Another moustached power-mad totalitarian bellowing about supremacy (this time in the name of allah, as opposed to Hitler). Close your eyes and listen to him. Seriously, who does he sound like?
Not only another meglomoenaical Islamic supremacist -- Obama's favorite and "most trusted" foreign ally:
Is it any wonder that Turkey is hurtling back centuries? The people are revolting against him -- watch this video.
From The MEMRI Archives: Turkish PM Erdogan in Speech During Term As Istanbul Mayor Attacks Turkey's Constitution, Describing it As 'A Huge Lie': 'Sovereignty Belongs Unconditionally and Always To Allah'; 'One Cannot Be a Muslim, and Secular' MEMRITurkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whose political origins are with the Milli Gorus – the radical and political Islamist movement founded by the former Islamist PM Erbakan - often attacked Turkey's secular regime and its constitution.A video clip of one of PM Erdogan's speeches, delivered during his term as Istanbul’s mayor (1994-1998), can be viewed at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eg3hkWCnA8cThe following are excerpts from the speech:PM Erdogan on Secularism:
"If the people want it, of course secularism will go away. You cannot rule this people by force; you don't have the power to do that. This [i.e. secularism] cannot work in spite of the people."And anyway, for the love of Allah, what is this secularism? You ask them to define it. They can't. They say that it varies from place to place. So what sort of a strange thing is this [secularism]?"Today, for every concept there is a definition in the dictionary. Every concept must have a definition […] The interior minister comes and says that the state can interfere with religion. What about the rest? Why don't you say the rest? No! He does not say that the religion can interfere with the state."Yesterday I was at the Bosphorus University; and some of the – probably impressionable – young people there asked me, 'Mr. Mayor, what do you think about secularism? There are concerns that secularism is disappearing. What will happen?'"This is what I said to those young friends: 'In the West they say, Render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s, and unto God the things that are God's. But this country's interior minister says that Caesar has rights but God does not!'"But the fact is that 99% of the people of this country are Muslims. You cannot be both secular and a Muslim! You will either be a Muslim, or secular! When both are together, they create reverse magnetism [i.e. they repel one another]. For them to exist together is not a possibility! Therefore, it is not possible for a person who says 'I am a Muslim' to go on and say 'I am secular too.' And why is that? Because Allah, the creator of the Muslim, has absolute power and rule!"PM Erdogan on Turkish Constitution and Democracy:
"As for [the motto of Turkish democracy] 'Sovereignty belongs unconditionally to the people.' Now, look here. This is a lie! And it's a huge lie! We [former PM Erbakan's Islamist RP (Welfare) Party] suggested this to them for their constitution: We said 'Let's put brackets next to 'sovereignty belongs unconditionally to the people' and write within the brackets, 'once every five years.'"They began to laugh. I asked them why they were laughing. Do the people have such a privilege, other than once every five years? Then what's-his-name says – and where does he say this? – it is in 1985 and we are having a discussion on the constitution in a meeting in the Marmara Hotel. He gets up and says 'No, this is not right.'"At that moment, the former finance minister, who was completely drunk, also joins in to give advice. I told them that they must have prepared this constitution at the same table [at which they together consume alcohol]. Why? Because they do not prepare these constitutions with sober heads, but with drunken heads! That is why their constitutions last no more than two years."Now, this constitution is full of gaps and holes. Like a rag with patches. The other day journalists asked me what I think about this [constitution]. I said, Look, what do they say? That sovereignty belongs unconditionally to the people. You must think well. When [does the sovereignty belong to the people]? It is only when they go to the polls [every five years] that sovereignty belongs to the people. But both materially, and in essence, sovereignty unconditionally and always belongs to Allah!"For more of PM Erdogan’s statements see MEMRI reports:Is Prime Minister Erdogan an Islamist?
The following are excerpts from a compilation of some of the statements made by PM Erdogan during his terms as Istanbul’s mayor and as Turkey’s prime minister: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jKaO_dyKIpA&mode=related&search="Elhamdulillah [by Allah’s grace] we are sharia-ists" (Milliyet, Nov. 21, 1994)"I am against [celebrating] the [Christian/Gregorian] New Year" (Sabah, Dec. 19, 1994)"I went not just to tekke [a prayer house] but to dergah [Islamic learning center]" (Gozcu, Jan. 22, 1997)"There is no need to stand up to honor Ataturk" (Hurriyet, May 12, 1994)"They [secular Turks] make such a big fuss every November 10th [the anniversary of Ataturk’s death] (Hurriyet, Nov. 14, 1994)"Alcoholic drinks must be banned" (Hurriyet, May 1, 1996)"We will turn Istanbul into Madina" (Akit)"All the schools will become [madrassa-like religious] Imam Hatip schools" (Cumhuriyet, Sep. 17, 1994)"I am the Imam of Istanbul" (Hurriyet, Jan. 8, 1995)"Swimsuit ads are exploitation of lust" (Hurriyet, Mar. 6, 1996)"National Lottery is atrocity" (Hurriyet, Sep. 29, 1994)"Insh’allah [i.e. Allah’s willing] we will begin the construction of the mosque in Taksim [Istanbul’s largest and most central square]" (Jul. 1, 1994)"Days that Turkey will have a president from imam hatip [school] are near" (Akit, Feb. 5, 1996)"[Islamic color] Green is civilization" Istanbul painted in green color] [in Istanbul municipality June 25, 1994]"Only imams should officiate all the marriages" [Milliyet, May 9, 1995]"Our reference [guide] is Islam. Our only goal is an Islamic state. They can never intimidate us. If the skies and the earth open up, if storms blow on us, if the lava of volcanoes flow on us, we will never change our way. My guide is Islam. If I cannot live according to Islam, why live at all? [Turk], Kurd, Arab, Caucasian cannot be differentiated; because these peoples are united under the roof of Islam." [from his Dec. 6, 1997 speech], [Hurriyet, Sep. 24, 1998]"I vouch for Yassin [Al Qadi]. I trust him the same way I trust my father. I know him like I know myself." (defending on national TV the UN black-listed Saudi millionaire Yassin Al Qadi who was declared by the UN [and U.S.] as a financier of terrorism for which he was wanted everywhere) [NTV, July 11, 2006; Hurriyet, July 16, 2006]
13 comments:
How long have we here been saying this?
Either people are sovereign or they are not.
0 or 1
Maybe I have become tainted by what has happened in the ME.
What is happening in Turkey is no different than what happened in other countries there. It starts out good, we all root for the people fighting against their government. Then, it turns into another "Islam fighting against a rouge regime".
And especially after what happened in Egypt, it is getting harder and harder to start rooting and applauding this.
I'll take a wait and see approach this time.
Bear in mind this speech is almost 10 years old, that is why is was banned from running for office. Which is also why his buddy Gul ran instead who then appointed him. As soon as he was in office he soon found the true
reason for the ban. Almost the entire army command, the people who had been enforcing Ataturk's anti-Islam government for 80 years, turned out to be traitors. When you find anything like that happening, ring the alarum bells.
On a slightly different topic, I have just been listening to what's going on in the Canadian parliament today. The opposition, Liberals and NDP(far left) have been castigating the government for first supporting the UN gun control treaty and now being one of the few countries who refuse to sign it. The minister replied that though they support it, he fears the Liberals and NDP will try use it as a back door to impose the long gun registry and it will be up to the people of Canada to decide.
The guy in the "Why are the Turkish people fighting?" is going to be like those "liberal" Egyptians (oh the whole country is singing MAKE LOVE NOT WAR in Tahrir Square, because Mubarak is EVIL!) who started the movement and then let the likes of MB and AQ take over the movement.
AKA, these people are just pawns...and idiots. Erdogan is a bastard, but another bastard who might rise in his place is probably going to be worse.
Many Muslims probably feel like he is not MUSLIM enough.
The only ones who should rise up against Erdogan should be the military...not the Muslim people of Turkey.
Other than that, I don't give two sh*ts about why people in Turkey are fighting.
Ciccio,
Wow, that's interesting about the debate in the Canadian Parliament.
Won't register a blip here, I'd imagine.
You are wrong on that one. Erdogan's support comes from the illiterate masses in Anatolia and the rest of the countryside whereas the people of Istanbul are more cosmopolitan than most. One of the reasons for the protest are the recent restrictions on alcohol, the other major point is that on of the city's last green spaces is going to be a mosque. As for the army, as I said in my last post those who objected to Erdogan's muslim agenda are all in jail.
Christine and Nico,
I get what you're saying. There is no reason to be enthusiastic, except that it was not too long ago that Turkey was not a Islamically-controlled country.
In fact, I think Nico would agree, Turkey really is the most liberal Muslim country, in terms of the behavior of it's citizenry.
Pasto,
I do agree that it is one of the most liberal Muslim countries but I also know for a fact that Egyptians, most of the ones that I came in contact with, are some of the most liberal Arabs I've seen. They'd drink alcohol and some of them even tried pork!
I don't think we need to dig up history book to see what happened to Egypt.
Cicco,
The reason the people of Turkey are protesting matters about as much as the peaceful verses in the Quran matter.
Like I said, these liberals will end up being tools in the hands of MB and AQ if the military is not involved (the fact that the top military generals were swiftly put in prison is not a stupid move on Erdogan's part, he did it to paralyze any opposition to his Islamic rule).
Whether the Istanbulites are cosmopolitan or jihadist freaks doesn't matter at the end of the day because those groups who have a stronger message than "yo, let's get drunk" are going to come out on top.
It is wishful thinking on the part of the West, sadly a repeat of what happened in the ME, where people think "ah, THIS is the reason they're protesting for, this CAN'T go wrong..."
Again, rewind the tapes and watch the videos of Tahrir square and the "revolution" there. I don't see any difference between the two.
So called liberal Muslims are merely going to pave the way for something worse than Erdogan.
You guys can take sides here. But I've personally heard and seen enough stories about Coptic Christians being murdered in Egypt by mobs enabled by the liberals of Egypt that at this point, I quite frankly don't give a flying rat's ass about some liberal Muslims and their right to drink alcohol (people of Tehran love alcohol...how's that liberalism going for Iran, do you think?).
No offense intended to you guys. Its just how I feel about the Turkey situation.
Oh and let's not forget that the cosmopolitan people of Istanbul elected this bastard as a member of an "Islamist" party, the mayor after him was also a member of the same Islamist party and the current mayor of Istanbul belongs to Erdogan's current party.
In the end, the people are pissed because they lost their dear alcohol and a little piece of grass. How loud are they going to shout for it? They were fine and dandy before.
I can guarantee that the likes of AQ and MB can shout louder than any of these useful idiots.
This is a disaster waiting to happen.
What you are saying is MB is good at coming in and exploiting the anger and energy of the "revolution" and then putting it to their own nefarious uses.
And then the populace can not disagree because to do so would be to turn against Islam itself.
This is why Michael Leveen is a god damned sap. I wish Conservative publications would stop publishing that guy.
FASTER PLEASE, INDEED.
What you are saying is MB is good at coming in and exploiting the anger and energy of the "revolution" and then putting it to their own nefarious uses.
And then the populace can not disagree because to do so would be to turn against Islam itself.
Yup, that's exactly what I'm saying.
This is why Michael Leveen is a god damned sap. I wish Conservative publications would stop publishing that guy.
Pardon my ignorance but who is Machael Leveen?
Sorry.
I spelled the guy's name wrong;
Michael Ledeen:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Ledeen
Ah okay. Thanks. I hadn't heard of the guy before.
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