I have left the Turks alone recently on this blog, tired of the antics of President (for life) Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and the decline of his state into a Iranian type of semi-democracy, in which only a supreme leader can rule the country.
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| Turkey Plays Russian Roulette With Putin. |
I was fairly confident that even if the British Government wasn't scared
about what 70 million Muslim Turks would do to Europe if allowed free
transit, France at least would stop this ever happening. But the recent 'refugee' crisis
has left me not so sure that the ultimate betrayal of Europe's
population won't now occur ... all for the usual short term interests
that govern so much of European politics, we could finally open the Gates of Vienna, and let the Turks flood through.
So my attention was caught (as were many others), by the Turkish Presidents decision to antagonise another President for life, Mr Putin of Russia. Now technically the Turks may have followed the rules of war, but shooting down a Russian fighter bomber, and then relying on NATO to stop Russia attacking, is a rather stupid idea at the best of times, but when its Putin's Russia, it’s very dangerous (Georgia, Ukraine and Crimea spring to mind of examples of people underestimating what he might do .... inaction over Serbia/Kosovo casts a dark shadow over Russian actions today), however he seems to have gotten away with it for now.
So it was the other Turkish story that I am interested in ..... In Turkey, insulting the President is an imprisonable offence (it has been since the times of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk), but when Turkey is once again trying to force its way into the European Union without satisfying all those stupid rules, and despite holding few, if any, real European values (Christians are murdered for their faith, Christian Churches desecrated, Atheists and Humanists attacked and sometimes killed, Genocide denial is state policy, Anti-Semitism is regularly portrayed on TV, Alcohol restrictions are being slowly introduced and women are firmly kept in an Islamic repression .... the list goes on), you would think that the presidential insult law would be quietly dropped.
Article 299 of the Turkish penal code states that anybody who insults the president of the republic can face a prison term of up to four years. This sentence can be increased by a sixth if committed publicly; and a third if committed by press or media.
But No. If anything, its being used more widely to prevent for example, reports of Erogan and his families alleged financial improprieties (corruption is the 'no no' word here), and other similar stories that are against the Presidents family. Mr Bilgin Ciftci for example, is accused of insulting the president for sharing images comparing Mr Erdogan and the Lord of the Rings character Gollum.
Laughable though this may seem to Europeans (Of course I mean 'westerners', as Turks are 'Europeans too' .... allegedly), its not to Mr Ciftci who faces a prison term. The images shared by Mr Ciftci apparently showed Mr Erdogan and Gollum in similar poses, eating, expressing surprise and amazement.The one above is not necessarily one of the images he posted, and is merely illustrative of the sort of image (after I tweaked it a bit) that can get you arrested in Turkey.
What really made me laugh, is that in order to appear 'fair', and 'legal' (and to neatly take the case out of his own hands), the judge has asked experts to assess the character Gollum. i.e. Is it an insult for the President to be compared to him. To compound the ridiculousness of the ruling, the 'experts' will apparently be composed of two academics, two behavioural scientists or psychologists, and an expert on cinema and television productions. They have no panels looking into Presidential corruption or torture in prisons .... just one looking the character of a literary character, Gollum. Farcical.
Just for the record:
How any European country can even conceive of the idea of letting these madmen into the EU, almost defies belief. Needless to say, we at PC Towers don't go to Turkey anymore.
Article 299 of the Turkish penal code states that anybody who insults the president of the republic can face a prison term of up to four years. This sentence can be increased by a sixth if committed publicly; and a third if committed by press or media.
But No. If anything, its being used more widely to prevent for example, reports of Erogan and his families alleged financial improprieties (corruption is the 'no no' word here), and other similar stories that are against the Presidents family. Mr Bilgin Ciftci for example, is accused of insulting the president for sharing images comparing Mr Erdogan and the Lord of the Rings character Gollum.
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| Gollum, Erdogan, I Can See The Connection. |
Laughable though this may seem to Europeans (Of course I mean 'westerners', as Turks are 'Europeans too' .... allegedly), its not to Mr Ciftci who faces a prison term. The images shared by Mr Ciftci apparently showed Mr Erdogan and Gollum in similar poses, eating, expressing surprise and amazement.The one above is not necessarily one of the images he posted, and is merely illustrative of the sort of image (after I tweaked it a bit) that can get you arrested in Turkey.
What really made me laugh, is that in order to appear 'fair', and 'legal' (and to neatly take the case out of his own hands), the judge has asked experts to assess the character Gollum. i.e. Is it an insult for the President to be compared to him. To compound the ridiculousness of the ruling, the 'experts' will apparently be composed of two academics, two behavioural scientists or psychologists, and an expert on cinema and television productions. They have no panels looking into Presidential corruption or torture in prisons .... just one looking the character of a literary character, Gollum. Farcical.
Just for the record:
- Between August 2014 and March 2015, 236 people in Turkey were investigated for "insulting the head of state".
- 105 were people indicted and 8 were formally arrested.
- Between July and December 2014, Turkey filed 477 requests to Twitter for removal of content, over five times more than any other country and an increase of 156% on the first half of the year ... censorship rules, OK?
- During El Presidenti's Erdogan's time in office (Prime Minister 2003-14, President from 2014), 63 journalists have been sentenced to a total of 32 years in prison, with collective fines of $128,000 . ... censorship rules, OK?
- How many killed for their non Islamic beliefs? Not recorded, but there have been a few, and of course torture is common in the prisons.
How any European country can even conceive of the idea of letting these madmen into the EU, almost defies belief. Needless to say, we at PC Towers don't go to Turkey anymore.
Excellent post. I wasn't aware of this side of Turkey, it's not reported on the news outlets that I listen to (UK TV and radio). Turkey doesn't sound like a good candidate for the Union but in any case the EU needs to get its act together before asking another cook to help prepare the broth.
ReplyDeleteThanks. The Turks as they are, are the accession state that would end the EU. 70 million Muslims would change Europe forever .... with over 100 million Muslims inside, Islamification of EU would simply be a matter of time, or the EU would break up. Hungary for example would likely leave, as would Bulgaria, Greece and Romania .... any state once under the rule of the Ottomans will never risk that again. Its Western EU states who have never lived under Muslim rule who seem oblivious to this danger.
DeleteStrangely the Turkish government also argues that journalism in Turkey is among the most free in the world while doing this.
DeleteNo one is listening my friend. The West is infected with a madness that means they can't stop themselves destructing their own societies. Europe's dead.
ReplyDeleteSadly you may be right on both counts. What a dead world it will be if we left the barbarians win but there seems to be no will to resist anymore. Thanks for the comment.
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