Close Menu
    Facebook Instagram LinkedIn
    • العربية (Arabic)
    • English
    • Français (French)
    Facebook Instagram LinkedIn
    Middle East Transparent
    • Home
    • Categories
      1. Headlines
      2. Features
      3. Commentary
      4. Magazine
      Featured
      Headlines Saad Azhari

      Facts and Myths in the Lebanese Financial Crisis

      Recent
      9 July 2025

      Facts and Myths in the Lebanese Financial Crisis

      6 July 2025

      A New Palestinian Offer for Peace With Israel

      3 July 2025

      Why al-Sharaa’s success in Syria is good for Israel and the US

    • Contact us
    • Archives
    • Subscribe
    • العربية (Arabic)
    • English
    • Français (French)
    Middle East Transparent
    You are at:Home»‘How can a Muslim do this?’

    ‘How can a Muslim do this?’

    0
    By Sarah Akel on 12 March 2014 Uncategorized

    “This” in the title line refers to the continuous fall into the public domain of increasingly embarrassing tape recordings undeniably proving that Turkey was being ruled precisely as government-skeptics, including this columnist, have invariably argued it was.

    In the face of substantiated evidence for most known and unknown forms of mal-governance, the grand coalition of Islamists, opportunists and Islamist opportunists are resorting to what they are always best at: religious hate speech.

    Zafer Çağlayan, the former economy minister who was forced to resign in the wake of the graft scandal in December, showed up at a public rally last weekend, not looking like a man in embarrassment, but a man ready to insult.

    He did not look like a man who was indicted for taking bribes to the tune of 52 million euros, whose son was arrested (to be released later) for conspiring in a corruption network, who had accepted as a gift a watch that comes with a six-digit price tag from a businessman who is also a suspect in the same investigation and who enjoyed a free family Muslim pilgrimage on the private jet of the same businessman. He looked more like a war hero – a warrior of Islam.

    He said he would understand if a Jew or an atheist or a Zoroastrian was behind this [all legal and illegal documentation of multiple scandals]but how could a Muslim, a not-so-subtle reference to the Muslim cleric Fethullah Gülen, be involved? Mr. Çağlayan’s words: “A Jew or an atheist or a Zoroastrian would do all these things to us. Shame on them if these things are done by those who claim to be Muslim. How can a Muslim do this?”

    In a sane country, Mr. Çağlayan would have been prosecuted for that remark. In Turkey, he will most probably be rewarded. Think, honestly, what would Mr. Çağlayan and his fellow Islamists think if an Israeli politician had said: “I would understand if a Muslim did that…” If that’s Islamophobia, what would best describe Mr. Çağlayan’s speech?

    Mr. Çağlayan is lucky. He lives in a country where that speech will make one a hero, not a racist. And not many Turkish Muslims will question Mr. Çağlayan’s logic: Is revealing corruption and an extremely rich menu of illegal and unethical governmental practice “un-Muslim,” or taking bribes?

    If he had not been indicted by prosecutors [who have been suspended or reassigned], Turkey would now have an economy minister who thinks only Jews, atheists and Zoroastrians could do bad things to other people. Christians can feel they are lucky to have avoided being on Mr. Çağlayan’s list of awful human beings.

    But it may just be a slip of the tongue – that Mr. Çağlayan probably missed the word “Christian” by mistake. By contrast, for some reason, the Zoroastrians have always had a dear place in Turkish hearts. A former interior minister had called the Kurdistan Workers’ Party militants a bunch of “pork-eating Zoroastrians.” See the Christian linkage? Pork-eating. Sounds like man-eating.

    How bizarre. Turkey, under Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s rule, would be the role model for Muslim countries without democracy. It would be the bridge between the West and the Muslim world. It would prune Muslim radicalism. Sorry, gentlemen; the days of fantasy and fairy tales are over. While you were enthusiastically waiting to see the days when the Hamas mind would reform itself and look more like the more reasonable Turkish mind, the opposite has happened.

    Where, otherwise, in the non-Hamas world would voters campaign for a prime minister with this banner?

    “We are not 3 million-5 million Jews.

    We are the Muslims who rule over the Jews who unmercifully oppress the whole world.”

    The banner, seen and photographed as it was outfitted into the haulage of a pick-up in Istanbul, ends with terms of endearment for Mr. Erdoğan: Die for you!

    This columnist has no objection if “Muslims who rule over a few million Jews who unmercifully oppress the whole world” wanted to die for Mr. Erdoğan. The trouble is, their intention to volunteer for death is often associated with an intention to kill.

    Hurriyet

    Share. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email WhatsApp Copy Link
    Previous ArticleHezbollah’s presidential headaches grow
    Next Article Islamist recruiter who inspired Hamburg cell tied to 9/11 attacks gains freedom in Syria

    Comments are closed.

    RSS Recent post in french
    • Du Liban indépendant et de son « héritage syrien » (avec nouvelles cartes) 8 July 2025 Jack Keilo
    • Nouvelle approche des Forces Libanaises: Alliances ou Endiguement ? 5 July 2025 Kamal Richa
    • Ce que nous attendons de vous, Monsieur le Président 3 July 2025 Michel Hajji Georgiou
    • Il faut être pour Nétanyahou lorsqu’il affaiblit la menace iranienne ; et ardemment contre lui lorsqu’il détruit Gaza 1 July 2025 Denis Charbit
    • En Syrie, la mystérieuse disparition du corps de Hafez el-Assad 11 June 2025 Apolline Convain
    RSS Recent post in arabic
    • الانتخابات النيابية اللبنانية بين غياب مشروع الدولة ومتغيرات المشهد الإقليمي 10 July 2025 كمال ريشا
    • !ليس هذا الوقت المناسب للتساهل إزاء حزب الله.. أو إزاء بيروت 9 July 2025 ديفيد شينكر
    • خلافات “فتح” تُحبطُ خطة نزع سلاح المخيمات 9 July 2025 محمد داود العلي
    • الحقائق و”الأساطیر” في الأزمة المالیة اللبنانیة 9 July 2025 سعد أزهري
    • قاعدة نورخان الجوية وأهميتها لواشنطن 9 July 2025 د. عبدالله المدني
    26 February 2011

    Metransparent Preliminary Black List of Qaddafi’s Financial Aides Outside Libya

    6 December 2008

    Interview with Prof Hafiz Mohammad Saeed

    7 July 2009

    The messy state of the Hindu temples in Pakistan

    27 July 2009

    Sayed Mahmoud El Qemany Apeal to the World Conscience

    8 March 2022

    Russian Orthodox priests call for immediate end to war in Ukraine

    Recent Comments
    • Khaled Mahrouq on Why al-Sharaa’s success in Syria is good for Israel and the US
    • Edward Ziadeh on Why al-Sharaa’s success in Syria is good for Israel and the US
    • Giant Squirrel on Holier Than Thou: Politics and the Pulpit in America
    • Edward Ziadeh on As Church awaits a Conclave, President Trump puts up picture of himself as next Pope
    • Victoria Perea on As Church awaits a Conclave, President Trump puts up picture of himself as next Pope
    Donate
    Donate
    © 2025 Middle East Transparent

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.

    loader

    Inscrivez-vous à la newsletter

    En vous inscrivant, vous acceptez nos conditions et notre politique de confidentialité.

    loader

    Subscribe to updates

    By signing up, you agree to our terms privacy policy agreement.

    loader

    اشترك في التحديثات

    بالتسجيل، فإنك توافق على شروطنا واتفاقية سياسة الخصوصية الخاصة بنا.