The Turkish leader is trying to deflect attention from his nation’s woes
A seemingly unequivocal Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Wednesday:
Your grandparents came here (Gallipoli) and returned in coffins. Have no doubt: we will send you back like your grandfathers.
Erdogan’s spokesman Fahrettin Altun, former editor-in-chief of Turkish political magazine Kriter, Twitter, yesterday:
President Erdogan’s words were unfortunately taken out of context. He was responding to the so-called manifesto of the terrorist who killed 50 innocent Muslims in Christchurch, New Zealand. Turks have always been the most welcoming and gracious hosts to their Anzac visitors.
Another Altun tweet, March 13:
We are Erdogan.
The BBC’s Mark Lowen explains Erdogan’s motivation, Wednesday:
This is, in fact, vintage Erdogan. He likes to portray himself as the leader of the Muslim world, dispatching his deputy and foreign minister to New Zealand shortly after the shootings. The attack, whose alleged perpetrator targeted Turks in part of his manifesto, has been a perfect opportunity for a proudly Islamic president who has long railed at the West for its treatment of Muslims, denouncing among other issues the term “Islamist terrorism”.
Taking words out of context could be catching. Independent senator Fraser Anning, August 15 last year:
The final solution to the immigration problem is, of course, a popular vote. We don’t need a plebiscite to cut immigration numbers; we just need a government that is willing to institute a sustainable population policy.
The Nine Network follows up:
Also appearing on the Today Show, the senator said the comments were “taken out of context” and he hadn’t even thought about their significance.
“The fact is, all I said was the final solution to the immigration problem is a vote of the Australian people,” he said.
“That has nothing to do with the final solution.”
It must be catching. Guardian Australia, May 22, 2017:
(Pauline Hanson adviser) James Ashby has said his secretly recorded suggestion that One Nation could “make some money” on its campaign packages for Queensland election candidates was part of “a brainstorming session that has been taken right out of context”.
Back to Erdogan, Jacobin magazine, online, yesterday:
Turkey’s local elections — for mayor, municipal councils — will be held on March 31. At this point, with Turkey’s deepening process of fascination, every election is treated as a referendum on Erdogan’s rule, and discontent is brewing in broad swathes of society. The main societal issue is the economy. While the economy’s structural weaknesses erupted into open crisis some time ago, the regime has not been able to manoeuvre the country out of the doldrums … Most visibly to the population, the country is plagued by an annual inflation rate of 20.3 per cent.
Article in the Turkish exiles’ news portal Avhal, Wednesday:
(Under Erdogan) Turkey now believes a clash of civilisations or cultures is the essence of global politics. Religion is a major factor in this new warfare. Thus … the government now repeatedly and loudly alerts its citizens to the conflict. Turkish political leaders invest great time and effort persuading Turks of the imminent threat of the intercultural war in global politics.