While everyone worries about the insanity of an ascending Donald Trump, Europe suffers the onslaught of another powermonger, Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Unlike Trump whose demented outlook may yet scare the US establishment into accountability, while at the same time dealing a much-needed blow to the out-of-control movement of political correctness, Erdogan is entrenched in power. He won’t scare anyone into sense; on the contrary, he’s scaring people out of their minds, playing master puppeteer with the weak leaders of the EU.
(The article in the Spectator sums it up nicely, and the accompanying podcast puts everything in perspective — see bottom)
The news is not good. Europe seems to be on the cusp of an age-long dream first conceived in the Ottoman Empire centuries ago: the dismantling of Europe’s gates along the Balkans and the flooding of the continent’s lands by the subjects of a sultan hell bent on holding permanent sway over Europe, one step at a time.
Be you liberal or conservative, left or right wing, agree or disagree with the words used in the article below, or this here op-ed, you have one thing in common: you are being manhandled. Europe has just been strongarmed into opening its borders to 80 million Turkish citizens in exchange for (and here’s the hair-raising clincher) Erdogan holding back 2.7 million refugees from Syria and Iraq, among other places. He expects a €3billion+ payout to handle them, with the figure going up at his whim, and visa-free travel in the Schengen area for all Turkish subjects. Fail to comply with his demands and he threatens to open the floodgates and overwhelm the continent with millions of undocumented migrants and refugees.
A callous, heinous, vile way of conducting politics no matter which side of the border you are standing, or which part of the political spectrum you occupy. Any way you look at it, Erdogan is playing Risk with the lives of 2.7 million displaced individuals plus 500 million EU citizens, pushing his agenda onto Europe no matter what.
This is not an opinion, it’s a fact; a fait accompli. Bar a retraction on the EU’s part, this ‘deal’ is going ahead.
Be you left or right, liberal or conservative, or somewhere in between, you are now faced with two choices: disagree over how to qualify the situation, fighting over the terms used to describe it and the politics that guide it, calling each other names (fascist pig, socialist scum, bigot, loony, crony etc), deepening the civil turmoil already weakening the European Union — or deal with Erdogan’s actions in unison, as the situation arises. The continent demands it, and so does its union.
I guess Erdogan isn’t that different from Trump after all. He may yet scare the establishment into accountability. He may even scare it into responsible action.
From your annoyingly history-savvy Spin Doctor,
Eyes open, mind sharp.
http://www.spectator.co.uk/2016/05/how-recep-tayyip-erdogan-brought-the-eu-to-heel/