The current news coverage in Turkey is almost completely about the latest attacks by the PKK.
There was also news about statements made by Greek and Israeli government officials about Turkey.
The Turkish news is dominated by the PKK terrorist attacks Saturday morning in which eleven Turkish soldiers were killed and sixteen were wounded. These attacks happened in the far southeast corner of Turkey where Turkey, Iran and Iraq meet.
One more soldier was killed and another wounded in a separate PKK attack last night in Elazig.
These deaths bring the number of soldiers killed since the beginning of May to 46, and more than 40,000 people have been killed in Turkey since the PKK began its attacks in 1984.
One of the military’s responses to Saturday’s attacks has been to bomb PKK bases in north Iraq.
The Turkish government is coming under increasing pressure from all sides because of the recent increase in attacks. The criticism of the government ranges from deliberately weakening the military to pursuing a misguided policy of ‘opening out’ to the PKK. There have also been calls from the opposition parties for early elections.
This morning a few Turkish news organizations carried reports in which Prime Minister Erdogan is said to have stated that the PKK is carrying out these attacks ‘on behalf of others’.
Note: I have never heard a clear definition of this ‘opening out’ policy. It is just referred to as the government’s ‘opening out’ policy.
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Turkish newspapers have reported that when the spokesman for the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Grigoris Delavekuras, was asked for his evaluation of Turkey’s behavior towards Gaza, he replied that it was hypocritical and he hoped that it wouldn’t be a hindrance to the peace process and stability in the region.
He also stated that Greece was working in partnership with Cyprus towards improving the lives of Palestinians in Gaza. He added that they were utilizing the geopolitical location of Cyprus and their good relationships with Israel and Arabs, and that their ultimate aim was the lifting of the blockade of Gaza.
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Turkish newspapers have also reported that the Israeli Minister of Tourism, Stas Misezhnikov, has stated that the people of Turkey are not the enemies of Israel, but Prime Minister Erdogan is the enemy of Israel.
He also is reported to have said that the current situation was not a healthy one and that it would not be possible to be optimistic as long as Erdogan remained in office. He added that there are indicators which show that Erdogan does not represent Turkey and that public support for him in Turkey is now divided.
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In my last Turkish news round-up one thing caught my attention. In the comments I saw the word anti-Semitic being used.
I don’t think that Turkey can be called anti-Semitic. Please read my first diary to understand why I say this.
Turkish people can be opposed to some Israeli government actions and/or policies but that does not make them anti-Semitic.
Is there some rule that I don’t know about that says that anything which is not pro-Israeli is automatically anti-Semitic?
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We may be in for an interesting war of words in the coming days or weeks.
At this time I feel that PM Erdogan is in serious danger of losing public support. I do not see any indications of any growth of anti-Israeli sentiment.