Paylan, who criticized the American military presence in Greece, was repeating the propaganda arguments frequently used by the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan about supposed US military bases in Greece.

Claiming that the real winner of the tension between Greece and Turkey is the United States, Paylan stated that a quarrel between the Turkish and Greek leaders had led to a rise in nationalism.

“Look, the US quadrupled its number of military bases [in Greece], and the number of American soldiers has also increased,” said Paylan.

The supposed US military bases in Greece are frequently brought up by the government-funded Turkish media and nationalist circles that support the government. Claiming that US bases are targeting Turkey, pro-government experts give contradictory figures for the number of bases. Paylan also seems to have been influenced by the government’s rhetoric and pro-government media coverage when he claimed the number of US military bases had quadrupled.

Erdoğan, following a Cabinet meeting last May, harshly criticized Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, who asked during an address to the US Congress that the US decline to sell dozens of F-16 fighter jets to Turkey.

The US got its share of Erdoğan’s anger as he criticized the US’s growing military presence in the neighboring country. “There are nearly 10 [US] bases in Greece,” he claimed. “Who is being threatened with these bases? Why are these bases being established in Greece?”

Erdoğan had previously stated that Greece itself had become a US military base. “At the moment, I can’t count all the American bases in Greece, there are so many. … It almost looks like Greece itself is a US base,” Erdoğan had said. 

However, there’s only one actual US base in Greece, at Souda Bay, which the US has operated since 1969. American forces have been granted access to four additional Greek bases according to the US-Greece Mutual Defense Cooperation Agreement (MDCA) signed in October 2021 and ratified by the Greek parliament on May 13.

According to Turkey’s state-run Anadolu news agency, the defense agreement will permit the US military to use Georgula Barracks in Greece’s central province of Volos, the Litochoro Training Ground and an army barracks in the northeastern port city of Alexandroupoli, apart from the naval base at Souda Bay on Crete.

Some pro-government experts attribute the increasing American military presence in Greece to the uneasy relations and a crisis of confidence between Turkey and the US in recent years. According to them, the US has disrupted the balance that had been carefully maintained since the Cold War between its two NATO allies in favor of Greece instead of Turkey.

However, it is not the first time that Paylan has used the rhetoric of the Erdoğan government. At a parliamentary session on November 22, 2022, during which the budget of the Ministry of Defense was negotiated, Paylan accused the Gülen movement, a group critical of the Erdoğan regime, of involvement in an incident in which two policemen were killed in the Ceylanpınar district of Şanlıurfa in 2015. After the assassination of the police officers, the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) claimed responsibility but later announced that it was not involved. 

However, Paylan’s party, the HDP, still argues that the murders were organized by Erdoğan, who lost his parliamentary majority in the general election of June 7, 2015. The HDP, like opposition parties, claims that the murders took place in order to end Erdoğan’s negotiations with the Kurds in order to get nationalist votes before the new elections on November 1, 2015, due to the failure to form a government. The association of the Gülen movement with such an incident that would benefit the Erdoğan government the most had never been mentioned before by anyone other than Paylan.

After the policemen were killed, the Turkish army bombed PKK targets in Iraq. Between June 7 and November 1, Turkey witnessed a bloody period in which 862 people, both civilians and soldiers, lost their lives. In the elections held on November 1, the Justice and Development Party (AKP) regained its parliamentary majority and came to power without the need for a coalition.

Paylan had lambasted opponents who criticize the Turkish government at meetings abroad during a parliamentary committee session last year.

Source: Nordic Monitor

The post Pro-Kurdish party lawmaker claims growing US military presence in Greece is targeting Turkey appeared first on Ankara Haftalik.

Turkey’s pro-Kurdish parties have reaffirmed their support for opposition unity candidate Kemal Kilicdaroglu in this weekend’s run-off presidential election, one day after conveying their anger at a deal he struck on the expulsion of migrants in order to win the endorsement of a far right party.

Their discomfort at maintaining their backing for Kilicdaroglu was evident in the fact that they did not name him in their May 25 statement on whom they would advise their supporters to vote for in the May 28 showdown. Kurds make up around a fifth of Turkey’s 85mn-strong population and, given the fanning of nationalism seen during the campaigning, will fear a renewed crackdown under the regime, should it emerge unscathed from the election as most analysts expect it to do.

The alternative to Kilicdaroglu in the runoff is Turkey’s leader of two decades Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who officially defeated Kilicdaroglu in the election first round on May 14 by 49.5% to 44.9% and is widely expected to secure re-election in Sunday’s head to head.

The pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) and its Green Left (YSP) ally explained on May 25 that they were still seeking a change of government in the runoff and would thus not change their stance on whom to vote for.

HDP co-chair Pervin Buldan told a news conference that party members would vote to end Erdogan’s “one-man regime”, which she referred to as a “freak regime”, saying: “The freak regime created by Erdogan and his partners is the cause of the societal problems that are being experienced. What will be voted on May 28 is whether this freak regime will continue or not.”

Kilicdaroglu on May 24 announced a deal with the anti-immigrant Victory Party (ZP), which secured him their endorsement. The ZP won 2.2% of votes in the parliamentary election that ran in parallel with the presidential poll first-round vote.

To secure the accord, Kilicdaroglu agreed to an article expressing support for the regime policy of replacing mayors with state-appointed trustees where a court ruled that they had terrorism links. Most HDP mayors elected in 2019 have been replaced by such officials.

Buldan was also critical of election campaign rhetoric in which migrants are used for political purposes, saying: “The refugee and migrant problem can only be solved with a strong struggle for peace against policies of war.”

The six-party Nation Alliance led by Kilicdaroglu previously said it would end the practice of replacing mayors with government-appointed trustees.

The endorsement of Kilicdaroglu by ZP leader Umit Ozdag goes some way to countering the endorsement Erdogan received on May 22 from Sinan Ogan, the presidential candidate of a ZP-led far right alliance, who came third in the first-round vote with 5.2% support.

Source: Intelli News

The post Turkey’s pro-Kurdish parties maintain backing for run-off challenger to Erdogan despite nationalist turn appeared first on Ankara Haftalik.