Islam - Current Day - Turkey Floods Nogarno Karabakh with Terrorists

Fascinating interview with my favourite Islamic historian, Raymond Ibrahim

Erdogan Begins Era as Sultan by Appointing Son-in-Law Finance Minister

Freshly re-installed as President of Turkey complete with new powers - there will be no looking back for Erdogan. He has removed most people and weakened most institutions that might inhibit his growing power, and is surrounding himself with family and friends who encourage him in his quest to become Caliph.

Turkey’s markets panic as Erdogan appoints

son-in-law as finance minister

Istanbul, Turkey © Murad Sezer / Reuters

Investors in Turkey were not impressed by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s decision to appoint his son-in-law Berat Albayrak as finance minister on Monday.

Borsa Istanbul 100 Index was down 2.78 percent at 5pm local time (14:00 GMT) on Tuesday.  The Turkish lira dropped three percent on the news, but rebounded slightly on Tuesday. The lira is down 17 percent this year.

Investors are worried that, with the appointment of Albayrak and dismissal of some top finance ministers, there will be no-one left to temper Erdogan’s economic views.

“Albayrak will have to move very quickly to reassure financial markets – and will need to send a signal that he will listen,” said Timothy Ash, senior emerging markets sovereign strategist at Bluebay Asset Management, in a Twitter post.

After the election victory, Erdogan removed Mehmet Simsek, previous deputy prime minister and a former Merrill Lynch banker, as well as former Finance Minister Naci Agbal. Erdogan has been often criticized by investors for weakening the power of the central bank and interfering in its decisions.

Erdogan has weakened the power of many government institutions and assumed that power onto himself. Turkey is becoming more autocratic by the day and Erdogan is an intense Muslim. How long before he begins to increase the power of Islam in Turkey? Probably not long!

Turkey has been one of very few Muslim countries where Christians are safe, but Turkey has had a secular government for the past one hundred years. Erdogan has been working for more than a decade to replace secular-minded politicians and military leaders with strong Muslims. I fear Turkey will not be a safe place for Christians much longer.

The appointment of Erdogan’s son-in-law “will worry a number of investors and some of the markets, because they didn’t much enjoy dealing with Albayrak when he was the energy minister,” Peter Westmacott, who served as former British ambassador to Turkey from 2002 to 2006 told CNBC.

Sultan Erdogan One Step Closer to Becoming Caliph of Turkey

Erdogan wins 1st term as president ‘under new system’

As I mentioned yesterday in Nil Köksal's piece, I don't believe Erdogan would leave anything to chance, so this win was to be expected. We can also expect him to use his executive authority to eliminate any meaningful opposition, that would mostly mean non-Muslim hardliners, that might remain after having incarcerated most of them. 

Once he's consolidated himself as de facto Caliph of Turkey, will he turn his attention to reviving the Ottoman Empire?

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan leaves the voting booth at a polling station in Istanbul, Turkey on June 24, 2018.

© Umit Bektas / Reuters

Incumbent Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has won the majority of votes, the head of the electoral board said. This would mark the second consecutive term for Erdogan, but the first one under “a new system.”

With over 97.2 percent of votes counted, the head of Turkey's High Electoral Board (YSK) says Erdogan has secured more than 50 percent of the votes needed for the victory.

In the parliamentary election, his AK Party is also in first place with over 45 percent. The pro-Kurdish People's Democratic Party (HDP) will also enter the parliament after passing the 10 percent threshold, according the board's head, Sadi Guven. Turnout was at 87 percent for both polls, preliminary data shows.

Erdogan’s closest competitor, Muharrem Ince, has secured over 29 percent of the vote. His Republican People’s Party (CHP) placed second with nearly 21 percent.

"The Turkish people have elected Erdogan as Turkey's first president/executive president under the new system,” Turkish government spokesman Bekir Bozdag said.

While delivering a statement on his own, Erdogan also said that the preliminary results clearly indicated his victory, as over 95 percent of votes were counted. He called for leaving aside the “tensions" of the election period and promised there will be no back paddling on the “success” he achieved. The Turkish opposition, meanwhile, claimed that there will likely be a second round of elections.

Today’s polls are the first since Turkey switched to a presidential system of governance after the April 2017 constitutional referendum. The plebiscite effectively split Turkish society in half, as the amendment package passed by a close margin, securing 52 percent of the vote.

The victory allows Erdogan to further consolidate political power and implement the constitutional reforms. The powers in question include the abilities to pick cabinet ministers from outside of the legislature, pass laws by decree, single-handedly declare a state of emergency and launch extraordinary elections. The post of the prime minister is also set to be abolished.

The Turkish opposition, however, sees such changes as a power grab, which effectively destroys the country’s century-old parliamentary democracy. Erdogan’s closest competitor, Ince, vowed that he would lift the state of emergency within 48 hours if elected president and reverse all the constitutional reforms afterward.

Erdogan counters that view, saying “Turkey is staging a democratic revolution.” 

“With the presidential system, Turkey is seriously raising the bar, rising above the level of contemporary civilizations.”

Drastic changes in Turkey’s political system followed a botched coup attempt in July 2016. Erdogan accused his late ally and now nemesis, US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, of masterminding the coup. The cleric has firmly rejected the accusations.

Following the failed coup, Turkey has been under a state of emergency for nearly two years and has seen a widespread crackdown on alleged supporters of Gulen. Around 160,000 people have been detained, and thousands of public servants and soldiers have been fired.

Greek Officials Say Reading of Koran at Sacred Turkish Landmark 'Incomprehensible'

By Doug G. Ware
ISTANBUL, Turkey, June 7 (UPI) -- Greek foreign affairs ministry officials expressed opposition and disappointment in the Turkish government this week, for its allowing the reading of prayers from the Koran at a former religious landmark that remains sacred to both Christians and Muslims.


Turkey's Hagia Sophia museum, a UNESCO world heritage site since 1985, was formerly a Christian church, a Greek Orthodox cathedral and Imperial Ottoman mosque before it became a secular museum in 1935. The landmark is recognizable around the world for its iconic dome and unique architecture. File Photo by Mehmet Cetin/Shutterstock

The first prayer was read at Istanbul's Hagia Sophia, a former Byzantine cathedral, on Monday to mark the start of the holy Muslim month of Ramadan. In addition to those in attendance, faithful throughout the heavily-Muslim nation also listened to the prayers via broadcast by the Turkish Radio and Television Corporation (TRT).

As Hagia Sophia is considered a sacred site to many for its history, Greece's Ministry of Foreign Affairs responded to the prayer readings by saying they are inappropriate for such a revered and secular landmark.

"We condemn as regressive the Turkish authorities' announcement of the scheduling of a Koran reading in Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, on the occasion of Ramadan," the ministry said in a statement Monday.

"Obsessions, verging on bigotry, with Muslim rituals in a monument of world cultural heritage are incomprehensible and reveal a lack of respect for and connection with reality," the ministry added. "Such actions are not compatible with modern, democratic and secular societies"

Turkey is no longer a secular society. Erdogan is slowly turning it into his own private caliphate!

Another Greek politician said the prayers amount to "disrespect against Orthodox Christians across the world."

Did you really expect Erdogan to respect Christians?

Turkish officials, though, decided last month to allow the Muslim prayers and broadcasts at the site, which is now a heritage museum, until the end of the month.

"Since the United States are siding with the PKK [Kurdistan Workers' Party], and Germany has clung to the [Armenian] genocide lie, friendship has shifted," Samil Tayyar, a deputy for Turkey's ruling Justice and Development Party, tweeted last week. "It's our turn. [Hagia] Sophia should be open for worship."

So, Christians will be allowed to worship there as well? The government's defence of the Ottoman slaughter of Armenians reveals the distance Erdogan has taken the country from Attaturk's secular vision of Turkey. That has been abandoned completely as Erdogan attempts to rebuild the Ottoman Empire with himself as Sultan.

Tayyar was referring to a resolution passed by Germany last week that considered mass killings of Americans (sic - Armenians) by Ottoman Turks in World War I a genocide. The declaration upset the Turkish government, which responded by recalling its ambassadors from Berlin.

Hagia Sophia, recognizable around the world for its large dome, was originally a Christian church and a Greek Orthodox cathedral centuries ago before it became an imperial mosque when the Ottoman Empire took power in the 15th century. It was turned into a secular museum in 1935 and designated a UNESCO world heritage site 50 years later.

Ramadan, a holy month of of fasting that commemorates the first revelation of the Koran to the Islamic prophet Muhammad, runs through July 5.

Miss Turkey 2006 Guilty of Insulting Sultan Erdogan

Ex-Miss Turkey in hot water for ‘insulting Erdogan’ amid crackdown on free speech

Miss Turkey Merve Buyuksarac © Katarina Stoltz / Reuters

Miss Turkey 2006 has been found guilty for sharing a poem deemed insulting to the Turkish head of state in the latest of some 2,000 defamation cases President Erdogan filed in two years under a law that bans insulting the president.

The Istanbul court gave 27-year-old Merve Buyuksarac a suspended sentence of 14 months for “publicly insulting” the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on condition that she does not reoffend within the next five years.

The case was based on a satirical verse she reposted on her Instagram account in 2014.

The so-called ‘Master's Poem, ’ an adaptation of the Turkish national anthem, allegedly criticizes Erdogan, who served as prime minister for more than a decade prior to becoming president and has often been called “Buyuk Usta” [the Big Master]. The poem did not mention Erdogan by name, but made reference to a corruption scandal that allegedly involved his family.

During the hearings, the President’s lawyer, Hatice Ozay, stressed that Buyuksarac's Instagram post had gone beyond “the limits of criticism” and was in fact “an attack” on Erdogan’s personal rights.

Buyuksarac was briefly arrested at the time the post was made, but then freed as she denied insulting Erdogan. The case however resurfaced, with Tuesday’s court’s decision based on a previously rarely-used Turkish law that forbids insulting the head of state.

The law has been used increasingly often lately to silence those critical of Erdogan’s policies. Since becoming president in 2014, he has filed up to 2,000 cases under this law in trials targeting journalists, foreign and domestic, academics, politicians, comedians, and now – models.

This spring has in fact been rich with cases of Ankara’s witch-hunt on those critical of the current government.

Also on Tuesday, Cengiz Candar, a former columnist for Radikal and Hurriyet newspapers who’s been in the profession for over 40 years, appeared in Istanbul court accused of insulting Erdogan in a series of articles he wrote in the summer of 2015, criticizing Turkey's renewed conflict against Kurdish rebels. The veteran journalist and an adviser to the late Turkish head of state Turgut Ozal faces up to four years in prison if found guilty.

“These court cases must come to an end,” he told reporters outside the courthouse. “These trials must immediately end with acquittals so that the presidency of the Turkish Republic can preserve its respectability.”

In April, Erdogan sparked a row when he submitted a personal complaint for libel against German comedian Jan Böhmermann for a crude poem with rough sexual references about the Turkish president the comedian read on air. He is now prosecuted by German authorities.

In March, the Turkish government shut down and reformed opposition newspaper Zaman, previously a strong critic of the President. Overnight the newspaper turned into a government mouthpiece.

Four Turkish academics faced trial after having been charged with spreading “terrorist propaganda.” Their alleged crime was to denounce the renewed conflict with Turkey’s Kurds, being part of a group of more than 1,000 scholars who signed a declaration in January that was critical of the Turkish government’s military intervention into the predominantly Kurdish southeast of the country.

Foreign journalists have also been targeted and arrested. The latest incidents involved German TV journalist Volker Schwenck and Dutch journalist Ebru Umar. Schwenck was going to the Turkish-Syrian border to report on refugees, but instead was denied entry into Turkey and spent six hours in detention at Istanbul airport. Umar was briefly detained in Turkey over Twitter posts critical of the Turkish President.

Turkey also shut down Russian news agency Sputnik’s website in the country and blacklisted its Istanbul bureau chief, refusing him entry to the country and seizing his residence permit and press credentials.

"Erdogan’s administration doesn’t seem to tolerate any criticism at all. Any journalist, would they criticize Erdogan, risk being imprisoned and legally harassed. In short, journalism is in coma in Turkey,”  Dr. Y. Alp Aslandogan, President of the Alliance for Shared Values and a Board Member of the Gulen Institute told RT, adding that the overall situation with respect to fundamental freedoms in Turkey will only get worse unless the Turkish people interfere.

“The fate of the country is up to the people of Turkey. Unless there is an outcry from Turkish people I don’t know how this situation can be resolved. I’m just hoping that Turkish people will awaken to what’s going on.”

Sultan Erdogan Moving Quickly Now To End Secularism in Turkey

Erdogan urges vote on presidential system

Middle EastTurkey, RT

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (photo by AFP)

Presstv - Hot on the heels of Prime Minister and longtime henchman Ahmet Davutoglu’s resignation, Turkey’s president has urged the holding of a national referendum on the introduction of a presidential system to replace the current parliamentary one in the country.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan called for the referendum on Friday, a day after the premier’s resignation.

In order to flip the country’s ruling system, Turkey needs to make changes to its constitution, which itself requires popular approval.

“In order to be strong, we need to rapidly present a presidential system which is the guarantee of stability and trust to the approval of the people,” he said.

(Translated means - I get to be Sultan, and you get to do whatever I want you to do).

Observers say Erdogan may be incrementally accumulating power in his own hands, especially as he indirectly forced out Davutoglu, an ally who, while faithfully following the president’s line, introduced nuances of his own in running the country nevertheless.

Erdogan has been haranguing in favor of a presidential system based on the claim that the country cannot be run by two strongmen.

“A car that has two drivers cannot go without an accident. It will inevitably have an accident,” Ismail Kahraman, the speaker of the Grand National Assembly (Turkish parliament), who is an Erdogan ally, recently said in description of the bid for a presidential system.

Davutoglu had, however, asserted that such a system would eat away at his sphere of authority. On Thursday, he said he would resign from heading the ruling AKP party and premiership when a special congress session is held on May 22 to pick another person.

The party had already stripped the premier late last month of the power to elect provincial party officials, dealing a body blow to his political leeway.

No doubt orchestrated by Erdogan.

'Worse Than Military Coup,'

But EU Stays Silent on Erdogan Press Crackdown 

Sputnik, EUROPE

Can Dudar, centre, Erdem Gul, left, arriver at the Justice Palace © REUTERS/ Osman Orsal

Freedom of the press a bad joke in Turkey

Two journalists from Turkey's leading newspaper Cumhuriyet have been sentenced to five years in prison for revealing state secrets, but the case against them is purely political since the footage they published only confirmed what everybody already knows about Ankara's activities in Syria, Turkish journalist Zeynep Oral told Radio Sputnik.

Two prominent Turkish journalists, Can Dudar and Erdem Gul, were sentenced on Friday to five years ten months and five years in prison, respectively, for publishing footage that appears to show Turkey's National Intelligence Organization (MIT) smuggling arms to opposition groups in Syria.

​However, the charges of terrorism and espionage that were levied against them are baseless because the supposed state secret that they divulged has been well known for some time, Zeynep Oral, President of PEN Center Turkey and a columnist for the daily newspaper Cumhuriyet, told Radio Sputnik.

Attempted assassination of Dudar

Dudar's wife and lawyer grab man with a gun who tried to shoot Dudar on the court steps

"In fact both Can Dudar and Erdem Gul were put on trial for spying and terrorism, for attempting to put down the government and so many things, they were even prosecuted as terrorists, but the court acquitted them of all of these."

"They are only being punished for what they have written. The court insisted that they have revealed 'state secrets.' Those secrets are not secrets; everybody knows about them, there are tons of publications about them, it's not a secret any longer, this has already been published before."

Oral believes that the current state of journalism in Turkey is the worst she's seen in her 45-year career, and has resulted from the government's political interference in the media and arbitrary use of the court system.

"I have lived through three different military coups and in none of them was it so bad. At least when you had the military coups you knew what you could write, what was forbidden to write, what was not forbidden to write, what was permissible."

"Now there is uncertainty, you can be prosecuted for anything you write. The same article can be written by different names and one will be prosecuted and the other will not be prosecuted. For me this is a completely political court case, it has nothing to do with justice," Oral said.

At first the Turkish government claimed the trucks were only taking humanitarian aid to Syria, then changed their story and said they were providing arms for the Turkmen in Iraq.

"Then the Turkmen said no, we're not receiving any arms from the Turkish government."

"Then Mr. Erdogan declared, 'I shall not let them go free, they'll have to pay for this.'"

"I think the court obeyed the orders of Mr. Erdogan."


Secular constitution will give way to Islamic constitution

Oral said that while Turkey has a secular constitution, religion has been playing a greater role in political under the current government.

"In the last ten years we have made a lot of concessions in the field of secularism. The education is being changed, the law system is being changed. The president of the parliament is saying, 'we should change our constitution and take away secularism.'"

"All the resonances are becoming more and more religious. Of course, for me, that is unacceptable, not understandable, it's a counter-revolution I would say."


EU selling their soul

Turkey has recently become important to Europe "for the first time" because of its deal over the migrant crisis, but while the EU expresses concern about authoritarianism there, it will not interfere in support of European ideals regarding human rights, particularly freedom of expression, Oral said.

"They are ready to do anything to save their profits, their territory, I won't say their ideals."

"Profits and benefits are more important than ideals, these days, for the EU."

Sultan’s Family? Erdogan’s Children 

‘Walking in Golden Slippers’ 

Bilal Edrogan, son of President Erdogan © AFP 2016/ OZAN KOSE

Sputnik MIDDLE EAST

While Turkish president Recep Erdogan’s annual income stands at the modest level of €50,000 ($57,000), his children appear to walk in golden slippers. At the same time, there are no official statistics that appear to explain where all that money originates from, the German newspaper Bild reported.

According to the report, Erdogan’s children occupy luxurious villas and have businesses that are far from transparent. Bilal Erdogan, the Turkish leader’s younger son, for instance, has been suspected of several accounts of money laundering. He has been also spotted engaging in the 2013 corruption scandal along with his sister Esra, the paper notes.

Moreover, it was revealed last year that Bilal has long been covering up Turkish businessmen that close underground bargains with the Daesh extremist group with an annual value of up to $500 million. All attempts to investigate alleged crimes by the president’s son within Turkey had been “swept under the carpet," Aykut Erdogdu, member of opposition People's Democratic Party (HDP) told earlier Sputnik Turkiye.


See No Evil: Erdogan's Son Blocks Access to Websites Detailing His Criminal Connections

The Russian Defense Ministry published last December satellite images that laid bare oil smuggling from Daesh-controlled territories in Syria to Turkey. Despite the country’s establishment’s denial of the allegations of involvement in the dirty business, the trade went on until at least till last February, the RT investigation unveiled.

"In fact, Bilal Erdoğan is up to his neck in complicity with terrorism, but as long as his father holds office he will be immune from any judicial prosecution," Gursel Tekin HDP vice-chairman told Turkish journalists in August.

Now Recep Erdogan is looking into opportunities to expand both the financial and political influence of his “clan,” Bild noted. After the resignation of current prime-minister Ahmet Davutoglu, the president has started to promote for that post Minister of Transport Binali Yildirim or Energy Minister Berat Albayrak, who is Erdogan’s son-in-law. Albayak is convenient to Erdogan, as he has proven his loyalty multiple times.

Ankara Summons Berlin Envoy Over Clip Mocking Erdogan on German TV

© extra 3 / YouTube

Outraged by a satirical clip making fun of the Turkish President and his recent policies that was broadcast on German television, the Foreign Ministry in Ankara has summoned the German Ambassador for official explanations.

Having taken control of the media in Turkey, Erdogan is now reaching out to try and take control of international media. You have to wonder what kind of fantasy Erdogan is living in.

Following the broadcast of the satirical piece titled “Erdowie, Erdowo, Erdogan” (Erdogan is pronounced Erdowan, I believe) on NDR show titled “Extra 3” on March 17, German Ambassador Martin Erdmann was summoned up several days later to officially explain “in length” the reasons for the broadcaster’s behavior, Der Speigel has learned.

The one minute and 52 second long satire package showing footage from recent history in Turkey criticized Erdogan's increased crackdown on the freedom of the press and hostile policies in the region, including Turkey’s alleged support for Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) fighters in neighboring Syria.

The video also focused on the lavish living of the Turkish president and his multibillion euro deals with the Europeans to keep migrants at bay. The broadcast on German television comes at a time when Germany, as part of EU is actively seeking closer ties with Turkey to help tackle the migrant crisis in Europe.

Erdogan’s crackdown on journalists and restrictions on freedom of speech have been repeatedly criticized by the international community, along with Ankara’s controversial anti-terrorists campaign against Kurdish militants which inflicted much suffering on Turkey’s minority population.

The day the satirical piece was aired, RT launched a petition calling for a UNHRC-led investigation into claims of alleged mass killing of Kurdish civilians committed by the Turkish military during Ankara’s crackdown on Kurds in the country's southeast.

That Other War in the Middle East — the Russia-Turkey Standoff

C'mon Mr Putin, you're not playing the gammmmmma

ANALYSIS

Kremlin's constant accusations against Turkey driving a wedge into NATO's anti-ISIS alliance

By Brian Stewart, CBC News

Military attaches and journalists talk after a Russian Defence Ministry briefing in which Moscow said it had proof that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his family were benefiting from the illegal smuggling of oil from ISIS-held territory. (Sergei Karpukhin/Reuters)

Ever since Turkey shot down that Russian SU-24 bomber last month there has been an extraordinary, unrelenting counterblast from Moscow aimed at shattering the Turkish government's international reputation.

On the surface, Russia's response may look like classic Cold War style-Moscow propaganda, but Vladimir Putin's tell-all tactics are causing serious discomfort among Turkey's NATO allies.

Russia has also imposed economic sanctions on Turkey in retaliation for the downed plane and the death of its co-pilot, including shutting down a proposed gas pipeline that would obviously hurt both countries' economies.

But it is President Putin's media offensive that is receiving far more attention as the Kremlin comes out with one alleged exposé after another, to the point of accusing Turkey's Islamist-rooted leadership of being in collusion with ISIS.

Of course, anyone who has been paying the least bit of attention has known that for years. You're just not supposed to talk about it; it's inconvenient. It casts doubt on the legitimacy of the whole NATO strategy and goals.

Courtesy of Moscow, the international media are being fed stories and satellite photos to back up the claims that ISIS is profiting from running illegal oil shipments across the Syrian-Turkish border.

According to the Kremlin, the porous border is also allowing ISIS to receive backflows of munitions and new fighters.

Brian, you make it sound like there is some doubt. Where do you think they are getting their munitions from? We already know they get their fighters through Turkey; that's the country all the lunatics head straight to to join ISIS.

Western analysts have noted this loose border as well, but Putin goes further, claiming that this transaction is taking place with what Moscow calls the obviously corrupt connivance of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his authoritarian inner circle.

Erdogan strongly denies the charges and has fired back with his own allegations of Russian misdeeds in Syria — he claims the Russians are engaged in "ethnic cleansing" along Syria's Turkish border by bombing villages that have risen up against Syria's Bashar al-Assad.

Ethnic cleansing? Those would be Syrian villages and Russia is trying to save Syria. The accusation makes no sense.

But as often happens with scandal stories, denials get buried under the sheer weight of new accusations, and the conspiracy narrative has become a nightly feature on Russian Television's international news channel.

Cross-border intrigue

As Moscow tells it, Erdogan has several reasons for going easy on ISIS.

One is simply to avoid incurring ISIS terror attacks inside Turkey itself.

Another is that the jihadists are useful to Turkey in taking on its prime enemy, Syria's President Assad — the enemy of my enemy is my friend equation.

Animosity on both sides. Pro-Islamist demonstrators, holding a Syrian opposition flag and a defaced poster of Putin, shout slogans during an anti-Russian protest in Istanbul last month. (Murad Sezer/Reuters)

Moscow has charged that the cross-border smuggling is hugely lucrative for intermediaries and that some of those payoffs flow into the pockets of Erdogan and members of his family.

The kicker allegation from the Kremlin was that the SU-24 was shot down as it very briefly entered Turkish air space as a warning to other Russian planes to stop snooping on and interfering with these contraband routes.

Obviously these allegations, if ever proven, would badly rattle NATO and the anti-ISIS alliance.

Turkey is supposedly a key block in the anti-ISIS coalition, so evidence of such dealings would be a serious blow to unity, to put it mildly.

But while the U.S. and European allies have denounced Russia's charges, the cries of "outrageous" are not as firm as Ankara may have expected.

That's because NATO leaders are in a hyper-awkward position at the moment, precisely because they have their own questions — bordering on doubts — about Erdogan's commitment to fight ISIS.

For years they've been frustrated by the ease with which thousands of ISIS recruits, including Canadians, passed through Turkey on their way to jihad in Syria or Iraq.

It was only late this past summer, after all, that Turkey formally joined the coalition, as it was facing Washington's complaints that it had to "do more" to combat the common enemy.

Since then Turkey has moved 20,000 troops to the border area and is building more security fencing.

Yet there remains a puzzling 98-kilometre gap in the security line that President Barack Obama was still complaining to Erdogan about as recently as this month.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan initially dismissed the notion of economic retaliation over the downed plane as "emotional" and "unfitting of politicians." He later accused Russia of attempting "ethnic cleansing" with its Syrian bombing. (Umit Bektas/Reuters)

One has to wonder why Turkey with a proficient land army of some 400,000 can spare only 20,000 soldiers to clamp down on the obviously critical supply lines for ISIS that have been in operation for years.

And it is not just Russia raising these questions. International media, including the Financial Times, have been running stories tracing just how ISIS refines oil then sells it to freelance traders, some of whom smuggle it into Turkey for resale on the black market.

Similar reports record how ISIS and other armed units smuggle in weapons and fighters across the same border areas.

Sowing suspicion

Military analysts concede Turkey has moved to block some illicit traffic this year, and that along with allied air strikes on refiners and tankers this has reduced ISIS oil sales by almost half.

Still, a substantial $30 million is raised by ISIS every month, according to U.S. estimates.

There are other dark edges to this story. Erdogan's increasingly iron-fisted government has raised the suspicion level by its suppression of Turkish media reporting on the smuggling.

Earlier this year, for example, two editors were jailed and charged with espionage after their expose apparently caught state security officials sending arms to jihadists, hidden within food lorries.

Certainly Putin is scarcely a natural source for lectures on government corruption and media transparency, but he gets international attention by cheekily daring Erdogan to let domestic and foreign media inspect Turkey's ports and border zones believed to be part of the contraband trail.

Turkey's allies, whatever their suspicions, really have little choice but to show Erdogan measured goodwill.

NATO needs Turkey's air bases to strike at ISIS, while the European Union has just set up a $3.5-billion fund to help Turkey's generally praised handling of Syrian refugees.

Wonder if any of that will end up in Erdogan's Swiss bank account?

Vladimir Putin used his annual state of the nation speech to warn Turkey the Kremlin planned to adopt further sanctions against it for shooting down a Russian warplane near the Syrian-Turkish border. (Dmitry Astakhov/Sputnik/Reuters)

What's more, it is widely assumed Russia's high dudgeon has less to do with the downed bomber than with Moscow's unease over Turkey's growing geo-political ambitions in the Middle East, which conflict with Putin's own high-stakes gamble in backing Syria's Assad.

Putin clearly feels his expose rhetoric works to undercut his foes and the baser the charges the better.

In this case, the timing is particularly awkward given the ongoing diplomatic efforts to get a Syrian ceasefire established.

There's no sign yet however that Putin is ready to let up on this slanging war that has infuriated Turkey and thrown another curve at its Western partners.

One of this country's most experienced journalists and foreign correspondents, Brian Stewart is currently a Distinguished Senior Fellow at the Munk School for Global Affairs at the University of Toronto. He also sits on the advisory board of Human Rights Watch Canada. In almost four decades of reporting, he has covered many of the world's conflicts and reported from 10 war zones, from El Salvador to Beirut and Afghanistan.

Turkey Election: It's All About Erdogan and Expanding His Power

Update:
Turkey's governing AK party has lost its parliamentary majority for the first time in 13 years, near-complete election results show.

The surprise outcome also sees the pro-Kurdish HDP crossing the 10% threshold, securing seats for the first time.

With 99% of the vote counted, the AKP has 41% of the vote, state-run TRT television reports.

The result is a blow to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's plans to boost his office's powers.


President Erdogan, who first came to power as prime minister in 2003, had been seeking a two-thirds majority to turn Turkey into a presidential republic.

Controversial Turkish president not on the ballot, but election seen as test of his rule

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in 2014 REUTERS/Osman Orsal
Unfortunately, he is not waving goodbye

Nil Köksal
CBC News

We know one thing for sure about Turkey's parliamentary election Sunday: no matter which of the 20 parties Turkish voters stamp "evet" or "yes" beside on their ballots. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan isn't going anywhere.

His name isn't even on the ballot, but his ambitions are. This election is all about how much power the controversial and increasingly autocratic Turkish leader will be able to wield in the future should his party gain enough seats to make the now-ceremonial presidency the real seat of authority.

It is a frightening prospect for millions in Turkey, even for many who were once Erdogan supporters.

Erdogan wants to ditch Turkey's parliamentary system, which he led for 12 years as prime minister, and replace it with a presidential one. If his former party, the ruling AK Party secures enough seats, it can start the process of changing the constitution to do just that.

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu.
His role would be greatly diminished if there
 is a constitutional change. (Ole Spata/AP)

The party needs to win at least 330 seats, 60 per cent of the legislature, to be able to take the issue to a referendum vote, 367 seats (67 per cent) to do it without one.

As president, Erdogan has already gone far beyond blurring the boundaries of what is supposed to be a largely ceremonial role — alarming critics and democracy activists in the process.

In this election, Ahmet Davutoglu is the one running for office. He is the prime minister, but you might forget that after seeing Erdogan's presence everywhere in the campaign.

Turkey's constitution demands the president be neutral, show no allegiance to any party and certainly not campaign for one.

But Erdogan has dropped all pretense of neutrality, and is constantly on the campaign trail for the AK Party, his voice strained and cracking after months of rallies across the country selling the party's platform for a "New Turkey."

The rallies have generally been light on policy and heavy on provocation, with Erdogan attacking anyone who dares challenge him.

Kemal Kilicdaroglu, leader of Turkey's main opposition
Republican People's Party makes a heart shape with his
hands after delivering a speech in Istanbul earlier this week.

For example, Erdogan threatened to sue opposition leader Kemal Kiliçdaroglu, who, while commenting on the excess of Erdogan's much-maligned thousand-plus room palace, said the president uses a gold-plated toilet. (The president dared Kiliçdaroglu to inspect the palace, but he declined.)

Erdogan has also picked public fights with international news outlets, including the New York Times, telling the paper it should "know its place" after it published an editorial critical of him.

At home, while monopolizing media coverage, Erdogan lashes out at any journalist who challenges him or his authority.

Newspaper editor Can Dündar is once again the Turkish president's main target, and Erdogan has threatened to prosecute him and put him away for life for publishing an investigative piece about gun running from Turkey to ISIS fighters in Syria, which contained allegations that Turkey's intelligence agency MIT was involved.

The Koran and the Kurds

In the past, the key to Erdogan's popularity has been his ability to use Islam to divide Turks along secular and religious lines.

But he stunned many conservatives and secularists alike when he used a Koran as a prop during an election rally last month.

Trying to appeal to Kurdish voters in southeastern Turkey, he waived a copy of a Kurdish-language Koran, telling voters it was his party that made sure the Holy Book was published in their native tongue.

In Sunday's vote, it is the Kurds and their supporters who might keep Erdogan from getting the seats he needs to push his presidential plans ahead.

"Will the HDP pass the threshold?" That is the question in Turkey these days and refers to the Peoples' Democratic Party — the HDP, a Kurdish party led by lawyer Selahattin Demirtas.

He's a refreshing voice for some younger voters. And even for some older voters who would never have dreamed of voting for a Kurdish party just a few years ago.

Selahattin Demirtas leads the Kurdish party HDP.
The party is vying to be the first Kurdish party to be elected
to Turkey's parliament and could be the spoiler. AP

Most are not doing this out of any particular belief that Kurds should play a role in Turkish politics, but because they want to do anything possible to stop Erdogan from amassing any more power.

The HDP isn't expected to form a government by any means — just getting enough seats to have a place in parliament would be a major victory. In fact, that would be a first for a Kurdish party in Turkish history.

It was just 13 years ago that Erdogan was the one making history in Turkey.

Even then there were concerns that he would take Turkey away from its secularist roots. But the promises of a stronger democracy and fairness for Turkey's marginalized communities — devout Muslims in particular — won many voters over.

It could have made Erdogan a model leader for the Muslim world and beyond. Instead, he has become a worry for the West and more importantly his own country. Turks are paying attention to the power play, and Erdogan's political future hangs in the balance.

Nil Köksal is an award-winning journalist with CBC Television currently on assignment in Istanbul, Turkey. Köksal has reported on international stories developing in Turkey, New York and Washington, D.C., including the first inauguration of Barack Obama. Follow her on Twitter @nilkoksalcbc