Sep 2023 – Page 7

Turkey’s toxicity and Europe’s paralysis

from thefreeonline Sept 23, 2023 by Ali Dinçer * at Turkish Minute

People of Kobane bid farewell to 5 youths Murdered by Turkish drone… part of Erdogan’s Drone Marketing Program

Last week Turkish president and drone salesman of the year Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said Turkey could “part ways” with the EU.

It was one of the most confusing breakup announcements of all time since most people didn’t even know that the two sides were dating.

Erdoğan’s remarks were a reaction to the European Parliament’s annual report on Turkey, which contained criticism of Turkey’s grim human rights record…

the arbitrary use of terrorism charges to silence dissidents,
political control over the judiciary,
ongoing invasion, ethnic cleansing and attempted genocide in Afrin, NE Syria..
mass incarceration,
denial of human rights for women
mass torture in police custody and in prisons,
restrictions of free speech
imperial expansion policy in Syria, Azerbaijan, Libya, Iraq..
ongoing repression and banning of Kurdish language, culture, music
refusal to comply with European Court of Human Rights judgments,
abduction of Turkish citizens from outside Turkey,
media censorship, online censorship,
toxic blackmail and bullying in international relations
daily murder of innocents in Syria by drones, artillery and assassinations
lack of access to a fair trial and a crackdowns on journalists,
social media users, opposition politicians,
academics, lawyers,
trade unionists and human rights defenders.
a few extras were added!…ed.

Or as Erdoğan calls it, “justice”.

It has almost become ritualistic for the EP to publish these reports every year and for Ankara to swiftly declare them “null and void.” In the past the publication was called the “progress report” because it was meant to document Turkey’s progress in terms of aligning its legislation with the EU’s legal standards as a candidate for membership.

As of 2015 Brussels appropriately dropped the word “progress” and began calling it the “Turkey report.” More recently, they renamed it the “Türkiye report,” giving in to Erdoğan’s childish caprice.