Turkey Said To Receive A $25 Million Donation From Iran
Not soon has the ruling party in Turkey, the Justice and Development Party (AKP), triumphed in the referendum for a new constitution, that the first signs are showing that Turkey could be at risk of abandoning the secular establishment of the state instituted by Mustafa Kemal Attaturk (“the Father of the Nation”) in favor of a movement toward the institution of an Islamic-friendly state, as the English Telegraph reports that Iran announced the donation of $25 million to the ruling party in Turkey.
That would be a very strange move, since a donation allegedly made for a political party in a different country could be construed as an endorsement of foreign interests in the country in question.
Ahmadinejad is said by the British newpaper to have agreed to give $12 million to AKP and continue to fuel the party with money until the amount of $25 million has been reached. Telegraph reports that many Western diplomats fear the deal will nourish the apprehension of many people in Turkey that the Erdogan government is promoting some Islamist agenda that would bring the secular state of Turkey closer to the Islamic world.
Erdogan said that by the 26 amendments proposed during the last referendum would bring the country closer to the objective of adhering to the European Union, which is partly true when it refers to the rights of workers, women, elderly, and even true to some point when it comes to limiting the powers of the judiciary, though the judiciary keeps the state secular, and the Islamic movements out of the public life.
Turkey manifested its good relations with Iran earlier this year, when it supported Iran’s right to have a nuclear program for civilian purposes. In May, the intention of a Turkish-flagged vessel to break the Israeli blockade on Gaza, which led to the death of 9 Turkish activists, brought a serious change in the relations of Turkey with Israel, which could only make ties with Iran easier to build.
Update: Both Turkish and Iranian sides rejected the report about the donation made by Iran to the Turkish government.
The article contains factual errors. The AK party officially denied there is such a donation from Iran. Even if Iran wants to donate the money which I highly doubt, it will be firmly rejected by AKP anyway.
Other factual error is that Turkey is predominantly Sunni muslim where Iran is Shia muslim. The last sentence in the article is completely wrong. Arab states are Sunni as well.
Dear Hakan,
The AKP officially denied taking the money, indeed. It may be so, but in case the British journal that published this news first is right, don’t you think Erdogan would have denied that? How could he explain this to the European authorities when they next spoke about Turkey’s integration to European Union? Do you think that EU or the U.S. will ever accept that ?
Is it possible that the whole thing was completely made up by the press, including when they said, and I quote from the international newspaper Telegraph, that “there are reports that Erdogan negotiated with Ahmadinajad” (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/turkey/8002168/Iran-donates-25-million-to-Turkeys-ruling-party.html )? Why would they do that? And how, without a shred of evidence?
In any event, since Iran officially rejected today that they donated money to Turkey, we have to assume, until proved otherwise, that the thing didn’t happen and, like Iranians officials said “someone wanted to spoil the pleasure of the Turks for the success of the referendum.” If such is the case, I apologize. I was misinformed.
I stand corrected on the last assertion of yours about the last sentence being partially erred. Indeed, Iran is a Shia Muslim country.
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