We are living in curious days when no amount of arguments made by the international community to manifest that there’s true criminal at the head of the state cannot not be regarded as a reason to condemn the felon and then punish him. This applies to a handful of political figures in the US, UK and a number of other countries.
But perhaps the best example one can come up with is the sitting President of Turkey – Tayyip Erdogan. You can see for yourself. Numerous media sources have already released documents and video evidence of illegal oil smuggling operations being run by ISIS across the Turksih border to the personal benefit of the Turkish President and members of his family. These claims have been confirmed by Western sources, which constitutes, according to the existing norms of the international law and the United Nations regulations, aiding and abetting terrorists – a severe crime that was bound to have resulted in harsh punishment.
On March 4 Turkish army and police units while following direct orders of Tayyip Erdogan surrounded the office of the largest and most influential media holding in Turkey – Zaman. After a storm of teargas shells that was fired at the windows of the building, law enforcement officers breached the front door took hold of this media empire, in accordance with the decision of the judges that were appointed by the Turkish president himself. The event itself is but a step in an unprecedented campaign aimed at seizing all power in the country by forcing all voices of the political and media opposition to keep silent.
Now Mr. Erdogan has launched an inhuman bombing of the Turkish city of Diyarbakir that is mostly populated by Kurds. This town has now been transformed into a bitter mess with bomb craters to be observed everywhere, while soldiers are conducting regular searches in private households. The sitting president has transformed the Turkish Kurds into his sworn enemies just due to the fact that they were standing in the way of his boundless political ambitions, while using the means that only a totalitarian ruler could employ.
The largest portal on the net that allows people to raise their voices against injustice – change.org has recently published a petition for the protection of human rights and freedom of speech in Turkey. In a matter of days over 60 thousand people have signed this document to condemn the actions of the Turkish President, who is putting Turkish citizens in jail for purely political reasons. There’s a total of 1845 prisoners who are doing time for “insulting Recep Tayyip Erdogan.”
Recently, Jordan’s King Abdullah II told the US Congress that terrorists cells would have never infiltrated Europe with the assistance provided to them by Turkey. He also added that Tayyip Erdogan supports radical Islamism. The Jordanian monarch added that: “The fact that terrorists are going to Europe is part of Turkish policy and Turkey keeps on getting a slap on the hand, but they are let off the hook.”
There’s little doubt that the foreign militants, fighting on the side of the terrorist organizations in Syria and Iraq won’t be doing that for long, since they display all signs of moral and physical fatigue. However, those are being replaced by hundreds and hundreds of new bandits, flowing across the Turkish border. Ankara has no intentions to change this situation in hopes that those terrorist organizations will still be able to operate in the war torn states. It is curious that the leader of the terrorist group Tawhid wal-Jihod, Abu Saloh has recently been treated in Istanbul after being wounded in the armed clashes. Yet another terrorist leader Hoji Yusuf has recently visited Turkey as well along with a number of Uighur separatists, members of the Jabhat al-Nusra. Turkey provides refuge to the leaders of radial terrorist groups to let them muse over their ongoing plans to wage wars on the EU, Russia, Central Asia, China, and the US itself. Not surprisingly, that after such a vacation, fully recovered Abu Saloh and and other leaders are returning to Syria and Iraq to carry on their little personal wars.
On March 19 on charges of fraud, money laundering, and the violation of international sanctions, FBI detained Reza Zarrab – a key figure in a large-scale bribery and corruption network that functioned in Turkey in 2013. There is every reason to believe that Reza Zarrab had connections with top officials of Turkey. The arrest has had a blasting effect on the Turkish political elites, making it the most discussed topic in Turkey overnight. Turkish officials are not sure whether Reza Zarrab tell the United States officials about the links he had with the Turkish elite or not.
So let us follow closely, will justice be finally served to those that have been abusing political power Turkey and whether Erdogan will get what he deserves. Or will again the “influential forces in the White House”, Germany and Brussels, namely Barak Obama, Angela Merkel and NATO officials will safe their pocket villain from prosecution, despite a long list of crimes he’s being accused of.
Martin Berger is a freelance journalist and geopolitical analyst, exclusively for the online magazine “New Eastern Outlook.
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