A couple of weeks ago German public television broadcast a
short song called "Erdowie, Erdowo,
Erdogan". At barely two
minutes the songs ridicules Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, his
treatment of journalists, his spending habits, his crackdown on civil
liberties. Erdogan, known for his
papier-māché-like skin, called Germany’s ambassador on the carpet about the
video. The Turkish Foreign Ministry demanded the Germans take the offending
video off the air. What does this video say
that offended Erdogan? Well…
He’s living in grand style
Big Boss from Bosporus
A showy place with a thousand rooms
Built without permit in a nature preserve
Press freedom gives him a swollen neck
That’s why he needs all those scarves
When a journalist writes a piece
That Erdogan doesn’t like
He quickly ends up in jail
Newspaper offices closed down
He doesn’t think twice
With tear gas and water cannons he is riding
through the night
Be nice to him
Since he’s holding all the cards
Erdo-how, Erdo-where, Erdogan
The time is ripe
For his Great Ottoman Empire
Erdo-how, Erdo-where, Erdogan
Equal rights for women
Beaten up equally
“If the election results are off
He’ll shake them into place
He loathes the Kurds
And much rather bomb them
Than his brothers in faith over at ISIL
Hand him your money
He’ll build you a refugee tent
Erdo-how, Erdo-where, Erdogan
His country is ripe
For EU membership
He doesn’t care for democracy
Erdogan says goodbye
And rides off into the sunset
The “cards” alluded to in song are Syrian refugees, many thousands
of whom Erdogan will gladly let into Europe if he doesn’t get his way on
things. These refugees [for lack of a
better word] are giving European leaders a headache, especially Angela Merkel. Merkel’s popularity has dropped like a rock
since she started admitting a lot of these “refugees” into Germany. Subsequent to the song airing on German TV, German
comedian Jan Böhmermann recited a brief poem on TV that skewered Erdogan, his
sexual habits, his treatment of Kurds and Christians. This really upset Erdogan, who demanded
Germany prosecute Böhmermann for “insulting” Erdogan. Using an archane law against insulting
foreign leaders that’s been on the books since the times of Bismarck, Merkel’s
government gave the German prosecutors permission to open an investigation into
Böhmermann’s act. Last week, a Dutch
journalist of Turkish descent who in a tweet criticized Erdogan for being a
dictator is being prevented from leaving Turkey by the authorities. What makes Erdogan such a target of scorn?
The Turkish
government seized Zaman, the country’s most widely circulated newspaper. Fethullah Gulen, a Muslim cleric affiliated
with the newspaper, was once an ally of Erdogan’s but is now a bitter enemy. Gulan [who wields influence within the
Turkish police and judiciary] and his followers were accused by Erdogan as being
behind an investigation into corruption by members of Erdogan’s inner circle
[to include Erdogan’s son]. The Gulen
movement has been accused of being a terrorist organization that is plotting a
coup. Its members have been subject to arrests, intimidation and court cases,
while Mr. Erdogan has seemingly become more powerful. Recently Turkish authorities briefly jailed 27
academic scholars who had signed a petition urging the Turkish government to end
what they called the “deliberate massacre” of Kurds caught in clashes between
Turkish security forces and militants of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK. Erdogan’s government has used the conflict
with the PKK as a pretext for arresting journalists, saying they “assist
terrorist organizations”.
Dissenting views are suppressed and the media is gradually being
placed under government control.
Does the EU really want this guy?
