Getting Sultan Erdogan’s Goat

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has always been sensitive to slights and personal insults, and has taken his detractors to court at every opportunity. But Mr. Erdogan only lately extended his legal jihad beyond the borders of Turkey, first to Germany, then to the Netherlands, and most recently to Switzerland.

The contretemps about the scatological poem that aired on German state TV, and the subsequent legal problems for the poet, have generated headlines both in Germany and abroad. With all the attention focused on Mr. Erdogan’s alleged, ahem, eriphophilia, a spate of goat-related cartoons and poems featuring the Turkish president has spread across the internet. Satirical depictions of Mr. Erdogan’s amatory inclinations have expanded to include other farm animals, little boys, and even Frau Merkel herself. This morning I saw a particularly amusing cover cartoon for the British satirical magazine Vive Charlie that featured President Erdogan, Chancellor Merkel, and a barrel decorated with the EU circlet of stars. It’s too explicit to reproduce here, but you should be able to find it on the magazine’s Twitter account, @ViveCharlieMag.

If Mr. Erdogan’s intention was to reduce the level of ridicule directed at his august personage, he has failed dismally. More and more people every day are making jokes at the expense of Recep Tayyip Erdogan. His name and the word “goat” have become inextricably linked in the public mind. If he were to insist on prosecuting everyone who is currently laughing at him, all the jails in Europe would not be enough to hold them.

The following three videos subtitled by Vlad Tepes concern various aspects of Erdogoat Crisis.

The first shows the arrest of Bruno Kramm, the head of the Berlin branch of the German Pirate Party, during a rally supporting Jan Böhmermann (the TV comedian being investigated for insulting Mr. Erdogan). Mr. Kramm described the poem in deconstructive post-modern language, and then quoted briefly from it. That was more than he was permitted to do — he was surrounded by police and the rally was shut down.

Many thanks to Egri Nök for the translation:

The second video is from Chancellor Angela Merkel’s recent visit to Turkey. In it you can hear Mrs. Merkel discuss the new “visa liberalization” between the EU and Turkey that will go into effect at the end of June.

The chancellor cut a deal with President Erdogan a couple of months ago whereby Turkey agrees to accept the repatriation of migrants who aren’t legitimate refugees, and in return Turkish citizens will be able to travel to the Schengen area without any visa requirements.

Which doesn’t make sense to me — all the returned migrants have to do is acquire a fake Turkish passport on the black market, and then they can walk right back into Europe with no problem. So what’s the point?

And I’m sure Turkey will be pleased when hundreds of thousands of Kurdish residents use their Turkish passports to flee Mr. Erdogan’s persecution. But how will Germany handle the relocation of Turkish Kurdistan to the suburbs of Berlin?

Many thanks to Egri Nök for the translation:

The third video is an interview with the publicist and opinion writer Henryk Broder about what he describes as this “unbelievable farce”. Many thanks to Brunhilde for the translation:

Transcript (Pirate Party leader arrested):

00:01   About smear poems, it must be said that the sexual, anal sadistic, sodomistic, slur
00:07   is basically a well-known instrument of vilification.
00:12   Hitler and Kim Jong Un had to suffer it too.
00:15   There is a metaphor for the power that the powerless seeks to hit:
00:21   Sexual potency. The abstract power is thus as a concrete sexual power made assailable.
00:28   The power is being demasked, by being presented as a virility that fails.
00:34   And exactly this is done in a poem.
00:37   This means that if now we discuss, in our little literary hour,
00:44   if Böhmermann says: “His head as empty as his balls, a star on every gang bang party”
00:49   then this is not exactly great literature, but matches this type of humiliation.
00:54   [policeman:] Discontinue, please. Then this is not exactly great literature, but matches this type of humiliation.
00:57   [policeman:] Discontinue, please.
00:59   I’m sorry, you have — [unintelligible]
01:10   The loudspeakers are switched off.
01:15   Would you like to take my microphone?
01:17   No.
01:18   How if I continue my presentation without loudspeakers?
01:22   Then I would have to take measures to halt that.
01:28   But if I speak about how the the sexual, anal sadistic style of this poem —
01:36   Microphones away — But if I speak about how the the sexual, anal sadistic style of this poem —
01:37   Microphones away —
01:38   Microphones away —
01:40   What the heck?! Microphones away —
01:41   What the heck?!
01:43   What the heck?!
01:51   Bruno!
 

Transcript (Merkel in Turkey):

00:04   I think it is of special importance that Turkey,
00:08   as one of the results of the treaty with the EU,
00:12   by receiving more aid, in return
00:15   introduces work permission to Syrian refugees.
00:19   A great step forward,
00:23   because this gives new opportunities for refugees.
00:29   One can imagine that it is not easy,
00:32   when there is unemployment in the country,
00:34   and that many refugees arrive and want to work, too.
00:37   This would be a major point for discussion in any country, and
00:40   therefore, from my point of view, this was a very brave step.
00:48   We have visa liberalisation from the end of June on, as part of the EU-Turkey Treaty.
00:54   We said that Turkey of course still has to fulfill the requirements,
00:57   currently, it is 72 projects remaining to be implemented, and
01:02   we talked about several aspects today.
01:05   The commission will present a report on this topic on may fourth.
01:09   I intend to abide by the agreements,
01:15   provided that Turkey will produce the respective results.
01:21   On this, we are in close contact, and so are the commission, and Germany,
01:26   our Home Offices are in close contact,
01:28   as, of course, we also discuss our concerns and apprehensions frankly.
01:35   Because, on one hand, we want to guarantee safety, and
01:38   on the other hand, stand by the commitment to visa liberalisation.
01:47   But this of course also means that all parties must be prepared to compromise.
01:51   Things cannot carry on the way they currently are in Syria.
01:54   Therefore the opposition has to be involved in talks,
02:00   so that change can accordingly take place in Syria.
02:04   Otherwise, there can be no peace in Syria.
02:07   Germany is one of those championing this peace.
02:11   We have a close cooperation between Russia and the United States.
02:18   There are many protagonists who matter.
02:21   Negotiations are complicated, but we will do everything to push it forward.
 

Transcript (Broder interview):

00:00   And we’ll delve more deeply into the subject. Here in the studio, I welcome publicist Henryk M. Broder. Kind of you to give us your time.
00:04   Good morning. Good morning. You’ve already summarized
00:09   an article about what’s going on with all this. Share it with us. What are the thoughts
00:14   that go through your head when you look at what’s happening. // An unbelievable farce.
00:18   They just said, and I also just heard it on the car radio: the Minister of Justice, the Chancellor, and
00:22   Secretary of state, maybe a representative of the (peasantry?)?
00:26   Was any member of the Cabinet not there? I grew up in Cologne, and in Cologne,
00:30   one would have said about the whole incident that they made a torchlight procession from a fart.
00:35   And that brings us to an additional issue, namely the scatological language. Do you think that things
00:40   would be different if it had been equally insulting but with different words? /// No I don’t think so.
00:45   Please. The Turkish president has an incredible tendency to take offense,
00:49   and to feel offended by everything that challenges his authoritarian and totalitarian existence.
00:54   And you could read a poem by Rilke,
00:58   or by Klabund or Wedekind, and
01:02   just inserted “Erdogan” in a certain place and he would be just as upset. We are now experiencing
01:06   a wonderful teaching example of matters of democracy and dictatorship.
01:11   And the Chancellor has not yet understood that. If you give your little finger to such a despot, such a dictator,
01:16   he will want to have your entire hand. And I count on, quite seriously, that he will probably
01:21   demand that he be extradited to Turkey to put him on trial there.
01:26   The poor man can’t know that the Federal Republic (of Germany) is not allowed to extradite its own citizens.
01:30   What kind of a reaction are you expecting when today’s meeting of all these representatives is over?
01:35   I don’t know. I don’t have my coffee cup with me so I can’t read the grounds. // But your gut reaction?/// My gut reaction?
01:39   I don’t think he’ll get his way, because in the final analysis,
01:43   the Chancellor will retain a remnant of reason and will consider
01:47   what would get started in the public sphere if she accedes to the request. But, in the courts,
01:52   on the high seas, and with Mrs. Merkel, one never knows how things will end.
01:57   There are a number of people, including in the Turkish community here, who say that
02:02   the problem isn’t so much the satire, the attack on Erdogan, but rather
02:06   it was a matter of acting with resentment and reproach toward the Turks.// I don’t know about that.
02:11   The target is Erdogan. And please look at what mockery, what malice
02:15   we pour out , rightly so, absolutely rightly so,
02:19   on the Pope, on the Polish president, on other politicians,
02:24   and it is always only one who feels insulted. There has not been a case like this in recent times.
02:29   When George W. Bush was insulted by being called a child murderer…
02:33   There hasn’t been any case like this for a long time. I tried to google it today, and found no case
02:38   from recent years. So here we have a special sensitivity of a man
02:43   who deserves to be insulted. I know of no current politician, aside from perhaps
02:48   that North Korean fatso, I forget his name, who would be equally deserving
02:52   of being insulted. The man is a dictator. He imprisons his opponents,
02:57   he allows demonstrators to be beaten, he allows editorial offices to be occupied,
03:01   and we’re not supposed to insult this man? So, then what?
03:06   And what a demanding attitude he has, demanding not to be insulted. By the way, that applies to all politicians.
03:10   Politicians have to have a higher threshold of tolerance for insults than normal citizens like
03:15   you and me, because that is part of their job – to be insulted.
03:20   And it’s our task to insult them. // Now there is also a criminal offence,
03:25   paragraphs 103 and 104, which has been discussed for days now. Would it maybe not make sense
03:30   to allow a trial to go ahead for the sake of clarity?
03:34   No. To allow such a case to go ahead would be to follow the wishes of Erdogan instead of
03:39   bringing to his attention in a very polite and very clear way that he should not
03:44   get involved in the internal matters of the Federal Republic.
03:48   He always reacts to criticisms from foreign countries. He says, “OK, to beat people is my right,
03:53   and you should not get involved in my internal affairs.” No, to allow a trial to proceed,
03:57   would be an unbelievable giving in to a despotic demand
04:01   and to a president. Then others would come along who would demand exactly the same thing from the Federal Republic.
04:06   And I fear that could be the path that the Chancellor is leading us along because
04:11   she got involved with a dictator whom she needs
04:16   to deal with the dirty work for which she is responsible. // Mr. Broder, thank you
04:21   for being in our studio, thank you for your discussion. // I thank you.
 

22 thoughts on “Getting Sultan Erdogan’s Goat

  1. It just occurred to me that both Erdogan and Ataturk have the same attributes: thin and neat. In the western world that means what?

  2. As an ethnic Greek the whole thought of Turkiye joining the EU and flooding Europe with Muslims truly frightens me. Would Erdogan flood Greece and the Balkans with refugees as part of his agenda to restore the Ottoman Empire. The truth of his real intentions must be revealed. Europe cannot allow this tyrant from blackmailing them with the threat of more so-called refugees. If one looks at the ethnic cleansing of the Greek islands of Tenedos and Imbros you can see what Erdogan has planned. He is not a friend of America! Sad thing is President Obama is in bed with Erdogan, so could a critic of Erdogan in America someday be prosecuted by our legal system. For now the First Amendment protects us but for how long.

    • No, Erdogan is not a friend to America, but then nor is his buddy Obama.
      I have wondered for years as to why the Turks haven’t tried to push the Greeks off Lesbos, Chios, Samos, Kos, Rhodes and all the other smaller Greek islands that nudge the Turkish coast.
      The goat man of Turkey is arrogant enough to try!

    • I understand your feelings. Greeks have suffered enormously from Turkish conquerors. And so did Armenians, Assyrians, Bulgarians, Serbs, Montenegrins… Besides, Turks and their allies Crimean Tatars raided neighbouring countries – Romania, Russia, those parts of Poland and Russia which now became Ukraine, etc. capturing people to be enslaved (including women and boys for sexual slavery) and plundering what they could.

      It can be said that modern Turkey is different, that all this is in the past. But is it? Turkey has never recognised the Armenian genocide (or Assyrian, or Greek, or any other genocides, for that matter). Turkey has never apologised for slavery. In modern Turkey, Kurds and what remains of other minorities, are oppressed. There is no religious freedom to speak of. And militant Islamism is regaining the ground it lost under Atatürk and his successors.

      So, this is the country which Frau Merkel and her comrades in the European political elite, want to accept into the bosom of the European Community. But, of course, it is absolutely necessary – otherwise the EU might be seen as a Christian club – and what can be worse than that?!

  3. Erdogan, with the emphasis on the “dog” (since the Charlie cartoon with Merkel has the two of them doing it doggie style) has set into motion the famed Streisand Effect: Tell the world that something bothers you, you being a well-known, arrogant individual, and the internet world will let you know what they think of you.

    Now that we’ve got Erdogan’s number, we know what to do.

  4. I wonder if we can deduce anything from the fact that so many dictators, pop singers and actors do not seem to possess enough brain cells to grasp the Streisand Effect?

    As for Merkel’s kow-towing to the despotic Erdogan and his Muslim hordes, what can one say? Turkey, it seems, no longer has to bother trying to join the EU, as the EU appears hellbent on being subsumed into Turkey.

    The only consolation is that if this pathetic, grovelling lunacy continues we may see the ordinary folk of Europe finally realise that the one thing they should never be tolerant of is intolerance. Then may a strong man arise and lead them out of the coming darkness. Let us hope he is both firm and just.

  5. Fake Turkish passports to get into the EU?
    I wouldn’t be surprised if Ankara sold real passports to the invaders being escorted out of Europe so that they can turn around and go straight back to Europe along with all the unemployed of Turkey.
    This is unfathomably unfair to the indigenous population of Europe.

  6. Erdogan we know is a horny old goat
    who lives in a castle with a very wide moat.
    If you want to get in,
    you must join him in sin,
    else you’ll be tossed to the crocs from a boat

  7. RE Turkish passports – just what I was thinking… from July onwards, in addition to masses of Turks, would there be a large number of Turkish passport-holders looking to enter the EU who don’t speak any Turkish? In fact they’d only need to fly into Istanbul with Turkish Airlines (now one of the world’s biggest airlines, with connections to most of the Muslim world), pick up their Turkish passports and fly out again to the EU destination of their choice…

  8. I will not be so hasty as to set Erdogan up as the top dog on the pile. He is obviously
    a puppet of greater and more sinister powers. Those who have been planning this
    migrational tsunami for decades now. Those who give orders and the world leaders jump to obey or get deposed by some means or another. Erdogan suffers from the small man with big ideas syndrome – and this will be his downfall. “They” – the power brokers of the world – will use him and then discard him and another, far more despotic and vile, will take his place. Erdogan is loathed in his native land and by Turks who have managed to escape – I know them personally here in Australia – and there are no epithets bad enough with which to describe him and his supporters. Angela Merkel does herself and Germany a huge injustice by having anything to do with this man. But she knows this – only her fear is greater than her integrity and she has given too much ground now to an implacable enemy – and I don’t mean Erdogan. Make of this what you will. We are only seeing the thin end of the wedge here!

  9. Germany is now officially a police state.The police are used to crush all criticism ,dissent and protest.

    • The whole Western world – formerly known as ‘the free world’ – is sliding down into soft totalitarianism.

      People and organisations that do not subscribe to the dominant ideology are marginalised, publicly ridiculed, defamed (“naming and shaming”), humiliated, lose their jobs and reputations, in some cases even dragged into court with little chance to defend themselves.

      And all this is presented to the world as ‘democracy’ and ‘freedom’ for universal admiration and emulation.

        • No dissent here, but for that to happen the people themselves must rise up–in millions.

          The only other enablers are the police, who already work for the enemy, and the armies.
          Armies? Where?

          • I think a major problem is that the police and the army have been infiltrated by Muslims.
            Also the army takes it’s orders from the government.If people elect bad leaders e.g Merkel ,Cameron Holland,Rutte the army will merely follows their orders.

            The solution is to elect better leaders.Vote AfD vote ,vote Le Pen ,vote Nigel Farage ,vote Le Pen ,vote Geert Wilders ,vote Trump.

            (I would say vote B.N.P but the British are unable to bring themselves to vote for a party they consider representative of the lower social classes.The snobbery of the British people will be their ultimate downfall.They are addicted to style over substance.They would rather be lead by a traitor with an upper class accent than a patriot with a regional accent.They are too busy virtue signalling to defend themselves from the creeping Islamification of the U.K.)

            I was horrified to see that Merkel ‘s party still has so much support.

            Much is made of the fact that the Nationalist AfD gains and the slight falling off in support for the ruling coalition.But in fact people have not voted as they should. Too few have seen the necessity of voting for change .Too many are content to continue to vote for Merkel and the coalition.Not enough are prepared to vote for the AfD.

  10. Perhaps it time for an international Erdogan Poem Competition, first prize; an all expenses paid holiday on the Island of Lesbos.

    • Thanks but I’m not going anywhere near Greece .It’s become the garbage pit /sewer of the world,overrun with Muslim jihadis and all the rubbish they leave behind.

      I saw on a news website that one Greek island had 85% cancellation of tourist holiday bookings this season.The Muslim invasion has destroyed Greece as a tourist destination.

      It’s a great pity.The Greeks are wonderful people and I have holidayed there twice.I’m glad I got to see it before the Muslim invasion ruined it.

      And I am sorry that tourism (Greece’s major source of revenue) has been struck a lethal blow.All my sympathy is with the Greek people.The Greek people do not deserve this .They have been betrayed by the E.U.

      • Tourism in Egypt was way down for quite a while. I’m not sure Israelis (one of their main customer bases) feel safe yet.

        For sure, the continent has been deeply affected, but I’m not sure if places like, say England and Ireland, have seen a drop in visitors.

        Americans will be reluctant to leave our shores and called “isolationist” as a consequence.

        • why should I fly around the world when I can drive 100+ miles and enjoy an ocean front resort for a week, the Del on Coronado Island. I could fly to Israel, but I would have the same weather there as I have here without people taking pot shots at me (yet). There is also Glacier National Park (Grand Canyon with water) and killer fishing and awesome scenery. So, why go there and put up with all the ….. when we have it all here. Maybe we will be the hot tourist spot this summer.

          • Agreed. I have the Smokies National Forest if I wanted to drive that far- plus a number of state parks with swimming, canoeing, etc. Nice cabins, too.

            My big summer plan is to visit the state capital and see The Arboretum. We’ll see if my energy holds up.

            Each state has its attractions…and I’ve become more aware of them as I write thank you notes and do a quick wiki search on the town or region of our donors…an immense variety of places. After all these years of looking up areas, I’d love to see parts of Oregon, the Traverse City Michigan cherry festival, the roses in Tyler Texas…and so on. One could visit California from one end of the state to the next and find those six states the referendum wanted to divide it into. San Diego is another world from, say, Muir Woods.

            I don’t think people from Europe understand how huge this place is. They have a thousand years of diversity and culture; we have three thousand miles and a diversity of Europeans-turned-into-Americans…

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