Erdoğan comes back to Turkey earlier than expected…

He has to be here as the conspiratorial provocations emerge.

Hürriyet comments on the body language of two leaders. Here are 19 photos to comment.

Turkish Ambassador to US Resigns:

Nabi Sensoy, Turkish Ambassador to the US since 1966, reportedly resigned on Tuesday and asked to be reassigned, three months short of his retirement. No official reason has been given, but Turkish newspapers report that Ambassador Sensoy had been asked by Ankara to forward a request to the White House that the Turkish ambassador also attend the meeting between Prime Minister Erdogan and President Obama, but that Sensoy did not do so. (click here, in Turkish). OR that Sensoy had been asked by Ankara to set up the meeting to also include Ahmet Davutoglu and Hillary Clinton, that the US administration refused this format, and that Davutoglu had blamed Sensoy. (This is all unconfirmed gossip.)

Obama and Erdoğan meeting soon…

As I was not too excited with his election, I am not too disappointed with Obama’s moves on Afghanistan. In fact, I remember he was repeatingly on Afghanistan instead of Iraq. Now PM Erdoğan will be meeting with President Obama. It is reported that Obama wants soldiers from Turkey. The latter does not intend to give any. I hope TR-US relations will go through another bitter period…

“What Obama Should Say to Erdogan”

from Istanbul Calling by Yigal Schleifer

Hugh Pope, the International Crisis Group’s Turkey analyst — who just returned from a two-month fellowship at the Transatlantic Academy in Washington — has a new paper out ahead of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s Monday visit to the White House. The paper, published by the Transatlantic Academy, takes a close look at two areas in which Washington has an interest in pushing Ankara along, its normalization process with Armenia and its European Union membership process, and also helpfully unpackages the debate over Turkey’s perceived eastward “drift.”

Here Comes the Pain- Part II. Former military chiefs are questioned Today

Oh God, even an ordinary sergeant feels and acts like a God in the barracks and now I wonder what these Chiefs feel. Falling from heaven? While Western accomplices like Gareth Jenkins (a great critique of Mr. Jenkins’ report –Between Fact And Fantasy:- that questions the Ergenekon Trial can be found here in Turkish) works hard to spread pro-Ergenekon viewpoints abroad, judiciary process continues and today we reach another top point:

Oramiral Özden Örnek	Orgeneral Aytaç Yalman	Orgeneral İbrahim Fırtına

Questioning of former military chiefs in Ergenekon trial begins

Hurriyet Daily News
The accusation said no hard evidence has been found to directly link the top commanders to the Ergenekon gang, but the coup journals show that the

Turkey braces for commander’s testimony in plot probe (AlertNet)

Source: Reuters By Thomas Grove ISTANBUL, Dec 4 (Reuters) – Three retired military commanders were expected to testify this weekend at an in-camera investigation into a plot to overthrow Turkey’s Islamist-inspired

there is too much pain for the Ergenekon gang. Arbitrarily I named part I here:) A huge roundup follows:

What happens if the Dutch delegation does not come because Turks do not want a racist, useless, criminal-minded b*****d included in the delegation?

Nothing happens except the Dutch loses…

Turkey say NO to Wilders

from Internation Musing: Istanbul, Athens, Amsterdam, Patra, Utrecht, by Internation Musing

Turkey has announced that a Dutch parliamentary delegation will not be welcome if it includes Freedom Party leader Geert Wilders. Turkish ministers and MPs will refuse to meet the entire delegation if Wilders is among them. A spokesperson for the Turkish foreign ministry says: “This man has racist ideas. We fear his presence would overshadow the visit”. The popular Turkish daily Aksam was the first to report the news on yesterday: “Tension over Mozart”, the paper’s headline read, apparently referring to the Freedom Party leader’s exotic hairdo.

So Turkey has the OIC conference without al-Bashir

With the relief of al-Bashir not coming- I speculate that gov’t requested him not to come instead of rejecting his visit to save face- OIC summit takes place without much incidence? I guess so. But western media increasingly ask where Turkey heads. OIC summit triggered another wave of op-eds in this line. Turkey is not only making friends with Islamic countries but also other non-Islamic countries. Her foreign policy cannot easily be dubbed as being Islamized as many commentators argue…

Turkey’s President Abdullah Gul checks his time as he waits for other leaders at the COMCEC Economic Summit in Istanbul, November 9, 2009. COMCEC is the Standing Committee for Economic and Commercial Cooperation of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC).

REUTERS/Murad Sezer

Al-Bashir is a test for credibility

by YAVUZ BAYDAR

Conducting foreign policy requires finesse, elegance and sophistication, but most of all, consistency. This is particularly true of a democracy. Falling into double standards, although not always willingly implemented, is one of the characteristics of the community of countries that claim to be sensitive to human rights and violations thereof.

Erdogan’s blind faith in Muslims | Seth Freedman | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk

Kamil Pasha quotes from BBC:
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan questioned the charges against Mr Bashir and said that “no Muslim could perpetrate a genocide“, according to Turkey’s Anatolia news agency…
PM Erdoğan has such a naive cenception of Islam, I should say..

ANALYSIS: Cancelled Turkey visit by Sudan leader raises questions – Monsters and Critics

Turkey playing with the wolves photo: (!)

Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (C) poses for a group photo with his counterparts Abdullah Gul of Turkey (L) and Bashar al-Assad of Syria (R) during the COMCEC Economic Summit in Istanbul, November 9, 2009. COMCEC is the Standing Committee for Economic and Commercial Cooperation of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC).REUTERS/Osman Orsal

Turkish opposition is a major obstacle for further democratization

Yesterday, main opposition MEPs made a scene in the Parliament, of course supported by MHP second biggest opposition party which led to scuffles while debates on the Kurdish Initiative continued. It is unfortunate that these two opposition parties can and may actually stop the process….

Turkey’s main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) MPs hold banners during a debate at the Turkish Parliament in Ankara November 10, 2009. Turkey’s parliament is set to discuss on Tuesday reforms designed to boost the rights of the country’s Kurdish minority and end a 25-year separatist conflict — moves seen boosting its European Union membership ambitions. Banners are all about Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the first president of Turkey from 1923 and founder of the modern secular state, who died on November 10, 1938 when he was 57.REUTERS/Umit Bektas

al-Bashir in town

update:

Bashir cancels visit to Istanbul ;Sudan’s President Bashir, indicted for war crimes in Darfur, pulls out of a summit in Istanbul, following pressure from the EU and US.

Turkey on Friday rebuffed a European Union call to reconsider its decision to host Sudanese President Omar al-Beshir, who is wanted for alleged war crimes in Darfur, saying it had no plans to arrest him.(AFP/File/Ashraf Shazly)

Turkey seems to be one of the rare countries in the world where Omar Al-Bashir is welcome. Although I tend to be excited with gov’t’s foreign policy fantasies in general, Al-Bashir case is less exciting….

Turkey defends Sudan leader visit

from BBC News | Europe | World Edition

President Abdullah Gul criticises the EU after it asks Turkey to reconsider an invitation to Sudan’s president.

with camera, without camera

So some ice-breaking manouevres happen between PM Erdoğan and main opposition leader Baykal.  Mr. Baykal plays the capricious partner. They have to meet and talk about reforms but this could not be done because of Baykal’s boycott. So we hear Erdoğan sends a gently written letter and Baykal replies him back and they are now deciding the time, place and conditions of their date. Latest request includes having cameras, having all the meeting recorded. Erdoğan did not like the idea according to today’s news reports. Since when dates are recorded anyway? 🙂

a huge roundup on Turkish politics. (it looks like Erkan is back with roundups)

Turkey and human rights – Some progress and many setbacks

I am still optimistic, still, really. But there are not all good news here.
In the mean time: a first case. a policeman arrested because of assault to a young citizen:

Police Officer Arrested After Attacking Student

Efkan Bolaç, lawyer of the severely beaten student Güney Tuna, stated that 8 police officers were involved in the assault on her client: “Tuna was not …
PM Erdoğan’s speech at his party convention was discursively promising:

This Star daily headline underlines the fact that PM Erdoğan named political outsiders of Republican history from a wide range of political opposition.

[CROSS READER] Democratic initiative leaves its mark on AK Party congress

The ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) held its third ordinary party congress on Saturday at the ASKİ Sports Hall in Ankara.

Erkan’s live from the World Bank/ IMF meetings

A live coverage from the inside and a post to be updated continously- updates just below the photo

A new turn in Erkan's Field Diary history. Receiving official invitation to press room...

The Meetings has an officially blog-style site for photos, videos and other informative stuff.

World Bank Meetings Center

Information about the World Bank meetings and events

In the opening talk, Mr. Erdoğan also hinted at protests outside underlining the fact that global economic life is hard and protests are not totally unjustified. Protests in Taksim, very close to meeting center. I have now a post on protest roundup.  And all other media roundup on meetings updated in yet another post.

Glad to make it to the press room with his Lamb of God sweatshirt, unshaved face and hangover mood; not stopped by police for being a potential protester.

Policemen around were very polite maybe because of I did conform the image of an ordinary journalist. Private security guards are less polite by the way. Towards the evening, I had one or two occasions where I had to threaten back because of the latters’ rudeness. (But of course, policemen vs. protesters is another case)