March 7, 2011 - San Francisco, CA - PipeLineNews.org - With the Middle East in turmoil with a substantial Islamist component, Turkey seems to be following suit. Regardless the matter of these arrests may be far more complex and murky than they appear, given the so-far known facts.
EuroNewsNet [http://www.euronews.net/2011/03/07/concern-as-turkish-journalists-charged-with-terrorism/] today reported that, "...four journalists and a writer," have been arrested, charged in an alleged plot to overthrow the government.
The men are claimed to have been associated with a group characterized as being "ultra nationalist," and expressed vigorous criticism of the current regime in their writing.
There are reportedly hundreds arrested on similar accusations, some of them have been held for years with no prospect of ever coming to trial.
Turkey's prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan [chairman of the AK party] has been widely considered to be a moderate Muslim, despite his calculated anti-Semitism, which has become notorious.
However, a study, referred to by Dr. Daniel Pipes in a February 9, 2009 posting [go here, Erdogan Bares His Fangs, http://www.danielpipes.org/blog/2009/01/erdogan-bares-his-fangs] and authored by Gil Feiler and Edo Harel [see, The Political Logic of Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan's Attacks on Israel, http://www.biu.ac.il/SOC/besa/perspectives65.html] states:
"Erdogan's seemingly spontaneous outburst was a carefully considered move in Turkey's internal power struggle between the ruling Islamist party AKP and the opposing military establishment, and highlights a major shift in the country's balance of power. [The] attacks on Israel fall within the new phase of seeking out open confrontation with Turkey's secular watchdogs. It should be understood that the key aspect of Erdogan's attacks on Israel is not just in uniting the Turkish public behind him, but in uniting them against the military and the secular establishment..."
Since then Erdogan has eliminated all subtlety regarding his politics, his active support of the Hamas aid flotilla inappropriately named "Free Gaza," betrayed him as an Islamist allied with some of the most murderous movements coming out of the Muslim world.
This might very well be one case in which the often suspect "human rights" community" is correct. These writers clearly seem to have been singled out because of their journalistic activism.
Seen in this way, the arrests could easily be just another element in Erdogan's suppression of secularism, as he steadily tries to steer Turkey towards a society guided by Shari'a.
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