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.