BY TUFAN TURENC
HURRIYET- Turkey is ruled by a government whose domestic power is inversely proportional to its international sway. Let’s show this through giving examples. The most recent is Germany’s panicked extradition of Metin Kaplan, the self-declared ‘caliph’. For years Turkey asked for the extradition of Kaplan and his late father, because both were plotting the destruction of the Turkish Republic. They even formed a so-called ‘Anatolian Federal Islamic State’ with their expatriate community, and the elder Kaplan declared himself caliph. After the father’s death, his son took over the hollow title. All this was explained repeatedly to Germany, but since giving the Kaplans refuge and protection was in Germany’s interest, it didn’t even consider Ankara’s request. So what happened now to make Berlin extradite the so called-caliph in such a panic? According to German Interior Minister Otto Schily, this action symbolized the self-protection of Germany’s democracy. But why didn’t the same Germany show any respect for the self-protection of Turkish democracy?
Another unusual development in Germany is that the leader of the main opposition Christian Democrats, Angela Merkel, launched a campaign against Turkey’s European Union membership bid. And there’s been a very strong reaction against Turkey’s EU bid in France. Our government hasn’t even reacted to this.
The same goes for Iraq. The influence of Turkey in this country is falling. The US, our strategic partner, cooperates more with local tribes than Turkey. Terrorist groups don’t hesitate to behead Turks in the region. The official visits to other countries by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul are somehow not improving Turkey’s image. This means that there is something wrong with their policies.