Gates of Vienna News Feed 2/28/2011

Gates of Vienna News Feed 2/28/2011In reaction to revolution and chaos in Libya, the United States has redeployed its naval assets in the Mediterranean so that it will be prepared for any contingencies. Col. Qadafi is still hanging on, although his personal pilot has fled the country. Italy is making up for its lost natural gas supplies from Libya by increasing its imports from Russia via the Gazprom pipeline.

Meanwhile, demonstrations and riots in Oman yesterday caused the deaths of at least six people.

In other news, the revelation that a mosque in Malmö is owned by one of Col. Ghedaffi’s foundations appears unlikely to cause any particular controversy in Sweden. The imam of the mosque says that Libya has no direct control and does not interfere with the mosque’s operations.

To see the headlines and the articles, open the full news post.

Thanks to C. Cantoni, Caroline Glick, DF, Gaia, Insubria, JD, Kitman, Paul Weston, and all the other tipsters who sent these in.

Commenters are advised to leave their comments at this post (rather than with the news articles) so that they are more easily accessible.

Caveat: Articles in the news feed are posted “as is”. Gates of Vienna cannot vouch for the authenticity or accuracy of the contents of any individual item posted here. We check each entry to make sure it is relatively interesting, not patently offensive, and at least superficially plausible. The link to the original is included with each item’s title. Further research and verification are left to the reader.

Resistance Is Futile: We Will Not Assimilate

Erdogan: The New Ottoman Empire


I posted yesterday about the Turkish prime minister’s bullying attitude towards Germany, and the willingness of Germany’s political class to put up with it, and perhaps even to give in to it.

Several commenters pointed out that the attitude of German citizens concerning Turkish immigration is very different from that displayed by their leaders. Ordinary people are fed up with immigrants and ghettos and mosques and crime, and want their country to be German again.

The same might be said of virtually any country in the West — the vast majority of people oppose mass immigration, and if given a chance will vote for parties that share that opinion and act on it. There is a disconnect between policies implemented by the political leadership and the feelings of the electorate, and yesterday’s post invited readers to analyze of the reasons for that disconnect.

Tonight I’ll take a look at the German-Turkish relationship from a different angle. The following article from Der Spiegel reports on Prime Minister Erdogan’s love-fest with ethnic Turks during his visit to Germany. You’ll notice that Mr. Erdogan does not act like a distinguished visitor from a foreign land, but rather an overlord visiting a vassal state.

It’s obvious that he considers the Turks in Germany to be his soldiers on the front lines of the Turkish colonization of Europe:

Erdogan Urges Turks Not to Assimilate

‘You Are Part of Germany, But Also Part of Our Great Turkey’

Thousands of Turkish immigrants gave Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan a rock star welcome in Germany on Sunday in a show of national pride that remains fervent, even after decades spent in Germany. He told them they remain part of Turkey, and urged them to integrate into German society — but not to assimilate.

The lyric keeps echoing around the hall in Düsseldorf. “The land belongs to us all.” The sentence isn’t referring to Germany, but to Turkey.

And any place in Germany where Turks reside is now Turkish soil — this much is clear. The prime minister referred to “Great Turkey”, but he might just as well have said “Greater Turkey”, which would include the heart of most major German cities.

The article continues:

Immigrants are waving hundreds of Turkish flags and the chanting and the music are deafening. One woman shouts “Turkey is great!” into a microphone to cheers from the crowd. Everyone in the ISS Dome, a huge sports and concert venue, is fired up, as if they’re waiting for a rock star. There’s only one show in town this Sunday, and his name is Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The Turkish prime minister has come to Germany. He wants to meet Chancellor Angela Merkel but first he wants to speak to his “compatriots.” To people who have been living in Germany for decades, who were born here, and of whom many have German passports.

They have come from all over Germany to see him live, some 10,000 people. They say things like: “The Germans will never accept us, but we have Erdogan.” Or: “At last someone feels responsible for us, for the first time a Turkish prime minister isn’t forgetting his compatriots abroad.” One woman says: “Erdogan may get Merkel to see us as part of this society. He is our savior.”

[…]

Muslim immigrants have been the focus of a heated public debate in Germany over the last year, with conservative commentators and politicians accusing them of failing to integrate into German society. Many immigrants in turn complain that they are still being called “foreigners” even if they were born in Germany, have German citizenship and speak the language perfectly.

This illustrates the doublethink that is pounded into German heads over and over again by the reigning dogmata of Multiculturalism.

One the one hand, Turks refuse to assimilate as a matter of principle. In this they are publicly encouraged by the Turkish prime minister, who rejects assimilation for Turks in foreign lands — he has referred to assimilation as equivalent to genocide.

Yet Germans are to blame if they consider Turks foreigners. Despite the fact that their “guest-workers” have insisted on remaining foreigners in Germany, generation after generation, Germans are somehow to blame for viewing them as foreigners.

Such is the maddening illogic of Orthodox Multicultural doctrine.

And Prime Minister Erdogan is eager to encourage, enhance, and cultivate the alienation of his fellow Turks in Germany:

Erdogan wants to give his audience a clear identity. “They call you guest workers, foreigners, or German Turks. It doesn’t matter what they all call you: You are my fellow citizens, you are my people, you are my friends, you are my brothers and sisters!”

“You are part of Germany, but you are also part our great Turkey,” says Erdogan.

And here’s the clincher:

It sounds like a domestic campaign speech ahead of elections in Turkey this summer. Erdogan is wooing for votes among Germany’s Turkish population. In previous elections, immigrants with Turkish passports flew to Ankara, Istanbul or Antalya just to cast their ballots at the airport.

Let’s recapitulate: Turks come to Germany as “guests”, stay there for generations, refuse on principle to assimilate, and vote in Turkish elections.

And yet they must not be thought of as foreigners. Multiculturalism forbids it.

This is madness!

The ultimate goal, of course, is Turkish entry into the EU and a totally unrestricted flow of Turks into Germany and any other locations in Europe they find attractive:

In a newspaper interview published ahead of his speech, Erdogan urged Merkel to drop her opposition to Turkey’s accession to the EU. “Never have such political obstacles been put in the path of an accession country,” he said.

[…]

And then he repeats the sentence that caused such a stir at a speech he held in Cologne three years ago. He warns Turks against assimilating themselves. “Yes, integrate yourselves into German society but don’t assimilate yourselves. No one has the right to deprive us of our culture and our identity.”

There follows a stern warning to the German press about how it may report on what he says:

Erdogan knows that this statement amounts to a provocation in Germany — no politician here is demanding that Turkish immigrants should deny their roots or give up their culture. Erdogan adds: “German newspapers will pick up on this tomorrow, but that’s a mistake.”

And, as usual, the trump card: Nazi! Nazi!! NAZI!!! Just in case the Germans hadn’t gotten the message yet:

His message to devout Muslims is similar. “Islamophobia should be seen in the same way as anti-Semitism,” he says.

The guidelines for adapting to Germany are to be decided by the Turks, and the Turks alone:

It was a call for more integration but with strict conditions attached. Adapt yourselves a bit, don’t allow yourselves to be treated badly and if there’s a problem, I’ll come and help! It was a speech that did nothing to reinforce any feeling of belonging to Germany — Erdogan steadfastly appealed to the Turkish national pride of people who have been at home in Germany for four generations.

So all the shots are called by the Turks:

  • Assimilate? No.
  • Integrate? Maybe a bit, but only in ways that we decide.
  • Give up any part of our Turkish culture? Never!
  • Accept guidance from the Germans on how we conduct our affairs? No way!

The big question for the Germans to answer is:

How much longer will we put up with this?



Hat tip: C. Cantoni.

The Jew-Haters of the IRGC

Update: Srdja Trifkovic has expanded on this email in an article at the Lord Byron Foundation for Balkan Studies: “Emir Ramic, a Jew-Hating Fundamentalist?”



We posted several times recently about Srdja Trifkovic’s attempt to give a speech at the University of British Columbia last week, and his subsequent banishment from Canada.

The attention of the Canadian authorities was drawn to Dr. Trifkovic by an organization called “The Institute for Research of Genocide of Canada”. As pointed out last week, the IRGC is a front for radical Bosnian Muslims, rather than a disinterested “researcher” into genocide.

Dr. Trifkovic just sent us an email with some details about the IRGC and its agenda, as gleaned from its own publications:

Emir Ramic, IRGC Director, is on the editorial board of the (Bosnian-Muslim) war veterans’ magazine Korak (Step), published in Sarajevo, to which he also contributes articles.

This magazine’s Issue No. 13 [pdf] has an interesting article: “Basic Principles of the Law of War in Islam” (pp. 13-17). The article asserts, inter alia, that “Jihad is a just and legitimate fight against aggression and a struggle in protection of human rights and freedoms.” (p. 15)

The Board of Ramic’s “Institute” includes… none other than “Asaf Dzanic, chief editor of the magazine Korak, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina”!

On p. 93 of the same issue there is a breathtaking piece of anti-Israeli bile. It’s in “Bosnian” but even a non-native speaker will understand the title: “Izraelski Rezim Je Teroristicki”, by Fikret Muslimovic. It could have been published in Gaza. It is a tad too hard-core for Ramallah, though…

On p. 99 we have another piece of Jew-hating venom: “Who is responsible for the blockade and massacre of the inhabitants of Gaza?” by Reza Burdzi

Other issues of Ramic’s magazine are no less worthy of scrutiny [all are in pdf format]:

  • No. 14: Norman Finkelstein: “The Bloodshed in Gaza”
  • No. 16 (2009): “Palestine and Al-Quds as the Symbol of All Muslims of the World” by Džemal Najetović
  • No.15: “Failure of the Anti-Iranian Scenario” by Fariba Farshidi
  • No. 12: “Sixty Years Since the Palestinian Catastrophe” by Dr. Džemal Najetović

The list goes on, from one issue to another, from one author to another, from one lie to another, from one anti-Semitic outburst to another.

The magazine site is hosted by the association of Bosnian-Muslim Army veterans, and it also includes a host of articles with interesting and self-explanatory titles, such as “Crimes Against Civilians in the Gaza Strip” [pdf].

This is the real face of the “Institute”!

The “Institute’s” director is on the editorial board of the magazine publishing this hate-filled drivel, and the editor-in-chief of said magazine is on the board of the Institute. Mr. Wiesel & Co. are in some interesting company, indeed!

The BBC Breaches Its Charter: Phase Two

BBC shahadaA couple of weeks ago we reported on the BBC’s “documentary” about Geert Wilders entitled “Geert Wilders: Europe’s Most Dangerous Man?” The movie was a blatant hit-piece by a progressive outfit called Red Rebel Films, which is based in the Netherlands and enjoys partial funding by the state.

The film’s appearance on the BBC as well as the earlier release of an original Dutch version were coterminous with beginning of each of Mr. Wilders’ “hate speech” trials. It strains credulity to suppose that the timing of these events was mere coincidence.

Our British correspondent RezaV wrote a carefully documented letter of complaint to the BBC, and eventually received a reply. Here’s what he says about the Beeb’s response and his own counter-response:

Predictably, I received a bland and standard response to my complaint regarding the BBC’s Geert Wilders documentary that you covered at Gates of Vienna.

Below is the text of their reply. I’ve also pasted the text of my counter-response that explains how the BBC has broken its own rules in broadcasting the programme.

Anyone who has complained about this programme should reply and complain about their standard responses. I strongly believe that with this documentary the BBC really over-stepped the mark. This time, they’ve made some serious mistakes, and if we all take a few minutes to keep the pressure up, I really believe that we can get them to apologise.

Text of the BBC’s reply to me:

Thanks for your feedback regarding ‘Geert Wilders: Europe’s Most Dangerous Man?’ broadcast on 14 February 2011.

We understand some viewers felt the programme showed bias against Mr Wilders.

To give the programme some context: Islamic integration is a controversial topic in Britain and even more in other parts of Europe. 09/11 saw a surge of anti Islamic political movements across in the States and Europe.

This programme looked at the rise of Geert Wilders, whose ideas are changing the Netherlands and are having an impact across Europe and beyond. To try and understand one of Europe’s leading anti Islamists and why parties sharing his views on Islam are getting increasingly powerful, the programme followed Wilders on his Dutch election campaign trail. The programme gave a significant amount of space to the views of a range of Wilders’ supporters in the Netherlands, as well as to Wilders himself. To reflect the extent of feeling on the matter the programme also heard from members of the international anti-Islamic network who support him.

The programme explored the promotion of the belief that Europe is being taken over by Islam and the response of prominent Muslims to that. It also looked into why Mr Wilders’ critics are strongly opposed to his progression in Dutch and European politics.

The programme reflected the fact that there are elements of the Muslim community who espouse violence as well as many others who oppose it and that the Qur’an is open to differing interpretations.

We feel the film is a piece of impartial journalism which explored a wide range of Mr Wilders’ ideological positions, hearing from both sides of an argument of which he is prominently involved in.

We would like to assure you that we’ve registered your comments on our audience log. This is the internal report of audience feedback which we compile daily for all programme makers and commissioning executives within the BBC, and also their senior management. It ensures that your points, and all other comments we receive, are circulated and considered across the BBC.

Thanks again for contacting us.

My counter-response:

In your Complaint Response you state:

“We feel the film is a piece of impartial journalism which explored a wide range of Mr Wilders’ ideological positions, hearing from both sides of an argument of which he is prominently involved in.”

I understand that “impartial journalism” is an entirely subjective term and I am not surprised that the BBC took a one-sided and particularly hostile stance towards Geert Wilders.

However, even in taking that expected stance, I understand that your own Editorial Guidelines require that you:

6.4.25 When our output makes allegations of wrongdoing, iniquity or incompetence or lays out a strong and damaging critique of an individual or institution the presumption is that those criticised should be given a “right of reply”, that is, given a fair opportunity to respond to the allegations.

We must ensure we have a record of any request for a response including dates, times, the name of the person approached and the key elements of the exchange. We should normally describe the allegations in sufficient detail to enable an informed response, and set a fair and appropriate deadline by which to respond.

1.   As highlighted in my original letter to you, your programme made some very serious accusations against Mr Wilders. Please provide evidence that the requirements of your Editorial Guideline 6.4.25 were adhered to by providing evidence that you “have a record of any request for a response including dates, times, the name of the person approached and the key elements of the exchange details”?
 
2.   With regard to the various serious and unsubstantiated allegations that you made against Mr Wilders and that I listed in my original letter to you, please provide examples of where in your programme you complied with your Editorial Guidelines 6.4.26 which stipulate that: “Any parts of the response relevant to the allegations broadcast should be reflected fairly and accurately and should normally be broadcast in the same programme, or published at the same time, as the allegation”?
 
3.   Your Editorial Guideline 6.4.27 states: “In very rare circumstances where we propose to broadcast a serious allegation without giving those concerned an opportunity to reply, the proposal must be referred to a senior editorial figure or, for independents, to the commissioning editor. Referral must also be made to Director Editorial Policy and Standards. The allegation must be in the public interest and there must be strong reasons for believing it to be true. Our reasons for deciding to make the information public without requesting a response from the individuals or organisations concerned may include possible interference with witnesses or other legal reasons.

With regard to your Editorial Guidelines:
 

    a.   Please confirm that the decision not to provide Mr Wilders an opportunity to reply to allegations made against him on the programme was referred to a senior editorial figure?
    b.   Please confirm that referral was also made to the Director Editorial Policy and Standards?
    c.   Please explain how the various unsubstantiated allegations against Mr Wilders and in particular the allegation that he was a spy for Israel were “in the public interest”?
    d.   In the specific case of your allegations that Mr Wilders was a spy for Israel, please explain your “strong reasons for believing it to be true” as required by your Editorial Guidelines?
 
4.   Section 4 of your Editorial Guidelines states:

“The Agreement accompanying the BBC Charter requires us to do all we can to ensure controversial subjects are treated with due impartiality in our news and other output dealing with matters of public policy or political or industrial controversy. But we go further than that, applying due impartiality to all subjects.”

Please explain how your programme’s description of Sheikh Kalid Yasin, who was shown preaching Islamic extremism in Channel 4’s Undercover Mosque, as “…an American Muslim teacher extremely popular among young European Muslims, he has embarked on a mission to de radicalise them” whilst at the same time representing that Mr Wilders is “Europe’s Most Dangerous Man” and making the various unsubstantiated allegations against him that I listed in my original letter to you, applied “due impartiality to all subjects”?

I look forward to your response.

Gates of Vienna News Feed 2/27/2011

Gates of Vienna News Feed 2/27/2011The unrest in the Middle East has finally spread to Oman. In the city of Sohar demonstrators clashed with police, who responded by firing tear gas. The rioters also set fire to government buildings. Additional incidents were reported in the city of Salalah, where demonstrators occupied government administrative offices.

In other news, hunger in North Korea has increased to the point that starving citizens are eating wild grass and dirt out of desperation. On a somewhat related note, chimpanzee meat is being sold illegally in restaurants and market stalls in the UK.

To see the headlines and the articles, open the full news post.

Thanks to bolta, C. Cantoni, DF, Diana West, Insubria, JD, and all the other tipsters who sent these in.

Commenters are advised to leave their comments at this post (rather than with the news articles) so that they are more easily accessible.

Caveat: Articles in the news feed are posted “as is”. Gates of Vienna cannot vouch for the authenticity or accuracy of the contents of any individual item posted here. We check each entry to make sure it is relatively interesting, not patently offensive, and at least superficially plausible. The link to the original is included with each item’s title. Further research and verification are left to the reader.

Attrition in the Ranks of Useful Idiots

Groningen: Muslims and Nazis


The photograph above shows a handful of Leftists and Nazis grooving together at a anti-Israel demonstration in the Netherlands on Thursday. The protesters were expressing their outrage at the presence of Israelis in Groningen during the third in a series of concerts given by the Tzahal band. The event was sponsored by a Christian group, but that was not enough to mitigate the Zionist taint in the eyes of the protesters.

Our Dutch correspondent Timo (who is also the leader of the Dutch Defence League) attended the first night’s concert in Barneveld. Many thanks to Shirai of the DDL for translating Timo’s report:

Anja Meulenbelt is so pathetic

Anja — Every once in a while you feel ashamed to be Dutch. The pro-Palestinian blogging digital-troll Anja Meulenbelt[1] can cause such moments. This blond mental twin-sister of Greta Duisenberg[2] has lost all sense of reality — so much became clear when she posted her anti-Semitic cry for help while disturbing the concert of the Israeli army band Tzahal organized by Christenen voor Israël (Christians for Israel). Banging tin pots, pans and other objects sold in any random third world store would cause this disturbance.

IDF — According to Anja the army band of Israel doesn’t deserve to make music; instead it should be brought to justice for war crimes at the international court in the Hague. Because Israel and everything which has anything to do with Israel is by definition wrong. According to Anja, Israel has no right to defend itself against the continuous threat of terror, inhumane crimes in the form of rocket launches, suicide bombers and the ever-growing anti-Semitic climate worldwide. That Anja lacks respect and decency, and has a rather limited knowledge of history, is made clear by the fact that she fails to recognize that because of the current situation in Israel both sons and daughters throughout the country have no choice but to serve the Israeli army (IDF). An obligation that has caused many parents eternal grief. Anja cannot see that. Anja would rather side with those who make makeshift metal objects and launch them from a justly isolated terrorist-reservoir called the Gaza strip. And in addition to doing that, they exploit underage children for both defensive and offensive purposes in their never-ending attempts to destroy the state of Israel and the Jewish people in general.

Turnout — Therefore it was very amusing to see that Anja’s call had united a whopping five people! Four demented old women, including Anja herself and a pathetic, underfed-looking man who was probably dragged to the demonstration in exchange for food. A big failure if ever there was one. An action by Ben Kok[3], an active Judeo-Christian pastor, had assembled at least three times as many friends and sympathizers, and tried to invite the opponents to join a civil discussion. Ben Kok appeared much more reasonable and left a far better impression. Not to mention that the sold out concert for 1200 people itself was a success, of course.

Concert — In the intermission during concert by the beautiful Israeli singers, which was very decent and amusing, our attention was drawn to more serious problems, such as the fate of Jewish Ethiopians who are being outlawed in their own country, and the Israeli private Gilad Shalit who has been a captive for more than four years now. Judging by the generosity of the Christian audience, one can easily determine that they were sympathetic to Israelis. And so they should be!

Incognito — The Dutch Defence League sent a small delegation to the concert, but maintained a low profile and a passive role. An announcement up front could have easily shifted the focus, and we had no intention of hijacking this event for our purposes, which would probably have happened, given the sensation-hungry media present at that time. Besides, we didn’t know how the organization would respond to our presence. The label of aggressiveness that the media has wrongly placed on the Leagues might have discouraged the Christians who had planned to attend. Our low-profile tactics have proven to be effective: before the show and during the breaks of the event we could tell by the pleasant conversations with other guests that the people feel sympathy for the Leagues and the flyers we distributed were appreciated.

Pain — Leftist activism is slowly dying. This was already the case with the low turnout for an anti-PVV (Geert Wilder’ Party For Freedom) demonstration in the Hague yesterday, where fewer than ten people showed up. It must have hurt the leftists a lot: the successes of organizations they deem “right-wing”, the growing support for Israel and the collapse of their own empire built on their own egotistical ways of thinking. Pain, for which you don’t have to feel any sympathy. Pain, which is in sharp contrast to people who really suffer, suffer from terrorist attacks and religious barbarism. Pain, for which I as a Dutchman can feel sympathy and compassion.

Notes:

[1]   Anja Henriëtte Meulenbelt is a Dutch publicist, writer, feminist, and politician. Since June 2003 she has been a member of the appointed house of lords in the Netherlands for the Socialist Party.
[2]   Greta Duisenberg is a well-known Dutch pro-Palestinian activist and widow of Wim Duisenberg.
[3]   Ben Kok is a Jewish-Christian priest who actively stands up for minorities in the Middle-East. Ben once waved with an Israeli flag during a pro-Palestinian demonstration in Amsterdam. See this video (at 01:00).

This video (in Dutch) shows the huge turnout — five people — who responded to the call from the lefties to disturb a benefit concert by Christian friends of Israel aiding Ethiopian refugees.

The Children’s Jihad

The following video shows footage from Sudan of a jihad terror training camp for boys, some of them very young. What is particularly chilling about it is that these scenes of brainwashing and weapons training are being used as propaganda directed at Muslims in Europe and North America to induce them to donate their zakat payments for the maintenance of the camp.

Many thanks to Kitman for YouTubing this video:

Playground Bully

Erdogan and Merkel


A hundred years ago Turkey was known as “The Sick Man of Europe” — and with good reason. For most of the 19th century it had been driven back and whittled away by the European powers until its territory was reduced to a tiny slice of European soil, the Anatolian peninsula, and a set of destitute fiefdoms in the Eastern Mediterranean, the Arabian Peninsula, and the Maghreb.

At the height of its power in 1683, the Ottoman Empire — which was also the Caliphate in those days — extended to the gates of Vienna in the northwest, into Polish territory in the north, into Russian territory in the Black Sea and the Caucasus, into Persia in the east, and along the Arab-dominated littorals of Arabia, the Persian Gulf, the Indian Ocean, the Red Sea, and North Africa.

Ottoman decline


Turkey staggered into the 20th century as an empire only because certain of the great powers found it expedient to keep it on life support. Great Britain in particular needed the “sick man” to act as a buffer between Russia and British interests in the Mediterranean and the Near East. Denying Russia access to the Dardanelles was a principal British foreign policy objective right up until 1914, and a near-moribund Turkey served that purpose very well.

Then came the Great War, and everything changed. Turkey was dismembered, Russia became the Soviet Union, and Britain, France, and Italy agreed to divide up the Near East as best suited their interests.

*   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *


Modern Turkey is a stronger and more effective power than the Ottoman Empire was under the last of the Sultans. Even so, it is still no real danger to Europe — if the Turks were to become bellicose, even the shriveled military capability of the EU could handle them.

So why has Europe chosen to cower and truckle in the face of Turkish arrogance and supremacism? Why did the EU allow Turkey to become the playground bully of Europe?

As an example of this inexplicable trend, consider the following article from The Local about Turkey’s latest demands on Germany:

Erdogan Says Germany Must Support Turkish EU Membership

A day before he is due in Germany, Turkish President [actually Prime Minister — BB] Tayyib Erdogan has harshly criticised Germany’s policy towards Turkish efforts to join the European Union, saying it should support full membership.

“The expectation of the Turkish population is that Germany, as previously under earlier CDU governments, take a leading role within the EU regarding the entry negotiations with Turkey,” Erdogan told Saturday’s edition of the Rheinische Post.

Notice that the Turkish prime minister is right at home with ordering the German government around. His demands are not phrased as polite requests, but as near-commands — as if he were accustomed to German obedience.

He acknowledges that Chancellor Merkel’s policy is aimed at a domestic audience, but he has no qualms about interfering directly in Germany’s internal political affairs:

Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union has most recently proposed a ‘privileged partnership’ between Turkey and the European Union, something Erdogan rejects, and suggested was only a construct for domestic consumption.

Mr. Erdogan has good reason to believe he can meddle in Germany’s affairs, because he has the support and collaboration of eminent German political figures, including a former chancellor:

[Former Chancellor Gerhard] Schröder said this weekend, Turkey should no longer be offered the privileged partnership, which he told the Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung had no substance. Germany should behave as a lawyer acting in Turkey’s interests – out of its own interests, considering that Germany is Turkey’s biggest trade partner he said.

There it is in black and white: a prominent German politician says that Germany should act in the interests of Turkey, and not Germany.

How did Germany’s political culture become this degraded?

Erdogan also criticised German integration policies, saying they took no notice of the wishes of the Turkish people concerned.

“I think it successful integration requires the German authorities to no longer deal only one-sidedly but rather to aim for cooperation with Turkish migrants, Turkish civil organisations and the Turkish government.”

In other words: Turkey requires Germany to grant it a say in — and presumably veto power over — German immigration policy. If the Turks insist on filling up Germany with Turkish migrants, then that’s just the way it has to be. Germany has no choice — it must comply.

*   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *


This post isn’t about Prime Minister Erdogan or the AKP or the arrogance of the Turks. It’s about the fecklessness and cowardice of the German government and the European Union.

How did Europe become so weak and spineless in the face of a foreign power which is such an obvious long-term threat to European interests?

Why all this truckling and spinelessness?

I’d be interested to hear some analysis by our readers. Yes, I know the ideology of Politically Correct Multiculturalism is behind it — but cynical politicians would discard all that in a heartbeat if it improved their electoral chances or served to enhance their power.

So let’s hear what you have to say. But stay on topic for a change — I don’t want the discussion to veer off into any of the customary preoccupations of certain commenters.



Hat tip: C. Cantoni.

Gates of Vienna News Feed 2/26/2011

Gates of Vienna News Feed 2/26/2011Muamar Kaddafi continues to hang in there in Libya, although there are reports that he has packed his bags full of gold bullion and is prepared to flee to Zimbabwe. President Obama and Hillary Clinton have demanded that he step down, since he no longer has any legitimacy. The EU is trying to track all Col. Ghedaffi’s money in its banking system so that it can freeze his assets.

In other news, in the wake of last week’s devastating earthquake in New Zealand, up to one-third of the buildings in central Christchurch may have to be demolished. The death toll currently stands at 144, but it is expected to rise as more bodies are pulled from the remaining rubble.

Meanwhile, in Los Angeles, California, a freak winter storm has brought torrential rains, hail, and even heavy snow in some areas — more evidence of Anthropogenic Climate Change.

To see the headlines and the articles, open the full news post.

Thanks to C. Cantoni, DF, Insubria, Kitman, Steen, Vlad Tepes, Zenster, and all the other tipsters who sent these in.

Commenters are advised to leave their comments at this post (rather than with the news articles) so that they are more easily accessible.

Caveat: Articles in the news feed are posted “as is”. Gates of Vienna cannot vouch for the authenticity or accuracy of the contents of any individual item posted here. We check each entry to make sure it is relatively interesting, not patently offensive, and at least superficially plausible. The link to the original is included with each item’s title. Further research and verification are left to the reader.

Switzerland Gets Tough on Forced Marriages

The following article, as translated by JLH, concerns a recent decision by the Swiss legislature to tighten the laws to make forced marriages and marriages to minors more difficult. No particular group or religion is specified in the legislation, but it’s not hard to guess who the lawmakers had in mind.

The translator includes this introductory note:

This article may offer some explanation of what makes Switzerland different from the rest of Europe. Here, their executive body tends toward a lighter punishment, but the legislature — by its nature closer to the people — insists on making it harsher. The smallness of both land and population also makes the use of a referendum a potent “populist” weapon.

Imagine trying to get this kind of result in Washington DC.

Here’s his translation from Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen (SF, Swiss TV):

Every Case of Forced Marriage Will Be Punished in the Future

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Forced marriage is to be illegal in Switzerland in the future — no matter where it was entered into. It will be punished with a maximum of five years in jail. With this ruling, the Federal Council’s report is following objections from its consultation with the legislature.

In combating forced marriages, the government had intended to let it go at three years at most. That has been the maximum penalty in previous cases of coercion. But in the consultation, it was insisted that this offense be treated separately.

The Federal Council will no longer tolerate marriages to minors, as it firmly maintains in an alteration of the legislation on international private law. Henceforth, all requirements for marriage in Switzerland will be exclusively judged by Swiss law.

Marriages to minors — including among foreigners — are no longer acceptable. Marriages to minors performed outside the country are likewise impermissible. In Switzerland, the minimum age for marriage is 18.

Disclosure obligation for registry offices

From now on, registry offices will be obliged to play a greater role. It is already true that they must immediately refuse to officiate, when they detect compulsion in a marriage. What is new is that they must enter a criminal complaint.

The official criteria that invalidate a marriage are therefore expanded by two points: minority age and compulsion. In which case, the authorities must inform the cantons of suspicious incidents.

In the law concerning foreigners and asylum, the Federal Council provides that — in case of suspicion of minority or of compulsion — the authorities dealing with foreigners shall report to the authorities responsible for validation of marriages. Further, the procedure for tracing the husband is delayed until a valid decision in a legal verdict.

Aside from these accommodations to the law, the Federal Council intends a second step to strengthen prevention of and defense against forced marriages. First, it clarifies forms, extent, origins and distribution of forced marriages. In the process, methods of combating it are demonstrated. Following on that is a program for the protection and support of the affected parties.

Bottoms Up!

Almost everyone has seen the photos and videos of Muslims praying on the streets of Paris. With thousands of posteriors pointed skywards, they clog the thoroughfares of the French capital every Friday, claiming it as territory for the Ummah through their public devotions.

But it’s not just France. The video below shows the same sort of behavior exhibited by Muslims in Athens. I asked our Greek-German correspondent MaggieTh to summarize the Greek-language portions of the video, and here’s what he had to say:

The newscaster just says that 2,000 Muslims gathered today in such-and-such a place in order to blah-blah.

At the end another newscaster says some Greeks gathered during the prayers too and threw eggs at them, played loud music, etc. The poor Muslims were very annoyed.

Here is the context for this issue:

Since 1830 there hasn’t been a single mosque in (Southern) Greece, and all Muslims that arrived in the 1990s have been praying in normal buildings (like flats) that have been changed into “mosques”. Since the 1990s they have put pressure on the government (with the help of the EU) for the construction of a great monumental mosque near Athens, with the money Saudi Arabia has been offering for many decades to fund such a project. With the help of many multiculturally-oriented Greeks, they are pursuing their plans.

A lot of people are against these gatherings, but others show their solidarity with them, because they are poor, good, and deprived of their right to pray in their monumental mosque. This mosque has now been granted them, after extreme pressure from the EU, and it will be built in the next few years.

The original video from Riposte Laïque was accompanied by text in French. Many thanks to Bear for the translation, and to Vlad Tepes for the titling:

On a related note, here’s a commercial message from Vlad in collaboration with KGS:

Canada Feels the Heat

We just received the following message from Dr. Srdja Trifkovic concerning his banishment from Canada on Thursday. He’s asking as many people as possible to protest what happened by writing emails to politicians and the media in Canada:

I am unable to send individual notes to my friends who have been kind enough to express their support after I was refused entry into Canada last Thursday.

Many have kindly offered to help. I would greatly appreciate if you did, not just as a gesture of support for me personally but also in defense of liberty and common decency. If you have a few minutes to spare please send a letter with your comments to:

Please forward this message to anyone else who in your opinion may be willing to help.

Once again, my heartfelt thanks for your help and support.

Srdja Trifkovic