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Why Canada Needs to Remain Vigilant on Terrorism: Editorial, The Globe and Mail, Apr. 22, 2013—An alleged al-Qaeda-backed plot to derail a Via passenger train in the Greater Toronto Area is a reminder of the threat that terrorism still poses to Canada, and the need for continued vigilance, including some tough legislative measures currently being debated in the House of Commons.
Turkey's Syria Stalemate Continues: Cengiz Çandar, Al-Monitor Turkey Pulse, April 19, 2013—Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu met his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, in Istanbul on April 17, but on the same day also took advantage of a photo opportunity with Ahmed Moaz al-Khatib, president of the National Coalition of Opposition and Revolutionary Forces of Syria.
Realpolitik Apology: Editorial, Jerusalem Post, Apr. 22, 2013—Netanyahu’s gesture, though directed at Erdogan, was more for the sake of improving relations with the Obama administration. More importantly, the apology might have paved the way for an important Israeli strategic goal.
Sultan Erdogan: Turkey's Rebranding into the New, Old Ottoman Empire: Cinar Kiper, The Atlantic, Apr. 5 2013—The cities might not seem similar today, but one thing Tripoli and Thessaloniki, Basra and Beirut, Sarajevo and Sana'a all once had in common is that just a little over a century ago they were all part of the Ottoman Empire.
Imam who Reported Terror Suspect to Authorities was Doing His Duty: Editorial, The Globe and Mail, Apr. 23 2013
Blasphemy in Turkey —and the Fazil Say Affair: Mustafa Akyol, Al-Monitor Turkey Pulse, Apr. 21, 2013
Is Turkish Foreign Policy Paranoid?: Pinar Tremblay, Al-Monitor Turkey Pulse, April 21, 2013
The Syrian Assault on Turkey: Michael Weiss, Real Clear World, April 19, 2013
WHY CANADA NEEDS TO REMAIN VIGILANT ON TERRORISM
Editorial
The Globe and Mail, Apr. 22, 2013
An alleged al-Qaeda-backed plot to derail a Via passenger train in the Greater Toronto Area is a reminder of the threat that terrorism still poses to Canada, and the need for continued vigilance, including some tough legislative measures currently being debated in the House of Commons.
The threat can come from anywhere. It can be imported. The allegations in the Via plot involve two men, ages 30 and 35, said to have received “direction and guidance” from al-Qaeda terrorists, apparently based in Iran, according to the RCMP. They are not Canadian citizens (the RCMP would not say where they are from).
Or the threat can be homegrown, as in the Toronto 18, later reduced to 11, mostly young people raised in Canada who were convicted of plotting major bombing attacks. Or the threat can begin here and be directed at foreign countries. Four Canadians from London, Ont., have been implicated in terrorism in North Africa, including two young men who were killed after reportedly taking part (one as a ringleader) in the deadly gas-plant attack in Algeria in January. And two Canadians are suspected of involvement in a bus attack last July on Israeli tourists in Bulgaria.
The Conservative government’s proposed Combating Terrorism Act makes it a criminal offence to leave Canada to commit a terrorist crime in another country, which is sensible and probably should have been on the books already, and includes two contentious elements: preventive detention of suspects for up to 72 hours, where a terrorist attack is believed imminent, and compelled testimony to avert a potential attack.
We argued in a online editorial on Monday that the timing of bringing this act to the House of Commons this week was purely political – calculated to embarrass Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau over his foolish comments last week about the “root causes” of the Boston Marathon bombings. The law was introduced in February, 2012, and last Friday was put on the House agenda for debate this week.
The content of the law, however, is a slight and necessary rebalancing of security and civil liberties, with built-in protections including annual reports to Parliament on the use (if any) of the provisions. We supported preventive detention and compelled testimony when a Liberal government included them in the Anti-Terrorism Act passed three months after 9/11. And we supported their renewal when they lapsed automatically owing to a five-year “sunset” clause. That these clauses slipped through the cracks and were not renewed, often owing to petty political squabbles for which there is plenty of blame to go around among the major parties, was scandalous.
Osama bin Laden is dead, and nearly 12 years have passed since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. It is not time for the West to drop its guard. What happened in Boston can happen here.
TURKEY'S SYRIA STALEMATE CONTINUES
Cengiz Çandar
Al-Monitor Turkey Pulse, April 19, 2013
Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu met his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, in Istanbul on April 17, but on the same day also took advantage of a photo opportunity with Ahmed Moaz al-Khatib, president of the National Coalition of Opposition and Revolutionary Forces of Syria. Only a tiny segment of the Turkish media noticed the significance of these meetings. Although the meeting with Lavrov was covered by the media, television coverage of Davutoglu meeting al-Khatib was but a minor news item that one saw only by chance.
The Syrian issue is now at the center of intensive diplomatic traffic in Istanbul. Lavrov made a quick visit to there and, as discerned from his statements, departed without agreeing with Turkey on the Syria issue. In other words, the two neighboring countries agreed to disagree. Davutoglu’s remark that “joint efforts will continue with Russia" despite everything, was a diplomatic confession of the continuing disagreement.
Lavrov came to Turkey because of the "Core Group of the Friends of Syria” meeting scheduled for April 20 in Istanbul. Eleven countries will participate in the meeting promoted by Turkey, or more accurately, Davutoglu and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Alongside Turkey, the US, UK, France, Saudi Arabia and Qatar are especially important participating countries. France was the first, followed by the UK, to announce its recognition of the National Coalition led by al-Khatib as the legitimate representative of Syrian people. Saudi Arabia and Qatar are two leading Arab countries sending weapons and financial support to the Syrian opposition.
It is not clear how deeply the US is involved, and what it endorses. There are signals that with the second Obama administration, the US is now more willing to see the removal of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. US Secretary of State John Kerry will be coming to Turkey for the third time in two months, this time for the meeting of "core" countries. But it is still not known how much say Kerry has on the Syrian issue. On the same day the media reported the Davutoglu-Lavrov meeting in Istanbul, an important report was printed by the New York Times with the reliable byline of Michael R. Gordon under the headline "Top Obama Officials Differ on Syrian Rebels in Testimony to Congress.” The report said that John Kerry and Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel differ on the subject of military assistance to the Syrian opposition. The following lines of the report attracted my special attention:
"Mr. Hagel, joined by Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, noted that the Pentagon was moving to deliver medical supplies and food rations to that opposition. But highlighting the risks of deeper involvement in Syria, General Dempsey said the situation with the opposition had become more confused." That alleged confusion has apparently infected the US Administration, or at least led to indecision on how to deal with the Syrian opposition.
When viewed from outside, the Syrian opposition truly appears to be confused. The election of Ghassan Hito as the interim prime minister on March 18 with the support of the Syrian National Council, which constitutes the backbone of the coalition, by a tiny majority instead of an expected consensus, indicates the persistence of curious vacillations in the opposition's ranks. No wonder one of the top leaders of the Syrian National Council told me two weeks ago that al-Khatib’s approval of negotiations with the regime had prompted reactions from the opposition ranks, and Ghassan Hitto’s election was related to this reaction.
Ghassan Hitto is from a Kurdish family residing in Damascus. He went to the US in 1980 when he was 17 years old, lived there for 30 years and then settled in Turkey. He has no known political background. His election as an interim prime minister within Syria reflects the wishes of the opposition, but it is seriously doubtful how influential he can be with armed opposition forces that are more and more dominated by Salafist and other Islamist groups.
Turkey maintains relations with a wide spectrum of Syrian opposition figures, from Ghassan Hitto to al-Khatib. But Turkey’s basic position must be to maintain its influence on the Syrian National Council. Just 48 hours before the Core Group meeting, leading Turkish news channel Haberturk hosted three leading Syrian National Coalition (SNC) figures in a long talk show: former leader of the Muslim Brotherhood Sadruddin Ali Beyanuni, former SNC chairman Abdelbaset Seyda and Assyrian SNC Representative Abdelahad Aseifo. That was the first of its kind on Turkish airwaves.
For Turkey to provide such an expansive podium to the Syrian opposition is a message to Lavrov and Kerry, and even more so to Saudi officials. According to leaked reports, Turkey is coordinating with the Qatar over Syria. The Russian attitude, as much as is revealed by Lavrov, doesn’t show any changes. Lavrov recalled the 2012 Geneva Accord and added, "In Geneva, it was decided to negotiate with the regime, but that did not stipulate that Assad give up his seat.”
While Lavrov was on his way to Istanbul, Assad, in a statement on al-Ikhbariya TV as a message to the Core Group meeting, accused the West of attempting to colonize his country. He said the West will pay a high price for what he claimed was support for al-Qaeda in Syria’s conflict. He hardened his stance by saying, “There is no option but victory” and maintained that he will not step down, asserting “no to surrender, no to submission.”
It seems he emboldened Russia's anti-Western stance and was in turn emboldened by the toughness displayed by Lavrov in Istanbul. With the participation of John Kerry at a meeting in Istanbul hosting a confused Syrian opposition, it remains to be seen whether the Core Group meeting will be able to give impetus to efforts to overcome the Syrian stalemate.
Cengiz Çandar is a contributing writer for Al-Monitor's Turkey Pulse.
Editorial
Jerusalem Post, Apr. 22, 2013
Just minutes before US President Barack Obama – wrapping up a three-day visit in Israel – boarded Air Force One for Jordan, he gave Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan a ring. After a few formalities, Obama handed the phone to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, who proceeded to apologize for the “tragic results” of clashes between IDF soldiers and pro-Hamas Turkish activists on the Mavi Marmara in May 2010.
“Israel expresses regret over the injuries and loss of life,” Netanyahu told Erdogan. He also mentioned Israel’s willingness to provide monetary compensation to the families of the nine activists on board the flotilla who were killed after they attacked the Israeli forces who boarded the ship.
Many here in Israel were critical of Netanyahu’s decision to acquiesce to Obama’s request. They rightly argued that it was the Turkish provocation, not the use of Israeli force – deemed legitimate by the UN-appointed Palmer Commission – that needed an apology. At any rate, said the critics, little would come of such a gesture considering Turkey’s Islamist transformation since 2002 when the AKP rose to power. There is much to be said for the critics’ pessimism.
Under AKP’s leadership, secular elites who zealously dominated the military, legal system and state bureaucracy – often via undemocratic methods – are gradually being supplanted by a newly empowered Muslim bourgeois that makes up Erdogan’s political base. This Muslim bourgeois has also been a benefactor of AKP’s procapitalist policies, which helped the economy grow by 9 percent on average in 2010-2011, though annual GDP was down to 2.2% in 2012. And Erodgan’s foreign policy approach – sometimes referred to as “neo-Ottomanism” – which pursues a return to Turkish dominance in the region, resonates more with Turkey’s traditional-minded majority than past attempts under a more secular leadership to align Turkey with the West.
Erdogan’s open hostility toward Israel is a common tactic used by Muslim leaders to boost popularity at home and throughout the region. Turkey under Islamist leadership sides with Hamas, a terrorist organization dedicated to the destruction of the Jewish state, because of the AKP’s ideological affinity with Hamas and because the Gaza-based regime is part of a broader Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated resurgence taking place in Egypt and Tunisia and perhaps will spread to Libya, Jordan and post-Assad Syria….
Despite expectations to the contrary, Erdogan has avoided committing to a resumption of full diplomatic relations with Israel. And in a diplomatic slap in the face to both Israel and the US, the Turkish prime minister has made public his intention to visit Hamas-ruled Gaza in May. In short, Erdogan, who in February while in Vienna called Zionism a “crime,” continues to snub Israel. But perhaps some justification can be made for the apology.
Netanyahu’s gesture, though directed at Erdogan, was more for the sake of improving relations with the Obama administration. More importantly, the apology might have paved the way for an important Israeli strategic goal. National Security Council head Yaakov Amidror, who is presently in Turkey to discuss compensation for the flotilla victims, is also negotiating with the Turkish government to use an airbase in Ankara as a launching pad for an attack on Iran, according to the Sunday Times.
Starting in 1996, Israel was permitted to use the Akinci airbase northwest of Ankara. But in the aftermath of the Mavi Marmara raid, Turkey terminated the agreement. Using the Turkish airbase could mean the difference between Israeli success and failure, an IDF source told the Sunday Times. From a Realpolitik perspective, Israeli and Turkish interests might dovetail vis-a-vis the Iranian threat. If Netanyahu’s apology facilitated this strategic achievement, it was worth it.
SULTAN ERDOGAN: TURKEY'S
REBRANDING INTO THE NEW, OLD OTTOMAN EMPIRE
Cinar Kiper
The Atlantic, Apr 5 2013,
The cities might not seem similar today, but one thing Tripoli and Thessaloniki, Basra and Beirut, Sarajevo and Sana'a all once had in common is that just a little over a century ago they were all part of the Ottoman Empire. A second thing they all have in common is that until just a few years ago they harboured a certain disdain for Turkey … due in large part to the aforementioned empire.
Yet former rivals to the south, east, north and even west now attend Turkish business summits, watch Turkish shows, and purchase Turkish groceries. Interestingly and perhaps contrary to common sense, this recent shift seems to come not as a product of "time healing old wounds" but rather at a period when Turkey has embraced its Ottoman heritage to an unheard-of level. The foreign media loves to toss around the term "neo-Ottoman" when discussing the transformation of 21st century Turkey, particularly in reference to its increasingly assertive foreign policy and regional presence, much to Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu's chagrin.
The minister has time and again dismissed charges of neo-Ottomanism, pointing out that Turkey's neighborly attentions are simply pragmatic foreign policy and do not harbor imperial ambitions. He scoffed at the idea yet again during a speech last month: "Why is it that when the whole of Europe is casting off its borders and unifying they don't become the Neo-Romans or the New Holy Roman Empire, but when we call for the peoples who lived together just a century ago to come together once again, we are accused of being Neo-Ottomans?"
But beyond foreign policy there lies a much more significant domestic transformation, one that is also driven by history. In that same speech, the foreign minister spoke of the need for a "great restoration" where "we need to embrace fully the ancient values we have lost." Praising the historic bonds that connected the peoples of Turkey over the "new identities that were thrust upon us in the modern era," Davutoglu maintained that the road to Turkey's progress lies in its past – an assertion that has terrified the government's detractors enough for them to make it a losing political platform each new election.
Turkey's new direction has become the topic of fervent internal debate, with tension growing between the secular establishment — in charge for the republic's first 80 years — and the rising conservative bourgeoisie represented by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Justice and Development Party (AKP), which has ruled the country for over a decade. The term "neo-Ottoman" might not pop up as often in the Turkish press as it does in foreign media, but the prime minister and his party are often accused by opponents of a certain Otto-philia for their Islamic sentiments and sympathetic view towards the old empire — a disgraceful entity that represents every problem the modern republic was meant to solve, according to many secularists. After all, the past decade has had Erdogan and the AKP preside over (and according to critics, openly foster) an Ottoman cultural revival…..
Turkey's current transformation in culture and foreign policy may very well be derived from the east, but further east than some may think. The drive for change comes not from the 16th century Middle East or even 7th century Arabia, but rather 19th century Japan.
Japan's Meiji Restoration of 1868 and Turkey's Kemalist Reforms that followed the establishment of the republic in 1923 are both models of modernization adopted by lagging countries in the periphery of the West. Both ushered in new eras for their respective countries and both involved great risks, often implementing drastic measures and facing hostile opposition — the former even featured in a Hollywood blockbuster where a distinctly non-Japanese Tom Cruise stood up for traditional Japan.
But the fundamental divergence between the two paradigms was in their disagreement over the role of culture. Adopting the slogan "Western technique, Japanese spirit," the Meiji Restoration involved taking the technological, scientific, industrial and military advancements of the West but retaining Japanese values. Japanese culture needed not be sacrificed in adopting modern economic and military techniques and would in fact be the glue that kept a revolutionary society together….
Yet despite what critics, opponents and even outside observers might suggest, Erdoğan doesn't seek a return to pre-revolutionary Turkey. His actions aren't those of an overzealous Ottoman romantic but rather of a Meiji restorer, re-appropriating the republican revolution by redefining its spirit and essence to one that blends Western innovation with local culture, tradition and historic bonds — "Western technique, Ottoman spirit" if you will. He has never really been coy about this aspiration either, openly declaring "we cannot deny our Ottoman past" in an interview with TIME Magazine in September 2011, then adding "it's a very natural right for us to use what was beautiful about the Ottoman Empire today. We need to upgrade ourselves in every sense: socially, economically, politically."…
The Erdogan Restoration vs. the Kemalist Reforms is a lot more nuanced than simply "neo-Ottoman." As the prime minister speaks of EU membership one day while boosting trade with the Middle East the next, he is not being hypocritical or deceitful . His vision was never one of reviving the "sick man of Europe," but rather synthesizing the best of the West and the best of the East in order to strengthen his hand.
Nor is this recent Ottoman revival necessarily about returning to an era of greater morality. If your country has spent the past nine decades claiming to be a copy of the West, then the West has no reason to see you as anything more than an inferior copy of itself. This might not be an issue for those satisfied with geopolitical irrelevance, but the more ambitious will want to figure out something new to sell, something better than a simple knockoff. And so Erdogan and the AKP are busy rebranding Turkey from its original rebranding in 1923. It is difficult to see how such a path will fare; after all, Japan might have had countless ups and downs in the century and a half since its own restoration, but at least no person can claim they haven't been making headlines ever since.
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Imam who Reported Terror Suspect to Authorities was Doing his Duty: Editorial, The Globe and Mail, Apr. 23 2013—It’s good news that a tip from an unnamed Toronto imam is the reason the police were able to foil an al-Qaeda-affiliated plot to derail a passenger train on Canadian soil, and the RCMP were right to make a talking point out of it.
Is Turkish Foreign Policy Paranoid?: Pinar Tremblay, Al-Monitor Turkey Pulse, April 21, 2013—On April 18, a CNN Turk TV host asked Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu a question that could be summarized as, “Is Turkey left alone in Syria?” Davutoglu responded by saying that Turkey is not isolated, but that this unfortunately was the image opposition parties and others were seeking to present of the country's leadership to the world.
The Syrian Assault on Turkey: Michael Weiss, Real Clear World, April 19, 2013—Syrians are "guests" because Turkey doesn't want to submit to the jurisdiction of both the U.N. Refugee Agency and the European Court of Human Rights…Last month, Turkish officials were accused of having deported back to Syria at least 130 occupants of the Suleymansah camp in the border-town of Akçakale.
Blasphemy in Turkey —and the Fazil Say Affair: Mustafa Akyol, Al-Monitor Turkey Pulse, Apr. 21, 2013—
Global news agencies reported last week [April 15] that Turkish courts punished an artist for the crime of blasphemy. World-renowned Turkist pianist Fazil Say, 44, was given an 18-month prison sentence, which was automatically suspended, for statements made on Twitter.
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