AKP are boring

It is said most of the rebels are deputies who come from central and southeastern Turkey. This attitude is not based on morals or religion, but on forcing the party leadership to fulfill their demands. This is an uprising against European Union values.

I am not blaming the rebellious deputies. They have the right to think in any way they deem appropriate. What really troubles me is that the party leadership failed to establish a proper dialogue with the deputies. I believe this rebellion is not based on adultery, but against Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his team.

You will see eventually they will back away from the adultery matter. Either the party will decide to back away on its own, or it will be forced to do so due to outside pressure.

To tell you the truth, both the AKP and the adultery issue have bored us.

Turkey lucky to have General Ozkok
Turkey is very lucky to have Gen. Hilmi Ozkok as its chief of staff at this point of time.

In an interview he had with Metin Heper, from Bilkent University’s Department of Political Science, Ozkok said that all the military coups until now had been a failure, adding that eventually whatever the people wanted, happened. He noted that all the political leaders toppled in military coups had returned to lead Turkey within a few years.

Most soldiers know this fact, but never say it out loud.

Gen. Ozkok heads the Turkish Armed Forces (TCK) at a time when Turkey is governed by the AKP, which comes from an alternative political movement, and when the eyes of the EU are upon us.

He reined in all the reactive movements in the military. He did this at a time when a crisis erupted with the Pentagon over Iraq and the Annan plan was being discussed regarding Cyprus. He did this at a time when he had to face harsh criticism by retired military commanders. No one should ignore what Ozkok has done.

France: ‘Let’s delay giving a date to Turkey’
French pressure on the EU Commission is increasing every day. The problem is about the date to be given to Turkey to start membership negotiations.

It is not the EU Commission that will give the date. In its report to be released on Oct. 6, it will say whether the EU can or cannot start membership negotiations. The date will be given on Dec. 17 during the EU summit of heads of state and government in Brussels. However, France is taking certain precautions before the summit and wants the commission to include certain warnings about the date in its report.

Paris wants the negotiations to start after a French referendum on the European Constitution. The reason why is the public perception that the start of the negotiations means Turkey’s full membership. The French government fears people reacting and voting against the Constitution.

The commission may resist this pressure, but I don’t think the other heads of state and government will oppose France in December. In other words, there is a possibility that the date may be pushed back to September or October, 2005.

However, this is not important. The month doesn’t matter. It is the year that counts.

All of us spent this money
During the economic crisis, 21 banks were seized by the Savings Deposit Insurance Fund (TMSF), due to various reasons. Some tried to portray that a few bank owners had stolen $42 billion. These owners carry a certain degree of responsibility about what happened, but let’s not lie to ourselves.

Most of the money was spent by all of us. How, you may ask?

According to the TMSF, 204,000 people borrowed from these 21 banks and never paid them back. Some just squandered the money, while others just disappeared into thin air. The total of unpaid debt is TL 1.25 quadrillion.
These banks paid enormous amounts of money for advertising. Billions of dollars flowed into the media through advertising agencies. Many made a lot of money out of this.
These banks opened unnecessary branches everywhere. They paid billions of dollars to contractors and their employees.
What I am trying to say is very simple. We all, including the bank owners, utilized the money these banks spent before the crisis.

If you ask about what the state did, it paid no attention to what was going on. It said, "I guarantee the money you deposit in the bank." Bureaucrats failed to make the necessary warnings. They also exploited this spending spree.

For us to point our finger at the bank owners and blame them for everything is both unfair and wrong.

They were the bosses and of course they are responsible for what happened. However, there can be only one reason why these people are publicly crucified and that is to hide the responsibilities of others.

What do you think. Are we trying to hide from our own crimes?