Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
Crazy Erdogan? Turkey's PM Loses his Grip
Crazy Erdogan? Turkey's PM Loses his GripBy Michael Collins
The Turkish Medical Association may have been right when it announced it was "terribly worried " about the emotional well-being of [Turkish] Prime Minister Erdogan." (March 16) (Image: WAFF)
The PM reinforced the medical opinion when he broke from reality in his remarks on the major mine disaster in Soma, Turkey. Erdogan casually dismissed the tragedy of the 282 dead miners. ...
These very public incidents reveal an increasingly autocratic and erratic PM. Erdogan doesn't know how to behave in the presence of mourners at the site of their tragic losses. He diminishes their losses by reducing them to a mere calculation. He shouts out at speakers who dare to disagree with his policies, as though it is his divine right. In the past, Erdogan's critics labeled him the sultan due to his imperious style. In the future, a reference to Vlad the Impaler may be more accurate.
Link: http://www.opednews.com/articles/Crazy-Erdogan-Turkey-s-PM-by-Michael-Collins-Disaster-Mining_Rejep-Tayyip-Erdogan_Turkey-140516-341.html
3 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
= new reply since forum marked as read
and that's becoming more and more obvious as this tragedy goes on.
Turkish mine disaster: Unions hold protest strike
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-27415822
photos emerge of the prime minister's aide, Yusuf Yerkel, appearing to kick a protester in Soma
It may be that the startling photo of an Erdogan aide (in a smart suit) kicking a
protester comes to symbolise what has happened here.
To government opponents, the photo encapsulates their long-held complaints - about a privileged administration which treats dissent as treason.
Turkey mine disaster: police use riot tactics at protests about mine safety
Teargas and plastic bullets used on protesters at scene of worst industrial accident amid anger at PM's offhand remarks towards victims
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/may/16/turkey-mine-disaster-teargas-plastic-bullets-protesters
Turkish police used teargas, plastic bullets and water cannon to disperse hundreds of demonstrators who gathered on Friday at the scene of the country's worst industrial accident to protest the country's dismal work safety record, and the prime minister's apparently offhand attitude towards victims of the catastrophe...
The deaths in the Soma coal mine have stirred up fresh antipathy toward prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who was criticised for last summer's crackdown on protesters in Istanbul's Taksim Square and his increasingly intolerant stance toward any kind of dissent. The prime minister's comments that "this is what happens in coal mining" prompted a furious reaction in Soma, where he was confronted by angry protestors on Wednesday...
On Friday, about 1,500 protesters gathered in the city on Friday, chanting anti-government slogans, before they were dispersed by riot police. Some of the demonstrators carried banners reading "It was not an accident, it was murder".
Opposition parties, unions and human rights groups have called for an investigation into the cause of the accident and for those responsible to be held accountable.
Teargas and plastic bullets used on protesters at scene of worst industrial accident amid anger at PM's offhand remarks towards victims
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/may/16/turkey-mine-disaster-teargas-plastic-bullets-protesters
Turkish police used teargas, plastic bullets and water cannon to disperse hundreds of demonstrators who gathered on Friday at the scene of the country's worst industrial accident to protest the country's dismal work safety record, and the prime minister's apparently offhand attitude towards victims of the catastrophe...
The deaths in the Soma coal mine have stirred up fresh antipathy toward prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who was criticised for last summer's crackdown on protesters in Istanbul's Taksim Square and his increasingly intolerant stance toward any kind of dissent. The prime minister's comments that "this is what happens in coal mining" prompted a furious reaction in Soma, where he was confronted by angry protestors on Wednesday...
On Friday, about 1,500 protesters gathered in the city on Friday, chanting anti-government slogans, before they were dispersed by riot police. Some of the demonstrators carried banners reading "It was not an accident, it was murder".
Opposition parties, unions and human rights groups have called for an investigation into the cause of the accident and for those responsible to be held accountable.
It looks like Erdogan may definitely be "losing his grip", but I'm not sure whether or not that grip is on his mental stability or on the leadership of his nation. The video of the police using water cannon on people who are grieving in Soma that began circulating last night is disturbing, to put it mildly.
