BOF Posted July 20, 2016 Moderator Share Posted July 20, 2016 Turkey's president says all he wants is same powers as Hitler Turkey’s controversial President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has sparked mockery and condemnation by defending new powers he wants to give himself as being similar to Adolf Hitler’s. In a statement that surprised even his critics, Mr Erdogan responded to arguments that putting political power in the hands of the presidency would not work in a "unitary state". He said there were other examples of its being successful. "There are already examples in the world,” he said. “You can see it when you look at Hitler's Germany. There are later examples in various other countries." The Turkish presidency at present is largely ceremonial, with most powers in the hands of the prime minister. However, when he was prevented constitutionally from standing as prime minister for a fourth election last year, Mr Erdogan stood for the presidency instead, and has used the position to continue his aggressive Islamist agenda. In the meantime, he has been trying to change the constitution to formalise the situation. Local critics used his words to argue he was becoming dictatorial, but in Israel they will be seen as another example of political insensitivity. Mr Erdogan has clashed with Israel on a number of occasions over his perceived support for Islamist, anti-Israel groups. Online, Turks, bloggers and Middle East analysts all took to Twitter to express their astonishment. Eliot Higgins, who has achieved celebrity status for his analysis of weapons usage in the Syrian war, said Mr Erdogan had achieved a first by managing to "Godwin" himself. "Godwin's Law" is a joke rule of the internet which states that anyone who compares someone else to Hitler in an online argument has lost. Turkish Pres #Erdogan says Hitler's Germany an example of presidential system with unitary state. Yes, we have just entered the year 2016! — Cahida D?rsim (@dilkocer) January 1, 2016 Erdogan has to be the first politician to Godwin himself https://t.co/OQ3VZeDF6p — Eliot Higgins (@EliotHiggins) January 1, 2016 no idea how to say "jumped the shark" in Turkish, but #Turkey pres Erdogan praising Hitler's presidential system as model surely qualifies — Richard N. Haass (@RichardHaass) January 1, 2016 Officials immediately tried to argue that Mr Erdogan’s words had been taken out of context. They pointed out his subsequent comments, in which he said the important thing was not the type of system but whether it ruled with justice. "What is important is that a presidential system should not disturb the people in its implementation,” he said. “If you provide justice, there will be no problem because what people want and expect is justice." The day before, Mr Erdogan’s replacement as prime minister, seemed to say the opposite, defending the proposed changes by saying that in Germany a parliamentary system had been used by Hitler in his rise to power. "There are authoritarian structures coming out of parliamentary systems,” he said. “Hitler’s Germany was born out of a parliamentary system." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AVFC_Hitz Posted July 20, 2016 Share Posted July 20, 2016 Martial law 3 months. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meath_Villan Posted July 20, 2016 Share Posted July 20, 2016 Surely the people of turkey cant be this dumb Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OutByEaster? Posted July 20, 2016 Moderator Share Posted July 20, 2016 1 hour ago, Meath_Villan said: Surely the people of turkey cant be this dumb Id guess that some of them are right with him and some of them are utterly terrified. You can be as smart as you like, you can know what you know, but when saying it gets you jail time it's probably better to be dumb. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoelVilla Posted July 22, 2016 Share Posted July 22, 2016 There are some very disturbing pictures on my Facebook feed from a friend with turkish origin. One with a lot of naked men in what to appears to be a gym hall and one with more men in what reminds me of a place for breeding chickens. I feel sick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villakram Posted July 22, 2016 Share Posted July 22, 2016 On 7/20/2016 at 17:37, Meath_Villan said: Surely the people of turkey cant be this dumb I know a very smart Turkish girl in her 30s (phd, very well travelled, worked for a mega-corp etc.). When I mentioned Armenian genocide to her shortly after we met... blank stares. I guess that's why it's called indoctrination, e.g., check your next jesus christ exclamation! It really shocked me at the time, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HanoiVillan Posted July 23, 2016 Share Posted July 23, 2016 I teach several Turkish students and nearly all of them have been personally affected by these reprisals. Dark times for the country. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Genie Posted July 24, 2016 Share Posted July 24, 2016 My Turkish colleague is due back from his holiday (British package holiday) to Turkey tomorrow... I hope they let him out again :-/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Genie Posted July 25, 2016 Share Posted July 25, 2016 I spoke to my colleague today, he got out OK but did get singled out at the airport as did all the other Turkish men trying to leave for an extra check on his ID card. Women and children not effected. He asked what the check was for and was told in no uncertain terms not to ask questions. He was telling me he and a lot of other people don't buy the "coup" thing. He said it was nothing like other coups and he thought it was an elaborate plan by the current leader to get more power and push through his reforms. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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