Νέα μέτωπα από Ερντογάν
Οι τουρκικές δυνάμεις στη βόρεια Συρία δείχνουν την αδυναμία της Αγκυρας.
Ολα ξεκίνησαν πριν από λίγα εικοσιτετράωρα, όταν η τουρκική εφημερίδα « ''Hurriyet '' , με ένα ιστορικής σημασίας δημοσίευμα, έφερε στο προσκήνιο τις «ανησυχίες» του επιτελείου των τουρκικών Ενόπλων Δυνάμεων σε μια σειρά ζητημάτων. Η «Χουριέτ» μοιράστηκε με την κοινή γνώμη μια σημαντική πληροφορία.
Σύμφωνα με το σχετικό δημοσίευμα της εφημερίδας, το οποίο φέρει την υπογραφή της δημοσιογράφου Hande Fırat (Χαντέ Φιράτ), η οποία πρωταγωνίστησε τη νύχτα του πραξικοπήματος παρέχοντας στον πρόεδρο Ρετζέπ Ταγίπ Ερντογάν δημόσιο βήμα σε μια ιδιαίτερα δύσκολη στιγμή, το επιτελείο του τουρκικού στρατού, το τελευταίο διάστημα, δεν κρύβει τον προβληματισμό του για μια σειρά εξελίξεων. Το δημοσίευμα αφήνει να εννοηθεί ότι σε κάποια ζητήματα οι στρατηγοί δεν συμφωνούν με την κυβέρνηση του Κόμματος Δικαιοσύνης και Ανάπτυξης (ΑΚΡ). Ακόμη, ο τουρκικός στρατός δηλώνει ότι η ελεύθερη χρήση της μαντίλας στον στρατό είναι μια πρωτοβουλία της κυβέρνησης που ελήφθη χωρίς τη σχετική έγκριση του επιτελείου.
Hande Fırat (Χαντέ Φιράτ)
Η οργή Ερντογάν
Η κυβέρνηση αντιδρά στη νέα εξέλιξη και βάλλει κατά της «Χουριέτ» και του ομίλου Ντογάν. Ηδη οι εισαγγελείς έχουν κινητοποιηθεί και μια νέα δικαστική διαμάχη αναμένεται για μία από τις μεγαλύτερες εφημερίδες της Τουρκίας. Εν τω μεταξύ, ο γενικός διευθυντής της εφημερίδας απομακρύνεται άρον άρον από τα καθήκοντά του, σύμφωνα με κάποια τουρκοκυπριακά μέσα. Την ίδια ώρα, ο πρωθυπουργός Μπιν Αλί Γιλντιρίμ εξωτερικεύει την αντίθεση της κυβέρνησής του με τη νέα εξέλιξη σε ιδιαίτερα υψηλούς τόνους.
Στη συνέχεια, λίγο πριν από την αποχώρησή του για το Πακιστάν, ο πρόεδρος Ερντογάν βάλλει κατά της «Χουριέτ» σε πολύ υψηλούς τόνους και τονίζει ότι δεν είναι δυνατόν να «συγχωρήσει» το νέο «λάθος» της εφημερίδας. Ο πρόεδρος Ερντογάν ζητεί από τους Τούρκους στρατηγούς να προσφύγουν στη δικαιοσύνη και να ζητήσουν αποζημιώσεις από την τουρκική εφημερίδα. Από την πλευρά του, το επιτελείο του στρατού, με νέο ανακοινωθέν επιχειρεί να διασκεδάσει τις εντυπώσεις ασκώντας κριτική στη «Χουριέτ». Την ίδια στιγμή όμως δεν ξεκαθαρίζει αν τα επτά σημεία του δημοσιεύματος της εφημερίδας αντικατοπτρίζουν τις πραγματικές ανησυχίες του ή όχι. Το επιτελείο επιλέγει να τονίσει ότι «παραφράζονται» οι θέσεις του σε μια πολύ κρίσιμη στιγμή που η επιχείρηση Ασπίδα του Ευφράτη οδεύει προς την κατεύθυνση της τελικής επίτευξης των στόχων της.
Η κατάσταση στο στράτευμα
Η νέα εξέλιξη έρχεται στο προσκήνιο σε μια περίοδο κατά την οποία η συνολική εικόνα που παρουσιάζει ο τουρκικός στρατός είναι άκρως προβληματική. Οπως ενημέρωσε πριν από λίγες ημέρες τους αναγνώστες της η «Κ», στον απόηχο του πρόσφατου αποτυχημένου πραξικοπήματος ο τουρκικός στρατός αντιμετωπίζει σημαντικά προβλήματα σε πολλά μέτωπα.
Σαν να μην έφταναν όλα αυτά, ο πρόεδρος Ερντογάν, λίγο πριν από το δημοψήφισμα του Απριλίου, εμφανίζεται αποφασισμένος να οδηγήσει τη χώρα του σε νέες περιπέτειες, σε Αιγαίο, Συρία και κουρδικό ζήτημα. Στη Συρία, μετά την κατάληψη του Αλ Μπαπ, ο κ. Ερντογάν και οι συνοδοιπόροι του στρέφουν τα βλέμματά τους στο Μίμπιτς και στη Ράκα. Σε περίπτωση που τελικά ο κ. Ερντογάν διατάξει επίθεση στο Μίμπιτς, ο τουρκικός στρατός θα έρθει αντιμέτωπος με τις κουρδικές δυνάμεις που κρατούν αυτή την πόλη και υποστηρίζονται από τις ΗΠΑ. Με αυτό τον τρόπο ενδέχεται να ανοίξει ένα νέο μέτωπο στο κουρδικό ζήτημα.
Στα Ιμια
Την ίδια ώρα, εξελίξεις τρέχουν και στο «μέτωπο» του Αιγαίου, με την Αγκυρα να κορυφώνει την ένταση στα ελληνοτουρκικά και στα περίχωρα των Ιμίων. Η «Κ» πληροφορείται ότι σε αντίθεση με την επίσημη ρητορική της Αγκυρας, κύκλοι του τουρκικού στρατού χαρακτηρίζουν «επικίνδυνη» τη νέα εξέλιξη, με το σκεπτικό ότι δοκιμάζει τις αντοχές του.
Εν αποστρατεία στελέχη του τουρκικού στρατού δεν κρύβουν τον έντονο προβληματισμό τους απέναντι στα νέα δεδομένα, τονίζοντας ότι υπό τη σκιά των τελευταίων εξελίξεων ο τουρκικός στρατός δεν είναι σε θέση να έρθει αντιμέτωπος ταυτόχρονα με τον ελληνικό στρατό στο Αιγαίο, τους Κούρδους στο εσωτερικό της χώρας και στη βόρεια Συρία και με τις μεγάλες δυνάμεις στην ευρύτερη περιοχή.
Κατά την άποψή τους, ο τουρκικός στρατός χρειάζεται χρόνο για να ανασυντάξει τις δυνάμεις του και να προχωρήσει προς την κατεύθυνση του εκσυγχρονισμού.
ΝΙΚΟΣ ΣΤΕΛΓΙΑΣ
5/3/2017
http://www.kathimerini.gr/899076/article/epikairothta/politikh/nea-metwpa-apo-erntogan
ΣΧΕΤΙΚΑ
ΣΧΕΤΙΚΑ
Military makes statement on debate over Hürriyet report
Turkey’s military has made a statement on a recent debate over a report in daily Hürriyet that was also heavily criticized by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
The military said on Feb. 28 that recent “unfounded and ill-intentioned” criticism toward Chief of Staff Gen. Hulusi Akar aimed at casting a shadow on the Turkish Armed Forces’ (TSK) struggle against terrorism.
Following such criticism, the military made a statement to a journalist, read the statement.
The TSK said it did not use any expressions of “unease.”
“We regret efforts to blur the agenda with allegations and defamation at a time when the Euphrates Shield operation [in northern Syria] is progressing successfully. Suggesting that there are problems between the Turkish Armed Forces and the government distorts the issue,” read the statement, ading that the interlocutors for the “answers to the criticism were known.”
Daily Hürriyet ran an article by Ankara Bureau Chief Hande Fırat on Feb. 25, which cited military sources outlining the General Staff’s stance on seven issues on which they had been subjected to criticism. The headline of the newspaper read “Seven Answers to Seven Criticisms,” while the headline on the inside page read “Unease at military HQ.”
The headline on the inside page specifically drew Erdoğan’s criticism.
“Of course the headline on the inside was very ugly,” he told reporters at Ataturk International Airport before leaving for a regional economic summit in Pakistan.
“These expressions have disturbed us and they have disturbed the TSK even more. It is impossible that our armed forces would not be disturbed about an issue that disturbs us. We are like the organs of the same body,” Erdoğan said, defining the report as rude.
“Neither the newspaper’s management and bosses nor the staff are capable of writing such a headline; they cannot be,” he said, adding that legal steps would be taken,” he said.
The president said the “Seven answers to seven criticisms” headline would also bring the military forces under suspicion.
“Those who are trying to set us at odds with each other will pay a heavy price for that.”
“I do not find such approaches acceptable at a time that we need brotherhood more than ever,” Erdoğan said.
Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli, meanwhile, said it was unfair to accuse Hürriyet Ankara bureau chief Fırat on the matter, criticizing the army for “trying to convey its disturbances through the media.”
“The accusation toward a female journalist who played a successful role in thwarting the coup d’état on July 15 [2016] thanks to the news she covered is, in our opinion, a strange contradiction and distortion,” Bahçeli told his party members in parliament on Feb. 28.
Fırat, the Ankara representative of CNN Türk at the time, was the first journalist to put Erodğan online via FaceTime during the bloody coup attempt on July 15, 2016, allowing him to make a call to the nation to take the streets to foil the attempt.
The Istanbul headquarters of Hürriyet and CNN Türk, two Doğan Holding media companies, were raided by coup soldiers during the attempt before they were dragged out by police in clashes.
February/28/2017
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/military-makes-statement-on-debate-over-hurriyet-report.aspx?pageID=238&nID=110279&NewsCatID=341
Hürriyet releases statement on row over report
A story that was published on daily Hürriyet’s first page on Feb. 25 with the headline “Seven Answers to Seven Criticisms” was penned based completely on an institutional “briefing” by the Turkish General Staff upon questions from the daily’s Ankara representative, Hande Fırat, according to a statement from the newspaper.
The expression of “Unease at military HQ” in the headline, above a secondary line that said “Claims and criticisms are weakening [the army] on seven issues,” from Hürriyet’s editorial department was not taken from the briefing – a point that was also noted in a related statement by the General Staff.
Hürriyet’s statement continues as follows:
“The expression of ‘unease’ in Hürriyet’s story was used in order to explain the situation created by the aforementioned claims and criticisms targeting the General Staff.
“However, unfortunately, after the story was published, we saw that this expression could be understood as if there was unease in the General Staff against the government.
“It didn’t cross our minds that such a meaning would be attributed to that headline. Such an intention is absolutely out of the question. Even if that was not the intention, the “Unease at military HQ” headline can be seen as an editorial mistake that goes beyond its purpose. For that, we are sorry.
“The weakening of our army and attempts to drag it into domestic politics are situations that every Turkish citizen should reject.
“The army remaining under the orders of civilians that acquire their posts in elections is an essential condition for our democracy.”
February/28/2017
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/hurriyet-releases-statement-on-row-over-report.aspx?pageID=238&nID=110294&NewsCatID=339
Hürriyet responds to ‘unlimited slander’ in defense of top story
Daily Hürriyet has released a statement regarding its lead story on Feb. 25 about the Turkish Armed Forces’ answers to various criticisms, responding to a wave of “unlimited slander” against its journalism immediately after the story was published.
Below is the full text of the statement.
“Our daily’s Feb. 25 headline titled ‘Seven Answers to Seven Criticisms’ was a story about how the General Staff evaluated the latest criticisms that have frequently been voiced, as well as the speculation regarding Chief of General Staff Gen. Hulusi Akar in certain segments of the public and the media. The story provided answers to each criticism one by one.
“We are closely following how the headline story by our Ankara representative, Hande Fırat, is intentionally being dragged in a direction in which it should not be. The allegation that [the piece] was a ‘coup provocation’ was intentionally attached to the story in social media and on some websites, inciting a lynch campaign that went as far as demanding the prosecution of the Hürriyet staff responsible for the story.
“Equally interesting is the fact that a different segment claimed that the same story created a perception plot, interpreting it as support for the ‘yes’ side in the constitutional referendum by delivering a message of ‘close the ranks’ to undecided [voters] within the Justice and Development Party (AKP) base. In the end, the opposite segments come together in attacking Hürriyet by attributing different intentions to the same story.
“All of the accusations are malevolent. When Hürriyet’s story is read carefully, it can be seen that the text included answers to the criticisms against Akar, and it is no secret that those criticisms came from not only the pro-government side but also from the opposition side.
“Hürriyet merely acted with the motivations of journalism on the story. Our Ankara representative, Hande Fırat, asked the Communication Department of the General Staff about the criticisms and accusations regarding Akar for journalistic purposes and reported the answers in line with the principles of journalism.
“Regardless, the only topic here is journalism, and all other comments to be made except this are mere lies.
“This incident itself will leave an imprint in people’s memories as one of the most extreme examples of the unlimited state of slander in Turkey. As acknowledged by everyone, it is the discretion of the Turkish public that will best evaluate the sleaziness of this slander against our Ankara representative, Hande Fırat, who played a vital role in defeating the [July 15, 2016] coup attempt and protecting our democracy with her journalism.
“Hürriyet, whose headquarters in Istanbul were besieged by coup soldiers during the July 15, 2016 coup attempt, displayed a powerful stance in favor of democracy. [No one has the right] to question Hürriyet’s commitment to democracy.”
Below is the full text of the statement.
“Our daily’s Feb. 25 headline titled ‘Seven Answers to Seven Criticisms’ was a story about how the General Staff evaluated the latest criticisms that have frequently been voiced, as well as the speculation regarding Chief of General Staff Gen. Hulusi Akar in certain segments of the public and the media. The story provided answers to each criticism one by one.
“We are closely following how the headline story by our Ankara representative, Hande Fırat, is intentionally being dragged in a direction in which it should not be. The allegation that [the piece] was a ‘coup provocation’ was intentionally attached to the story in social media and on some websites, inciting a lynch campaign that went as far as demanding the prosecution of the Hürriyet staff responsible for the story.
“Equally interesting is the fact that a different segment claimed that the same story created a perception plot, interpreting it as support for the ‘yes’ side in the constitutional referendum by delivering a message of ‘close the ranks’ to undecided [voters] within the Justice and Development Party (AKP) base. In the end, the opposite segments come together in attacking Hürriyet by attributing different intentions to the same story.
“All of the accusations are malevolent. When Hürriyet’s story is read carefully, it can be seen that the text included answers to the criticisms against Akar, and it is no secret that those criticisms came from not only the pro-government side but also from the opposition side.
“Hürriyet merely acted with the motivations of journalism on the story. Our Ankara representative, Hande Fırat, asked the Communication Department of the General Staff about the criticisms and accusations regarding Akar for journalistic purposes and reported the answers in line with the principles of journalism.
“Regardless, the only topic here is journalism, and all other comments to be made except this are mere lies.
“This incident itself will leave an imprint in people’s memories as one of the most extreme examples of the unlimited state of slander in Turkey. As acknowledged by everyone, it is the discretion of the Turkish public that will best evaluate the sleaziness of this slander against our Ankara representative, Hande Fırat, who played a vital role in defeating the [July 15, 2016] coup attempt and protecting our democracy with her journalism.
“Hürriyet, whose headquarters in Istanbul were besieged by coup soldiers during the July 15, 2016 coup attempt, displayed a powerful stance in favor of democracy. [No one has the right] to question Hürriyet’s commitment to democracy.”
25/2/2017
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/hurriyet-responds-to-unlimited-slander-in-defense-of-top-story.aspx?pageID=238&nID=110177&NewsCatID=339