Clipping Erdogan’s wings by Jk Latest News
Clipping Erdogan’s wings
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By HANY GHORABA
This year has marked the beginning of the end of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s regional ambitions as well as the end of his political honeymoon with Europe
In a year that has witnessed a lot of
political changes, Turkish Presi-
dent Recep Tayyip Erdogan has
also had much better years in his
long political career. This year’s
events have not only brought Erdo-
gan’s megalomaniac ambitions in
the Mediterranean and the Middle
East to a halt but may also have wit-
nessed the end of his honeymoon
with Europe as well.
The EU has finally answered
French, Greek and Cypriot calls to
take a stand against the Turkish
president’s provocative actions in
the region and the destabilisation
that has followed them with its ripple
effects on the Old Continent’s stabil-
ity.
After nearly two years of delibera-
tion and debate, the EU has sent an
ultimatum to the Turkish president
demanding that he stop his provoca-
tive actions in the Mediterranean,
especially against EU members
Greece and Cyprus, and his political
feud with France. Sanctions against
Turkey have been postponed by the
EU several times, with these being
seen as a last resort because of the
strong economic ties between the EU
and Turkey. Erdogan had earlier per-
ceived the European hesitation as
a form of weakness or inability to
carry out serious sanctions against
the Turkish state.
But on 19 November during a tele-
conference among EU foreign minis-
ters, it was decided that the EU would
take more severe measures against
Turkey during the next EU summit
to be held on 10-11 December.
The date was set after a series of
provocations by Erdogan last week,
the latest of which was his visit to
occupied Northern Cyprus where he
delivered a speech. Erdogan called
for peace talks with the parties in
the Cyprus confl ict and for what he
called a “two-state” solution. This
has been categorically rejected by
all the parties, however, including
the United Nations. The aim of a uni-
fi ed Cyprus has been clearly estab-
lished in diplomatic discussions
worldwide.
The provocative visit put the
nearly five-decade-old conflict in
Cyprus back in the news headlines
and was met by disdain from Euro-
pean leaders as well as by protests
even by some Turkish Cypriots
themselves. The protesters fear that
Erdogan is wagering their future
and involving them in his political,
if not soon to be military, confl icts.
Many of the protesters believe that
their future lies in the reunifi ca-
tion of Cyrus. Northern Cyprus is
only recognised by Turkey and no
other country as a separate state that
declared its independence nine years
after the Turkish invasion in 1974
that took control of nearly 38 per cent
of the island.
Clipping Erdogan’s wings
The conflict and the Turk-
ish involvement in Cyprus have
remained issues that have prevented
the acceptance of Turkey as a member
of the EU. And the recent visit to the
island by Erdogan seems to have
been a straw that has broken the
camel’s back. In response, EU High
Representative for Foreign Affairs
Josep Borell said that “we consider
the recent actions and statements by
Turkey related to Cyprus contrary to
the United Nations resolutions and
further igniting tensions.”
Should the EU sanctions against
Turkey to be discussed in December
be implemented, they will become
the latest blow to the already ailing
Turkish economy, which had a trade
balance with the EU amounting to
138 billion Euros in 2018. Restricting
Turkish exports to the EU will send
a message to the Turkish regime that
its days of getting away with murder
are over.
Furthermore, Turkish radical
groups across Europe are being
hunted down at present, with the
notorious ultranationalist Turkish
group the Grey Wolves being a partic-
ular target. The Grey Wolves, estab-
lished in 1968, have been involved in
a number of terrorist attacks, assas-
sinations and high-profi le attempted
assassinations, including on former
Roman Catholic pope John Paul
II in 1981 by Mohamed Ali Agca, a
member of the group.
The group is characterised by its
mix of ultranationalist ideology and
radical Islamist beliefs. It is believed
to be a militant wing of the Turkish
Nationalist Movement Party (MHP),
which is a close ally of Erdogan’s Jus-
tice and Development Party (AKP).
Other similar groups targeted by EU
countries such as Germany include
the German Democratic Idealist
Turkish Associations Federation
(ADUTDF) and the European Turk-
ish-Islamic Cultural Associations
Union (ATIB).
Clipping Erdogan’s wings
France and Austria have already
banned the Grey Wolves, while the
German Bundestag is mulling taking
similar action. The group has long
been a pro-Erdogan militant Turk-
ish group in Europe, referred to by
observers as “Erdogan’s European
guard”. Even so, many European
countries have looked the other way
when it has come to the Grey Wolves’
criminal and terrorist record, even
though the group has targeted Turk-
ish dissidents in Europe and particu-
larly the Kurds. The latter have been
massacred by the Grey Wolves, for
example in the Maras massacre in
1978 when up to 185 Kurds were killed
and up to 3,000 more injured. Euro-
pean governments are now paying
the price for overlooking the menace
posed by such groups.
Clipping Erdogan’s wings
Erdogan now presents one of the
most bizarre diplomatic situations
for the EU since its inception, as it is
now faced with a fellow NATO ally
and a potential member taking hos-
tile action against it. The situation is
quite different from that presented by
Russia. Russia, as the successor state
of the former Soviet Union, has been
on a collision course with the Euro-
pean powers since the 17th century.
It was a reliable ally during World
War II, when it was instrumental in
winning the war against the Axis
powers. However, the expansionist
ambitions of Stalin that followed and
the establishment of client states
and puppet regimes across Eastern
Europe led to decades of confl ict that
remained in effect even after the fall
of the former Soviet Union.
Erdogan’s tomfoolery is becoming
increasingly irritating to many, and
thanks to EU complacency he appar-
ently feels he has the upper hand in
controlling the pace of EU-Turkish
relations and can dictate whatever
he wants and EU leaders will even-
tually comply. Should they not do
so, Erdogan has threatened to raise
the issues of refugees in the Eastern
Mediterranean, or the importance of
Turkey in NATO, or to start cosying
up to the Russians.
His latest comments about Europe
show that he is now trying to mend
relations with the EU provided that
it complies with his demands on
Cyprus and his illegal exploration
for gas in the Mediterranean. Erdo-
gan said this week that the Turks
do not see themselves as anywhere
else but in Europe. The statement
is bizarre, however, since less than
a month ago Erdogan was accusing
several European leaders, includ-
ing French President Emmanuel
Macron, of being the descendants of
“mass-murdering colonialists” who
should not tell Turkey what to do.
He said in October that Muslims
were being treated in Europe like
the Jews were 80 years ago and that
“Islamophobia” is a cancer that was
spreading on the continent. But he
has since shifted his rhetoric to
appease the Europeans, and now
he wishes his country to join this
group of “mass-murdering colonial-
ists and Islamophobes,” as he has
called them.
Clipping Erdogan’s wings
Europe, the Middle East and the
Mediterranean, not to mention coun-
tries such as Armenia, have long paid
a high price to appease the Turkish
tyrant, and the end result has been
waves of terrorism, extremism and
instability in many countries in the
region. If the Europeans do not live
up to their promise of sanctioning
the Erdogan regime this December,
the price may be much higher in the
form of a military confl ict that will be
the natural result of years of political
complacency.
It is high time that Europe sends a
message to Erdogan in the hope that
this will avoid wars that could still
be triggered by the Turkish tyrant
at some time in the future.
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