Turkish military's mass resignations show the end of Turkish military's role in government

The resignations of Turkey's Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the commanders of the Army, Navy and Air Force, may symbolize the end of the Turkish military's power in the country's government. “This is effectively the end of the military’s role in Turkish democracy,” said Asli Aydintasbas, a columnist for the Turkish daily newspaper Milliyet. “This is the symbolic moment where the first

Now Erdogan wants an apology from... Armenia?

If the World is willing to tolerate the lies and innuendo of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan regarding Israel, will they also tolerate it regarding Armenia? Erdogan, whose country committed genocide against the Armenians 90-100 years ago, murdering a million and a half of them in the process, is now demanding that Armenia apologize to Turkey! Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip

Turkey mentioned many times in Breivik manifesto

Turkey's Today's Zaman describes Norwegian terrorist Anders Behring Breivik as 'obsessed with Turkey' (Hat Tip: Joshua I). There are 237 references to Turks and Turkey in the manifesto, but this number does not take into account the many other references to Ottoman history (written mostly focusing on the state of religious minorities) and the Seljuk Empire. He accuses the Ottoman Turks of

Erdogan gets all choked up about 'Palestine'

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan got all choked up on Saturday when he spoke at the 'Palestinian ambassadors' conference in Istanbul. Erdogan improvised very influential and enthusiastic statements for Palestine. He carefully selected his impressive words, and yet none of them bothered to clap their hands and applaud his words even when he said, "I want to kiss the tearful eyes of

Turkey: We won't forget and we won't forgive

In this country, when you want to show everyone that you're really angry at something someone has done to you, you say 'lo niscach v'lo nislach' (we won't forget and we won't forgive). Turkey has apparently developed a similar tradition. And they're applying it to last year's Mavi Marmara incident and telling us about it over and over again (Hat Tip: Joshua I). Turkey will never forget the nine

Erdogan and Davutoglu expressed 'deep regret' that Turkey recognized Israel in 1948 (and more)

During the recent election campaign, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu expressed 'deep regret' that Turkey recognized the State of Israel in 1948 (Hat Tip: Joshua I). Columnist Burak Bakdil writes that while that rhetoric was over the top, and did not take Turkey's interests into account, he believes it unlikely that either Erdogan or Davutoglu

Turkey holding 'Palestinian ambassadors' conference

The Turks are working hard on 'reconciling' with Israel. Really hard. The “Palestinian Ambassadors’ Conference” will take place on 23-24 July 2011, in Istanbul with the participation of Chiefs of Mission accredited to all Palestinian Representations abroad as well as senior officials of the Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.The Conference will be inaugurated by H.E. Recep Tayyip Erdogan,

Erdogan wants threatens to visit Gaza

In an earlier post, I reported that Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and other Turkish officials wanted to visit Gaza when conditions were right. Now Erdogan is using the prospect of such a visit as a crass threat to try to induce Israel to apologize for the IDF defending itself. The Turkish prime minister has expressed his desire to visit Hamas-controlled Gaza after a trip to Egypt,

Erdogan, other Turkish officials, want to visit Gaza

Turkish Prime Minister Recept Tayyip Erdogan wants to go visit his namesake in Gaza, and insists that other Turkish officials wish to do the same. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan expressed his wishes to visit the Gaza Strip and mentioned other Turkish officials wish to do the same.“If conditions are right, I will consider a visit to Gaza,” Erdoğan said. What could go wrong?

Erdogan's new demand

Just when you thought Israel was going to do something foolish and apologize to Turkey for the Mavi Marmara incident, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan throws a monkey wrench int he proceedings by raising a new issue: He now wants the Gaza 'blockade' lifted as a condition to reconciling with Israel. But that's not an issue that's between Israel and Turkey and I highly doubt that will