Translated material
Erdogan against everyone
The Turkish government is paralyzed by a corruption scandal. Prime Minister Recep Erdogan considers him a conspiracy of all his enemies combined
In Turkey, on the eve of the New Year, a large-scale political crisis erupted, caused by the largest corruption scandal in the country's recent history, due to which ten key ministers were resigned. Prime Minister Recep Erdogan stated that we are talking about a conspiracy behind which are some “internal and external forces” trying to destabilize Turkey.The Prosecutor's Office of Turkey and the special services issued an arrest warrant, on charges of corruption and bribery, about 50 people-senior officials and prominent businessmen from the encirclement of Prime Minister Recep Erdogan, members of the ruling, as it is believed, moderately Islander, "Party of Justice and Development". The operation of the Turkish special services and the prosecutor's office, called the "big bribe", was prepared for a whole year - secretly from the government. The Minister of Internal Affairs Muammer Guler and Minister of Economy Zafer Chalayan left their posts, as their sons were among the arrested.
The current situation is extremely dangerous for the personal authority of the Turkish prime minister, more than mass protests that have shocked the country in the summer of the past year, believes the Center for the Study of the Middle and Middle East of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences Natalya Ulchenko :
- During the July riots, the claims of demonstrators to the Turkish authorities were less specific and could be easier to refute and challenged. Today, exposures and accusations of corruption of people close to the prime minister are already proven in nature. To resist what happened, to somehow deny the connection of the scandal with Erdogan and the activities of its supporters are becoming more and more complicated.
Recep Erdogan named the conducted anti-corruption investigation by a conspiracy that was directed from abroad and pursuing the goal of destabilizing the situation in Turkey and undermining the position of the ruling party on the eve of the presidential elections and elections to the local authorities outlined for 2014. In his opinion, he may be at the head of him, who are closely living in the United States, a Turkish spiritual figure, businessman and writer Fetullah Gulen, the former imam (and former friend of Erdogan), who is called the leader of the “Euro-Westialists”, who acts simultaneously both for even more “soft” Islamization of the Turkish society and reformed many important canons Islam.
Fetulla Gulen, for example, calls for greater cooperation of Muslims and Christians and Jews of the whole world, and, in particular, to the resumption of Turkish relations with Israel, almost frozen after the “party of justice and development” came to power. The Hismet Gulen’s social movement enjoys tremendous influence in Turkey, he has a lot of supporters - including in the special services. Gulen himself denies all the accusations that he is behind the organization of the current crisis, and calls Erdogan, a former like -minded person, "a victim of the decayed authoritarian thinking", which led to the decomposition and corruption of the state, emphasizes Natalya Ulchenko :
- If we are not talking about a truly coordinated attempt to remove the “party of justice and development” from Erdogan from the authorities by inflating the present, and not an invented corruption scandal, how did the Turkish special services prepare the “Big Bright” operation as many as a whole secret from their own government?
There is a second emergency vector, which until recently, apparently supported Erdogan, but now began to act against him- This is precisely the main subject of the extreme degree of dissatisfaction of Erdogan, this situation, which he called the presence of a "state in the state." The emergency forces located in power in the country, as it turned out, are far from one. There is a second emergency vector, which until recently, apparently, supported Erdogan, but now began to act against him. The result was the situation that we have. Erdogan and his supporters who are in power are “too much Islam” from the point of view of the secular part of society, but this is “not enough Islam” or “not that Islam” from the point of view of supporters of Fetullah Gulen and his group, who until recently were in alliance with the ruling party.
- How consolidated is the dislike of part of society to Recep Erdogan? It's about hatred or, rather, about fatigue from his reign?
- Too straightforward, often somewhat aggressive actions, Erdogan compromised the idea of charm and loyalty to all the surrounding Mild Islam - this turned away from the prime minister of so many.
Turkish Prime Minister said that some foreign ambassadors in Turkey are involved in the "provocative actions" against the authorities. Speaking to his supporters in the province of Samsun, on the Black Sea coast, Erdogan threatened the heads of diplomatic agents from the country. The Turkish pro -government press, in particular, accuses the US ambassador of inciting to persecute the leadership of the Hulkbank. Earlier, Recep Erdogan signed an order to dismiss several high -ranking managers in the Turkish intelligence services of MIT and JITEM, which began the anti -corruption campaign.
In the current situation, in the current situation, when the facts of global corruption became a universal property, accuses of conspiracy against his party and the government of absolutely all dissatisfied with his rule, strength and movement, which theoretically are not able to unite in one camp - different opposition parties, secular and Islamist, Fetullah of Gulen and his "Euro -Islamists", socialists, the army and the army, and the army and the army. Special services, USA and Israel. On the tactics of protecting the image of the ruling party, which was inflicted on the most severe blow chosen by the Turkish prime minister, still remaining a very popular figure from some voters, Natalya Ulchenko says again:
- Erdogan is very important to imagine what happened not as a result of the objective course of events and involvement in the illegal activities of people close to him. Of course, this should look precisely as an attempt to compromise on the part of anyone or anything. Active counterattack-transfer the arrows to some hostile forces and declare precisely their involved in what happened. As a matter of fact, this tactics of “mysterious third forces” were not not allowed to use in the course of July events, when again it was mentioned the involvement of the West countries in Taxim Square, the actions of a certain lobby, and so on. Erdogan internally accepts and recognizes anything, but not the fact of the failure of the internal policy of Erdogan himself. Such an attempt to search for external culprits can work quite well - some of the Turks do not want to be disappointed too much in the personality of the prime minister.
Erdogan internally accepts and recognizes anything, but not the fact of the failure of the internal policy of Erdogan himself
- And the Turkish army, which in recent decades vigilantly made sure that the “degree of Islam” in society and in politics does not go out too much, was so left from the political scene that it cannot be considered a serious player in this situation? The generals who opposed the Islamists are defeated?
- They are not defeated, but "neutralized." Recep of Erdogan and his government tried, a lot was done for this - and a change in the procedure for the formation of the Constitutional Court, initiation in relation to the military, allegedly involved in an attempt to change state power, various persecutions, including criminal, the resignation of the old personnel of the army. A lot of work was done, and the “Party of Justice and Development” seemed to be calm down. But it turned out that this calmness is premature. Now the danger to the regimen of Recep Erdogan appeared from where they did not expect it.
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Alexander GOSTEV
The editor of the RS information service, international observer, author and editor of the heading and podcast "Atlas of the World"
Gosteva@rferl.org