Mehmet Ali Birand - English

The excitement over the ceremony in Berlin was not over yet. Aydın Doğan was awarded the Golden Victoria, a huge applause was unleashed and people attended the reception afterward. Because Aydın Doğan was the star of the night he was always surrounded by people who wanted to introduce themselves and congratulate him.

Attention was directed at a corner of the room where we were as Prime Minister Merkel and her spokesman, Ulrich, were there. At about midnight when Merkel split, we all, including Bild’s Editor-in-Chief Kai, left for Berlin’s most popular restaurant called ADNAN (Schlüter str. 33, 10629 Berlin-Charlottenburg Telefon: 00 49 (0) 30 / 54710590).

Ulrich joined us as well. Ulrich plays the same role for Merkel as Akif Beki plays for Prime Minister Erdoğan. Everything is in his hands whether it be accreditation issues or invitations for journalists to accompany the prime minister on visits. I was curious and asked Ulrich, "What are your accreditation rules?" He laughed and understood why I had asked.

He said: "Everybody can obtain accreditation. It would suffice to bring a letter showing the paper, radio or TV this person represents."

Q - Would there be an accreditation rejection?

While watching the award ceremony for Aydın Doğan on Monday evening in Berlin, I remembered and became sad about how the Doğan Group was verbally attacked by some ruling AKP members and foremost by their leader For many years I watched Turkey from the European stage. I saw the treatment, disgracing now and then, sympathetic off and on, that Turkish ministers and prime ministers had to put up with. But you can be sure that I never witnessed anything like the award ceremony for Aydın Doğan on Monday evening in Berlin in front of the thousand people comprising the cream of society.

Everyone was there... It was an elite group of a thousand people.

High-level political party representatives who make up German politics... Editors-in-Chief of all media... top level managers of TV and most influential names of the business world.

Those gathered around Dr. Schauble sitting in a wheelchair explaining last minute developments... those still on top of the German automobile industry are calculating whether they can make it out of the crisis or not... people gossiping about whether Germany’s Prime Minister Merkel will join the celebration or not.

Amid this glamor there was Aydın Doğan; treated like a star by hundreds of photographers and cameramen shouting "Mr. Doğan ... Mr. Doğan look this way..." This night was in his honor. Everybody came for the Golden Victoria award ceremony.

It seemed like Aydın Doğan was receiving the award, when in reality this award was given to Turkey.

Germany’s Prime Minister Merkel joined when the ceremony was halfway through. I noticed that with her were her spokesperson, secretary and only one bodyguard. She entered quietly. No hand clapping, no noise, no group that would stand up and clap hands just because she entered the room. So it is possible to enter gatherings in a polite way.

In her speech she spoke very highly of Aydın Doğan. Do you know why?

Because he did what he could to ease the adaptation of Turkish workers to Germany. She said, "Aydın Doğan is a very important person for Germany." Minister of Interior Dr. Schauble went further and talked about the details of Aydın Doğan’s huge contributions to Turkish-German relations.

Monday night was really very important.

Some might be angered about the importance of Turkey in Germany, but the effectiveness of the Doğan group and especially of Hürriyet was stressed.

No offense. The applause elevated as it was explained what Ertuğrul Özkök and the Editor-in-Chief of Bild Kai Diekmann have done in this field. You might say that night these two editors-in-chief were carried on shoulders. For they had realized something nobody believed in. Instead of running after daily circulation and provoking society, they chose the hard way and suggested friendship in place of dispute.

Aydın Doğan was very happy.

Only his family and those close to them surrounded him. You could acquire as many companies as you want but you could not experience a night like Monday night, this glamor, this applause and receive this award.

Prime Minister Merkel stayed for one and a half hours for her speech and the reception thereafter. She spoke extensively to Aydın Doğan about developments in Turkey. Asked about the prime minister. Some will be much surprised, but he persistently did not say a word criticizing the administration.

While watching this ceremony, I remembered and became sad about how the Doğan Group was verbally attacked by some AKP members and foremost by their leader.

After the reception, as you might guess, Arzuhan Yalçındağ, Vuslat Sabancı and myself besieged Merkel and discussed the European Union until she perspired. Yalçındağ especially openly interrogated the German Prime Minister. Because Merkel asked us not to write most of what she said, I cannot unveil it. I can say this much though; she no longer has affection for the AKP like she used to. She gave the impression that she was glad about the growing distance between Erdoğan, and the Turkish government giving up insisting on the EU issue.

Aydın Doğan in his speech that night, while looking Merkel in the eyes, said, "Do not hinder Turkey on its way to the EU. We will not be a burden for you but will bring enrichment." And Merkel stated that she is not against a full membership but repeated that an immediate membership would shake Europe.

I don’t know how to put it. But I am not sure whether to write about Merkel - who just flew in from the States having joined the G-20 meetings - assumptions about the crisis or how she was influenced by discussions with Sarkozy and Bush.

If I were to summarize, Hürriyet, lead by Aydın Doğan and Ertuğrul Özkök, was the pride of Turkey on Monday night. Within all this glamor, under my seat I noticed the pious papers full of headlines attacking Aydın Doğan. I whispered to myself what a vulgar society we are. Then I turned to see the Sema - Aydın Doğan couple with a glow in their eyes.

One could see in their eyes: The joy of being appreciated. Our ambassador in Berlin probably best summarized the night: "Tonight you conquered Germany on behalf of Turkey, thank you."

About four years ago, the Suna-İnan Kıraç Foundation decided to give an unforgettable gift to Istanbul. A cultural center was to be built at Tepebaşı, with $200 million obtained solely from Suna and İnan Kıraç. It was to be completed by 2010 and be just on time for the Istanbul Cultural Capital celebrations. No such center exists in Istanbul which is the most important destination in the country and one-of-a-kind in Turkey. Neither the government nor the municipality has money to spare. They would not even think of it. Their priorities are different. 

Frank Gehry, one of the world’s most important architects, has been contacted and agreements have been signed regarding the construction of this center. It would suffice if the center bore the signature of Frank Gehry, the world-renown architect of the Bilbao Guggenheim, Istanbul would gain an international status in the arts.

The most ideal place was thought to be where the ugly TRT building is, not used more than once or twice a year. It is located in Tepebaşı and partly owned by the municipality. The first support for the project came from the prime minister.

He congratulated İnan Kıraç and instructed the municipality to allocate this place to the foundation for a period of 49 years. Thereafter he called TRT and told them the municipality would assign a new location to them, the Foundation would buy the building and no loss would be encountered, on the contrary, they would own a better location. Topbaş was very exited and gave his full support.

Kıraç and Topbaş shook hands in July this year in front of TV cameras. According to the plan, the municipality would rent the land for 49 years and TRT would sell its building for $14 million. The deal was done. Everybody was exited when everything, all of a sudden, changed. First the municipality said according to the rules they could only rent the land for 30 years, not 49. Then TRT came along requesting more money.

Apparently some bureaucrats whispered in the ear of the general manager things like, "Sir, this building is very precious. $14 million is not realistic. Let a private company check the difference in value, or apply an interest rate for elapsed time. If you do not do this you may be sued for financially harming the government. You might be accused of giving a present from the precious entity to the private sector. You might even be imprisoned. The media will take you apart."

İbrahim Şahin became scared.

He was not wrong. Who would not be scared É The general manager then assigned a private company to appraise the land value. The result; the price jumped to $24 million.

The Kıraç Foundation objected. It drew attention to the company’s evaluation mistake for the same building, appraised at $5.5 million in 2002 by TRT, and quoted other prices for buildings and ground plots at the same location.

But nobody would listen.

The price for the $14 million ground plot was raised to $24 million; nobody would dare to sell it for less...

The Kıraç Foundation was fed up.

The project dragged on for four years, a new rip-off price worth $10 million more, was asked for. The trustees, who considered themselves an easy touch, are at a point of withdrawing from the project, especially in view of the newly and unpredictable economic crises.

İnan Kıraç is totally right.

The attitude of the Turkish bureaucracy is incredible in view of the fact that in other countries free land is assigned for cultural projects by generous people who contribute to the country with these presents. You will shortly hear that Istanbul missed out on an immense project.

I cannot blame the general manager of TRT as he is a government official. I can see tomorrow’s headlines; TRT made a present out of government property... then who will protect the general manager. We do not know where Tayyip Erdoğan will be. Even if he is the administration, nobody can say for sure that he will spend much effort saving him.

I recommend the prime minister, if his support continues, to lift the heavy weight of this responsibility from the shoulders of the TRT general manager. He should support İbrahim Şahin now. The prime ministry should agree with the Kıraç Foundation directly, and if need be, pay TRT the difference, or erase debt of this amount and pave the way for the project. They should not forget this project is worth $200 million and if it is not realized because TRT is to earn $9 million more than the general manager, the administration will be blamed for "sabotaging Istanbul."

Let us not forget the Kıraç Foundation is not planning to build a supermarket. This land, by law, can only be used for cultural purposes. In other words, it is a piece of land that cannot be sold to anybody else.

Congratulations on our temporary membership to the United Nations Security Council! Sometimes we exaggerate things to such an extent they get out of control. The United Nations Security Council temporary membership is one such example. This news caused the whole country to exalt. We hugged and congratulated each other on this unbelievable achievement! As if that was not enough, the international public was aroused and got in line to congratulate Turkey on its big triumph. The prime minister was hosted in New York’s most famous restaurant, everyone no matter whether their vote was for or against Turkey applauded. Expenses were on the company.

If we are unable to slow down, we will pronounce that the world is bowing before us.

A temporary membership to the Security Council is a nice thing but this event needs to be kept within realistic dimensions. It would be nice if we did not act as if we were pronouncing victory at Çanakkale, for there are two sides to the coin, and if we are not careful, Ankara could encounter a lot of problems. Let us put exaggerated celebrations to one side and look at the other side of the coin. Let us have a look at problems we should expect.

First idea emerged in 2003 by two diplomats
This idea was first brought up in 2003 by Altay Cengizer, a permanent deputy representative of the United Nations. Our permanent representative in New York, Ümit Pamir, saw the timing as perfect and sent a telegraph to then minister of foreign affairs, Abdullah Gül.

Steps taken by the AKP with regard to Cyprus and the European Community, despite the AKP breaking taboos as a pious party struggling to integrate with the western world, were very effective during that period.

The telegraph with ambassador Ümit Pamir’s proposal caused Minister of Foreign Affairs Abdullah Gül to give the order to activate all required mechanisms. That day is today, Gül foremost, the staff of foreign affairs and the Prime Ministry have put in a lot of effort. For five years meetings were held. In the meantime, Turkey’s contribution to peace in the Middle East, the president’s visit to Armenia and the role played during the Georgian war directly influenced the positive result.

Turkey finally made it. Turkey has been elected as a temporary member to the United Nations Security Council for two years. It will share this duty with Austria. Now preparations for the celebration have started. Yet we should put bragging to one side and start planning what is necessary to act out the temporary membership in a decent way.

I talked to diplomats who formerly served as permanent representatives in New York. I also talked to foreign diplomats who served in the United Nations Security Council and I can see that Ankara is looking at difficult times ahead. Upfront, the Turkish delegation consists of eight to nine people, it needs to be increased to 15 to 20. It is crucial these carefully chosen diplomats and secretariats be formed by people who have a command of English and are skilled in foreign policy.

What is more important, is the team needs to be headed by a delegate trusted by the prime minister and minister of foreign affairs, who is able to act without waiting for authorization from headquarters for every decision, or whoever it is that is appointed, should receive the necessary authorization to act. The council’s work is progressing at a fast pace and because of the time difference, Ankara’s habits cannot continue. A bureaucracy that waits for confirmation from the prime minister or who does not act on his own, does not work in New York. You cannot tell the Security Council to "wait until we ask the prime minister how to use our vote." The other important problem is the upcoming conflict with regard to Ankara’s domestic politics, and policies regarding the United States and European Community.

Turkey’s policies regarding Iran and the United Nations Security Council’s enforcement preparations, are in conflict. What will Ankara do when an enforcement decision leads to a poll? Will it support Tehran or the U.S.-EU bloc? How will we use our vote in developments regarding Russia-Georgia, or Sudan, or the Middle East? These possibilities need to be taken into account, so our politics that do not match other members of the Security Council, can be identified and a way can be sought on how to find mutual ground. In other words, the other side of the coin brings not only the Çanakkale victory but also some difficulties. The foreign affairs team is strong enough to handle this. As long as the prime minister does not constantly try to govern this matter via phone.

With each passing day Prime Minister Erdoğan sharpens a bit more and becomes more aggressive. However, he was not like that when we first met. He had strong words. Off and on he couldn’t help but fight. He was very careful. Every time we would feel, that Gül, right next to him, could touch his hand and say "Please don’t."

Those days were very different. The prime minister during the 2003-2007 period was different. Despite his explosions he took his steps carefully. I believe what made the prime minister brake during this mentioned period and behave in a conciliating way was Abdullah Gül. He was one of the rare people who could say to the prime minister "you are wrong on this subject." It was effective and Erdoğan would listen. After all, this is how we obtained a date for negotiations with the European Community. After all, in this regard there was no braking . Again in this same period there was a group of consultants around the prime minister. He used to listen to his consultants, trust them, heed them and do as they say É And look at today’s situation.

The prime minister fights with everybody. I don’t know, but he seems to like it. It is as if he feeds on the fights. He rags and humiliates journalists and says that society does not trust the media anymore. As if this is not enough, he announces a crusade against the Doğan group. Forget about freedom of thought; he calls for people not to buy Doğan group papers. With an unbelievable approach, he openly suppresses the Doğan group.

Furthermore, he snaps at very valuable and supportive journalists and authors when he hears simple criticism, he batters them with words like " how cute, shame on you." Fighting with the media is not enough; he fights with the DTP. Done with that, he attacks the opposition.

Forgetting about the European Community É he changes Kurdish politics that made him the Obama. In short, Prime Minister Erdoğan is changing. I look around and there is no one around him. Abdullah Gül is not there. Since he moved to Çankaya, Gül is not around him every day. He cannot hold his hand and tell him to behave differently. Former consultants are not around either. Nobody can say a thing. They fear his reaction. Maybe Erdoğan is not aware of it but the leader of the AKP, is for an important part of Turkish society not even their Obama anymore. So how can we not wish Gül was there.


Cancelling accreditations couldn't be explained
There is the impression in Turkey that every institution seeks its own journalists. An accreditation fury is going on. The military keeps somebody out of the base with accreditation; the prime ministry cancels because it "does not conform with regulations."

I spent 25 years of my journalistic life abroad and know very well how accreditation is administered. For all my life I dealt with accreditations. In the United States and Europe, accreditation is not used as discrimination. There is only one bench mark: to really be a journalist. For that, a letter obtained from the paper or TV suffices.

No need for that much discrimination Ğ even during the cold war NATO gave accreditation to reporters from Russian and the Warsaw pact. The White House admits journalists from all over the world. So does the EU commission and the council as well. There an accreditation of a journalist close to the administration is not canceled, they are treated differently. We can call it positive or negative discrimination. Special briefings are given to those journalists that they sympathize with, scoop stories are leaked. This way they are rewarded and others punished (!) but this is done with a fine correctness.

Canceling accreditation is a rare thing. Cancellation is administered to those who have committed a shameful deed, have spied or hurt the present institution. There is no such application "that spreads the smell of punishing the opposition" as we know it.

I talked to the press department of the Prime Ministry about the cancellation of the accreditation of seven journalists. I noticed that they have three criteria (1. Having a yellow press card, 2. Behave in accordance with the rules, 3. If the news is in regards to the Prime Ministry, check and consult the press department) and that the accreditations of the seven journalists was canceled because they did not comply with some of the rules. Now that’s a faulty attitude.

The cancellation of an accreditation is very important. It creates questions in the minds of the people. Either one comes to the conclusion that "he/she was sent away because opposing news was written about the prime ministry," or the suspicion arises that these journalists have committed a shameful deed or felony. Both possibilities mislead society.

In order not to misled, it needs to be explained why the accreditations were canceled. This way it would be resolved. But if those journalists indeed annoyed the prime minister and thus were excluded, then there is nothing left but to accept this shame and keep quiet.


"We wouldn’t know who is Sunni or Alevi"
Yesterday in my article I wrote that "the Alevi could not become Chief of Staff or a general." This is a common belief and often repeated among the Alevi. And I repeated this belief.

The office of commander in chief called and said "there is definitely no such discrimination." My addressee spoke most clearly: " If we were to do such a thing, when first admitting people to the military we would have to ask, ’Are you Alevi or Sunni?’, But there is no such question. Nobody knows who is what." "Well, could you name any Alevi Chief of Staff or general?" I asked. "No I cannot, for, as I said before, nobody knows anybody’s religious preference nor would anybody ask." I’ve been told.

Who are the "zencis" of Turkey? Let me explain for those who don’t know.

The term "zenci" is used for those who are oppressed, despised, whose expectations and wishes are ignored. There are some segments in Turkey that see themselves as zencis. Some portions of Kurds, Alevi and the pious think they belong to this category.

Those who see themselves as zencis in the sense of religious expectations see Tayyip Erdoğan as the Obama. For, after his leading the government they no longer feel as zencis.

Praise be due, except for not entering universities or state offices with a headscarf, they have obtained most of their expectations. Forget about being a zenci, they have passed onto the status of White Turks and Obama Erdoğan has become Bush, meaning he now stands next to the government he used to fight against. He has become the state’s voice. They reached their target through politics.

According to a section of the Kurds, (outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party) PKK claims their rights. But unfortunately the PKK uses terror and kills innocent people. What’s left are the Alevi. According to research by KONDA, there are 6 million to 7 million Alevi in Turkey.

The direction of the wind causes the administration to sometimes embrace the Alevi community. When the pious movement grows furious, they are Turkey’s secular insurance. But in general there is a precise discrimination.

The progress report, as a mirror reflecting relations between Turkey and the European Community, has shown us the breaking point: 2009 will be a turning point. I’m sure you noticed. We are facing a situation that looks like Turkish and EU authorities have agreed to do their best to slow down the negotiations.

Whenever our prime minister meets EU authorities and whenever our foreign minister meets with EU ministers there is always the same complaint.

"É The European Community treats Turkey differently. It exhibits an extremely slow approach É "

Ankara is very uncomfortable.

Attention has been drawn to the Commission slowly scanning paragraphs to be added soon. The inadequacy of the new negotiation topics and constantly appearing political barriers frankly disincline Turkey.

Obama being elected as president will affect Turkey positively in general. The only exception will be the Armenian issue. It is good to be prepared for this issue, trying to ease the shock. Obama winning this presidential race is an earthquake.

Now there will be after shocks coming. Possibly these shocks will continue throughout the presidential period. The United States will have to go through a devastating test. How will a community that believes in the white race being the superior one, tolerate a black president?

Looking at the present scenario, we can conclude that the United States took an important step in reconciling its past. But we need to wait a while. We need to wait for the reaction of a section of people that have Negro hostility encoded in its genes, perceives every black person as inferior to himself or herself and as a slave. If we were to look at Obama’s relations that affect Turkey, contrary to some pessimists, the scenario does not look too bad. But there is one exception.

That is the Armenian issue …

Every Republican administration during election campaigns has said that it will support the Armenian lobby and twinkles at the issue. But after being elected, the administration’s attitudes become more flexible. They watches out for Turkey and prevent the genocide draft from passing through the congress. The most important and latest example was experienced during the Clinton administration.

But this time the situation is a little different. Obama’s team says they will keep their promise to Armenians. They draw attention to the fact that the new president is very sensitive about promises and he views Armenians as “oppressed people” and thus the message sent to Ankara turns into “Be prepared.” It is being advised that Ankara be prepared for two issues.

The first being to take new steps in relations with Armenia, starting by opening borders and thinking about new enterprises to improve relations with Yerevan. Within this context, it is stated that the genocide draft, which is to be re-sent to congress next April, will be postponed again. The second reason for the message “Be prepared” is the increase in the probability that the draft will pass through congress.

In recent years it has been very close for Turkey. The draft was stopped at the last minute. Every time relations between Ankara and Washington become tense, threats are exchanged. This combat exhausts and frays both sides. It is necessary to be prepared for this as well. We need to start preparations now if we do not want our relationship with Washington to come to a tearing point, or, in case the draft passes, we do not want to come to a point that could lead to the closing down of the base at Incirlik.

Will Turkey find its Obama?