Good morning, dear reader,
How nice when you have dreams! They give hope, however remote from life they may be. The many Acids For example, those who had to flee their homes from war, government terror and extremism: They could not imagine anything more beautiful than the picture of the world that a friendly visionary has designed for them these days. There should be guarantees “for life and assets” for everyone who way back to their homeland car. “Roads, bridges, schools, everything” will be rebuilt there. The displaced may be able to live freely again in their own country. Industry will invest, and work will be provided. Later, the former refugees are welcome to come back again, to Turkey or Germany – for vacation! Is not that great?
If John Lennon were still with us and wrote his songs on current topics, who knows, maybe a verse of this kind would also be included. But the older, properly dressed gentleman who paints the beautiful dream picture doesn’t look like an aged hippie at all. On the contrary: he sees himself as a solid, down-to-earth person, he is a politician by profession. But he has big things in mind. He wants to charm an entire nation because he is the top candidate: Kemal Kilicdaroglu occurs in the Türkiye on Sunday against the permanent president Recep Tayyip Erdogan at. It is pointed to the button. The polls predict a very close outcome of the election. It is a fateful ballot for Turkey, but also for the region, for Europe, even for NATO. Will Kılıçdaroğlu defeat the old fox? And have to realize his dreams – and daydreams?
Granted: Even the thought that Erdogan could actually move out of the presidential palace makes you rub your eyes. You can vote freely in Turkey, but it’s not fair at all. The President has turned the state apparatus into his personal election campaign machine; the media is on a leash and brought into line, as is the judiciary; unpleasant lawyers, activists and politicians fill the prisons. This explains why around half of the voters will probably still put their cross with Erdogan, even though Turkey has been rocked by severe crises for years. Challenger Kılıçdaroğlu has a wafer-thin lead over Erdogan. In view of the unequal starting conditions, that already borders on a miracle.
Without support, the opposition man would hardly have had a chance. Active support came from the President himself, of all people. The insane one Inflation, which peaked at more than 85 percent last year, is robbing the middle class of their savings and stealing food from the poor. Anyone who believes Erdogan TV thanks the President for successfully rescuing him from the supposedly much worse crisis elsewhere. On the other hand, if you believe your wallet, you want Erdogan to disappear as soon as possible.
Rarely have so many fundamental decisions been combined in one election. Deciding between a rational economic policy and Erdogan’s catastrophic course is still the easiest exercise. At the same time, the vote is in one culture clash in which Turks with religious-conservative values vote for the eternal president and compatriots with a liberal worldview for the challenger.
The decision as to which state you want to have hovers over everything. Here the strong man who alone has the say and promises stability. There the opposition, which wants to help the rule of law, parliament, freedom of the press and freedom of expression to regain their rights, which at the same time brings with it constant debates and a possibly divided coalition government too – that’s just the way it is in one Democracy. In any case, one cannot accuse the opponents of a lack of distinguishability in this vote. A particularly hot topic, however, does not fit into this neat dichotomy and even encourages the liberal hopeful Kılıçdaroğlu to dream that one nightmare get dangerously close.
The opposition is using the heated atmosphere and accuses Erdogan of letting the refugees into the country. Kılıçdaroğlu wants to get them back home within two years – in coordination with the “legitimate government” in Syria, by which he means Assad and his murderous gangs. He is offering reconstruction work in the neighboring country, although Turkey will be dealing with the damage caused by the spring earthquake at home for years to come. For an understanding with Damascus, Turkey would also have to vacate its zone of influence in northern Syria, where millions of Syrians have sought refuge from Assad’s henchmen.
It’s an absurd plan – but Erdogan is rushing to overtake his challenger in the process: Yesterday he quickly sent the foreign minister to a meeting with his Syrian colleague, the first such meeting in more than ten years. Russians and Iranians sat at the table as mediators. Human rights don’t.
Should these plans take shape, numerous refugees will indeed leave Turkey as quickly as possible – but not for Syria. In Europe we have to hope that the absurdity of this crazy project will break it down first. Otherwise it will soon be very crowded on the routes to Germany.
It’s already true: A change of power in Ankara would give Europe’s relationship with Turkey a chance for a fresh start. But unfortunately it’s not all sunshine and roses.
Money, laws, squadrons
Finance Minister Christian Lindner announced this afternoon what tax revenue the federal, state and local governments can expect by 2028. It is said that the state could more than in the coming year alone a trillion euros take in. It cannot be assumed that the mountain of money will be sufficient to meet all the government politicians’ spending requests.
After months of tug-of-war, the Bundestag wants to pass a law to protect “whistleblowers”. It is intended to protect whistleblowers who uncover abuses in authorities and companies from dismissal and reprisals. But you will have to contact internal reporting offices: the CDU and CSU have wrested this concession from the traffic light coalition.
