TÜRKÇE
  Updated: 14/06/2013

Message by Egemen Bağış, Minister For EU Affairs And Chief Negotiator Regarding the Latest Article Published by The Economist


PRESS RELEASE

MESSAGE BY H.E. EGEMEN BAĞIŞ,

MINISTER FOR EU AFFAIRS AND CHIEF NEGOTIATOR

REGARDING THE LATEST ARTICLE PUBLISHED BY THE ECONOMIST

The Economist did it again. A photoshop portrait, lots of hype, and a long list of demands…I wonder the last time this paper used that many modal verbs 'must' and 'should' in an article while trying to dictate Türkiye and its democratically elected government.

Turkish government is only accountable to its citizens. We are not good at taking threats and ultimatums disguised as editorials. Was this the newspaper that called the 2011 election for the opposition CHP Party? Let me remind the result of that election. AK Party % 50 and CHP  % 25.9. The Economist certainly has problems with its editorial wisdom, and needs to work harder to increase its circulation in Türkiye.

The paper is also trying to tarnish the democratically elected prime minister. I wonder if the Economist was this cheerful during the August 2011 Blackberry Riots?

Prime Minister Erdoğan and our Justice and Development (AK) Party have won three consecutive general elections. Our electoral base is over 50% and thanks to this rioting, terror and its foreign propagandists, I expect our votes to reach over 60%. Still, we are the government of the 100%. Erdoğan is one of the most successful political leaders in the Western Hemisphere. He has led a decade of economic growth and elevated country's international profile as a prominent regional power.

Türkiye is not a second-rate democracy. Where and when a mob can hijack a well-meaning environmentalist protest and turn it into a terror-fest ? And which government would permit that?

Accusations against our government are baseless. The term 'authoritarian' is a slander. The alcohol law is nothing more than a licensing regulation. You are welcome to compare the UK licensing laws with the Turkish law, and you will notice amazing similarities.

And if not plain pathetic and ignorant, The Economist's abuse of the Sultan portrait is a thinly veiled and outrageous threat. The base portrait of that photo belongs to Sultan Selim the Third.  He was a reformist Sultan who had abolished the corrupt and unruly Yeniceri army. Selim was setting up a modern army, replacing the Yeniceri mobs. At some stage, the Yeniceri rebelled, rioted and with the help of some treacherous palace politicians, Sultan Selim was tragically assassinated. With that crude photo-job on Erdoğan, is the Economist implying something?

I send prayers to Sultan Selim, and hope that the Economist's choice of the portrait was simply the reflection of its usual ignorance about Türkiye, if not bad taste. 



Updated: 14/06/2013 / Hit: 15,903