Are UK Police Forces
Fit For Purpose?
I've had a few
disappointing personal experiences of the police force in the UK,
mostly when I was young. Such as the time my grandfather reported his
friend had fallen and nothing was done until the next day when the
old gentleman was found dead. Such as being pulled over in my first
car and being made to stand in the rain, whilst answering pointless
questions – nothing wrong with the car, no driving offence. Such as
being pulled over in my second car for overtaking on a pedestrian
crossing when I had done no such thing as independent witnesses
testified despite leading questions from the officer concerned, and
such as being breathalysed more recently, get this, for obeying the
30mph limit in the presence of a police car and a speed camera –
apparently it was suspicious that I didn't speed up after passing the
camera as most people apparently do.
When my house was
burgled the first time no one was apprehended, but some years later
it was pinned on someone who'd committed another burglary, doubtless
in return for a good word in court, that is how the system works and
that's how the statistics get fixed. Crime solved! When my storage
was burgled I had so little confidence in the police I didn't even
bother reporting it, I wonder how many more disillusioned citizens do
likewise. When my boat (my home at the time) was burgled I did report
it, but they closed the case before I'd even managed to submit a list
of stolen items, almost forty eight hours later. How's that for
efficiency! Although cash converters and pawn brokers are supposed to
supply lists of products taken in for cross referencing against
stolen items, so maybe they were just a little premature!
Sailing up the east
coast of England recently I was interviewed by the river police at
Burnham. When I learned they were going to seize a boat 'belonging'
to a man arrested for stealing boats and from boats I left a letter
about the burglary of my own boat, referring them to the list of my
stolen items and the police station that held the report. Not even
the courtesy of a reply. When I reported an insurance fraud to
Action Fraud, the police department supposedly taking action on fraud
I received a letter explaining how they couldn't investigate them all
as they're so busy. Keep your fraud small and you might well be ok
then seems to be the lesson from that.
Nonetheless my
experiences are as nothing compared with many down the years. It is
widely believed and still being investigated that in the 1970s Armagh
police colluded with and even aided 'loyalist' gangs in committing
murders and bombings.
In 1983 film producer
Stephen Waldorf was shot in his car. He was mistaken for a criminal
who had shot a police officer, it seems certain to me that this was
an attempted execution. Sadly they got the wrong man, fortunately Mr
Waldorf survived, despite eleven shots directly aimed at him, many of
which found their mark and two more aimed at the car. An officer
finding Mr Waldorf still alive tried to discharge his weapon one more
time to Waldorf's head, only to discover he'd already expended all
his ammunition, he therefore pistol whipped the prone and seriously
wounded man. In court both the police officers who shot Mr Waldorf
were cleared.
In 1999 a man carrying
a repaired table leg in a bag was shot dead in the street. In 2009
police repeatedly Tasered a man already confined inside their van,
his offence – urinating in an alleyway. In 2010 police failed to
protect a young mother and her infant son, despite knowing they were
at serious risk, both died at the hands of a crazed murderer. In 2010
a blind stroke victim was Tasered because police thought his white
stick was a sword, they then handcuffed the prostrate man before
realising their mistake. It's beyond belief or excuse.
This year suspect Mark
Duggan was shot dead exiting a taxi. According to national media the
evidence of witnesses suggests the shooting was not necessary and
conflicts with the police version of events. There is the suspicion
that evidence may have been planted or tampered with. There is also
testimony that a witness was threatened by officers.
In relation to one of
the Taser outrages The Police Action Centre said “The Taser should
only be used when there is a life-threatening incident to members of
the public or the police”. Naturally similar rules apply to actual
firearms, so how can all these police shootings be taking place? I'm
sure it's a tough job being a firearms officer and I dare say there
are parts of the world where the police are far worse, but there is
no excuse in a civilised society for police officers failing to give
warnings or for discharging a firearm when there is no direct threat
to anyone. Nor is lying acceptable.
This year a politician
lost his job on the evidence of police officers, yet secret
recordings indicate the police officers' version of events is not
entirely true. Senior officers have apologised, but there is a
suggestion that an internal investigation's conclusion was altered at
the last minute. The officers personally involved in the incident
have testified before a select committee. Their testimony is far from
convincing and they themselves have conspicuously not apologised, but
then to do so would really be to admit malice aforethought.
There has long been a
suggestion of institutional racism in the police force and the
Stephen Lawrence case and others appears to bear this out. Small
wonder then that so many citizens have little or no confidence in the
police. All of which seems to suggest there's far more to worry
about than relatively minor crimes. In fact we need to worry about
all of it.
So what is needed? The
first thing we need is a police force that's fit for purpose. They
have to be honest and then transparent. Next they have to realise
they are subject to the law not above it and finally they have to be
more concerned with preventing and solving crime than with fixing the
statistics. In New York, when a new police chief ordered the troops
to crack down on Metro fare dodgers there was an outcry, why bother
with fare dodgers when people are getting murdered down there they
said. What happened when they cracked down on fare dodgers and small
crimes was they caught the big criminals too. They changed the
culture and they changed the environment.
And lets not forget
that amongst today's small time crooks are tomorrows big time
criminals. It's time to take all crime seriously. The politicians
tell us crime is declining, particularly burglary, but shortly after
my most recent burglary I was saw several of my Facebook friends
reporting burglaries too. There is a current advertising campaign on
mainstream television by an insurance company; the thrust of their
campaign is that they will offer personalised help in the event of a
burglary, “like any decent person would”. Odd time to run that
campaign if burglaries are in decline as politicians tell us they
are. Believe me the insurance companies KNOW what's going on!
We need to clean up,
scrutinize and monitor the police, they are not judge, jury and
executioner. We also need to free up the police somewhat so they
spend more time investigating crime, all crime, and less time pen
pushing. We need to legalise many drugs, but help the addicts who are
also victims of crime. By doing so we will put the gangs and
criminals who smuggle and supply drugs out of business and as a bonus
reduce burglaries perpetrated to get money for the next fix. Not to
mention breaking the ridiculous circle of banning legal highs as they
come along only for the manufacturers to come up with new recipes and
compounds that kill our young people. We need effective jails and
meaningful sentencing more than we need nuclear weapons. And here's
the most radical one, we need honest police and honest politicians,
not spin, fake statistics or PR.
I recently blogged about the need to be friends with Turkey. Within days violence broke out. This does not mean I back-pedal on my original comments at all. Tragically it may mean we in Western Europe have left things too late.
Ataturk's division of State from religion demonstrated great wisdom, Turkey's current dictator has no such wisdom, hence the violence. Many of us have visited Turkey as tourists, I have personally spent a great deal of time there and have many friends there, both Turkish and 'westerners'.
To lose Turkey as a great and moderate trading partner and friend would be a huge loss, so do not underestimate the importance of what is happening there. The Turkish media is suppressed and 'news' that is put out is controlled. The article I post here was written by sailing friends of mine, I know them well enough to absolutely vouch for the truth of it. Please read it and consider what you might do to help, on which subject I will shortly be offering some suggestions put forward by another friend of mine in Turkey.
Subject: Fwd: A day at the park a.k.a. pepper spray in the face and police violence
Hi People, excuse the
lack of a personal touch but it seems the mainstream media is not
doing much in the way of reporting peaceful protest in Taksim Square.
Banu and I were in
Istanbul to buy a car when a decision, by the prime minister, to raze
one of the last green spaces in the city to build another shopping
mall was made.
A protest to try to
stop the bulldozers and chainsaws was organised, after a night this
was pretty brutally put down by police with tear gas, water canon and
pepper spray and metal barricading erected around the "building
site".
Undeterred, protesters
organised meeting points in various spots around Taksim Square.
At about 5 in the
afternoon we headed, rather poorly equipped - scarves over our noses,
and sunglasses, for the area, Banu's apartment is quite close so we
walked and as a consequence found ourselves coming from a less
populated direction and were between the main body of protesters and
the police who were preparing to charge with rocket propelled tear
gas and water cannon, we photographed for face book display and
continued across the square between both parties, then the assault
started, an unbelievable attack given that the protesters were doing
nothing more than waving placards, we had to run, I took a glancing
blow on the head from a tear gas canister but otherwise
all was well and we were able to observe the cowardly bullying
actions of the police in the their Darth Vader uniforms as they
fired tear gas canisters into the crowd, from the relative security
provided by standing in front of a glass fronted bank building. At
the same time a police armoured water canon truck was hunting down a
lone protester, as it turns out, a brilliant astrophysicist,
repeatedly bringing him to his knees every time he staggered to his
feet. An unconfirmed (by the government)report has him dead from
internal injuries. It would not surprise me, if true,as the canon
operator aimed unerringly for his kidneys and head. ( Others have
been blinded by water canon ripping out eye balls).
We moved on, still
photographing, probably a little too cocky, lungs only burning a
little, being close to the police we were distanced from the worst of
the gas,and came upon a small knot of police,4 armed with assault
rifles and tear gas launchers and one with a back pack tank of pepper
spray. Banu pointed the camera at them,
they seized her
and took the camera. While I wrestled the camera back, all the while
shouting in english that no crime had been committed the ape holding
Banu was attempting to break her wrist by wrenching her hand to her
forearm. Luckily,I think because at that stage at least,raining baton
blows on the back of an unarmed tourist wasnt in the job description
I managed to get to Banu and with my arms wrapped around started to
drag her from her captor, at this point the hero with the pepper
spray, at the nod of the guy trying to hold me, put the gun into our
faces and hosed us down, that stuff really burns, my 5 euro ray ban
knockoffs mostly protected my eyes but poor Banu was totally blinded.
The psycho's, having had their fun allowed us to escape.
Another protester/
photographer led us to a nearby burger king which though closed for
burgers was being used as a medical station for the gassed and
sprayed- as are many other business premises- but boycott starbucks,
they closed their doors to teargassed victims trying to escape
police. (who have fired gas canisters into buildings and held doors
closed on those trying to shelter inside)
After 40 minutes or so
with sight mostly returned we ran the gamut again amongst many others
with various wounds including an elderly woman sporting a large
gravel rash on her leg caused by a water canon assault.
While this has started
as a demonstration against the callous destruction of one of the few
green spots in the city it has turned into a more general
denouncement of an increasingly autocratic and dictatorial government
that while claiming secular status is actively building mosques and
pushing an islamist manifest.
Where it will lead I
have no idea but sadly protest is leading to riot, whether by idiot
elements within the protest movement or by cynical government agents
we will ever know but either way will give the excuse for
harsher police action. Active reporting by foreign news organisations
is desperately needed, write to your local paper!!!
We, regrettably had to
return to Bozburun to attend to dog and boat, plus I have a job to do
but felt like traitors as we drove south.(we did make Marmaris in
time to join the protest there, support is erupting through out the
country. Regards to all, Banu and Pete
The Good News in Turkey
by
Daniel PipesLos
Angeles Times
June 4, 2013
Be
the first of your friends to like this.
How
to interpret the recent unrest on the streets of Istanbul and
about 65 other Turkish cities? Specifically, is it comparable to
the Arab uprisings over the last 2½ years in Tunisia, Libya,
Egypt, Syria, Yemen and Bahrain?
On
one level, they appear unrelated, for Turkey is a far more
advanced country, with a democratic culture and a modern economy.
But two connections — autocracy and Syria — do tie them
together, suggesting that the Turkish demonstrations could have a
potentially deep importance.
The
rebellion did not come out of nowhere. I was in Istanbul last
fall, and it was clear
then that Prime
Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's dictatorial tendencies worried
Turks more than his Islamic aspirations. I heard unceasing
criticisms about his being "intoxicated with power," an
"informal caliph" and "Turkey's elected chief
social engineer."
Turks
enumerated to me a lengthy list of authoritarian symptoms they
suffered from the decade-long rule by Erdoğan's Justice and
Development Party, or AKP: suppression of political criticism,
crony capitalism, manipulation of the judiciary, unjust
imprisonment, show trials and a disregard for the separation of
powers. In particular, they evinced annoyance at the way Erdoğan
seeks to impose his personal tastes on the country.
The
demonstrations since Friday are protesting these actions and
more. What began as a localized dispute over the uprooting of a
small park at Taksim Square in the heart of modern Istanbul has
rapidly grown into a national statement of defiance.
Erdoğan
is no Moammar Kadafi or Bashar Assad, and he will not massacre
peaceful demonstrators, but heavy-handed police operations have
reportedly led to 2,300 injured and, according to Amnesty
International,
two deaths. Further, the prime minister has reacted defiantly,
not just insisting on his original plan for the park but
announcing he can do whatever he pleases.
As
paraphrased by Hürriyet
Daily News:
"A mosque will be built in Taksim, Erdoğan said. He added
that he did not have to take permission from the main opposition
leader or a 'few marauders' for the projects, noting that the
authority had already been given by people who voted for the
AKP."
Erdoğan
is saying, in other words, that having voted the AKP into office,
Turks have given him authority to do anything he wants. He is the
elected, unaccountable padishah. Well, the demonstrators and
those hitherto eager foreign investors have something to say
about that, perhaps putting the country's China-like economic
growth at risk.
Significantly,
Abdullah Gül, the president of Turkey and increasingly Erdoğan's
rival, adopted a very different approach to the protests.
"Democracy does not only mean elections," he said. "The
messages delivered with good intentions have been received."
By distancing himself from the prime minister, Gül exacerbated
Erdoğan's isolation.
As
for Syria, after a charmed near-decade in power, Erdoğan made
his first major miscalculation by intensely involving Turkey in
the Syrian civil war. He acted with pique when Assad, the Syrian
despot and a onetime buddy, ignored his (sound) advice to make
reforms. Not one to take well to being rebuffed, Erdoğan
responded emotionally and thrust his country into the civil war,
hosting the rebels, provisioning and arming them and trying to
guide them.
The
results have been close to disastrous from Turkey's viewpoint.
The country has experienced new hostilities with Moscow, Tehran
and Baghdad, lost both overland trade routes to the Persian Gulf
and trade with Syria, suffered terrorism on Turkish soil (in
Reyhanli) and — perhaps most ominous — witnessed tensions
surge between its stridently Sunni government and the country's
heterodox Muslim populations.
Thanks
to the Syrian imbroglio, Turkey has lost its enviable position of
strength and popularity — its "zero problems with
neighbors" policy that brought with it real accomplishments
— in favor of a sense of being surrounded by foes. If President
Obama
once bragged of his "close working relationship" with
Erdoğan, last month's White
House meeting
between the two showed neither the personal chemistry nor the
practical results vis-à-vis Syria that Erdoğan had sought.
In
short, it appears that a decade of electoral calm, political
stability and plentiful foreign investment has come to a halt and
a new, more difficult era has begun for the AKP government. The
moribund opposition parties may find their voice. The antiwar
faction may feel emboldened. The secularists may be able to tap
the wide unhappiness with the regime's efforts to corral citizens
into becoming more (Islamically) virtuous.
This
is excellent news. Turkey has been heading in the wrong direction
under the AKP. Although a democracy, the AKP government has
jailed
more journalists
than any other state in the world. Although secular, it has with
growing urgency imposed arrays of Islamist regulations, including
last week's rushed limitation
on alcohol as
well as warnings against public
displays of affection.
Although
a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Turkey
engaged in 2010 in a joint air exercise with China.
Although an applicant to the European Union, it plays footsie
with the Shanghai
Cooperation Organisation,
founded in 1996 by Russian and Chinese leaders as an anti-NATO
grouping. Although supposedly an American ally, Turkey has
humiliated
Israel, called Zionism a "crime
against humanity,"
and acclaimed the terror-listed Hamas organization.
Thanks
to the demonstrations, we can be newly hopeful that Turkey may
avoid the path it had been on, that of despotism, Islamification
and increasingly rogue foreign relations. Perhaps its secular,
democratic and pro-Western heritage can be revived.
Daniel
Pipes is president of the Middle East Forum and a columnist for
National Review.
Related
Topics:
Turkey
and Turks
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From
Jean Philippe, Turkey's
Violent Protests in Context
Analysis
The
rapid escalation of anti-government protests in Turkey in recent days
has exposed a number of long-dormant fault lines in the country's
complex political landscape. But even as the appeal of Prime Minister
Recep Tayyip Erdogan's ruling Justice and Development Party (also
known by its
Turkish
acronym, AKP) is beginning to erode, it will remain a powerful force
in Turkish politics for some time to come, with its still-significant
base of support throughout the country and the lack of a credible
political alternative in the next elections.
The
foundation for the current unrest was laid May 28, when a small group
of mostly young environmentalists gathered in Istanbul's Taksim
Square for a sit-in to protest a planned demolition of walls,
uprooting of trees and the perceived desecration of historical sites
in the square's Gezi Park. The initially peaceful demonstration
turned violent the night of May 30, when police tried to break up
what had grown to more than 100 protesters.
The
environmental protesters were joined the next day by high-level
representatives of the Justice and Development Party's main
opposition, the secular Republican People's Party (known as CHP). The
message of the protests soon evolved from saving Gezi Park's trees to
condemning Erdogan and his party for a litany of complaints.
Anti-government chants included "Down with the dictator,"
"Tayyip, resign," and "Unite against fascism."
The
protests grew rapidly when the weekend began, with more than 10,000
people gathering in Taksim Square on June 1. Many of these made their
way to the square from the district of Kadikoy, a Republican People's
Party stronghold on the Asian side of Istanbul, by walking across the
Bosphorus Bridge banging pots and pans in defiance of laws against
pedestrian use of the bridge. Some reportedly threw Molotov
cocktails, fireworks and stones at police, prompting the use of tear
gas and water cannons on the protesters. However, this quickly drew
condemnation, leading the government to temporarily withdraw police
at the cost of allowing more protesters to gather.
Erdogan's
response was defiant. While admitting excessive force by the police
and ordering an investigation of the matter, he said that he would
not give in to "wild extremists" who belong to an
"ideological" as opposed to "environmental"
movement and that he would bring out a million supporters from his
party for every 100,000 protesters. The same night, riots broke out
and some 5,000 protesters threw stones at the prime minister's office
in the Besiktas neighborhood in Istanbul.
On
the morning of June 2, heavy rains kept protesters away from Taksim
Square save for a few dozen who huddled around bonfires. More
protesters made their way back to the square in the afternoon while
Erdogan made another defiant speech blaming the Republican People's
Party for the unrest and vowing to proceed with the development
plans. Clashes between police and protesters have resumed, and close
to 1,000 people have been detained and dozens injured.
Erdogan's
Limits
The
size and scope of the protests must be kept in perspective. By the
end of June 1, protests had reportedly spread to Izmir, Eskisehir,
Mugla, Yalova, Antalya, Bolu, Adana, Ankara, Kayseri and Konya. Many
of the areas where protests were reported are also areas where the
Republican People's Party would be expected to bring out a large
number of supporters.
Konya,
Kayseri and Ankara, strong sources of support for the Justice and
Development Party, were notable exceptions. The largest protests, in
Istanbul and Izmir, brought out predominantly young protesters in the
tens of thousands. The protests would be highly significant if they
grow to the hundreds of thousands, include a wider demographic and
geographically extend to areas with traditionally strong support for
the ruling party.
The
protests so far do not indicate that Erdogan's party is at serious or
imminent risk of losing its grip on power, but they do reveal limits
to the prime minister's political ambitions. Erdogan is attempting to
extract votes from a slow-moving
and highly fragile peace process with the Kurdistan Workers' Party to
help him get enough support for a constitutional referendum. The
referendum would transform Turkey from a parliamentary system to a
presidential system and thus enable Erdogan, whose term as prime
minister expires in 2015, to continue leading Turkey as president
beyond 2014, when presidential elections are scheduled. The sight of
protesters from the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (known as
the BDP) joining Republican People's Party supporters for the June 1
protests does not bode well for Erdogan's plan to rely on those votes
in the constitutional referendum. Though the Justice and Development
Party, which remains highly popular with Turkey's more conservative
populace in the Anatolian interior, so far does not face a credible
political contender for the October local elections or 2015
parliamentary elections, Erdogan's political maneuvering to become
president will face more resistance.
The
ruling party's main secular opposition is alarmed at Erdogan's
policies that compromise the core
founding principles of the state as defined by Kemal Ataturk.
From social measures that ban the sale of alcohol after 10 p.m. to
foreign policy measures that have Turkey trying to mold and influence
Islamist rebel groups in Syria, these are policies
that directly undermine the Ataturkian mandate that
Turkey must remain secular and avoid overextending itself beyond the
republic's borders. But the growing dissent against the party is not
a simple Islamist-secular divide, either. A perception has developed
among a growing number of Turks that the party is pursuing
an aggressive form of capitalism that
defies environmental considerations as well as Islamic values. Within
business circles, frustration is building over the number of
concessions handed out to Erdogan's closest allies.
Rising
Dissent
The
polarization of the state could be plainly seen in the reporting of
the Gezi Park protests. The protests appear to have emboldened once
critical newspapers such as Hurriyet to reassume an anti-ruling party
stance unseen in the recent years of Erdogan's media taming. Hurriyet
has broadcast Erdogan's "defeat" with headlines such as
"Erdogan no longer almighty." On the other end of the
political spectrum, the state-funded news agency Anatolia is
reporting the protests as a "brawl" between police and
firework-throwing youth extremists, while stressing a democratic
message that the government permitted the Republican People's Party
to demonstrate in Taksim.
Far
more interesting is reporting from the Justice and Development
Party's traditional sources of support. Yeni Safak, a newspaper close
to the ruling party, has condemned the park project and sympathized
with the protesters. The same was seen in Zaman newspaper, run by
followers of the moderate Islamist Gulen movement. The Gulenists form
a crucial component of the ruling party's broader support base but
also keep their distance from the ruling party. The movement has been
increasingly critical of Erdogan, strongly suggesting that he and his
party have become too powerful. Editorials from the newspaper
admonished Erdogan for his "excessive" behavior and sided
with the protesters.
Though
dissent is rising, Erdogan and the Justice and Development Party
still have a substantial support base, and the opposition continues
to lack a credible political alternative (local elections scheduled
for October likely will indicate how much support for the party has
waned). At the same time, Turkey is pursuing a highly ambitious
agenda abroad, from negotiating
peace with Kurdish militants and developing oil pipelines in Iraqi
Kurdistan to
trying to fend off Syrian-backed militant attacks. Turkey was already
highly constrained in pursuing these foreign policy goals, but they
will take second place to Turkey's growing political distractions at
home as Erdogan prioritizes the growing domestic challenges and as
foreign adversaries such as Syria try to take advantage of
preoccupied Turkish security forces to try to sponsor more attacks
inside Turkey.
Democrats,
liberals and the AK Party
Suat KINIKLIOGLU
Suat KINIKLIOGLU
6
June 2013
The
Gezi Park protests are still continuing. All of us are trying to
digest what happened and what it means for our society, politics and
future. One of the highlights reflecting pro-government thinking
occurred during the height of the protests. Taha Ozhan, the head of
the pro-government think tank SETA, tweeted the following: “State
employees' Kemalism that mismanaged the republic rallies has been
upgraded to lumpen Kemalism through the enabling of liberal
duplicity.”
Ozhan
expressed his frustration with Turkey's democrats and liberals, who
by and large supported the protests from the outset. This is rather
understandable as Turkey's democrats and liberals had been supporting
the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) agenda from 2003 to
2010.
After all, the AK Party was then clearly the most progressive force
in the country. Confronted with daunting challenges from the Kemalist
deep state, the AK Party was the primary force in transforming
civil-military relations, bringing Turkey to the negotiating table
with the EU and facilitating impressive economic growth. I myself was
in the ranks of the AK Party, defending it at every platform, foreign
and domestic, most forcefully when it was faced with the absurd
closure case in 2008. In 2010 a crucial constitutional amendment was
passed by 58 percent of voters in a hard-fought referendum due to a
comprehensive coalition that included the AK Party, democrats,
liberals, Kurds and many Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) supporters.
What
has happened since 2010? First, in 2011 the parliamentary group was
radically overhauled. A massive purge of those who were seen as more
centrist and liberal occurred. Many who were critical in shaping the
perception that the party was moving to the center in 2007 were
expelled. Then the party congress in September 2012 completed the job
by purging similar elements from the party's executive organs. The
Turkish media initially reported that it was a purge of people close
to President Abdullah Gül, but there was more to it.
In
April of this year, Aziz Babuscu, the powerful chairman of the
İstanbul party organization, openly said the party was parting ways
with Turkey's liberals. In the bluntest manner, he said that there
was no longer a need for liberals with whom the AK Party
cooperated to dissolve the first republic. Babuscu said: “Those
with whom we were stakeholders throughout the past 10 years will not
be our stakeholders in the coming decade. … Let us say the
liberals, in one way or another, were stakeholders in this process,
but the future is a process of construction. This construction era
will not be as they [liberals] wish. Hence, they [liberals] will no
longer be with us. … The Turkey that we will construct, the future
that we will bring about, is not going to be a future that they will
be able to accept.” Babuscu denied his comments the next day, but
the quotes came from the Anatolia news agency, and many in the hall
confirmed to me that he actually uttered them.
Given
the harsh response to the peaceful Gezi Park demonstrators on Friday
morning, the inflammatory statements by the prime minister as well as
many other mistakes, why was it such a surprise that Turkey's
democrats and liberals chose to side with the protesters? Babuscu's
comments confirm the AK Party intended to part ways long ago. Lumping
democrats and liberals together with Kemalists is not only unjust but
also demonstrates a lack of cognition of what actually happened in
Taksim and elsewhere in the country. Blaming democrats and liberals
for the blatant mistakes the government made throughout this crisis
is irresponsible. Liberals are not engaged in duplicity. They still
stand for the freedoms and ideals they defended from 2003 to 2010. If
any party in this coalition has changed it was not the liberals.
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