Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan delivers a press conference with German Chancellor in Istanbul on October 16, 2021. (AFP)
Tuqa Khalid, Al Arabiya English
Published: 24 October ,2021:
Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s “authoritarianism” must be confronted, and Ankara should be sanctioned, German lawmaker Claudia Roth said on Saturday in response to the Turkish leader ordering the expulsion of 10 Western ambassadors over human rights comments.
Erdogan instructed the foreign ministry to expel the ambassadors of the US, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and New Zealand.
Erdogan is infuriated over the 10 countries’ statement calling for the “urgent release” of philanthropist Osman Kavala, who has been imprisoned for four years, charged with financing protests in 2013 and involvement in the failed coup in 2016.
“Erdogan's unscrupulous actions against his critics are becoming increasingly uninhibited,” Bundestag vice president Roth told German news agency DPA.
Roth said Erdogan's “authoritarian course must be confronted internationally,” and demanded sanctions and a halt to weapons exports to Turkey.
"I gave the necessary order to our foreign minister and said what must be done: These 10 ambassadors must be declared persona non grata at once. You will sort it out immediately," Erdogan said in a speech in the northwestern city of Eskisehir.
"They will know and understand Turkey. The day they do not know and understand Turkey, they will leave," he added.
Erdogan’s authoritarian rule has long garnered the West’s condemnation and his aggressive foreign policy hasn’t won him any battles on the international stage, as the US and the EU continued to criticize Turkey’s human rights record.
EU President David Sassoli said Turkey’s expulsion of the 10 ambassadors was a sign of an “authoritarian drift.”
“The expulsion of ten ambassadors is a sign of the authoritarian drift of the Turkish government.
Turkish opposition parties join ranks to push out Erdogan: Report
Turkish President and leader of Justice and Development (AK) Party Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks during his ruling AK Party's group meeting at the Grand National Assembly of Turkey (GNAT), in Ankara, on April 21, 2021. (AFP)
Tuqa Khalid, Al Arabiya English
Published: 23 October ,2021:
Opposition parties in Turkey are joining forces to replace President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and force early elections next year, The New York Times reported on Saturday.
“The leaders of six opposition parties appear to have agreed on turning the next election into a kind of referendum on the presidential system that Erdogan introduced four years ago and considers one of his proudest achievements,” the NYT reported.
Erdogan’s opponents want to challenge his 19-year rule and what they describe as his “authoritarian power”, and work towards a return to a parliamentary system.
The Turkish opposition aims to change the presidential system to battle the rampant corruption, Erdogan’s monetary policy, control over the courts and to free the tens of thousands of political prisoners.
Turkey’s economy has been struggling with a soaring inflation rate and a downward spiral of its currency’s value.
In addition, Erdogan’s aggressive foreign policy hasn’t won him any battles on the international stage. His pursuit of Russian weapons systems has put him at odds with the US which has already voiced its concerns over Turkey’s human rights record.
Erdogan has also pulled Turkey into foreign crises around the world, such as backing a faction in Libya’s civil war, taking Azerbaijan’s side in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and arming opposition fighters in Syria.
“Political analysts suggest that not only is he determined to secure another presidential term in elections that are due before June 2023, but also to secure his legacy as modern Turkey’s longest-serving leader, longer even than the founder of the republic, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk,” the NYT said.
Erdogan has been steadily sliding in the opinion polls, as the public struggles with an economic crisis, rampant government corruption and a younger generation yearning for change.
Metropoll, a polling organization, revealed this week that for the first time in several years, more respondents said Erdogan would lose an election rather than win.urkish government. We will not be intimidated,” Sassoli tweeted
No comments:
Post a Comment