Turkish ministers deliver stark warnings to the EU and USA

[webfact]

Turkish ministers deliver stark warnings to the EU and USA

 

 

ANKARA: -- Could hundreds of thousands of migrants and refugees Turkey is currently preventing from crossing into Europe be on the move westwards again soon?

 

That could be the case warns Turkey’s EU Affairs minister if Europe fails to honour an agreement for visa-free travel for Turks to the EU. He added EU demands Turkey change its terrorism laws would endanger European security.

 

“If the EU won’t provide a precise date to grant us visa-free travel, we will not implement the readmission agreement and we will not make further progress on this matter. They are asking if we are threatening the European Union. We don’t threaten anyone, we don’t blackmail anyone,” said Omer Celik.

 

The Justice Minister also said anti-American feeling was on the rise and would only deepen if Washington refused to extradite Fethullah Gulen, a Muslim cleric Ankara blames for last month’s failed coup. Washington says it wants hard evidence of his guilt.

 

“That man who ordered the bombing of Turkey and the parliament, who pointed Turkey’s weapons at the Turkish people will get the punishment he deserves,” said Prime Minister Binali Yildirim.

 

Gulen denies any role and accuses President Erdogan of using the coup to amass greater power.

 

In total some 16,000 people have been arrested and await trial, while another 6,000 are being processed and another 7,600 are being investigated. Turkish intelligence says it has cracked several messaging services used by an estimated 150,000 Gulen followers since 2014.

 

 

-- © Copyright Euronews 2016-08-10

[NongKhaiKid]

Feeling confident now they're pals with Big Vlad again  ?

[craigt3365]

There's no proof, so no extradition.  Especially considering the crazy things going on in Turkey now.

 

http://www.wsj.com/articles/turkeys-gulen-demand-1469658295

 

Quote

Erdogan accused Gulenists in the Turkish judiciary of trying to undermine his rule with criminal investigations into the allegedly corrupt dealings of senior members of Mr. Erdogan’s inner circle and their families. Mr. Erdogan quashed the investigation and purged thousands of prosecutors, judges and police thought to be sympathetic to the probe.

 

Hopefully, Erdogan won't last long.  Sadly, he probably will.  Turkey is going backwards fast.

[Scott]

I lived and worked in Turkey for a time.  The way in which the Turkish gov't and the Thai gov't behave is very, very similar.  

 

Turkey is a country speeding into the 14th century.  

[happy Joe]

The only asset of Turkey to force Westerners is the control of Maghrebian immigrants.

I think M. Erdogan used this weapon too fast. He finally understood that Europeans let him never come and that the opening of the EU was a decoy. Threatening with anger, he gave her the opportunity to find an alternative.

I also think it would be wrong to believe him Vlady friend. This latter will use the situation for the sole purpose of serving its projects pact with an Europe, now less dependent on the USA.
 

[AAT13]

3 hours ago, craigt3365 said:

There's no proof, so no extradition.  Especially considering the crazy things going on in Turkey now.

 

http://www.wsj.com/articles/turkeys-gulen-demand-1469658295

 

 

Hopefully, Erdogan won't last long.  Sadly, he probably will.  Turkey is going backwards fast.

 

*Istanbul former security branch manager was detained on the night of the attempt after being cought in a tank dressed in military uniform. He had been suspended from duty in Nov 14 and later dismissed over suspected links to FETO.

 

*The alleged chief of the SAT commandos planning to asssasinate government figures, said "the big brother" role was offered to him during talks with FETO members and that was how he got in touch with the commandos.

 

*Chief of Staff Gen. Hulusi Akar testifying as a plaintiff to Ankara prosecutors said while he was held hostage by pro-coup soldiers who is the commander of a main jet base asked him to speak with Gulen on the phone.

 

*Mr.Erdogan, the prime minister and two opponent leaders and more than %90 Turkish know that this coup trying are made by FETO. 

 

Turkish government provide some documents that shows the link between guilty soldiers and FETO to the US. 

 

 

 

Edited August 10, 2016 by AAT13

[sweatalot]

easy to handle.

Just close the EU borders to Turkey. Turks in EU only with Visa from now on.

I know, I know, politics isn't just that easy.

But why?

[Class C]

Quote

Turkey is a country speeding into the 14th century.  

 

That's preferable to 476 AD

[Rancid]

I'd never heard of Gulen before all this. Reading into it a bit seems it, like some other Islamic sects, is controlled by others as a tool to achieve desired goals.

 

Seems there is something to Turkeys paranoia about it, especially in light of it being an alternative sect to Erdogan, the plot definitely thickens. Seems neither option very palatable.

[ilostmypassword]

Gulen and Erdogan's party used to be allies in Islamicizing Turkey.  It doesn't seem unlikely that Gulen played a role in the coup.  But that doesn't mean that Turkey is offering sufficient proof.  And given that Erdogan is a bona fide megalomaniac, I wouldn't trust him unless the evidence was very strong.

[Baerboxer]

Turkey (Erdogan) saw the illegal immigrants as a great way to blackmail the EU. Give us money, visa free travel for our citizens and let's speed up out entry to the EU for all those nice hand outs. Or else we won't honor our international law obligations, lift a finger to stop those illegals, or co-operate in anyway.

 

Now the convenient coup has enabled many opposition to be arrested, increased the regime's popularity, and getting to be pals with Vlad again, time to flex those muscles again and remind the EU and US they better do as we say. The US should ignore their own laws on extradition and give Turkey whoever they demand should it?

 

Turkey was once a useful NATO ally and buffer between the west and Soviet Union and Soviet influenced ME. Now it's potentially a liability.

[Scott]

I am not making any strong suggestions, but given the inherent instability throughout the region and Erdogen's blustering and power grab, this would be an ideal time to boot him out of NATO and start backing the Kurds in their bid for a homeland.   Iraq is not in much of a position to take on the Kurds,  Assad has his hands full and Turkey is scared witless of the Kurds.  

 

Even the threat of giving assistance to the Kurds would probably bring him back in the fold rather quickly.

 

The Kurds are universally disliked in the region by the Turks, the Arabs and the Iranians.   By and large the Kurds are pro-west.   In Northern Iraq, they have shown they can govern and manage themselves reasonably well.

 

This, of course, is just a hypothetical because anytime there is military action the outcome is extremely unpredictable -- even good outcomes tend to go sour rather quickly.   In that part of the world most everything seems to go pear shaped quite quickly.  

 

[JHolmesJr]

Turks showed their true colours finally….allow us into the EU or else….I would say send in farage or boris to give Erdy a dressing down…but they have already left. 

 

 

[Scott]

An off-topic post from a questionable source has been removed.  

[ilostmypassword]

 

1 hour ago, car720 said:

 

I have never met a Turk that did not brandish the same sword of insanity that I see brandished here.

I had some Turkish friends when I lived in the states. I also traveled in Turkey for a month and I didn't find any crazy Turks. I did find that they were dignified and had excellent manners.  You sure you're not projecting?

17 hours ago, Baerboxer said:

 

[Scott]

6 hours ago, ilostmypassword said:

 

I had some Turkish friends when I lived in the states. I also traveled in Turkey for a month and I didn't find any crazy Turks. I did find that they were dignified and had excellent manners.  You sure you're not projecting?

Sometimes we see what we want to see.   During the time I worked in Turkey which was continuously for  a little less than a year and then back and forth for 3 years, I had a lot of Turkish friends.   They ranged from very nice to not so nice.   The same with the employees in the office.   Outside of the major cities, people were very hospitable.

 

The Turks, like Thailand, have a strong streak of nationalism.   It is slightly more prominent than a lot of countries.   There is a fair amount of division between the very large Kurdish minority and the Turkish majority. 

 

Turkey, like Thailand, is also very sensitive to criticism and in working with the gov't it required a lot of bowing and scraping, similar to Thailand.  

 

The Turks were, by and large, quite secular in nature and progressive compared to much of the rest of the region.

 

I have lived and worked in over 15 different countries.   All o them and all of the people have positive and negative traits.  

 

[Scott]

A post with the aberrant spelling of a politician's name has been removed.  

 

[Steely Dan]

So what happens to the two billion euros already given to Turkey for implementing the refugee agreement? Is that also forfeit? Europe should have spent its money on a security fence and told Turkey to stuff it by the way.