Erdogan’s War of Words Inciting
Terror in Europe
By Finian Cunningham
Only hours after Turkish President
Recep Tayyip Erdogan issued a
bloodcurdling warning about terror
attacks against European citizens,
four people lay dead on the streets
of London. That death toll may rise
further because several of those
injured in the attack
this week in
the British capital are in critical
condition, fighting for their lives.
Erdogan was speaking Wednesday
in what was yet another diatribe in
his ongoing war of words with the
European Union. The Turkish leader
has been enraged by European
governments refusing ministers from
Ankara holding political rallies in
Germany, Netherlands and Austria
among other countries. As a result
of the injunctions, he has accused
the EU of displaying Islamophobia
and hostility towards Turkey.
In his latest barrage earlier this
week, Erdogan warned that
there would be dire repercussions
for EU citizens owing to the
perceived stance of their
governments.
«If you continue to
behave like this, tomorrow in no
part of the world, no European, no
Westerner will be able to take steps
on the street safely and
peacefully», Erdogan said.
Tragically, within
hours of announcing these very
words, a British-born man plowed his
speeding car into pedestrians on
London’s Westminster Bridge, killing
several of them and seriously
wounding dozens more. The assailant
then got out of his crashed vehicle
and ran into the grounds of the
British parliament where he stabbed
a police officer to death, before
being fatally shot by another
officer.
The attacker was named as
52-year-old Khalid Masood, a British
citizen. It is not clear yet what
his precise motives were, but the
deadly attack was subsequently
claimed by the Islamic State terror
group.
Turkey’s Erdogan was reportedly one
of many world leaders who quickly
phoned British premier Theresa May
to offer his condolences. Later on
Wednesday night, Erdogan released a
statement on social media, saying:
«We stand in solidarity with the UK,
our friend and ally, against
terrorism, the greatest threat to
global peace and security».
There is a sense here
that the Turkish leader was reeling
from his own earlier warnings of
would-be terror consequences for
European citizens, and how his
tirades against the EU might be
implicated in inciting violence.
Certainly, the EU, in
short-order, seemed to find
Erdogan’s forecasting of acts of
terrorism against European citizens
and how «they would not be safe on
streets around the world» to be
lamentable.
Turkey’s envoy in Brussels was
promptly summoned to «explain» the
president’s doom-laden words. The
day after the London killings, the
EU foreign affairs spokeswoman Maja
Kocijancic reportedly said:
«We have asked the Turkish permanent
delegate to the EU to come... as we
would like to receive an explanation
with regard to the comments by
President Erdogan concerning the
safety of Europeans on the streets
of the world».
At best, Erdogan’s chilling warnings
against European citizens are
grossly insensitive. Apart from the
carnage in London, on the very day
that he issued his grim forecast of
violence, the date was also the first
anniversary of
the terror attacks in Brussels when
more than 30 people were killed by
suicide bombers in the Belgian
capital on March 22 last year.
Over the past year, there have been several
other terror attacks on
the streets of European cities,
including the carnage in Nice when a
would-be jihadist drove an
articulated lorry into a pedestrians
last July, killing over 80.
There was also an
horrific attack in Berlin when an
assailant drove a lorry into a
crowded Christmas market.
In all these
incidents, there appears to be an
Islamist connection. The
perpetrators may be acting in some
sort of «lone wolf» capacity,
without the organizational support
of the al Qaeda terror network. But
that’s beside the point. The attacks
appear to be motivated by some level
of Islamist grievance. Perhaps acts
of revenge against European
governments and citizens who are
perceived as being complicit in
illegal wars on, or persecution of,
Muslim majority countries in the
Middle East.
This is where Turkish
President Erdogan bears more
responsibility than merely just «bad
timing» or being «insensitive»
remarks.
In recent weeks,
Erdogan and senior government
ministers in Ankara have been
engaging in a reckless war of words
with the EU, which can be viewed as
bordering on incitement.
Erdogan has repeatedly accused Germany
and The Netherlands of acting like
«Nazis and fascists». He has
condemned the whole of the EU as
being «racist» and «anti-Islam».
Just last week, Erdogan claimed that
Dutch UN peacekeeping troops were
responsible for the Srebrenica
massacre in 1995, when up to 8,000
Muslim men were killed by Serb
forces. Erdogan said the Dutch had
the blood of Muslims «on their
hands».
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Ankara’s fit of rage stems from
European governments blocking
political rallies being held in
their cities by Erdogan’s ruling
Justice and Development Party. Those
rallies are aimed at mobilizing
Turkish expatriates to vote in
Turkey’s referendum next
month, which is being held to
endorse increasing constitutional
powers for Erdogan’s presidency.
Erdogan’s grip on
power has already become
increasingly autocratic since the
attempted coup against his rule
failed last July.
In order to push
Turkish voters to back his
sought-after constitutional changes,
Erdogan is evidently whipping up
patriotic fervor and in particular
Islamist fervor by indulging in a
war of words with the EU.
Denouncing European
states as «anti-Islamic» and
«racist» may gain Erdogan votes. But
such incitement has consequences.
This war of words is not an abstract
phenomenon. It risks inflicting real
human casualties, as Europe has
all-too often witnessed over the
past year.
If EU governments had
any spine, they would hold Erdogan
legally to account over his
potentially seditious behavior.
But the supine EU is
too busy trying to keep the Turkish
sultan sweet so that he doesn’t open
the refugee floodgates from the wars
that European governments have been
stoking across the Middle East and
North Africa.
Finian
Cunningham, Former editor and writer
for major news media organizations.
He has written extensively on
international affairs, with articles
published in several languages
