Turkey at a crossroads Part-1

The New Year’s Eve attack on Istanbul nightclub that killed at least 39 people and wounded many people, most of them were foreigners. Ankara and Istanbul have been targeted by several terrorist attacks in 2016 carried out by the Islamic State group or Kurdish rebels, killing more than 180 people. Turkey is a member of the NATO alliance and a partner in the US-led coalition fighting against IS group in Syria and Iraq, in another front, it is also actively involved launching an incursion into Syria in August 2016 to drive the other radical Sunni militants from its borders. Turkey has lost more than 260 people in terror attacks at different locations since Jan 2016. How has turkey a politically stable with a booming economy descended into instability and chaos?

The outlook for Turkey in 2017 is anything but optimistic, with a declining tourism industry, widening terror footprint, escalating internal insurgency and ambitious geopolitical realignments in the Muslim world, deepening diplomatic rapprochement with Russia as well as cementing toward neo-ottomanism dream that would shape Turkey’s future policies and programmes.

Moreover, the major geopolitical challenges of 2017 that could seriously change the balance of power in the international arena are one of the dramatic changing situations in Turkey. 2016 was one of the worst years in terms of fatalities in Turkey.
Economic perspective
Turkish tourism industry is adversely affected by a serious of the terrorist bombing that stormed its capital Ankara and the main economic hub and crowding city Istanbul. The tourism economy of Turkey which makes a fairly large contribution to its GDP. A large of tourist comes from Russia that also forced Turkish President Erdogan to forge ties with Moscow in the field of tourism, trade, and commerce. Both countries agreed to cooperate closely to promote tourism culture and enhance investment in the regions.
Political and Islamic perspective
Political stability and economic stability are partners. Geopolitical and strategic imperatives will continue to remain the deciding factor in shaping the Turkey’s internal political stability and peace. Geopolitical risks will continue to be critical challenges for Erdogan in 2017 to preserve country’s unity and territorial integrity. For the sake of Turkey’s stability, peace, and prosperity, it is to be ensured that Turkish president Erdogan should immediately shut down the U.S., military base which is located in Incirlik. As long as it remains to exist on Turkish soil, it will be providing a safe haven for coup plotters and anti-Turkish elements. As a result of this, Erdogan will remain to face the threat of coup. Because of the fact that Turkish military establishment is still a secular institution and suspicious of his Islamist beliefs. The current civilian establishment is pro-Islamic regime and also expected to lean towards instilling Islamic political system which is premised on the principle of gender justice and co-existence as well as a beacon of tolerance.
That’s first thing and second thing is that he should give up on his EU bid. In quest of entering EU for a long time is a wishful strategy, the fact is that members of EU are not going to accept Turkey as an EU member because Turkey is a Muslim country and also Erdogan’s domestic policy reflecting on strengthening Islamic social system.

to be continued…

Gulen Movement

• It is an Islamic transnational religious and social movement led by Turkish preacher Fethullah Gulen, who has lived in the United States since 1999.

• The movement has attracted supporters and critics in Turkey, Central Asia, and other parts of the world.

• It is active in education with private schools and universities in over 180 countries as well as many American charter schools operated by followers.

• Despite its teachings that are considered conservative even in Turkey, some have praised the movement as a pacifist, modern-oriented version of Islam, and as an alternative to more extreme schools of Islam such as Salafism.

• The Gulen movement is a former ally of the Turkish Justice and Development Party (AKP). When the AKP came to power in 2002 the two formed, despite their differences, a tactical alliance against military tutelage and the secular elite.

• It was through this alliance that the AKP had accomplished an unprecedented feat in Turkish republican history by securing national electoral victories sufficient to form three consecutive majority governments in 2002, 2007, and 2011.

• The Gulen movement gained influence on the Turkish police force and the judiciary during its alliance with conservative President Erdogan, which saw hundreds of Gulen supporters appointed to positions within the Turkish government.

• Once the old establishment was defeated around 2010 to 2011 disagreements emerged between the AKP and the Gulen movement.

• Since 11 December 2015 the Gulen movement is classified as a terrorist organization in Turkey.

• After the failed coup attempt in 2016, the government of Turkey blamed the group for the coup and authorities have arrested thousands of soldiers and judges.

• Over ten thousand education staff were suspended and the licenses of over 20,000 teachers working at private institutions were revoked for alleged affiliation to Gulen.

• Fethullah Gulen strongly condemned the coup, and rejected claims of his involvement.

The Work Of Media Ought To Be Fair And Equitable

Lurid Headlines, Blatant Falsehoods, Media Trials, Sensation Sans Sensitivity, Manipulation of Mind, Propagating Psychological Warfare, Fomenting Communal Tension rather than Communal Amity, Creating Outrage rather than Awareness as well as Spreading Biased News rather than Objectivity have become the everydayness of routine in mainstream media in all over the world.

The media and journalism should imbibe the five core tasks viz. identify verification, sense making, bearing witness, putting facts and events and investigation. These core tasks will be the foundation as well as bottom line on which whole press in the modern and digital age is going to be rebuilt completely. The work of media is to have been digging deep, truth seeking, placing facts and events in context and in historical perspective, profound insight into the events and adhering to wisdom-oriented as well. They should not have lack of credible and trustworthy information, sequestered discipline and prejudiced manner in making and reporting news. They should have right to analysing and commenting independently and freely, acting justly, humanely and ethically. These rights should become an integral part of journalism. The duty of journalism has to be imbued with freedom, humanity, bias-free, norms and ethics in addition to justice.

I am deeply saddened by the on-going debate of nationalism, especially by the certain elements of media in which they have been repeatedly saying and giving certificate of nationalist. This is out and out terrifying. Recently in the case of the surgical strike in which some sections of media and TV news have been deliberately fomenting and inflaming jingoism. That would result in ultra-nationalism, further which in turn fascist idea. The time has come when this blatant hypocrisy of media should come to an end. They should respect different and divergent view of people. Some groups of TV are obsessed with national security concerns, as a result of this, they always indulging in reporting of false news and creating panic among people. Nowadays it became very common that media is about getting ratings, about making money, about doing stories that are easy to cover and keeping them in a uproar.

The work of media should be to expose scandals, conduct campaigns against those who are desperately and deliberately trying to subvert the constitutions of a nation, to coerce the Government to conform to what it asserts and promises made during election campaigns to be the will of the people and to create awareness about Government’s policies and programmes. I always remember the quote of Turkish Novelist Mehmet Murat, very nicely said about media that “Unless you have a free press in your country, there is no need to buy newspapers and there is no need to watch the news because there is no need to listen to the lies! And you already have one real information: You are being deceived by the people you are governed! This is an enough information for you!”

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