ANKARA: The Turkish public wakes up every day to statements from leading political figures in Ankara promising a “new wave of reform” that is expected to arrive soon.
However, considering the country’s past record on the rule of law, democracy, human rights and management of the economy, there is a a big question mark over how these actors will deliver on their commitments.
Promises of reform have become a recurrent theme in President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his government member’s speeches in recent days, especially after the sudden reshuffle of the country’s top economic team, which includes the resignation of Berat Albayrak, the finance minister and also Erdogan’s son-in-law.
Erdogan has chosen a conciliatory tone in his speeches directed at the financial market, speeches reminiscent of those he made in 2014 about reform of the Turkish economy.
On Nov. 11, Erdogan pledged the launch of market-friendly policies, and to contain inflation and put the country back on a path to growth.
The Turkish lira has lost about a third of its value this year and almost half of its value against the US dollar since May 2018 — making it among the worst performers in emerging markets — although it bounced back following the redesign of the country’s economic management team and the appointment of a new central bank governor and finance minister.
The newly appointed figures both committed to prioritizing price stability in a bid to please global markets, although a decision to raise interest rates to a significant level is expected to be announced on Nov. 19.
Berk Esen, a political scientist from Sabanci University in Istanbul, said that Albayrak’s resignation is a blow to Erdogan, whose regime has fallen on hard times due to the economic downturn and growing popular opposition against his government.
Esen does not attribute too much significance to Erdogan’s and his A team’s recent statements about the start of a new era of reforms in the economy and judiciary.
“Under the ruling Justice and Development Party’s (AKP) rule, Turkey has experienced several waves of ‘reform’ that led to centralization of power in the hands of the ruling party and its leader,” he told Arab News.
Justice is another area where the government suffers from internal bleeding from disenchanted party members and constituencies.
Along with declining foreign reserves, a weakening currency and growing isolation due to engagement in several battle scenes in its region, Turkey’s credentials in the justice field are on a downward trend and making investors concerned about the country.
However, Justice Minister Abdulhamit Gul promised speedy trials and less pre-trial prison time in another speech on Nov. 12 in which he criticized lower courts going against decisions of the country’s constitutional court as harmful to investor trust.
“The judiciary should only consider the conscious, law and constitution. Let justice be served, if it means the coming of doomsday,” he said.
In the meantime, the Turkish Council of Judges and Prosecutors HSK will re-evaluate the high-profile case of Turkish philanthropist and businessman Osman Kavala, who has been behind bars since Nov. 1, 2017, as part of a legal saga illustrating the deterioration of the rule of law in Turkey.
The new trial of Kavala, accused of “attempting to undermine the constitutional order,” is set to begin on Dec. 18.
Esen thinks that following Albayrak’s resignation, Erdogan needs to strengthen the ranks of his regime and project an image of stability and calm.
“There were major defections from his party over the past year so he needs to find a way to stop the hemorrhaging of party cadres and votes to the newly established splinter parties and restore confidence in the Turkish economy,” he said.
Erdogan’s AKP is facing a big fall in popularity according to the latest polls, which reveal that public support dropped below 30 percent for the first time, while his nationalistic partner’s vote share drops below the 10 percent election threshold. This decline is significant considering that the AKP secured 43 percent of the vote in the previous parliamentary elections in 2018.
Ali Babacan, former economy tzar and the founder of a breakaway party DEVA, recently launched his campaign, “Don’t be Afraid, Turkey,” urging people to speak their minds and express themselves freely.
According to Esen, Joe Biden’s election as US president will bring the issue of sanctions back to the table over Turkey’s purchase of Russian air defenses when he takes office in January 2021.
“In response, Erdogan is probably seeking a restorationist course in foreign policy and the economy to stabilize his government. If these moves damage his agreement with his coalition partner and leader of the nationalistic MHP, Devlet Bahceli, the option of early elections may arise,” he said.
Burak Bilgehan Ozpek, an Ankara-based political scientist, said that the latest reform promises from high-ranking governmental officials showed that the AKP had noticed its declining political power since local elections last year ,where it lost the mayorship of several key cities to the opposition.
“So far, Albayrak and his team were encouraging a policy of criminalization of all dissident actors and they were implementing a political tutelage solely based on national security paradigms. However, this choice further polarized the country and fueled a one-man rule,” he told Arab News.
According to Ozpek, the ruling government’s only option to protect its voter base is by initiating reforms, ending judicial scandals, transforming its monopoly on the media and opening up space for people to freely express themselves.
“However, if Erdogan doesn’t give any concession from his own power, these reforms cannot materialize, and all these promises would remain on paper, leading to a freefall in their electoral base,” he said.
Will Turkish government deliver on its latest political promises?
https://arab.news/9wnta
Will Turkish government deliver on its latest political promises?
- Promises of reform have become a recurrent theme in Erdogan and his government member’s speeches recently
- The Turkish lira has lost about a third of its value this year and almost half of its value against the US dollar since May 2018
Israeli attacks kill 3,544 in Lebanon since October 2023, health ministry says
CAIRO: Israeli attacks have killed at least 3,544 people and wounded 15,036 in Lebanon since October 2023, with 28 fatalities reported on Monday, the Lebanese health ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.
Israeli settler group slams US sanctions over West Bank
- A statement by the group said the sanctions “result from baseless slander directed at Amana by hostile and extremist elements“
- “Had the US administration bothered to verify the claims... it would have found them to be factually unfounded and refrained from taking action against us”
JERUSALEM: Israeli organization Amana, a movement that backs developing settlements in the occupied West Bank, on Tuesday denounced sanctions imposed on it by the United States the previous day.
A statement by the group said the sanctions “result from baseless slander directed at Amana by hostile and extremist elements.”
“Had the US administration bothered to verify the claims... it would have found them to be factually unfounded and refrained from taking action against us,” the statement said.
US authorities said Monday they would impose sanctions on Amana and its construction branch Binyanei Bar Amana, as well as others who have “ties to violent actors in the West Bank.”
“Amana is a key part of the Israeli extremist settlement movement and maintains ties to various persons previously sanctioned by the US government and its partners for perpetrating violence in the West Bank,” the US Treasury said.
“More broadly, Amana strategically uses farming outposts, which it supports through financing, loans, and building infrastructure, to expand settlements and seize land,” it added.
All settlements in the West Bank, which Israel has occupied since 1967, are illegal under international law.
Settlement outposts are built by private actors including Amana, and are also illegal under Israeli law.
The new sanctions will block Amana assets in the United States and prevent financial transactions between it and US-based individuals and institutions.
Several Israeli settlers have already been the target of US sanctions.
Amana was founded in 1979 to develop the Jewish presence in the West Bank, the northern Israel region of Galilee and in the Negev region in the south.
It has founded and developed dozens of settlements and settlement outposts since then.
“We are confident that with the change of administration in Washington, and with proper and necessary action by the Israeli government, all sanctions will be lifted,” Amana said Tuesday of US President-elect Donald Trump’s perceived leniency toward Israeli actions.
Yossi Dagan, Shomron Regional Council president, in charge of settlements in the northern West Bank, called the sanctions move “the final act of the Biden administration, which is cynical and hostile toward the Near East’s only democracy.”
Violence in the West Bank, particularly in the north, has soared since the war in the Gaza Strip broke out on October 7 last year after Palestinian militants Hamas attacked southern Israel.
The UN office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs (OCHA), said in its latest report that 300 incidents involving settlers occurred in the West Bank between October 1 and November 4.
Not counting annexed east Jerusalem, about 490,000 settlers live in the West Bank, which is home to three million Palestinians.
French minister on Gulf tour says Lebanon’s army needs support
- “I have reiterated to each counterpart that we need them to support the Lebanese armed forces,” Sebastien Lecornu said
- “We will have to think about more operational support on the military side“
ABU DHABI: France’s defense minister said Lebanon’s armed forces need more support as he completed a Gulf tour on Tuesday, saying they will be crucial for securing border areas after Israel’s war with Hezbollah.
As efforts toward a ceasefire increase, Sebastien Lecornu told AFP that he had raised the prospect of “operational support” for the Lebanese armed forces during his trip.
“I have reiterated to each counterpart that we need them to support the Lebanese armed forces,” he said after visits to Qatar and Saudi Arabia.
“Both in the central role they play in welfare matters, and in the security aspect. We will have to think about more operational support on the military side.”
Lecornu was speaking in the UAE capital Abu Dhabi before meeting President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed at the end of his three-country tour.
Diplomatic efforts are intensifying to secure a ceasefire based on United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended the 2006 war between Hezbollah and Israel.
The resolution called for the deployment of Lebanese government forces and United Nations peacekeeping force UNIFIL in areas south of Lebanon’s Litani River near the Israeli border, as well as the withdrawal of Israeli forces.
“There isn’t a better solution at this stage than to respect Resolution 1701 and to support the Lebanese armed forces,” Lecornu said.
But “to secure the border between Israel and Lebanon, and to reinforce Lebanon’s sovereignty, the armed forces must be properly armed,” he added.
The Lebanese army is envisioned as having a greater role in maintaining stability along the border in the event of a ceasefire, though it currently struggles to meet the basic needs of its 80,000 soldiers.
It has previously received financial assistance from Qatar and the United States to pay salaries.
Last month, a conference in Paris raised $200 million to support the Lebanese armed forces, on top of $800 million in humanitarian aid for the country.
Israel expanded the focus of its operations from Gaza to Lebanon in late September, vowing to secure its northern border to allow tens of thousands of people displaced by cross-border fire to return home.
Since the clashes began with Hezbollah attacks on Israel, more than 3,510 people in Lebanon have been killed, according to authorities there, with most fatalities recorded since late September.
The Lebanese government says it is ready to deploy the army to the border to safeguard a ceasefire, and plans to recruit 1,500 more soldiers.
Prime Minister Najib Mikati said last month that 4,500 military personnel were in the south and that he wanted to raise their number to 7,000-11,000.
Lecornu’s tour also comes two weeks before French President Emmanuel Macron arrives in Saudi Arabia for a visit focused on defense and investment in new technologies.
Hamas-led force targets gangs looting Gaza aid convoys
- The new force has staged repeated operations, ambushing looters and killing some in armed clashes
- After nearly 100 trucks were looted last week Hamas attacked an armed group gathering near a crossing where aid trucks usually enter
CAIRO: Fighters from Hamas and other Gaza factions have formed an armed force to prevent gangs pillaging aid convoys in the embattled territory, residents and sources close to the group said, after a big increase in the looting of scarce supplies.
Since being formed this month amid rising public anger at aid seizures and price gouging, the new force has staged repeated operations, ambushing looters and killing some in armed clashes, the sources said.
Hamas’ efforts to take a lead in securing aid supplies point to the difficulties Israel will face in a post-war Gaza, with few obvious alternatives to a group it has been trying to destroy for over a year and which it says can have no governing role.
Israel accuses Hamas of hijacking aid. The group denies that and accuses Israel of trying to foment anarchy in Gaza by targeting police guarding aid convoys.
A spokesperson for Israel’s military did not immediately respond to Reuters request for comment on Hamas units fighting looters.
Amid the chaos of the war, armed gangs have increasingly raided supply convoys, hijacking trucks and selling the looted stock in Gaza markets at exorbitant prices.
As well as driving anger at the Israeli military, the shortages had also prompted questions of Hamas for its seeming inability to stop the gangs.
“We are all against the bandits and looters so we can live and eat ... now you are obliged to buy from a thief,” said Diyaa Al-Nasara, speaking near a funeral for a Hamas fighter killed in clashes with looters.
The new anti-looting force, formed of well-equipped fighters from Hamas and allied groups, has been named “The Popular and Revolutionary Committees” and is ready to open fire on hijackers who do not surrender, one of the sources, a Hamas government official, said.
The official, who declined to be named because Hamas would not authorize him to speak about it, said the group operated across central and southern Gaza and had carried out at least 15 missions so far, including killing some armed gangsters.
WIDESPREAD HUNGER
Thirteen months into Israel’s devastating military campaign in Gaza, launched in response to the deadly Hamas attacks of Oct. 7, 2023, major shortages of food, medicine and other goods are causing widespread hunger and suffering among civilians.
Israel put commercial goods imports on hold last month and only aid trucks have entered Gaza since then, carrying a fraction of what relief groups say is needed for a territory where most people have lost their homes and have little money.
“It’s getting harder and harder to get the aid in,” said WHO spokesperson Margaret Harris after a series of looting incidents over the weekend.
Before the war, a sack of flour sold for $10 or $15 and a kilogram of milk powder for 30 shekels. Now the flour costs $100 and the milk powder 300 shekels, traders said.
Some people in Gaza say they want Hamas to target looters.
“There is a campaign against thieves, we see that. If the campaign continues and aid flows, the prices will go down because the stolen aid appears in the markets at high cost,” said Shaban, a displaced Gaza City engineer, now living in Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
After nearly 100 trucks were looted last week Hamas attacked an armed group gathering near a crossing where aid trucks usually enter, opened heavy fire, killing at least 20 of them, according to residents and the Hamas Aqsa television.
Witnesses described another firefight on Saturday when Hamas fighters in two cars chased men suspected of looting who were in another vehicle, resulting in the death of the suspects.
The Hamas official said the force showed that the group’s governance in Gaza continued.
“Hamas as a movement exists, whether someone likes it or not. Hamas as a government exists too, not as strong as it used to be, but it exists and its personnel are trying to serve the people everywhere in the areas of displacement,” he said.
Israel army says soldier killed in combat in Lebanon
- The sergeant was killed during combat in southern Lebanon, the army said
JERUSALEM: The Israeli army said Tuesday that a soldier was killed in south Lebanon, where its troops have battled Hezbollah since late September after a year of cross-border exchanges of fire.
“Sergeant First Class (Reserve) Omer Moshe Gaeldor, aged 30, from Jerusalem, a soldier from the 5,111 Battalion, Golani Brigade, was killed during combat in southern Lebanon,” the army said, adding three other soldiers were wounded.
