51吃瓜

Erdo臒an and Netanyahu are acting cynically to preserve their grip on power, exacerbating the instability and violence engulfing the Middle East.

In Ankara, bombings at a rally organized by left-wing organizations led to over 100 dead and more than 400 injured. It was the biggest attack in Turkey鈥檚 recent history and has roots in the country鈥檚 tortured past.

Mustafa Kemal Atat眉rk created the Republic of Turkey in the aftermath of ignominious Ottoman defeat in World War I. This was a time when the victorious allies sought to dismember Turkey, while British, French and Italian troops occupied Istanbul itself. Atat眉rk鈥檚 remarkable military victories enabled the Turks to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. They forced the allies to replace the draconian 1920 Treaty of Sevres with the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne. On October 29, 1923, a new Turkish nation state emerged from the ruins of the Ottoman Empire.

Atat眉rk was a remarkable leader who yoked Turkey out its Ottoman past through sheer force of will. He adopted 濒补茂肠颈迟茅, the French idea that imposes a strict separation of church and state. Sharia law gave way to new penal and civil codes. Gender equality and female education became state priorities at a time when much of Europe and the United States were frozen in patriarchal modes. Sabiha G枚k莽en, one of Atat眉rk鈥檚 adopted daughters, became the world鈥檚 first female fighter pilot. In a bid to modernize Turkey, Atat眉rk promoted European dress and was audacious enough to replace the old Arabic script with a new modified Roman alphabet.

Atat眉rk was opposed by many who believed he was jettisoning tradition. There were recriminations, rebellions and assassination plots. His abolition of the caliphate did not go down too well with devout Sunni Muslims at home and abroad. In India, Muslims began a to defend the caliphate after World War I. They joined forces with Mahatma Gandhi whose noncooperation movement incorporated Muslim demands. Three Islamic conferences in Cairo, Mecca and Jerusalem attempted to restore the caliphate. Yet Atat眉rk remained resolute in forging a new secular nation state where Islam would cease to be a political instrument. The father of modern Turkey was obsessed with the idea of national progress, aspiring to create a 鈥溾�� based on science and knowledge.

Turkey experienced a tectonic shift when Recep Tayyip Erdo臒an was elected as prime minister in 2003. Earlier, the secular republic had banned Erdo臒an from politics and even sent him to jail. In one of his speeches, Erdo臒an ostensibly quoted Mehmed Ziya G枚kalp but used lines that G枚kalp had not penned. 鈥淭he mosques are our barracks, the domes our helmets, the minarets our bayonets and the faithful our soldiers,鈥� . Secular Kemalists who Erdo臒an promptly packed him off to the wilderness.

Luckily for Erdo臒an, the secular Turkish elite gradually lost legitimacy. It turned effete, became irredeemably corrupt and failed to meet the expectations of its citizens. The rising middle-classes of Anatolia got tired of Turkish elites who, in the words of Erdo臒an, 鈥渉ave drunk their whiskies for years overlooking the Bosphorus … and have looked down on everyone else.鈥� In 2003, Erdo臒an won because he was dynamic and did a good job when he was the mayor of Istanbul. In 2014, Narendra Modi won in India for similar reasons.

In his early years, Erdo臒an invested in education and infrastructure. The economy grew strongly under his watch as he pursued largely liberal economic policies. In an enlightened move, Erdo臒an began a rapprochement with the Kurds, allowing the use of Kurdish language, restoring Kurdish names of towns and cities, and even reaching out to the Kurdistan Workers鈥� Party (PKK), which聽had been waging an armed struggle against the Turkish state since 1984.

With time, Erdo臒an has turned more autocratic. In 2013, he crushed protests in Gezi Park. His government has been dogged by allegations of corruption. Tapes in which he was purportedly giving directions to his son to stash away huge sums of cash. Most symbolically, Erdo臒an has built Ak Saray, a pure white palace on 50 acres of Atat眉rk Forest Farm. It , caused massive environmental damage and was built in contravention of court orders. By building a 1,000-room palace on what was once Atat眉rk鈥檚 land, Sultan Erdo臒an is inaugurating a new era where Islamic identity and Ottoman grandeur now define Turkey.

Many have suspected Erdo臒an of sympathizing and even supporting extreme Islamists. A examined how cities like Malatya were turning radical and how derin devlet聽(the term Turks use for deep government) was creating an atmosphere of fear in Turkey. In the bloody civil wars engulfing Syria and Iraq, Erdo臒an was suspiciously soft on Islamic State (IS). Earlier this year, a few hundred meters away as Kurdish fighters battled IS for Kobane in Syria. The Kurds drove IS out of Kobane, but the latter responded by who had gathered to discuss Kobane鈥檚 reconstruction in the neighboring Turkish town of Suru莽. The conflagration raging in the region finally crossed Turkey鈥檚 border on July 20.

Erdo臒an鈥檚 reaction to Suru莽 has been cynical and shortsighted. Although he managed to get elected as president in 2014, Erdo臒an鈥檚 party lost its parliamentary majority in June. Erdo臒an used Suru莽 as an opportunity to portray himself as a strong leader and ordered his jets to strike the Islamic State. He also targeted the PKK, a move that made no strategic sense but makes perfect political sense. The left-leaning People鈥檚 Democratic Party (HDP) won 13.1% of the vote and emerged as the third largest party in a hung parliament. Erdo臒an sees Selahattin Demirta艧, the HDP鈥檚 charismatic young Kurdish leader, . Erdo臒an calculates that conflict with the Kurds will trigger latent Turkish pride, undercut Demirta艧 and give his party a parliamentary majority in the forthcoming election on November 1. The fact this conflict might rip apart Turkey and bolster IS does not bother the sultan too much.

In the Holy Land, once ruled by the Ottomans from 1517 to 1917, Palestinians torched Joseph鈥檚 tomb in Nablus, a city in the West Bank. Violence has been spiraling out of control throughout October. Angry Palestinians have been stabbing or shooting Israelis on a daily basis, seven of whom have died. In response, Israel has killed 30 Palestinians. More importantly, Binyamin 鈥淏ibi鈥� Netanyahu鈥檚 government has decided to of the families of those accused of or involved in attacks on Israelis. Once upon a time, the British carried out this practice against 鈥淛ewish terrorists,鈥� and today Israeli Jews are doing unto others what was done to them. Punishing people on mere suspicion makes a mockery of rule of law, and punishing their families for acts they might not have committed is simply barbaric.

Bibi has tightened the screws on Palestinians for a while. Under his watch, Israeli Jews have in the West Bank, as well as . For decades, Palestinians have been squeezed out of East Jerusalem. Haaretz, a leading Israeli publication of 1919 vintage, has chronicled the relentless repression, constant racism and violation of basic human rights that Palestinians experience on a daily basis. In September, it published a story that highlighted聽how 鈥�.鈥� Yet Bibi鈥檚 government is squeezing the Palestinians further. Young Palestinians may have no organization, little training and primitive weapons, but their hearts are full of frustration, hopelessness and rage.

Both Erdo臒an and Bibi are strong men who would do anything to retain their grip on power, but they could do well to remember that those who sow the wind reap the whirlwind.

*[You can receive 鈥淭he World This Week鈥� directly in your inbox by subscribing to our mailing list. Simply visit 51吃瓜 and enter your email address in the space provided. Meanwhile, please find below five of our finest articles for the week.]

Hillary Clinton鈥檚 Duplicity and Media Complicity

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In the Democratic presidential debate, Hillary Clinton repeatedly misrepresented her history and positions on a number of issues.

Are US presidential debates best viewed as competitions? Ideally they move the national dialogue forward by challenging candidates on critical policies. Debates that run well push politicians into uncomfortable territory. Those with well-rehearsed (and often misleading) answers may struggle less, but voters see through such performances.

We saw that in 2012, when Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney聽repeatedly and confidently lied聽during debates, yet lost the election.

We saw this again on October 13, when Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton repeatedly misrepresented her history and positions. Americans saw through it. Numerous focus groups and polls declared Bernie Sanders the strong winner.

But Clinton gave enough of a performance to allow a corrupt mainstream media to give her glowing reviews.

In a Facebook poll,聽82% of viewers said Sanders won. On Twitter, he was mentioned more, gained more followers and had a higher percentage of positive tweets than Clinton. He won focus鈥� Read more

Poland Treats Ukrainian-Born Refugees Unfairly

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Ukrainians of Polish descent who independently fled their home country for Poland cannot count on the same treatment as their evacuated compatriots.

Bathed in the intense early afternoon sunlight, the clock on Warsaw鈥檚 arguably most recognizable building, the Palace of Culture and Science, counts down the minutes to 1pm. The clatter of rolling luggage dampens the humdrum of the surrounding traffic din. Warsaw central railway station is just across the street, with an infinite number of people rushing in and spilling out into the Polish capital鈥檚 downtown area throughout the day.

A short distance from the station, Irena, 30, is standing under the flashy undulating glass roof of the nearby shopping center.

鈥淭his is my orientation point,鈥� she says. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 know Warsaw very well. I鈥檝e been here a few times by train, but they always were brief tourist visits.鈥�

This time it鈥檚 different. Irena鈥檚 last year has been a dreadful stream of events. She lived with her mother 3 kilometers away from the international airport in Donetsk鈥� Read more

China Must Pull the Plug on North Korea

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Is聽China鈥檚 perception of stability on the Korean Peninsula changing?

On September 3, China鈥檚 Victory Day celebrations unveiled a turning point in northeast Asian relations: South Korean President Park Geun-hye was present, while her North Korean counterpart Kim Jong-un was not. Kim鈥檚 absence signaled a dramatic shift in the triangular relationship between China and both Koreas, which has been based on Beijing鈥檚 desire to preserve stability on the Korean Peninsula.

Though the two Korean states have been seeking reunification on their own terms over聽the last decade, the relationship had taken a step back following聽events in August,聽beginning with a landmine maiming two South Korean soldiers in the demilitarized zone (DMZ), leading to artillery rounds fired from both sides. While high-level talks were held to ease tensions, North Korea鈥檚 destabilizing behavior became an opportunity for Beijing and Seoul to reassess their relationship.

Park鈥檚 attendance shortly after a summer of tension shows how Beijing has hoped to use its friendly relations with Seoul as leverage against Pyongyang鈥� Read more

The Deep Roots of Gun Violence in US Culture

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With frequent mass shootings in America, what leads people like Chris Harper-Mercer to pick up a gun and murder others?

Guns don鈥檛 kill. People with guns don鈥檛 kill (most of the time), even when there are a lot of them, as in the United States today. Cultures that worship guns do kill. And cultures that conceive of killing as the ultimate form of justice kill repeatedly and on a grand scale.

With the recent聽mass killing in Oregon聽on October 1, the liberal commentators, starting with President Barack Obama, are repeating with increased exasperation their traditional message: guns are too readily available. Amid the weeping, voices cry out telling us that laws must be changed to prevent such acts. These voices are supported by facts and statistics derived from mountains of research from the US itself and the rest of the world. Because most Americans have deep respect for the Constitution and the rule of law, they believe specific laws are effective means of regulating behavior. For liberals鈥� Read more

Negligence Causes Environmental Crisis in Northern Iran

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A grave environmental crisis in the southern coasts of the Caspian Sea has taken beauty away from a region once praised for its unique landscape.

I live in the northern Iranian city of Rasht, the center of Guilan Province, a region that shares a 170 mile coastline with the Caspian Sea and is home to approximately 2.5 million people.

Rasht is around a 30 minute cab ride from the shores of the sea. Owing to its unique natural landscape, magnificent greenness and pleasant weather, Guilan was often referred to as the 鈥淏ride of the North.鈥� Likewise, Rasht, a city that receives a聽great deal of rainfall, has been traditionally called the 鈥淐ity of Silver Rains.鈥�

However, to many concerned observers, Guilan is no longer worthy of such accolades due to the current condition of its climate, air, water resources and natural landscape.

The Caspian Sea coastline is considered a major tourist destination, and thousands of Iranians flock to Guilan Province every summer to enjoy the beauties of the region鈥� Read more

The views expressed in this article are the author鈥檚 own and do not necessarily reflect 51吃瓜鈥檚 editorial policy.

Photo Credit: 听/

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