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How the War in Syria Has Helped to Inspire Turkey's Protests
The anti-Erdogan protesters in Turkey have many grievances - but the prime minister's record of support for the Syrian rebels may turn out to be the most explosive.
By Sophia Jones
June 11, 2013
Even those who were once sympathetic to the refugees' dilemma are now finding the war in Syria to be quickly encroaching on their own security and economic stability. "Turkey already had economic problems," said Huseyin Kikis, who works at a restaurant in Istanbul. "And then the Syrian people started to come and try to find jobs. Now you can see Syrian women begging on the street."
Cross-border shelling and car bombs have become common fixtures in both Turkish and Syrian life in the border region. As a result, many Turks now feel that the war on the other side of the border is coming too close for comfort.
The Turkish government blamed the Reyhanli bombings on the Syrian secret police, declaring that the perpetrators would "sooner or later pay the price." Syria responded by pinning the blame on the rebels, whom it decries as terrorists, and harshly criticized Ankara for supporting them. Some opposition groups in Turkey have mirrored the Damascus government's response, labeling the attack as the work of Jabhat al-Nusra, an al Qaeda-affiliated extremist rebel group fighting in Syria.
A government-supported media blackout following the Reyhanli bombings and a failure to provide a complete list of either the deceased or of those who had been detained for carrying out the attacks has only perpetuated widespread confusion and panic. The government's eagerness to discourage coverage of the bombings has led some Turks to see the attacks as part of an official conspiracy, a ploy to elicit stronger support for the rebels. (What the conspiracy theorists don't explain, of course, is why the bombings have had exactly the opposite effect.)
When Istanbul's Gezi Park protests reached Antakya, a Turkish city near the Syrian border, complaints among the protesters were overwhelmingly focused on Syria. Many Syrians in the border region, in turn, have responded to the recent protests with fear and anger. "In Antakya, we try to hide ourselves and avoid going outside during the protests," said Razan Shalab al-Sham, a well-known Syrian activist who is now based in Antakya. "Syrians who are with the revolution are against the Turkish protests. Turkey treats Syrians better than Lebanon or Jordan. We trust in Erdogan. We started a revolution to get freedom, not to make trouble in Turkey."
Not all opponents of Erdogan's Syria policy are motivated by concerns about economics or security. Some secular Turks are staunch supporters of Assad, whom they see as a bulwark against Islamism. One female protestor in Taksim (who asked to remain anonymous) told me that, while she agrees with the government's stance on admitting Syrian refugees, her loyalties remain with Assad. "Our government supports terrorists here, like the Syrian rebels."
Such sentiments may be especially prominent among Turkey's Alevis, a religious sect that despite its name is not directly related to the Syrian Alawites who make up Assad's power base. Some have suggested that the Alevis, who are a minority within an overwhelmingly Sunni population, are likely to empathize with the Alawites in Syria. (Alevis make up over 10 percent of Turkey's population -- though some estimates put the number as high as one-third.) One of their most prominent members is Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the leader of the main opposition party, the Republican People's Party (CHP), who has long been one of the harshest critics of the prime minister's Syria policy. Though Kilicdaroglu denounces the Syrian president as a "dictator," he also allowed a delegation from his party to pay an official visit to Assad in Damascus three months ago.
So far Syria has not been a driving factor behind the protests in Turkey. But its significance is likely to grow as long as the civil war across the border continues, potentially aggravating political, economic, and religious problems within Turkey itself.
Foreign Policy
Traduction approximative partielle :
Tous les opposants à la politique syrienne d'Erdogan ne sont pas motivés par des considérations d'économie ou de sécurité. Certains Turcs laïcs sont de fervents supporters d'Assad, qu'ils voient comme un rampart contre l'islamisme. Une manifestante de la place Taksim (qui a demandé à rester anonyme) m'a dit que, tout en étant d'accord avec la volonté du gouvernement d'accueillir des réfugiés syriens, sa loyauté est pour Assad : « notre gouvernement soutient ici des terroristes, comme les rebelles syriens ».
De tels sentiments sont particulièrement répandus chez les alaouites turcs (Alevis), adhérents de la même branche de l'islam constituant une base essentielle du pouvoir d'Assad. Avec une population d'environ 10 millions, les alaouites turcs constituent 10% de la population. (Certaines estimations mettent ce chiffre jusqu'à un tiers). L'un de leurs membres les plus en vue est Kemal Kilicdaroglu, le chef du principal parti d'opposition, le parti républicain du peuple (CHP), qui est depuis longtemps le critique le plus dur de la politique syrienne du premier ministre. Bien que Kilicdaroglu dénonce le président syrien comme « dictateur », il a aussi permis à une délégation de son parti de rendre une visite officielle à Assad à Damas il y a trois mois.
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« Turquie : Les véritables excuses des troubles »
http://www.algerie-dz.com/forums/showthread.php?t=27850
How the War in Syria Has Helped to Inspire Turkey's Protests
The anti-Erdogan protesters in Turkey have many grievances - but the prime minister's record of support for the Syrian rebels may turn out to be the most explosive.
By Sophia Jones
June 11, 2013
Even those who were once sympathetic to the refugees' dilemma are now finding the war in Syria to be quickly encroaching on their own security and economic stability. "Turkey already had economic problems," said Huseyin Kikis, who works at a restaurant in Istanbul. "And then the Syrian people started to come and try to find jobs. Now you can see Syrian women begging on the street."
Cross-border shelling and car bombs have become common fixtures in both Turkish and Syrian life in the border region. As a result, many Turks now feel that the war on the other side of the border is coming too close for comfort.
The Turkish government blamed the Reyhanli bombings on the Syrian secret police, declaring that the perpetrators would "sooner or later pay the price." Syria responded by pinning the blame on the rebels, whom it decries as terrorists, and harshly criticized Ankara for supporting them. Some opposition groups in Turkey have mirrored the Damascus government's response, labeling the attack as the work of Jabhat al-Nusra, an al Qaeda-affiliated extremist rebel group fighting in Syria.
A government-supported media blackout following the Reyhanli bombings and a failure to provide a complete list of either the deceased or of those who had been detained for carrying out the attacks has only perpetuated widespread confusion and panic. The government's eagerness to discourage coverage of the bombings has led some Turks to see the attacks as part of an official conspiracy, a ploy to elicit stronger support for the rebels. (What the conspiracy theorists don't explain, of course, is why the bombings have had exactly the opposite effect.)
When Istanbul's Gezi Park protests reached Antakya, a Turkish city near the Syrian border, complaints among the protesters were overwhelmingly focused on Syria. Many Syrians in the border region, in turn, have responded to the recent protests with fear and anger. "In Antakya, we try to hide ourselves and avoid going outside during the protests," said Razan Shalab al-Sham, a well-known Syrian activist who is now based in Antakya. "Syrians who are with the revolution are against the Turkish protests. Turkey treats Syrians better than Lebanon or Jordan. We trust in Erdogan. We started a revolution to get freedom, not to make trouble in Turkey."
Not all opponents of Erdogan's Syria policy are motivated by concerns about economics or security. Some secular Turks are staunch supporters of Assad, whom they see as a bulwark against Islamism. One female protestor in Taksim (who asked to remain anonymous) told me that, while she agrees with the government's stance on admitting Syrian refugees, her loyalties remain with Assad. "Our government supports terrorists here, like the Syrian rebels."
Such sentiments may be especially prominent among Turkey's Alevis, a religious sect that despite its name is not directly related to the Syrian Alawites who make up Assad's power base. Some have suggested that the Alevis, who are a minority within an overwhelmingly Sunni population, are likely to empathize with the Alawites in Syria. (Alevis make up over 10 percent of Turkey's population -- though some estimates put the number as high as one-third.) One of their most prominent members is Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the leader of the main opposition party, the Republican People's Party (CHP), who has long been one of the harshest critics of the prime minister's Syria policy. Though Kilicdaroglu denounces the Syrian president as a "dictator," he also allowed a delegation from his party to pay an official visit to Assad in Damascus three months ago.
So far Syria has not been a driving factor behind the protests in Turkey. But its significance is likely to grow as long as the civil war across the border continues, potentially aggravating political, economic, and religious problems within Turkey itself.
Foreign Policy
Traduction approximative partielle :
Tous les opposants à la politique syrienne d'Erdogan ne sont pas motivés par des considérations d'économie ou de sécurité. Certains Turcs laïcs sont de fervents supporters d'Assad, qu'ils voient comme un rampart contre l'islamisme. Une manifestante de la place Taksim (qui a demandé à rester anonyme) m'a dit que, tout en étant d'accord avec la volonté du gouvernement d'accueillir des réfugiés syriens, sa loyauté est pour Assad : « notre gouvernement soutient ici des terroristes, comme les rebelles syriens ».
De tels sentiments sont particulièrement répandus chez les alaouites turcs (Alevis), adhérents de la même branche de l'islam constituant une base essentielle du pouvoir d'Assad. Avec une population d'environ 10 millions, les alaouites turcs constituent 10% de la population. (Certaines estimations mettent ce chiffre jusqu'à un tiers). L'un de leurs membres les plus en vue est Kemal Kilicdaroglu, le chef du principal parti d'opposition, le parti républicain du peuple (CHP), qui est depuis longtemps le critique le plus dur de la politique syrienne du premier ministre. Bien que Kilicdaroglu dénonce le président syrien comme « dictateur », il a aussi permis à une délégation de son parti de rendre une visite officielle à Assad à Damas il y a trois mois.
...
« Turquie : Les véritables excuses des troubles »
http://www.algerie-dz.com/forums/showthread.php?t=27850