Turkish opposition cheers Baerbock’s tough talk

International

-DW News

Ankara,
July
31:
Mithat
Sancar,
a
Turkish
opposition
politician,
thanked

German
Foreign
Minster
Annalena
Baerbock
on
Saturday
for
her
open
criticism
of
the
Ankara
government
during
a
visit
to
the
country.

On
Friday,
Baerbock
put
Turkish
President
Recep
Tayyip
Erdogan’s
administration
under
pressure
on
human
rights,
its
clampdown
on
opponents
and
a
planned
military
operation
in
northern
Syria.

During
a
joint
news
conference
in
Istanbul
and
earlier
in
Athens,
Baerbock
also
sided
with
Greece
in
its
ongoing
territorial
dispute
with

Turkey
over
several
islands
in
the
Aegean
Sea.

What
did
opposition
leader
Sancar
say?

Sancar,
the
co-chair
of
the
pro-Kurdish
opposition
Peoples’ Democratic
Party
(HDP),
praised
Baerbock,
saying
she
had
not
avoided
the
“necessary
confrontation”
during
talks
with
her
Turkish
counterpart.

Turkish
Foreign
Minister
Mevlut
Cavusoglu
said
Germany
had
lost
its
neutrality
as
a
mediator
in
the
territorial
dispute
with
Greece
since
the
departure
of
Angela
Merkel
as
chancellor
last
year.
He
urged
Berlin
to
listen
to
both
sides
“without
prejudice.”

Turkish
lira
hits
new
record
low

The
pair
also
clashed
over
the
Syrian
conflict
and
the
jailing
of
Turkish
philanthropist
Osman
Kavala.

On
Saturday,
Baerbock
met
the
leaders
of
the
HDP;
the
largest
opposition
party,
the
Republican
People’s
Party
(CHP);
and
the
conservative
nationalist
Iyi
(Good)
Party.

She
then
met
the
three
opposition
representatives
and
visited
a
counseling
center
for
women
who
have
experienced
domestic
violence.
She
was
also
due
to
visit
a
center
for
refugees
from
Syria
and
Iraq.

Baerbock
traveled
to
the
mausoleum
for
state
founder
Mustafa
Kemal
Ataturk,
where
she
laid
a
wreath.

Erdogan
weakened,
may
ban
Kurdish
party

Under
Erdogan’s
leadership,
Turkey
has
been
regularly
pilloried
for
undermining
basic
human
and
democratic
rights.

International
groups
accuse
him
of
using
the
judiciary
as
a
political
tool,
especially
since
thousands
of
judges
were
deposed
following
the
failed
2016
coup.

Turkey
is
set
for
parliamentary
and
presidential
elections
next
June,
and
opposition
parties
believe
that
they
have
the
strongest
chance
of
achieving
a
parliamentary
majority
than
at
any
time
during
Erdogan’s
19-year
reign.

Current
polls
show
that
the
president’s
Islamic
conservative
Justice
and
Development
Party
will
struggle
to
retain
its
hold,
partly
because
of
Turkey’s
economic
and
currency
crisis.

Sancar
predicts
pro-Kurdish
party
will
be
banned

There
are
concerns
that
Erdogan
could
seek
to
ban
the
HDP
over
its
alleged
links
to

the
Kurdistan
Workers’ Party
(PKK),
a
separatist
movement
that
Ankara
considers
a
terrorist
organization.

Asked
whether
his
party
might
soon
be
banned
by
Turkish
authorities
for
links
to
separatism,
Sancar
said
he
expected
such
a
move
ahead
of
next
year’s
elections.

Sancar
called
on
the
international
community
to
take
steps
if
Turkey
carries
out
a
military
offensive
in
northern
Syria,
warning
that
such
a
move
could
have
“fatal
consequences”
and
strengthen
terrorist
groups
such
as
the
“Islamic
State.”

Source: DW