In a two-part column titled "Recalling Terrorists and 'Lesser Terrorists,'" published October 25 and October 27 2011 in the Turkish Hurriyet Daily News, Turkish columnist Burak Bekdil, referring to a column he wrote five years ago when Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit was kidnapped, discussed the hypocrisy of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on "terrorism" – with one standard for the PKK and another for Hamas. Noting that Erdogan has consistently defined the PKK as "terrorist" and Hamas as a "freedom fighter," Bekdil said that he would "keep on reminding the prime minister and the foreign minister that if [Palestinian prisoners released in exchange deals] are not terrorists, no PKK member could or should be considered a terrorist." The following is Bekdil's two-part column [1] Part I, October 25, 2011 "The [Turkish] Prime Minister... Finally Spoke The Truth!... 'To Remain Silent (In the Face of Terror Attacks) Is To Approve (Terrorism)'" "The [Turkish] prime minister and his chief E.U. negotiator finally spoke the truth! As more large groups of coffins wrapped in the Crescent and Star kept arriving in various Turkish towns last week [following ongoing PKK attacks], Recep Tayyip Erdogan said something only a lunatic could object to: 'To remain silent (in the face of terror attacks) is to approve (terrorism)...' "And Egemen Bagış complained that 'Some E.U. media (outlets) present the PKK (terrorists) as if they are freedom fighters. PKK is a terrorist organization. It is on the E.U. and U.S. lists of terrorist entities.' "Right? Right. The only problem is that Messrs. Erdogan and Bagış are not behaving as they would expect others to behave." "Erdogan Has Moved From [Claiming] 'PKK Is Terrorist, Hamas Is a Freedom Fighter' to 'PKK Is Terrorist, Hamas Is a Freedom Fighter, And We Accuse The West Of Hypocrisy'" "Five years ago, when the world's now most famous Israeli soldier had been kidnapped, Mr. Erdogan said that it was 'most natural' if Hamas asked for 'something' in return for the release of Gilad Shalit. Asking whether he would apply the same logic if a Turkish soldier were kidnapped by the PKK, I wrote in this column: 'Terrorists kill; "lesser terrorists" do not – they merely side with terrorists on the basis of common political/religious ideology or strategic interest. 'Lesser terrorists may be statesmen or common people. They may be scholars, politicians or even "peacemakers." They do not necessarily take up arms, but they feel a silent, pathetic contentment along ideological and/or pragmatist lines when "their comrades" tend to kill "their enemy." That's why they are not terrorists, but lesser terrorists. They do not kill; they are just ideological sadists' ('Terrorists and "lesser terrorists,"' Turkish Daily News, July 19, 2006)." "After five years and hundreds of bodies scattered through Anatolian graveyards, I see that Mr. Erdogan has moved from [claiming that] 'PKK is terrorist and Hamas is a freedom fighter' to [claiming that] 'PKK is terrorist and Hamas is a freedom fighter and we accuse the West of hypocrisy.' By 2016, he may even add more glitter to his reasoning, and claim that 'PKK is terrorist and Hamas is a freedom fighter and anyone who thinks Hamas is terrorist is terrorist himself and we accuse the West and Israel of hypocrisy.' "When Thousands Of Turks Were Mourning Their Own Dead Soldiers... Even Bigger Crowds Were Holding Funeral Prayers... For [Chechen Terror Commander] Shamil Basayev" "Perhaps the problem is in the Turkish-Islamist thinking. In 2006, one certain day when thousands of Turks were mourning their own dead soldiers – a day exactly like last Friday – even bigger crowds, on exactly the same day, were holding funeral prayers in absentia in several Turkish cities for Shamil Basayev, the legendary commander of Chechen terrorists, who, among an assortment of others, was responsible for the Beslan massacre in which hundreds of Russian schoolchildren were killed. "Why, really, do the Turks get offended when Kurds mourn the dead PKK men and declare them as their martyrs, like they themselves do for 'Chechen or Palestinian freedom fighters?' Is there no upper limit to this international theater of unpleasant hypocrisy? Lost in such childish thoughts and reading the hero's welcome for the Palestinian prisoners released in exchange for Mr. Shalit, I recalled one man, Samir Kuntar, who had been released in 2008 in exchange for the body of Ehud Goldwasser, one of the three Israeli soldiers abducted in 2006. Today Mr. Kuntar is a hero among Palestinians, other Arabs and possibly some Turks too. "What made him a hero? He had killed an Israeli man in front of the man's four-year-old daughter and then killed the daughter by bashing her head in with his rifle. Hence, a hero Mr. Kuntar is. "Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, also a friend and brother of Mr. Erdogan, gave Mr. Kuntar a medal for 'supporting the Palestinian and Lebanese resistance.'" Part II, October 27, 2011 According To Erdogan's Reasoning, "Released Palestinian Terrorist] Samir Kuntar Was A Hero... But He Is Not the Only Hero" – So Are the Prisoners Released In Exchange For Gilad Shalit "So Samir Kuntar was an Arab hero who had killed an Israeli man and his four-year-old daughter. But he is not the only hero. "The prisoners released in exchange for Gilad Shalit include those who orchestrated suicide attacks on a Jerusalem pizzeria, killing 15 people; a Passover Seder in Netanya, killing 30; a bus in Jerusalem, killing 11; and a bus in Haifa, killing 17. "But apart from having sunshine at expensive hotels and enjoying the finer things of life, what will the heroes do in the world outside of prison cells? I understand they are planning to improve their careers in a profession in which they are truly exceptionally skilled men and women. "The spokesman for the military wing of Hamas has proudly announced that Sgt.-Maj. Shalit 'will not be the last soldier kidnapped by Hamas as long as Israel keeps Palestinian prisoners detained.' And the Popular Resistance Committees (PRC) in Gaza – which had been involved in Mr. Shalit's abduction in 2006 – stated that 'the kidnapping of Israeli soldiers is our strategy.' "Wafa Al-Bass, a 'freedom fighter' (not to be confused with 'terrorist') imprisoned in 2005 when she was caught smuggling a suicide bomb while pretending to seek medical help, said after her release that 'Palestinians should take another Shalit each year.' Ms. Al-Bass also said she hopes she will see some of her comrades become shahid (martyr in jihad). 'Today I wish to become a suicide bomber three times more than before,' she said. 'I am proud of jihad!' "And there is Amana Muna who arrived in Turkey last week as part of the prisoner swap. When a few weak voices in the Turkish media mentioned that Ms. Muna had actually got life imprisonment after using an Internet chat to lure a 16-year-old Israeli boy from Ashkelon to Ramallah where he was then ambushed and killed, a statement from the Palestinian Embassy in Ankara made things clear about whether the lady had a criminal past. Without denying the incident for which Ms. Muna had been imprisoned, the embassy statement (as quoted by Hurriyet) said: 'Amana Muna is a Palestinian struggler who fought for a righteous cause.'" "I Shall... Keep On Reminding the Prime Minister... That If Kuntar or Al-Bass Or Muna Are Not Terrorists, No PKK Member Could Or Should Be Considered A Terrorist" "I am curious to know whether Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan or Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu would think the assortment of bombings and killings would qualify these 'strugglers' as terrorists. Or perhaps there is not a good reason to be curious about this since earlier this year Mr. Erdogan said that 'calling Hamas [members] terrorists would be disrespectful to the will of the Palestinians.' I shall all the same keep on reminding the prime minister and the foreign minister that if Kuntar or Al-Bass or Muna are not terrorists, no PKK member could or should be considered a terrorist. "As to the Palestinian Embassy statement: Dear Palestinian brothers, you may be right about some of your political arguments. But you should be able to understand that a passionate devotion to kill, reinforced by a pathetic interpretation of a holy book, is no good recipe for peace, which most of you claim is Islam's primary teaching. "Perhaps Mr. Erdogan missed his chance to honor Mr. Kuntar the freedom fighter, since Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was a couple of years quicker and awarded him a medal. But the good news is that there are new arrivals among the freedom fighters/strugglers pool, and Mr. Erdogan can always think up a medal for Ms. Al-Bass or Ms. Muna." [1] Hurriyet Daily News, Turkey, October 25 and 27, 2011. The original English has been lightly edited for clarity. Home Jihad & Terrorism Text Size November 8, 2011 Turkish Columnist on PM Erdogan's Hypocrisy: Why Does He Continue To Insist That the PKK Is Terrorist But Hamas Are Freedom Fighters?
Endnote:
Tuesday, 8 November 2011
Special Dispatch No.4259
Posts
