I come from the land of tango and samba

We will not in a long time probably ever have a 10-day vacation again. This one was great. I was able to go on a journey that I was dreaming about for years. With my wife Cemre, we first went to the land of tango, Argentina, and from there to the land of samba, Brazil. Both are so far away from Turkey, so different from the problems choking your everyday life, that I felt like I was walking on Mars.

Whatever happens one cannot detach from home and one’s own life. One can’t help but compare your own place with the one you are presently in. Is Istanbul more beautiful or Buenos Aires or Rio de Janeiro? Which one would you prefer if you were to live somewhere else? Every place has its own unique beauty and ugliness.This week I’d like to create an opportunity and tell about what I saw and experienced. Like before, when I went to China and upon my return shared with you my amazing observations. I’ll do the same here.

For one week I don’t want to talk about politics or prime minister-opposition fights. We will come back to these matters and become victims thereof anyway. The best thing is to share different worlds for a while.

I wanted to start right away today but the pictures I took are not ready yet.

Sarkozy kept his word to Erdoğan
On top of that the article about Sarkozy was very important. Therefore, starting tomorrow I will walk you around in Buenos Aires and Rio de Janeiro.

Sarkozy, from the moment he was elected president of France, has received a lot of reaction from the Turkish public. Especially his approach in the European Union issue offended us very much.

It didn’t stop at that. The tension grew when the French Parliament put a draft regarding punishment for those who deny Armenian genocide allegations on its agenda, even passed it through the assembly and sent it to the senate for approval. This public approach meant that France did not care about Turkey and handles bilateral relations careless.

Exactly within this period Sarkozy said to Erdoğan, "Don’t worry, Turkey is important to us. We will overcome our mutual difficulties. We intend to extend our relations. Besides, within our EU presidency period we will by no means prevent negotiations."

The truth is that no one believed these words would come true.Whereas I see now that Sarkozy is a president who kept his word.

First he announced a trusted parliamentarian Pierre Lelouche his special consultant in matters regarding Turkey. Then concrete steps followed.France behaved extremely impartial during its European Union presidency period. He even promised that two new headings would be created. Explanations made by the secretaries of state during the last summit pleased Ankara. The French government did not support the punishment of Turkey regarding Armenian genocide allegations. In the end, the French government openly opposed an act providing punishment of those who deny genocide allegations.

Sarkozy did not change Turkey’s intent to join the European Union. But he stopped talking about this issue in a loud voice and thus ceased tension within bilateral relations. Because there will be a referendum at the end of this period, negotiations are no longer being prevented before then. The French president with his approach has openly shown that he does not intend to hurt Turkey.

One other important development has occurred among the French public. The number of those who became aware of the carelessness against Turkey increased. Especially historians revolted. The attempted legalization of Armenian genocide allegations has back fired. Historians have laid bare the nonsense of politicians trying to make history in such a way that in the end all supporters of the act have backed off one by one. Today a new approach in Turkish-French relations has started to prevail. Old carelessness no longer exists. Bilateral relations are back to the old days. In short, Sarkozy kept his word to Erdoğan.