If I recall correctly, wasn't the UK one of the ones pushing for Turkey joining the EU? And then Leavers used the notion of Turkish immigrants entering the UK as a reason for leaving it.
Disgusted, but not surprisedYep, welcome to U.K. politics.
"And the Bunny nails it!" ~ Gabrael "If the UN can get through a day without everyone strangling everyone else so can we." ~ CyranYep. And after the UK voted to leave Johnson had the gall to tell Erdogan that he would support Turkey joining the EU. You can imagine the reaction to THAT because at this point the chances of Turkey joining anytime soon was already down to zero.
Shots Fired at U.S. Embassy in Turkey Amid Deepening Row
Ties between Ankara and Washington have been strained over the case of an imprisoned American pastor, leading the U.S. to impose sanctions, and increased tariffs that sent the Turkish lira tumbling last week.
Honestly not surprised. Frankly, I'm expecting Erdogan to pull a Cersei and execute the pastor...
Final Fantasy, Foreign Policy, and Bollywood. Helluva combo, that...https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20180831_04/
An Erdogan statue is removed in Wiesbaden. Majority of its residents have Turkish roots.
It's been a focal point for anti-Erdogan critics.
"Exit muna si Polgas. Ang kailangan dito ay si Dobermaxx!"The article and the embedded video are contradicting each other - video says people protested the removal of the statue while the article said they protested its removal.
Which one is it then?
Edited by DrunkenNordmann on Aug 31st 2018 at 9:14:15 PM
Welcome to Estalia, gentlemen.Both?
The Statue was there as part of an Art Festival and when both supporters and opponents (both German and German-Turkish) started getting into arguments over it (with Demonstrations being started to be organized), Wiesbadens Mayor Nope'd and had it removed before it got nasty.
"You can reply to this Message!"Apparently the very point of the statue was to encourage discussion. I am not sure if they meant this kind of discussion.
The Turkish side of Cyprus is struggling to cope with the lira crashing.
Although most of them are happy that their Greek counterparts are heading there to cash in on cheap food, gas and other basic stuff, they're worried that it's not to be good for them in the long run.
"Exit muna si Polgas. Ang kailangan dito ay si Dobermaxx!"Turkey will conduct 'operations' against Erdogan's enemies in U.S.
The threat comes amid diplomatic tensions over Americans jailed in Turkey and the arrest or abduction of dozens of Turkish citizens in almost 20 countries.
Erdogan spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said Turkey’s National Intelligence Organization would launch overseas “operations” against supporters of Fethullah Gulen, an elderly cleric who lives in exile in Pennsylvania.
“They will feel Turkey breathing down their neck,” Kalin told reporters in Ankara.
Erdogan accuses Gulen of orchestrating the July 2016 coup attempt and has referred to his global movement as FETO, which stands for “Fethullah Terror Group.” Gulen denies having any role in the putsch.
Turkey has repeatedly pressed the White House to extradite Gulen, while officials are working inside other countries to detain and remove his followers.
“Relevant units and institutions will continue their operations in countries where FETO operates, whether in the U.S. or another country,” Kalin said. “The Turkish Republic will not let them rest.”
Cause that's what the world needs right now, the Grey Wolves going global again.
Politics is the skilled use of blunt objects.Resigns arrived in Germany to attend the opening of a mosque in Cologne.
He also met Merkel and pressed her to find arrest/deports any pro-Gulenists living in German soil.
"Exit muna si Polgas. Ang kailangan dito ay si Dobermaxx!"So, congrats to the CHP for winning Ankara and possibly Istanbul. I can only hope it's a sign of things to come.
Don't bet on it. Erdogan and co. demanded a recount and when the results of that didn't come out quickly, they are now demanding the vote to be declared invalid.
Hundreds of opposition volunteers are physically guarding the votes against pro-govt tampering.
Erdogan and co.'s demands for a recount in Istanbul have been rejected by the chief election committee.
Here's to hoping Erdogan doesn't try to purge them next.
Wasn't Erdogan's reaction to the refusal of the recount to demand another elections?
Pretty much. But, it doesn't look like many people are behind the idea of recounts, let alone do-overs.
The more he presses the issue, the bigger the mob is likely to grow.
And the more targets of reprisal Erdogan has, don't forget.
The more he tightens his grip, the more star systems will slip through his fingers.
I despise hypocrisy, unless of course it is my own.Turkish opposition candidate declared winner of disputed Istanbul vote
Initial results from the March 31 local elections gave a narrow victory to the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) in Turkey's commercial hub, ending 25 years of control by the AK Party (AKP) and its Islamist predecessors.
New CHP mayor Ekrem Imamoglu was handed a paper, mounted in a gold frame, which formally granted his mandate as city mayor in a ceremony at an Istanbul court which was surrounded by a throng of supporters.
The loss is especially hard for Erdogan, who launched his political career in Istanbul as mayor in the 1990s. The Turkish lira, which has dipped since the election, firmed on Wednesday.
On Tuesday, after 16 days of appeals and recounts, the AKP asked the High Election Board (YSK) to annul and re-run the election in Istanbul over what it said were irregularities. Its nationalist MHP allies made a similar request on Wednesday.
The AKP had also urged officials to block Imamoglu from taking office until a ruling on their appeal was made.
The repeated challenges by the AKP and MHP have fuelled frustration among opposition supporters which spilled over into football stadiums at the weekend when fans chanted at top Istanbul derby matches for the mayoral mandate to be given to their candidate.
"There are way too many irregularities," AKP Deputy Chairman Ali Ihsan Yavuz said, presenting the party's justification for its demand for a new vote. "We are saying that organised fraud, unlawfulness and crimes were committed."
CHP Deputy Chairman Muharrem Erkek responded that there were "no concrete documents, information or evidence in the AKP appeal for an annulment."
"There is no legitimate reason at all. You are using your right (to appeal) to damage the will of Istanbul," he said.
While the AKP appears to have lost control of the mayorship in Istanbul, initial results showed the party had won most seats in its municipal councils. The AKP's re-run appeal applies only to the mayoral elections, not those for municipal councils.
Wolfango Piccoli, co-president of Teneo political risk advisers, said it was puzzling to call only for a re-run of the mayoral elections, and added that some of the areas where the AKP claimed fraud took place were under its responsibility.
Uncertainty over the election results has also put pressure on financial markets, pushing the lira down nearly 5 percent.
"From the market perspective, an extended period of uncertainty around elections is a bad idea - it would suggest more election-related policy easing which is bad for the rebalancing story," Tim Ash, senior emerging markets strategist at Blue Bay Asset Management, told Reuters.
Erdogan had vowed that Turkey would enter a four and half year period with no elections after March 31, during which the ailing economy would be the focus. If the AKP appeal is approved, Istanbul, which makes up more than a third of Turkey's economy, will head to polls again on June 2.
(REUTERS)
Istanbul's Mayor election got annulled
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's AKP party had filed a motion with the Supreme Electoral Council (YSK) on April 16 to nullify the election, alleging "irregularities." The objection also claimed that a margin of only 15,000 votes in a city as large as Istanbul was too close to be fair.
Turkish newspaper Haberturk said that the reason given for the new vote was that some ballot box workers were not official civil servants and that some results documents were unsigned.
The YSK had previously confirmed CHP candidate Ekrem Imamoglu the winner of the mayoral race in Erdogan's hometown, as the AKP launched its "extraordinary objection" to the results.
No way that the new election isn't tainted, and the AKP will almost certainly win.
God damn, I wish that coup had succeeded.
Politics is the skilled use of blunt objects.It's rather a paradox. How can you have a democracy when people elect candidates who're against it?
I despise hypocrisy, unless of course it is my own.
It's a mistake they make again and again with those kind of leaders. I guess we are a little bit naive, maybe because we did experience leaders who actually cared about something else than just securing their own power.