Courtesy of Mish.
When you make a bargain with the devil or a dictator, and they did not get everything they wanted in round one of bargaining, it’s a certainty round two is coming up.
So here we are, with German chancellor Angela Merkel ready and willing to offer more concessions to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in order to slow the refugee migration into the Eurozone.
Merkel’s latest concessions come despite the fact that Erdogan is now the de-facto dictator of Turkey, having just taken over Turkey’s largest newspaper with a violent teargas raid by riot police.
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Violent Teargas Raid
Let’s start with a look at dictator Erdogan’s newspaper takeover. Then we will investigate how Merkel is willing to brush such events under the rug with still more concessions to a person who obviously cannot be trusted.
The LA Times reports Riot Police Raid Turkey’s Largest Newspaper with Volleys of Teargas and Water Cannons.
Law enforcement raid on a prominent media company and takeover of the nation’s largest-circulation newspaper have raised new fears of a press under assault by the administration of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Police late Friday forced their way into the offices of Zaman newspaper and its English-language sister publication, Today’s Zaman, after an Istanbul court ordered the seizure of Feza Media Group, which owns the two dailies.
Police in riot gear peppered protesters and staff alike with volleys of tear gas and water cannons, a scene broadcast live on satellite television.
Zaman has a daily circulation of more than 600,000, the largest in Turkey.
Amnesty International described Friday’s actions as “deeply troubling.” “By lashing out and seeking to rein in critical voices, President Erdogan’s government is steam rolling over human rights,” Amnesty International’s Turkey expert, Andrew Gardner, said in a statement.
The shutdown also drew an unusually forceful rebuke from the U.S. State Department, which is generally hesitant to criticize Turkey, a NATO ally. At a regular news briefing Friday, a State Department spokesman, John Kirby, said the raid was “the latest in a series of troubling judicial and law enforcement actions” and was not “in keeping” with Turkey’s constitution.
In October, days before the country’s general election, Turkish authorities ordered the seizure of Koza Ipek Group, which ran several prominent television stations critical of the government.
Prosecutors have opened at least 1,845 cases of “insulting the president” since Erdogan rose to the presidency in August 2014 with 52% of the vote.
Among those who have been charged are celebrities, a former Miss Turkey beauty queen and children who tore down a poster depicting Erdogan.
In May last year, Cumhuriyet published a sensational report that allegedly showed trucks, halted by police in southeastern Hatay province, belonging to Turkey’s National Intelligence Agency, stacked full of ammunition destined for insurgents in neighboring Syria.
The two journalists were arrested and sent to prison to await trial. After 92 days, Turkey’s Constitutional Court last week ordered their release on grounds that their personal rights had been violated.
The Turkish president fumed at the court decision, publicly refusing to “respect or obey” it.
Devil Makes More Demands
