Erdogan, democracy and the Indian response: A reply to Mohammad Bahzad Fatmi

By Noushad MK for Twocircles.net

Mohammad Bahzad Fatmi’s article against Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was the most expected and awaited piece by his readers who know or do not know him personally. But my acquaintance with Bahzad is personal and I know why and how he has been hitting hard Turkey’s AKP ruled government and more conveniently President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Like him, I have also stayed in Turkey and learned Turkish language and came back India to continue my research at JNU. Bahzad chose to go to the UK. What forced me to respond Bahzad’s desperation against the visiting Turkish President is that he wants to use a respected professional name, journalism, to advance his ideological and professional agenda, keeping his readers complete dark. Assuming that he is a journalist and an objective analyst, many readers are deceived. I have a letter sent by him recently and it reads, Mohammad Bahzad Fatmi, Research Fellow, Indialogue Foundation, an internationally known affiliate of the Gulen movement in India, currently under strict watch of the Indian government to investigate allegations it by the Turkish government.


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Since there should be no restriction on Gulen-linked people to write and speak their mind but there should also not be a misrepresentation of one’s identity where his bias is natural. In case of Bahzad’s writing against Turkey’s elected government, his introduction below his articles published by DailyO hide his real identity of being a committed Gulen movement worker. While I respect his choice to be the part of any organization, I also expect him to show the courage to be identified with the identity to which he is officially and ideologically affiliated and inform his readers and publishers so that they receive your views in perspective.

After learning that the Turkish President will be conferred an honorary doctorate by Jamia Millia Islamia, his desperation perhaps crossed the lines of decency. His tweet reads:

“If this news is true I will do my bit to ensure that the Jamia administration has eggs on their face.”

Now the points he has made in his scathing attacks on President Erdogan in which he encourages his Indian hosts to question are driven by more of his political motivation than by his journalistic insights, to which everyone must respect regardless of the opinion. From accusing Turkey of appeasing Indian Muslims to be a risky investment destination. As I have been in Turkey in the same time as he was, I would like to comment on some of his points to which our readers deserve the alternative perspective as well.

He starts by referring to the recent European Union parliament’s re-opening “the monitoring procedure against Turkey” while he skips the part of resolution that the European Parliament has recognised that the military coup a real trauma Turkey has gone through, not a conspiracy designed by the government as many of the Gulenists  try to project. tThe same resolution also recognises several steps the Turkish government has taken since the failed coup towards ensuring a transparent procedure of all accused and undertrials. What Mr. Bahzad would not like tell his readers why and how the Gulen-linked several military and civilian officers in cases known as Sledghammer and Ergenokon   and what were the Gulen movement’s interests at that time, except to manipulate and exploit an elected government. What he would not like to tell his readers about the European Union’s recognitions Turkey has made from 2006 to 2015 according to their own reports but none of these progress brought any benefit from the EU. In European Union’s 2006, 2007 Turkey’s Progress Report, 2014, and 2015 EU Parliament’s resolution,  it welcomed the ongoing reforms and democratic process in Turkey. However what you may not want to ask is that what the limit of Turkey’s 50 years of endless wait to become its member and what are the real reason. Had democracy and reforms and its secular credentials been a real reasons, Turkey should have been the member of the EU when it was ruled by staunchly secular governments.

You should not shy away from mentioning that the so-called neutral observers who have questioned the validity and fairness of the recently held referendum, many members of Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) election observers were actively involved with pro-PKK terrorist groups and were openly supporting the NO campaign, violating the principles of remaining neutral while assuming such sensitive political observer duties.

Has he really done his homework to say that the real reason behind Indian investors coming to Turkey is only its being the gateway of Europe? Mahindra for example, has made Turkey its base for its entire Middle East business, not just Europe and so is the case of all global companies coming to Turkey to expand their business in the Middle East, Central Asia and Europe as well. That Turkey will exit Europe is nothing but an exaggeration made by right wing politicians in Europe who have stopped Turkish politicians from conducting political activities.

In a gross misrepresentation of a speech delivered by President Erdogan’s advisor Ilnur Chevik at India International Centre, Mohammad Bahzad should rather make the recording he possesses public so that his readers understand what was the context when he referred India Muslims in his speech. Those in attendance have provided me the recording which clearly negates his claim, though his claim suits very well with the ongoing right wing political rhetoric in our country. President’s advisor in fact expressed his personal desire, not the official position that India should have been in the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation as it has the second largest Muslim population. We all know that when India had desired for the OIC membership, Pakistan had blocked the move in its first summit held in Morocco.

I don’t know if Bahzad now needs to appease India’s right wing politicians by saying that Turkey is appeasing Indian Muslims when the fact can be seen that the majority of business community making profit from their business in Turkey are non-Muslims. In fact, in his attempt to become the darling of the right wing, he should have said that all Muslim and Arab countries should pass the test of being “anti-Muslim” before they come to India.

Your appetite to sensationalise Turkey’s relation with other friendly countries, Pakistan for example, you have mentioned the so called secret ban Turkish weapon manufacturing companies like ASELSAN have imposed on India. How do you come to know the authenticity of such a high level “secret” when none of the government, India or Turkey have ever discussed on defence procurement. Why would our country even need Turkey’s weapons when our defence supply is much better than theirs’.

What radically changed about Mevlana university is that the university was supposed to favour either the elected government when it was targeted by a group having close links with Gulen and his network, or at least remain neutral as long as a very serious criminal offence such as coup attempt is being investigated in which their mentor Fethullah Gulen is prime accused. The university rather chose to warn the government by saying “See you on August 14…” besides making several tweets exonerating Gueln.

Isn’t it a fact that the students of all banned universities, particularly international students have been transferred in other universities and in some cases, institutions have been placed under different administrative body? Some Indian students who have faced the difficulty is because of not getting alternative scholarship sources after the Gulen scholarships were stopped. It should be known that the Gulen movement has the resources to offer scholarship even in higher amount that the government scholarships.

While you may not like to talk about the extremist ideologies once propagated by the Gulen affiliated media, you should at least differentiate between the criminal charges and media-related charges. In any country, journalists arrested or tried for criminal charges do not get an exemption just because they are journalists.

As you claim to be a journalist, the readers do not bother to cross check the “facts” you have been writing in your “journalistic” articles. It is time that you first publicly announce your ideological and professional association with a group accused of plotting against an elected government. You are hiding your professional and ideological identity is an attempt to deceive the esteemed readers who really come to read your article because you take refuge of a profession we hold in high respect.

Noushad MK is a PhD scholar at Centre for Development and Exclusion in JNU. He did an advance diploma in Turkish language from Istanbul University.

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