analysts and news media. Instead, the war against Gaza was motivated by two goals, Finkelstein argues, one being that of “deterrence,” to instill new fear of Israeli power, and the second being to forestall, as on many other occasions, any attempt at peaceful negotiation. In the latter case, this would have meant Israel reconciling itself to a Hamas government, which it refuses to allow to continue. To spread fear, one has to spread damage and pain, to “educate” the Palestinians (Thomas Friedman) about the true force of Israeli supremacy.
Gaza, West Bank: Settlements and Borders
By Maximilian Forte
Israel: What is being defended? Who is the victim?
David Ben-Gurion (1886-1973), Israel’s first Prime Minister, said:
If I knew that it was possible to save all the children of Germany by transporting them to England, and only half by transferring them to the Land of Israel, I would choose the latter, for before us lies not only the numbers of these children but the historical reckoning of the people of Israel. (source)
To his credit, he also admitted the following:
Gaza Q & A by Stephen Shalom
This is an excellent resource for anyone needing an introduction and background to the roots of conflict between Israel and the Palestinians, with specific reference to Gaza. Steve Shalom teaches political science at William Paterson University in New Jersey — see his:
Boycott Israel: Montreal Professors and Academic Employees
*Note: I do not know how the call for signatures was circulated, but I believe the list above would have been very much longer if they had used the Web more effectively. I did not see this until today. Leaving that aside, I very happily add my name to that list, and encourage others to do so as well.
Noam Chomsky: Obama’s position on Gaza is “approximately the Bush position”
By Maximilian Forte
Analysis on the Different Media Coverage of Gaza
The following are some quotes from an article written by Lawrence Pintak entitled Borderless Journalism in Gaza: BBC, CNN-I, and Al Jazeera English offer nuanced coverage of Gaza war. It discusses what I referred to it in my earlier post about how to read the media coverage…
More On How Academic World Reacted Toward the War on Gaza
In Cairo: Egypt students of both Cairo Universities and Ain Shams Universities
… took initiative to collect donations and organize campaigns in support of Gaza.
According to Daily News Egypt, The American University in Cairo,
The Region: Egypt and Turkey
Jerusalem Post BARRY RUBIN
In recent months, Egypt has taken decisive public steps toward being the leader of moderate Arab resistance to the Iran-Syria axis.
Turkey: The longer viewJerusalem Post