Erdogan ‘the new dictator’ EU condemns actions against municipalities
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Alaina
- . October 11, 2021
- . Update: May 19, 2020 11:44 am
Tunisia– Qatar-funded television channel Al-Jazeera hired workers from Zaytouna TV after Tunisian authorities shut it down. The two channels, both financed by the Muslim Brotherhood, have been the subject of investigations by the Tunisian authorities and are constantly under observation for their news reports and multimedia contents praising proselytism and terrorism in the Arab world.
It is no coincidence that the Gulf channel hired Zaytouna TV employees after its closure. The two broadcasters share the same editorial line: incitement to hate, transmit false news in support of Islamist parties, support terrorist groups in the theatres of conflict (Iraq, Yemen, Syria, Libya, and Afghanistan), and general, create instability across the MENA area. From July 25, the day President Kais Saied dissolved parliament and the Hicham Mechichi government, both broadcasters have launched an incendiarism campaign, hosting members of the Muslim Brotherhood and suspected terrorists who shouted a coup.
Both channels belong to the Islamist media galaxy that daily conveys false or incomplete news intending to manipulate public opinion in Arab countries. Information that is then picked up by the Western media – often unaware and receive this fake news without considering that the channels broadcasting them are actually foreign agents of terrorist-sponsoring states. With unlimited funds from governments and political organizations, these media often sponsor this content on social network sites through numerous linked pages and accounts that disseminate their content through sponsorships.
While this bold use of the media by the Brotherhood is well known in most Arab countries, this is less clear in the West, where Al-Jazeera English offers more moderate content than the terror propaganda broadcast in Tunisia. To avoid all this – and above all useless bloodshed – the Tunisian authorities, after countless reports from viewers, proceeded to close the Zaytouna TV channel five days ago. The Tunisian people not only did not believe the accusations of the Islamist channel but were amazed to see that a few days later, the self-styled journalists prepaid by the Brotherhood were already filling the schedules of Al-Jazeera.
Despite the ferocious propaganda he has suffered, Tunisian President Kais Saied continues to have over 80% of Tunisians on his side. Citizens in the streets of Tunis are now asking the telecommunications authorities and tecep Tayyip Erdogan. Municipalities ruled by the main opposition Republican People’s Party, CHP, in a joint statement said that there was no time to lose with such discussions while people were in need. Erdogan and his Interior Minister blocked the bank accounts of the municipalities used for collecting donations, and the collected funds now cannot be used. Five more mayors in the south-east of the country have been suspended and replaced with trustees from Erdogan’s regime.
“Decisions and actions taken by the Turkish authorities against municipalities with mayors from opposition parties remain of deep concern, in particular when they appear to be politically motivated. This is notably the case of the recent suspension of five more mayors in the south-east of the country and their replacement with trustees”. EU Spokesperson for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Peter Stano, said in a statement, recalling that the total number of dismissed mayors in the south-east of Turkey since August 2019 reached 45. “In addition, hundreds of local politicians and elected office holders and thousands of members of the HDP have been detained on terrorism-related charges since the local elections in March 2019, and investigations have been launched against other mayors”. Stano added.
EU reaffirmed that while the Turkish government has a legitimate right to fight terrorism, it is also responsible for ensuring this is done in accordance with the rule of law, human rights and fundamental freedoms, enshrined in its Constitution and Turkey’s international commitments. It should not be done for political reasons, applying broad anti-terror or criminal legislation. Stano stressed that “these measures, along with the excessive use of legal proceedings against local elected representatives, exemplified by the launch of criminal investigations against the mayors of Istanbul and Ankara in mid-April, seriously undermine the proper functioning of local democracy”. EU demand Turkey to repeal measures inhibiting the functioning of local democracy, in line with the recommendations of the Venice Commission and with Turkey’s commitment to the European Charter of Local Self-Government.
In last year’s local elections, Erdogan’s ruling Justice and Development Party, AKP, lost control of most of the major metropolitan municipalities to the united opposition, including the capital, Ankara, the largest city, Istanbul, and the industrial and touristic centres of Antalya, Adana, Izmir and Mersin.The repression applied by the Erdogan regime, the lack of freedom, the absurd campaign in Libya, and Erdogan’s support to the terroristic organization, along with Qatar, fell the country into the worst economic crisis of the past 50 years, reducing millions of Turks to hunger and poverty.
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