There have been some odd agenda's floating around in the alt media as of late. And they've been bothering me. Quite a bit! I've recently, with a bit of sadness, removed websites from my sidebar for promoting what I recognize as some version of nation destruction dressed up with shiny feel good hot button memes. It was a disappointing action to undertake, but, I cannot in good faith link to a site(s) championing a regime change or a destabilization campaign directed at YET another nation. Witting or unwitting promoters of this type of rubbish are propagandizing in favour of all that I oppose. By engaging in what I know to be deceptive behaviours they are feeding, promoting and encouraging the newest Sykes Picot. The refugee crisis. Ethnic cleansing. Destabilization. War. Environmental Destruction. The destruction of culture. And more. I can't promote that here. I have to live with me. And the person I am, can't accept these deceptions. To Thine Own Self Be TrueFirst: Calls for Turkey's leadership to be tossed to the curb. Call's for Turkey to be removed from NATO as if NATO is some sacred organization that can't be sullied by Turkey. ?? (That's laughable) Petitions' condemning a nation for defending itself from an internal destabilization plot in collusion with outside forces??? It's perplexing to see so many sites that claim to be anti war and/ or anti globalist calling for Turkey to be taken to task for not living up to some seriously misconstrued concepts of 'press freedom'. More Contrived Grass Roots/ Petition Signing Opposition to Turkey- Zaman/Gulen/CIA 2nd: Mindless cheer leading for PKK terrorists?! Are you people kidding me?! They (PKK) aren't freedom fighters, or good guys.... It's quite obvious they are supported by the US/Israel/NATO global war machine. Same/same. You are simply cheering for NATO's global tyranny 3rd: Kurd victim meme- Righting past wrongs These are logical fallacies. If the shameless promoters of the kurd victim meme, which is an exact replay of the jew/victim meme (right down to the people without a nation saga) really cared about kurds you wouldn't be championing the PKK's terror campaign as some version of justice for kurds. It's isn't, because it can't be just. It is the very definition of insanity, to promote the creation of Kurdistan on the backs of numerous nations in order to 'right past wrongs' It's the very definition of insanity to remake the middle east entirely for this same reason. You know doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.....??? Will all the horrific wrongs of today, really correct all the wrongs of the past???? That's an impossibility!!!! You simply cannot change the past. That's it. That's all there is to it! 4th: I do question the credibility of any website or person claiming that Turkey ended the ceasefire with the Kurds. That claim is exactly opposite that which has been reported! The Kurds broke the ceasefire themselves- RelinkJuly 2015 Financial times article:
"The PKK announced three weeks ago that it was ending a three year cease fire complaining of a lack of progress in long-running, stalled peace talks with the Turkish government"
Rudaw- July 12/2015 http://rudaw.net/english/middleeast/turkey/120720151
The Kurdistan Worker’s Party (PKK) in a statement released on Saturday announced that a ceasefire with the Turkish government is over, claiming that Ankara has welched on its promises regarding the Kurdish issue in that country.
It was also reported here that Erdogan & Ocalan had reached an agreement for autonomy. The YPG-PKK Connection- Erdogan & Ocalan Had Agreed on Autonomy for Kurds in Turkey
"Before the collapse of the peace process, leaks about the state of the peace talks suggested that Öcalan appeared willing to support a proposal backed by Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party’s (AKP) to transition to a presidential system in exchange for some semblance of democratic autonomy. The move would have helped resolve the issue peacefully by addressing key Kurdish demands (beyond those espoused by the PKK) for greater political and cultural autonomy. The AKP supported the premise of this potential compromise, although many details needed to be worked out before implementation"
Whew! Now that I've gotten all that out. Below is an interesting perspective on the demonization of Turkey- the petitions. the outrage. Throw Turkey out of NATO. Bad Turkey. And the real agenda at hand. Which is a straight up propaganda campaign against an elected government. Turkey and the discourse of authoritarianism
It seems that Turkey cannot catch a break these days. If it is not being maligned in the news for confronting Kurdish terrorism, it is grabbing headlines because it shot down a Russian warplane that entered its air space. As sensational as the latter story was, it is obvious that such events are rare. However, where Turkey is usually taken to task in the Western media is for its own record on press freedoms, freedom of expression and human rights.This Western obsession with Turkey’s official dealings with journalists and dissent may have some grounding in reality, but it is rarely brought to light for the sake of freedom; rather, it is often because of an insidious desire to denigrate, vilify and smear Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), which stands accused of authoritarianism.
"An insidious desire to denigrate, vilify and smear Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP)" We've all seen this type of propaganda employed so many times. Iraq. Libya. Syria. Russia And if there is a destabilization or an outright attack what is the result? Not freedom. Not democracy. Not human rights. Nope. Just war and misery. Why is this type of spin being promoted regarding Turkey? Why aren't we all recognizing the same patterns? I've asked myself this many times.
I have said it before that there is always more to be done in terms of Turkey expanding human rights, ensuring a free press that can report effectively in the public interest and creating opportunities for the responsible use of freedom of expression. However, to harp on constantly about Turkey’s record belies the fact that the aforementioned shortcomings are not solely a Turkish problem; they are international.
For example, we hardly ever see or hear Western media outlets discussing Iraq’s atrocious record on human rights, freedom of expression or press freedom. In Iraq, you are not only suppressed, silenced and intimidated, but if you fail to heed the warnings of the governments (whether in Baghdad or Erbil) and government-linked militias, you will also be killed. Why the Western silence? Is it because it simply will not do for the Muslim Middle East’s first experiment with democracy to be seen for the Frankenstein monster of state-sponsored sectarianism, terrorism and corruption that it is? Laughably, the same state apparatus is being painted as a bulwark against Daesh expansionism when the Iraqi government is itself a prime cause behind the rise of the terrorist group.
I might argue that the reason we in the West don't read about Iraq's troublesome freedom issues is because we're supposed to believe the west brought democracy and freedom to Iraq
Again, though, let us not only target Middle Eastern nations for criticism, but also look a little closer to the democratic heartland of Europe. In the aftermath of the first major exposé of the illegal, illiberal underbelly of government and state in the Western world, the Edward Snowden leaks, the British government had several interesting encounters at the offices of one of Britain’s largest liberal newspapers. As a result, the Guardian was forced to destroy its hard drives, files and any data pertaining not only to GCHQ’s mass surveillance programme, but also any other data that was leaked about other governments. Although it is clear to any right-minded person that such a news story is in the public interest within a democratic society, the British government thought otherwise and decided to force the Guardian to submit to its will, or face being taken to court under the Official Secrets Act. How “democratic and liberal”, and how quickly forgotten.
Anyone call for Britain to be booted from NATO? Removal of the government?
Also, let us not forget le Château de la Liberté on the other side of the English Channel. Days after gathering the world’s leaders for a pantomime march in Paris in support of freedom of expression following the Charlie Hebdo terror attacks, the French authorities even cracked down on artistic expression. The government in Paris did not find Dieudonné M’bala M’bala, a French comedian, very funny when he made a joke on Facebook that combined the name of the drossy magazine with one of the attackers; he was charged with being a supporter of terrorism because he mocked the “Je Suis Charlie” slogan. This, of course, came from a state that had just hosted one of the world’s most symbolic marches of recent time in defence of freedom of expression, primarily in defence of a magazine whose sole purpose is to be as offensive as possible. This aspect was barely reported in the West, and when it was, very few people latched onto the idea that it was happening in France.
Again- was there a petition asking for France to be kicked out of NATO? NoWas there endless coverage msm and alt about how bad Francois Hollande is? NoI didn't see or read it. Anywhere. In fact I was one of the few bloggers who spoke of the whole Dieudonne saga
Back in Turkey, meanwhile, primarily left-wing Western journalists cannot get enough of nipping at President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s heels. Every time a journalist or public figure, rightly or wrongly, is hauled in front of a judge to face charges, hordes of Western journalists leap out of the woodwork to point an accusatory and hypocritical finger at the Turkish leader. What is interesting here is that the Turkish judiciary do not always take the side of the executive; take a case that was concluded just last October, for example. An Eskisehir judge ruled that some students calling Erdogan a dictator and hanging up banners with the same message did not commit any criminal offence, but were in fact expressing a political opinion and not an insult. What is important to note here is that the judiciary is called upon by the Turkish government to settle such disputes; it does not simply make people “disappear”.
Well I guess Erdogan didn't subvert those courts or judges right? How come we didn't hear or read about this?
There are many examples of public personalities and newspapers taking things too far in Turkey. In a piece published by the leftist Turkish language paper Hürriyet, the author wrote that the people will one day park a police anti-riot vehicle over Erdogan’s grave as it would be the only way to prevent people from spitting on it. Hürriyet is still functioning as a newspaper, is circulated widely and has not been closed down. Furthermore, Halk TV featured a programme called the People’s Arena where a well-known Turkish guest said, “I am going to f**k [Erdogan]” with the other guest responding, “I am too tired, can you f**k him on my behalf?” Again, the TV station is still broadcasting.
Finally, look at this video made by Gökçe Çulhaoglu, a radical leftist political party leader and main columnist of Türksolu (“Turkish Left”), wherein he threatens to hang Erdogan and his government. Guess what? Both he and his party are operating in their Ankara headquarters and are not behind bars. Tell that to the media in the West, and it might cause them an aneurism as they point to Today’s Zaman being taken over by the authorities. Such matters are rarely one-sided affairs, yet the mainstream Western media chooses to focus solely on indiscretions committed by the Turkish government, real or imagined.
Yes, there was much boohooing about the closing down of Gulen's media outlets in Turkey. Since when does the alt media concern itself about Mockingbird operations being put out of business? I wish the western media would rid itself of it's CIA connections too!
People often forget that politicians, although subjected to a far higher level of public scrutiny than others, are still private citizens. You cannot simply assault or threaten someone verbally and expect no response. Irrespective of whether or not the person being abused is a politician that does not give people the right to behave inappropriately. If the British press had published the news that David Cameron had, it is claimed, committed sexual acts on a deceased pig in a bizarre mix of necrophilia and bestiality without some kind of reliable source, I am sure that the prime minister would have sued, and rightly so. However, Turkey’s leaders are held to a different standard to that of their counterparts in the West. That might have more to do with orientalist fantasies and the need for Westerners to feel like moral crusaders than anything based on real journalism and facts.
Westerners and their need to feel like moral crusaders.... If only they had any real morals?Any at all.