ayoon wa azan the enlightened tyrant
Last Updated : GMT 09:03:51
Almaghrib Today, almaghrib today
Almaghrib Today, almaghrib today
Last Updated : GMT 09:03:51
Almaghrib Today, almaghrib today

Ayoon wa Azan (The enlightened tyrant)

Almaghrib Today, almaghrib today

ayoon wa azan the enlightened tyrant

Jihad el-Khazen

Recep Tayyip Erdogan is probably the best Turkish prime minister in modern history. Yet, protests were recently staged by some environmentalists and were confronted by the Turkish government with excessive force. These protests expanded to several Turkish cities and targeted the prime minister mainly. Perhaps some good will come out of this after all because the massive success of the Justice and Development party turned Erdogan into an arrogant ruler who does not tolerate criticism or diverging points of view. The protests served as a reality check for him and we might be seeing some modesty on his part in the future. There is absolutely no threat for Erdogan or his party. The prime minister enjoys a great deal of popularity to the extent that he can organize a rally of one million people, in his own words. The party also enjoys a firm base of conservative Muslim supporters, which allowed it three successive victories in the parliamentary elections, the last of which was in 2011. I have been following up on the protests and the related comments and I feel that Erdogan might be saying to himself: May all the difficult times go away by God’s will; these times have allowed me to know who my friends and my enemies are. But perhaps he does not actually need such a challenge to his power in order for him to realize who his friends and enemies are. I would like to list the following examples: - The Likud-affiliated Commentary magazine stated that peace between the Turkish government and the PKK will fail. Why is that? Because the Israeli Likud hopes so. I tell them, you can take your anger to your grave. - In another column, the same newspaper alluded to building mosques (as if building mosques was a sin) and banning shops from selling alcohol within a distance of 100 meters from the mosques. However, the column failed to mention that the same rule applies to schools. - The same magazine compared Erdogan to Hosni Mubarak but failed to mention that Mubarak was more than eighty years old and a sick man who worked for half an hour per day while the Turkish economy saw a 100% growth during Erdogan’s 10 years rule. In this same period, per capita income rose from $3,000 to $11,000 per year. - Daniel Pipes, a Likud figure in the US, wrote a column as nasty as himself titled “The Good News in Turkey.” The good news for me would be to see Pipes being tried along with the Administration and supporters of George W. Bush for causing the death of one million Arab and Muslim persons during their wars. - A Likud website alluded to a “Turkish summer” and accused Erdogan of gradually installing the Muslim Sharia in Turkey, which is exposing him to a volcano. I tell them: this volcano will cool off in a matter of days while they will still be grumbling. - “'Islamic fascism' fears in Turkish booze crackdown” was a headline by the Daily Telegraph. I read the column and realized that this was actually a quote from the owner of a liquor store. So the owner of a liquor store is now a reference in so-called Islamic fascism. There were some other headlines that were actually fair and that reflected the real situation rather than the aspirations of the Likud people or the Europeans. Such titles read: “Crisis? It will pass,” and “Confident Turkish leader flies off on North African tour,” and “Stay Calm. Turkey's not going into meltdown.” Regardless of the fair and unfair columns, I believe that the Turkish leadership must deal with the protests so as to chase away the concerns of many Turks who fear an overbearing Islamic rule trying to impose its convictions on many Turkish seculars. Erdogan’s supporters received him with chants upon his return to Turkey. He seemed adamant with his firm position and I would have preferred a more flexible stand. When I met with Recep Tayyip Erdogan a few weeks ago, the discussions had nothing to do with the protests. Indeed, no one had anticipated the magnitude of these protests, especially that their reasons are very limited. The sources of the prime minister were alluding to turning Turkey into a presidential country like the USA where many powers would be transferred from the prime minister to the president. Erdogan would then run for president the following year with the confidence of obtaining the people’s support. Erdogan might need to revisit such aspirations following the Taksim Square events and the protests in Ankara and other Turkish cities. The protestors complained about Erdogan’s failure to take the others’ positions into account. Thus, Erdogan now has the chance to respond to the protestors’ demands and to prove that he wasn’t and will never be a dictator. Jamal Ad-Din al-Afghani once said that Muslims need “an enlightened tyrant.” For a whole century, we were plagued with irrational tyrants who were deaf to the problems of the people, mute towards any dialogue, and blind to their misfortunes. I say: We want enlightened rulers devoid of any tyranny both in Turkey and in every Arab and Islamic country. The views expressed by the author do not necessarily represent or reflect the editorial policy of Arabstoday.

GMT 13:29 2018 Friday ,31 August

Iran and the Luminary from Saarland

GMT 13:14 2018 Friday ,31 August

Qaradawi: Politics is more important than Hajj!

GMT 17:03 2018 Thursday ,30 August

EU must help heal the sick man of Europe

GMT 15:49 2018 Thursday ,30 August

Women in Saudi municipalities

GMT 13:43 2018 Wednesday ,29 August

Amir Hatami in Syria: To stay or withdraw?

GMT 09:56 2018 Tuesday ,23 January

Washington chooses Syria as its battleground

GMT 09:52 2018 Tuesday ,23 January

Road ahead full of danger as new front opens in Syria

Name *

E-mail *

Comment Title*

Comment *

: Characters Left

Mandatory *

Terms of use

Publishing Terms: Not to offend the author, or to persons or sanctities or attacking religions or divine self. And stay away from sectarian and racial incitement and insults.

I agree with the Terms of Use

Security Code*

ayoon wa azan the enlightened tyrant ayoon wa azan the enlightened tyrant

 



Almaghrib Today, almaghrib today Skincare PR Performance Full Year 2017

GMT 09:22 2018 Monday ,22 January

Skincare PR Performance Full Year 2017
Almaghrib Today, almaghrib today New hunt for flight MH370 gets under way

GMT 11:03 2018 Wednesday ,24 January

New hunt for flight MH370 gets under way
Almaghrib Today, almaghrib today Modern colorful bedroom renovation

GMT 10:57 2017 Thursday ,21 December

Modern colorful bedroom renovation
Almaghrib Today, almaghrib today Puigdemont candidate for Catalan president

GMT 13:56 2018 Tuesday ,23 January

Puigdemont candidate for Catalan president
Almaghrib Today, almaghrib today Turkey detains dozens more

GMT 10:47 2018 Wednesday ,24 January

Turkey detains dozens more

GMT 09:47 2018 Tuesday ,23 January

To 'eternal style' of late Alaia

GMT 17:12 2012 Wednesday ,16 May

LG unveils new user interface for ICS devices

GMT 15:03 2013 Thursday ,25 July

Belgium under heat wave

GMT 04:59 2015 Tuesday ,01 September

Qatar coral reef at risk from warming seas

GMT 21:51 2016 Friday ,14 October

3 frontier corps personnel killed in Quetta

GMT 14:42 2012 Saturday ,21 January

Bella Cruise debuts new main squeeze

GMT 13:52 2013 Tuesday ,26 March

Indian director talks about Himmatwala remake

GMT 22:26 2017 Sunday ,08 January

1 Turkish soldier, 37 Daesh militants killed

GMT 02:35 2014 Sunday ,29 June

Hilton Jaipur unveils new main restaurant

GMT 20:51 2015 Saturday ,10 January

Twofour54 will train Saudi journalists

GMT 21:47 2015 Tuesday ,20 January

Kuwait shuts newspaper critical of government

GMT 09:38 2013 Tuesday ,31 December

SRA discovers new plant species in UAE
Almaghrib Today, almaghrib today
 
 Almaghrib Today Facebook,almaghrib today facebook  Almaghrib Today Twitter,almaghrib today twitter Almaghrib Today Rss,almaghrib today rss  Almaghrib Today Youtube,almaghrib today youtube  Almaghrib Today Youtube,almaghrib today youtube

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2021 ©

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2021 ©

.almaghribtoday .almaghribtoday .almaghribtoday .almaghribtoday
almaghribtoday almaghribtoday almaghribtoday
almaghribtoday
بناية النخيل - رأس النبع _ خلف السفارة الفرنسية _بيروت - لبنان
almaghribtoday, Almaghribtoday, Almaghribtoday