"Erdogan is worse than Putin - Putin has no ideology." The confession of a journalist, the issuance of which Türkiye requires Sweden in exchange for joining NATO

The Turkish journalist, editor -in -chief of the Anglo -speaking newspaper Today's Zaman Bulant Kenesh in October 2015 was arrested for insulting Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. He was sentenced to 21 months of imprisonment for the President’s criticism on Twitter. Later, Kenesh was again arrested along with 46 other former newspaper employees, they fell under a wave of repression, when in 2016, Erdogan arrested 50 thousand people (including hundreds of journalists) under the pretext that they were allegedly connected with the military, who tried to organize a coup. Türkiye and personally President Erdogan are seeking the issuance of Kenesh from Sweden, where he is in recent years. At a meeting with the Prime Minister of Sweden, Erdogan actually called the issuance of a journalist a condition for ratification by Ankara's entry into NATO. Kenesh told The Insider about how journalists are persecuted in Turkey, what are the similarities and differences in the regimes of Erdogan and Putin, and how he turned out to be a bargaining coin in negotiations between Turkey and Sweden about NATO.

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Content

• How Erdogan became a dictator

• Erdogan and Putin

• The struggle from emigration

• Channel coin

How Erdogan became a dictator

I am just a journalist, but I advocate the democratic values ​​and human rights. I protect journalism and try to protect the rights of all strata of society - LGBT, Turks, non -Muslims. But in 2011, I realized that Erdogan, who at that time, who served as the prime minister, returned to his “factory settings”-the initial orientation to radical Islam.

BULENT KENESH in the center

He refused to strengthen democracy, tried to undermine the supremacy of the law in Turkey and called into question its possible EU membership. Türkiye took on the role of an intermediary between Israel and Syria, India and Pakistan, Azerbaijan and Armenia, as well as between Georgia and Russia. He wanted to become a strong leader not only in Turkey, but also in Islamic countries. The creation of a caliphate would help him in this. However, Türkiye is a secular democratic country that does not have instruments to make Erdogan a dictator inside the country and beyond. Erdogan had to invent a new tool, vile and dirty: to use radical Islamists and jihadist groups to achieve political goals.

Erdogan uses radical Islamists to achieve personal political goals

He took advantage of this tactics in Syria, Libya and Egypt. For cooperation with them, money was needed, but he could not use state funds to finance illegal jihadist organizations, therefore he created financial assets for shadow financing and supporting this criminal activity. He is mired in corruption and money laundering. In early 2012, through Turkey, his money - billions of dollars - laundered the Iranian regime. At the same time, Iran was under the sanctions of the UN, the EU and the USA due to the implementation of the nuclear program. As a journalist and supporter of democracy, I thought and I believe that Erdogan refused all positive reforms in Turkey, and in return offered his own path. The stronger he moved away from democracy and human rights, the tougher I criticized him. My position directly affected editorial work in the newspaper. At the end of 2011, supporters of the Erdogan regime arranged for me a continuous injury in social networks and the media. After the corruption scandals of 2013, who spilled light on the dark divisions of the Erdogan family and members of the Cabinet of Ministers, he established a new instance positioned as a court with the help of prosecutors.

Having taken control of the judicial system, Erdogan and his environment began the judicial persecution of our newspaper, especially me and my editor. I was detained several times, arrested and imprisoned, but thanks to international pressure and efforts, human rights activists were forced to let go. Many of my colleagues, who also made loud names, were much less fortunate: they are still behind bars because of their journalistic work, due to the fact that Erdogan’s disgusting ties with jihadists, his corruption and laundering of money were exposed. Every journalist must act in the interests of society, whoever the corrupt official is-Prime Minister or President.

The facts say that the authorities supported the groups of radical Islamists and terrorists, sending thousands of trucks with ammunition, supply and weapons - not just random rebels, but organizations that later formed ISIS. When Erdogan first began to support the jihadists in Iraq and Syria, there was no ISIS. Groups that received assistance from Erdogan combined efforts and formed ISIS in 2014. Thus, the Erdogan regime is partly supported by ISIS. Of course, this is a somewhat simplified explanation.

Having taken control of the judicial system, Erdogan and his entourage began the judicial persecution of our newspaper, me and my editor

Erdogan and Putin

Many often compare Erdogan with Putin. There are similarities and differences between them. They are both autocrates and dictators on the verge of totalitarianism. I evaluate both regimes as authoritarian. With them there is no freedom of speech and free press, there are no civil society organizations, there are no independent and impartial courts, there are no democratic institutions, there is no honest competition between groups of interests. So the difference is not so great. The only real difference between them is that Erdogan does not have such power, such internal resources to impose his tyranny, like Putin’s.

Putin is much more powerful than Erdogan. However, in a sense, Erdogan is more evil than Putin, because, although Putin and Tyran, he, unlike Erdogan, does not have a specific ideology that justifies any anti -human activity. Erdogan, without hesitation, resorts to terror for political purposes, as we saw a few weeks ago. He skillfully manipulates terrorist groups to influence domestic politics, as was the case in June 2015.

Erdogan is more evil than Putin, because, although Putin and Tyran, he, unlike Erdogan, has no specific ideology

I am not only a journalist, but also a political scientist. The definition of terrorism is unambiguous: the goal of terror is to intimidate people, to instill fear in order to manipulate them to advance a certain political agenda. In Turkey, there are many international recognized terrorist organizations such as Hezbollah, but if you ask passers -by: “Who are most afraid of in Turkey?”, They will not call Hezbollah and say: “Erdogan”. The regime holds in fear all the people using terror and instruments of oppression, suppression and intimidation, using the so -called legal tools to combat critical social groups of society. The police and gendarmerie are used as a partisan militia of the regime. Who most terrorizes Turkish society? Erdogan regime, which is terrorist.

We had to escape from the country, many of my friends were in prison without any legal grounds, and now the regime uses their children in his political game. About 700 children under 6 years of age are in prison with their mothers. Even pregnant women are planted behind bars. They are taken to give birth to a hospital, where they get from the black move. Most of these women are ordinary housewives who are not related to politics, nor to violence, nor the coup. Their only crime is to be married to a teacher or engineer, whom Erdogan branded a “terrorist”.

Many of my friends were in prison without legal grounds, and now the regime uses their children in his political game

The struggle from emigration

On paper, neither the laws nor the Constitution changed, but Erdogan actually violated both Turkish and international law, which protects freedom of speech and fundamental rights and freedoms of man. His regime accused me of belonging to a terrorist organization. I was also accused of trying to undermine the work of the Turkish parliament. Another “crime” is an attempt to overthrow the government. According to their version, I was preparing a coup against the Turkish government and democracy. So, I am a member of a terrorist organization, planned a coup and, in addition, a separatist. And how did I manage to all, given my workload of journalistic work?

I serve the Turkish and international public. In Washington, New York, Paris and even Moscow, scientists and representatives of the intelligentsia who were interested in Turkey and wanted to keep abreast of events read my newspaper. Of course, the accusations put forward against me are groundless. The investigation did not provide evidence of my guilt. Who in Turkey is considered terrorists? Just look at statistics: in Turkey, under investigation for terrorism, there are more than two million people, and I am one of them. The entire population of Turkey is 83 million people, and if you add to these two million their relatives and friends, you can imagine how many millions of people were under investigation. This is madness. Anyone who does not like Erdogan is considered terrorists. Anyone who criticizes Erdogan is branded as a terrorist. But people are not stupid: no one believes in the guilt of these “terrorists”.

In Turkey, under investigation of terrorism are more than two million people, and I am one of them

I lost everything in Turkey, despite the high social status and a good standard of living. Erdogan's regime confiscated all my media and companies. I had to illegally cross the Turkish-Greek border, because in 2015 Erdogan’s regime confiscated my passport, despite the fact that I was the head of Daily and International Daily. Usually I received invitations from around the world and attended several countries a month: I gave lectures, performed at conferences and other events. And in 2015, Erdogan’s regime put me in jail and took my passport. In 2016, they confiscated my newspaper and destroyed the media holding that we entered. After 2016, he put on the wanted list 47 famous journalists, my name was the second on the list. I am even proud that I was put on a par with these outstanding and authoritative professionals.

After the failed coup on July 15, 2016, I said that Erdogan uses this situation as an occasion to “tighten the nuts” even more. I had to change the address in Istanbul, and together with my friends I turned to illegal carriers of migrants to get to Greece. I had to apologize to them for several of my articles, where they were portrayed as inhuman monsters. I then told them: "Now I see that you are very necessary people." “Yes, we work for the benefit of mankind,” they answered.

I had no high expectations from the host country. Having lost everything in Turkey, in a new place I just wanted to survive. If we talk about the Pyramid of Maslow's needs, I was only interested in the first step.

However, despite the defeat, having arrived in Sweden, I realized that I had to continue to fight: not just to establish a new life, but to become a voice for those who are oppressed in Turkey. And I started not with the search for work. Together with our colleagues, we created the human rights organization “Center for Freedom” to cover human rights in Turkey, affecting various groups, including Gulen’s movement. Not everyone remembers the Kurds, which in 2015-2016 spent several months in the siege, their millennial cities were destroyed by artillery, and the commandant hour for the population lasted three to four months. Hundreds of civilians were killed, the rights of liberal organizations in Turkey were violated.

When in March 2016 they confiscated my newspaper, we united and tried to create a human rights organization in Istanbul. But due to the attempt to make the matter, it was not possible to finish the matter, and I moved this initiative to Stockholm. At some point, we ended money, so I began to study the Swedish language, and then began to look for work in science. All my contacts with suitable organizations began very positively, but they did not bring fruits. The Erdogan regime has long arms, they are able to intimidate people in Sweden. All these analytical centers are related to Turkey, and they do not need problems due to cooperation with me. I think they were afraid that, having supported me, they would harm their relationship with any Turkish institutions. All my 50-60 attempts to join the scientific circles of Sweden failed, so I decided to launch my own analytical center for discussions and unification of all the people with whom I had a relationship. So appeared the European Center for the Study of Populism (ECPS) with the center in Brussels. It can be assumed that if I found normal work in science, NGO or private sector, ECPS would never have appeared.

Erdogan regime has long arms, and he is able to intimidate people in Sweden

Since we are talking about creating a new organization from scratch, it takes a lot of time. We will launch our platform as soon as we receive confirmation from the Belgian authorities, which we have been waiting for a year. We established the release of content, created a site, but could not open bank accounts for him. Erdogan pursues journalists and entrepreneurs in exile with the help of legal and political instruments - in particular, he tried to attract Interpol to this case.

A few days after the coup, he sent almost 80 thousand “terrorists” to Interpol. In Interpol they were surprised that so many people overnight became terrorists, and refused to cooperate. Then Erdogan demanded that the European leaders deport the “criminals”, but the majority categorically rejected this requirement without even assigning him a legal status.

However, Erdogan does not give up: now financial instruments have gone into business. Cases of financial crimes are being fanbled against political refugees. In December 2021, the government newspaper published a list of suspects, and there was my name. There are companies that collect data from open sources and transmit this information to European banks. And if your name was mentioned in connection with the financing of terrorism or money laundering, they will not open an account and refuse to maintain. So, you will not be able to open a bank account of a legal entity. As soon as the case is fabricated against you, banks do not burn with the desire to listen to your excuses, but simply refuse to work with you. We lost almost a year because of this and were forced to change the administrative architecture-I stopped being a member of the Executive Council only because of the Erdogan regime.

As soon as the case is fabricated against you at home, banks just refuse to work with you

What is the purpose of the European Center for the Study of Populism? As a political scientist, I understand who plunged Turkey into authoritarianism. If Erdogan had not unfolded the state apparatus towards despotism, I would not have to escape from the country. At the same time, despite the horrors taking place in Turkey, Iran’s experience, as well as a number of Western and Eastern countries, shows that even the most democratic countries of the West cannot be considered invulnerable to this threat. There are extreme right and populist political parties - there is one in Belgium, and in France there is Marin Le Pen. She is going to give way to her supporter - maybe he will become the next president of France. In Italy today, the extreme right, populist coalition of Melony, Berlusconi and others like them is in power. The brother of Lech Kachinsky, Yaroslav today, with dignity, is opposed by Putin’s aggression, but democracy in Poland is also losing ground.

Our duty is to expose these terrible things in order to increase awareness, or at least support the resistance line. There is also a positive side: academic circles, commercial media, intelligentsia and some politicians have a certain resistance to monstrous trends resembling the events of 1930–1945 in Germany, Italy and the Soviet Union. If the whole world falls into a crisis, it will be like a tsunami. At first there was a Covid, now Russian aggression against Ukraine, and all this can jeopardize peace and stability around the world and will lead to complete collapse. In particular, I am concerned about the situation in India, where the regime is similar to the Erdogan regime. As Erdogan uses Islam and nationalism, Modi uses Hinduism both in ethnic and in a religious sense, he is also a populist. A mixture of ultranationalism and religion is dangerous for the whole world. All populists seem to work according to the same manual. Even here, in Sweden, the government is influenced by the extreme right party, the founders of which adhered to neo -Nazism. And this is Sweden!

As far as I know, there are simply no analytical centers focused on these most important problems. And we have created this and are now looking for financing for the implementation of projects. Dozens of scientists around the world cooperate with us - from Australia to Pakistan, Universities of the USA and the EU. We try to support these resistance lines. But in order to work more efficiently, we need even more support - financial, administrative and academic.

Strengthening the positions of the extreme right encourages certain layers of society. I always share politicians and electorate. У избирателей есть логичные и разумные основания, чтобы голосовать за то или иное правительство. Иногда эти соображения неприятны, но в основном за ними стоит логика. Избиратели не всегда понимают, к чему приводит власть крайне правых. Я не хочу, чтобы ультраправые экстремистские организации пришли к власти, ведь власть развяжет им руки для реализации своей повестки. Но, даже оставаясь в оппозиции, они все равно будут оказывать огромное отравляющее воздействие на политику. При этом сегодняшние социал-демократы, центристы и либералы тоже существенно изменились за последние десять лет. Они сдвинулись вправо, а правые партии стали еще более радикальными. Социал-демократы стали правее бывших либералов. Этот токсичный эффект иногда незаметен, но я думаю, что он чрезвычайно опасен, поскольку делает экстремистскую политику мейнстримом.

У меня на этот счет есть забавная история. Когда я пытался учредить ECPS в Бельгии, я сказал: «Да, на этот раз есть большая вероятность, что мы проиграем». Но даже если мы проиграем и мир скатится в популизм и тиранию, по крайней мере, мы сможем с гордостью сказать, что сделали все возможное, чтобы это остановить.

Разменная монета

За столом переговоров, которые меняют ход событий, я оказался не по своей воле. Швеция на протяжении двух веков оставалась нейтральной страной, и, когда Путин напал на Украину, она была вынуждена отказаться от нейтралитета из соображений безопасности. Я журналист и не имею никакого отношения к политике высшего уровня. К сожалению, режим Эрдогана и во внутренней политике, и за международным столом переговоров использует мое имя как разменную монету. Это выглядит глупо и нелепо — приплетать вопрос о моей выдаче к обсуждению членства в НАТО.

Режим Эрдогана и во внутренней политике, и за международным столом переговоров использует мое имя как разменную монету

С точки зрения Швеции сложилась асимметричная ситуация, но я верю в шведскую правовую систему и верховенство закона. Мой уровень доверия к политикам, к сожалению, ниже. Может быть, в нормальные времена было бы легче так говорить. Я сохраняю доверие к Швеции в разумных пределах, и сегодня они готовы обсуждать мое дело. Может быть, через две недели или месяц объявят решение. Не думаю, что шведский суд примет решение о моей депортации, потому что у меня есть документ из прокуратуры, которая на моей стороне. Думаю, что у Эрдогана нет шансов. Если все пройдет гладко, у них не будет шансов забрать меня, но мы находимся в чрезвычайных обстоятельствах, и это может привести к неожиданному решению.

Некоторые из представителей нового правительства симпатизируют Путину, но никто из них не симпатизирует Эрдогану. Какое-то время назад председатель партии посетил Турцию. Эрдоган в тот момент шантажировал Европу, направляя туда автобусы беженцев, которые были бы огромным бременем для европейской экономики. Во время этого пограничного кризиса лидер шведских ультраправых Йимми Окессон поехал в Турцию, но его задержали и депортировали. Он пытался привлечь внимание общественности к шантажу режима Эрдогана, но так и не смог. Так что я не думаю, что им симпатичен Эрдоган или Турция, — куда симпатичнее им членство в НАТО, и за ценой они не постоят.

Записали Софья Адамова и Андрей Смоляков