Turkey: - Egypt: The Slow Slide Toward Dictatorship Taking Place in Egypt and Turkey

Supporters of the governments of Egypt and Turkey have become adept at telling the world that under presidents Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Recep Tayyip Erdogan respectively, these countries are making progress toward more open and just
political systems.

In reality, they are nothing more than tin-pot dictatorships.< Over the weekend, Egyptian authorities detained, questioned, and deported my friend and colleague Michele Dunne as she sought to enter Egypt at the invitation of the Egyptian Council for Foreign Affairs.

Michele, who is the most well-respected Egypt analyst in Washington, has not been shy in her criticism of the Egyptian government.

Not to be outdone, yesterday the Turks arrested 27 people including journalists, TV producers, and police commanders on terrorism charges. All of the detainees are either members or suspected members of the Gulen movement.

Fethullah Gulen and his followers were at one time allied with Erdogan and his Justice and Development Party, working together, for example, to subordinate the armed forces to civilian leaders, though at the expense of the rule of law and due process.

Note EU-Digest: the economies of both Egypt and Turkey have also taken a hit and are expected decline even more. The number of unemployed has also steadily increased in both countries.

 read more: The Slow Slide Toward Dictatorship Taking Place in Egypt and Turkey - Defense One

Turkish PM Corruption Activities Exposed: Turkey PM Erdogan says 'tapped' phone call to son 'fabricated'

Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan

Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan has angrily condemned as fabricated an audio recording that appears to show him talking to his son about hiding large sums of money.

He said the recording, allegedly tapped and posted on social media, was a "treacherous attack".
It appears to reveal Mr Erdogan asking his son Bilal to dispose of millions of euros in cash from a house.

The opposition has called for the prime minister's resignation.

The recordings, which could not be independently verified, were said to be of four conversations dating back to 17 December, when the sons of three ministers and business allies of the prime minister were detained in a high-level corruption investigation.

Correspondents say that the inquiry has presented a major challenge to Mr Erdogan's 11 years in power ahead of key local elections in March.

Cagil Kasapoglu from BBC Turkish says that, interestingly, neither the prime minister nor his party's spokespeople have denied that the voices on the recording belong to Erdogan and his son.

Their statement so far is that their voices were "montaged" to implicate them, our correspondent says.

During the conversation, a voice can be heard discussing how to reduce the funds to "zero" by distributing them among several businessmen.

At one point, the second voice says some 30 million euros ($40m/£24m) remains to be disposed of.

Read more: BBC News - Turkey PM Erdogan says 'tapped' phone call to son 'fabricated'

Turkey: Erdogan’s Crisis With Pregnant Women - by Semih Idiz

It is no wonder that Turkish soap operas — depicting a range of issues from equality between the sexes and the empowerment of women, to liberal lifestyles and contemporary forms of leisure — are so popular in the Middle East, where millions are clamoring for more equality and modernity in their lives.

But true life experiences and debates are much more relevant for the region than mere products of fiction, and Turkey certainly has no shortage of these, as the latest heated debate concerning the “morality of pregnancy” — which has been raging for days — clearly demonstrates.

It all began when Omer Tugrul Inancer, an Islamist lawyer and commentator on religion, asserted on the state-owned television network TRT that it was shameful for pregnant women to go out on the streets. He was speaking during a special Ramadan talk show broadcast just before iftar on July 26.

“Declaring your pregnancy with drums is against our understanding of decency. You cannot walk on the streets with such bellies. To get a bit of fresh air, a woman in the seventh or eighth month of her pregnancy can go around a little in her husband’s car in the late afternoon,” Inancer, who is also known to Islamic circles as an expert on Sufi mysticism, said. He went on to add that despite this, pregnant women of all shades are to be seen everywhere in Turkey nowadays, including on television, and added, “This is shameful, shameful! This is not realism, this is vulgarity.”

The outcry following Inancer’s remarks was instant with women from all walks of life protesting him. Protesters included pregnant women and their husbands as well as women and men feigning pregnancy and prominently displaying distended bellies. Most of the demonstrators saw Inancer’s remarks as more evidence of creeping Islamism in Turkey under Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).

Government circles and AKP supporters insist, of course, that Inancer’s remarks have nothing to do with them. Given the way Turkey has become divided along secularist and Islamist lines under the AKP, however, it seems almost inevitable that the finger of blame should be pointing at the government.

Inancer poured more fuel on the debate later, when he not only stood by his remarks, but added that the ugly sight of pregnant women was putting young girls off the idea of pregnancy. Not surprisingly, the topic went instantly viral on Twitter under #direnhamile (meaning “pregnant women resist”). This was clearly inspired by “#direngezi” (meaning “Gezi resist”), the battle cry for the recent Gezi Park protests. One highly popular Twitter post read “Down with pregnant women, long live storks!”

While the topic became the No. 1 social issue in Turkey overnight, it was clear that women on the Islamist side of the fence were not too pleased over Inancer’s remarks either. Ozlem Zengin Topal, a lawyer and the head of the AKP’s women organization in Istanbul, for example, said she also found Inancer’s remarks disturbing. “Of course pregnant women can go on the streets. It is their natural right,” she said.

But trying to deflect some of the anger away from Inancer — who is highly respected among Islamists — Topal nevertheless felt the need to add that she did not think the debate he had started was about pregnancy itself, but the manner in which some pregnant women dress.


Editorial note: Its high time the political establishment  calls a spade a spade: Turks voted Erdogan in power and only Turks can vote the man out of power. God forbid that the already decapitated military does a coup, which would even put Turkey in a more precarious state.

It also seems totally illogical for the EU to continue negotiating with a government which does not respect human rights, privacy freedom of the press and now wants to degenerate women by conspicuously installing Sharia Law - unless was instructed by its Anglo-American leadership to do so. - which is far more likely. 

After all isn't Mr.Gulen who has been the guiding example for Mr. Erdogan's policies also a US protege? Bottom - line remains - Turks have got to clean-up their act.

EU-Digest