Turquía (Continuación)

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Puisque la vocation d'un porte-aéronefs est de projeter de la puissance, à quelles missions en Méditerranée orientale la Turquie destine-t-elle ce navire de plus de 27 000 tonnes, dont la commande a été officialisée en décembre 2013 ? Cette question préoccupe les responsables israéliens, dont la marine ne dispose que d'unités de moyen tonnage. Cela ne signifie pas qu'un porte-avions turc représenterait une réelle menace militaire pour Israël. Son aviation de chasse et ses six sous-marins d'attaque (cinq livrés) de la classe Dolphin lui assurent une forte capacité dissuasive.

Comme la marine turque, la flotte israélienne va monter en puissance au cours des prochaines années, notamment pour protéger ses très importantes réserves de gaz situées au large d'Haïfa.…  Seguir leyendo »

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Although the word turbulence doesn’t exist in Turkish, it is probably the best description of the state of politics in Turkey these days. But we have other words, many of them, that denote “tension,” “masculinity” and “polarization,” all of which afflict the Turkish state.

Turkey is a liquid country, a watercourse of conflicts and contradictions. The mood changes weekly, sometimes daily. Until recently the country was seen as a successful combination of Islam and Western democracy, a power broker in the Middle East. That view is rapidly fading, and the river that is Turkey is running faster than ever.

With local, presidential and general elections coming, this is a year of loud polemics and quiet concerns.…  Seguir leyendo »

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Over the past decade, the Turkish government has received much praise for successfully melding Islam and democracy. Today, however, Ankara’s continued reliance on tactics of confrontation and intimidation is threatening to overshadow the country’s significant achievements. As Turkey attempts to construct a post-revolutionary order, it would do well to follow the example of one Arab country that has managed to avoid political gridlock: Tunisia.

In 2011, protests led to the ouster of Tunisia’s longtime dictator, Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali. The spirit of revolution soon spread to other Arab countries, albeit with less-impressive results. Libya suffered from bloody internal turmoil; Egypt reverted to brutal military rule; Syria continues to be ravaged by civil war.…  Seguir leyendo »

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La dramática batalla entre el Partido Justicia y Desarrollo (AKP) gobernante en Turquía y su antiguo aliado, el movimiento religioso Hizmet, encabezado por el clérigo exiliado Fethulah Gülen, ha empezado a revelar las violaciones del Estado de derecho en gran escala que esos dos grupos cometieron para consolidar su poder. Fiscales a los que se considera de forma generalizada simpatizantes de Gülen han lanzado una investigación muy amplia sobre la corrupción que hasta ahora ha afectado a cuatro ministros y ha llegado hasta el hijo del Primer Ministro, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

Ahora Erdoğan y sus asesores han contraatacado. Acusan a los gülenistas de montar un “golpe burocrático” y recurrir a una gran diversidad de sucias artimañas: desde “colocar pruebas” contra generales que fueron condenados el año pasado por conspirar para derribar a Erdoğan hasta hacer “numerosas escuchas telefónicas”.…  Seguir leyendo »

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For the past month, Turkey has been plagued by an all-out political war between the government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and certain elements within the judiciary and the police. No one knows how it will end, but its meaning for Turkey’s troubled democracy is already clear: There is little rule of law here, and “justice” easily falls victim to power.

This is a problem with deep historical roots. When Mustafa Kemal Ataturk founded the modern Turkish Republic in 1923, he devised the legal system as the protector of his “revolution” — rather than citizens’ rights. His politically motivated “Independence Courts” executed or imprisoned many dissidents.…  Seguir leyendo »

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La semana pasada, el primer ministro turco Recep Tayyip Erdoğan intensificó la respuesta de su gobierno a las investigaciones de corrupción que han estado agitando al país desde diciembre, mediante la reestructuración de la dirección del poder judicial y de la policía. Pero sería un error considerar esto como una lucha entre el poder ejecutivo y el poder judicial, o como un intento de encubrir los cargos que han llevado a la dimisión de tres ministros. Lo que está en discusión es la independencia y la imparcialidad de las autoridades policiales. De hecho, en medio de acusaciones de pruebas falsas, Erdoğan ahora dice que no se opone a que los oficiales militares de alto rango acusados de conspirar para derrocar a su gobierno sean sometidos a nuevos juicios.…  Seguir leyendo »

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A bribery and corruption scandal has plunged Turkey into crisis, seriously undermining Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s authority. Mr. Erdogan now faces serious challenges from both secularists suspicious of his Islamist agenda and his erstwhile ally turned rival, the cleric Fethullah Gulen, who leads a powerful Islamic movement from his perch in Pennsylvania. Sluggish economic growth and setbacks in foreign policy have only spurred the critics.

The political bickering is unlikely to let up before next year’s crucial presidential election, in which Mr. Erdogan is expected to run. He will have a difficult time repairing the tarnished image of his Justice and Development Party, or A.K.P.…  Seguir leyendo »

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Primero, como miembro de la OTAN desde 1952, la decisión de comprarle un sistema de defensa de largo alcance a una empresa china sancionada por infringir la ley de no proliferación que se aplica a Irán, Corea del Norte y Siria ha escandalizado a Washington y a Bruselas. Segundo, Erdogan ha pedido al presidente ruso, Vladimir Putin, que Turquía (miembro de la Unión Aduanera de la UE desde 1996) pueda formar parte de la Organización de Cooperación de Shanghái. Tercero, el partido gobernante, Justicia y Desarrollo (en el poder desde 2002), ha dejado de ser un observador en el Partido Popular Europeo, organización de centro-derecha que constituye el grupo más numeroso del Parlamento Europeo (el Partido Popular forma parte de él, al igual que 18 de los 27 jefes de Estado y de Gobierno de la UE), y se ha unido a la euroescéptica Grupo de Conservadores y Reformistas Europeos.…  Seguir leyendo »

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A wave of early morning police raids in Turkey on Dec. 17 gave the world a sudden glimpse into the murky inner workings of the country’s ruling elite, pulling back the curtain on astonishing scenes of bribery and graft.

The head of the state-controlled financial giant, Halkbank, had $4.5 million secreted in shoe boxes in his study. Istanbul’s best-known real-estate developer was interrogated over bribes to evade zoning restrictions. The interior minister’s son’s home had so many strongboxes filled with cash, he needed a counting machine to keep the accounts straight. His father has now been forced to resign as part of major cabinet reshuffle.…  Seguir leyendo »

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Luego de la reciente visita del ministro de Relaciones Exteriores iraní, Javad Zarif, a los estados del Golfo, todo está dado para que la ofensiva amistosa de la República Islámica continúe con el viaje del presidente Hassan Rouhani a Turquía a comienzos del mes próximo. A diferencia de la mayoría de los vecinos árabes de Irán, Turquía inequívocamente recibió con beneplácito el acuerdo nuclear interino sellado el mes pasado entre Irán y el P5+1 (los cinco miembros permanentes del Consejo de Seguridad de las Naciones Unidas y Alemania). Pero los estrategas políticos turcos son profundamente conscientes de que el acuerdo puede trabucar el frágil equilibrio de poder de Oriente Medio.…  Seguir leyendo »

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The Turks are increasingly hubristic, and not just in the Middle East. Having seen their total G.D.P. more than double in the past decade, many Turks do not feel that they need the European Union anymore. Turkey’s economy is growing much faster than the European average, so the argument goes, why beg to be part of Europe’s anemic Union?

Conversely, many Europeans are increasingly antagonistic toward Turkey’s ongoing bid for European Union membership. Following the huge protests in Istanbul’s Taksim Square last summer, in which millions took to the streets, only to be overpowered by the police, many have argued that Turkey is not a democracy and the Union does not need it.…  Seguir leyendo »

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Foreign journalists writing about Turkey like to focus on the most fundamental divide in Turkish society: the rift between religious conservatives and secularists. But these days an internal clash is raging among the conservatives themselves. And it could be a boon for Turkish democracy.

On one side are the supporters of the prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who is enjoying his 11th year in power and facing increasing criticism for his authoritarian style of rule. On the other side, there are the supporters of Fethullah Gulen, an Islamic scholar and preacher who now lives in Pennsylvania, and whose teachings have inspired Turkey’s most powerful civil society group.…  Seguir leyendo »

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Primero fueron las protestas de la plaza de Taksim. Ahora, la gran “reducción” que elevará los tipos de interés mundiales y detendrá el crecimiento en las economías emergentes como Turquía.

Muchos dicen que el crecimiento de Turquía en los últimos años ha estado alimentado en gran parte, como los de Indonesia, India y Brasil, por los bajos tipos de interés derivados de las políticas monetarias expansivas de la Reserva Federal estadounidense (Fed), el banco central del mundo.

Ante la previsión de recuperación en Estados Unidos, la Fed ha anunciado que va a “reducir” la cantidad de dinero, lo cual subirá los tipos de interés en todo el mundo.…  Seguir leyendo »

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«Jamais nous ne sommes intervenus dans la vie privée de quelqu’un. La vie de notre peuple est sous notre garantie. Il y a des modes de vie légitimes et des modes de vie illégitimes.[…] En tant que pouvoir conservateur, nous sommes dans l’obligation d’intervenir.» C’est le Premier ministre turc qui parlait ainsi, il y a une dizaine de jours. Il lançait une nouvelle campagne de moralisation, totalement inattendue, contre la mixité des logements étudiants. Pas seulement dans les résidences universitaires mais aussi dans les colocations d’appartement !

Se croire en droit d’intervenir légalement sous prétexte d’illégitimité d’une situation au regard de la morale religieuse alors que le droit, justement, considère illégal ce genre d’intervention révèle la profondeur de l’abîme qui sépare le majoritarisme autoritaire qui habite Tayyip Erdogan et la démocratie.…  Seguir leyendo »

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Two years ago, I argued in a Post op-ed that Turkey was pivoting toward the United States. This policy has not ushered in what Ankara wanted: American firepower to oust the Assad regime in Syria. And feeling alone, Turkey has started to seek other allies, including Beijing.

When the Justice and Development Party (AKP) came to power in 2002, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and other Turkish officials toyed with the idea of being a stand-alone actor in the Middle East. By 2011, they had realized that the Arab Spring would create long-term instability in their neighborhood and would position Iran against Turkey in Syria.…  Seguir leyendo »

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There is a heated debate in Turkey these days over whether the government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is furthering democracy or rolling it back.

Optimists argue that, thanks to the defanging of the long-dominant military, Turks now enjoy real democracy for the first time. Others, however, argue that Mr. Erdogan is becoming increasingly authoritarian after a decade in power and that Turkey is less free every day.

Either of these opposing views can be persuasively substantiated — if one carefully cherry-picks facts, which is what both Mr. Erdogan’s supporters and detractors regularly do while ignoring all evidence to the contrary.…  Seguir leyendo »

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When Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced his latest package of democratic reforms, ultra-nationalist groups accused him of betraying the values of the republic founded by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, while Kurdish nationalists expressed frustration at the package’s perceived inadequacy.

This polarized reaction is nothing new. Throughout his tenure, Erdogan has been condemned by the three leading secular opposition parties for pursuing too much reform, and by Turkey’s minorities and civil-society organizations for doing too little.

But Erdogan has navigated this difficult political landscape deftly, with a cautious reform style that aims to build consensus through compromises that actually work when enacted.…  Seguir leyendo »

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A new report has sent a jolt through the world of spies and spy-handlers, with revelations of a major betrayal by a key ally of the United States and the West. That ally is Turkey, a member of NATO, a candidate for membership in the European Union and nation with close ties to the United States and, until a few years ago, a good friend of Israel.

The well-connected Washington Post writer David Ignatius reported the shocking news that Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan gave Iran the names of as many as 10 Iranians who were spying for Israel. The spies had been traveling to Turkey for meetings with officers of the Mossad, Israel’s intelligence agency.…  Seguir leyendo »

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In January, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that because his country’s talks to join the European Union had stalled, he might seek instead to join China and Russia in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.

Few took the threat seriously; Turkey has been a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization since the 1950s. Yet the government’s decision late last month to award a $3 billion air and missile defense system contract to a state-run company from China suggests that Erdogan is turning east to look for new security partners.

The China Precision Machinery Import-Export Corp., or CPMIEC, won the contract to co-produce its HQ-9 surface-to-air missile system in Turkey over bids from the makers of U.S.…  Seguir leyendo »

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'It was a queer, sultry summer, the summer they killed people on the streets, and I didn't know what I was doing in Istanbul …" There was something about Turkey's Taksim Square protests that often made me think of the opening line in Sylvia Plath's The Bell Jar. The same gloom was in the air; heavy with pepper spray and tear gas.

As difficult as last summer was for the nation, autumn brings new hope. The long-awaited "democratisation package" was announced this week at a huge press conference, and translated into Arabic and English simultaneously. The details tell a lot. The fact that it was named "democratization package" gave the impression that it would have something for every religious, ethnic and political group.…  Seguir leyendo »