‘Jerusalem fatigue’ among Muslims

On Dec. 8, during our evening news broadcast, Kanal D showed footage of two different gatherings.

The first piece of footage showed people who had gathered for a big sales campaign at an electronic goods store in the Central Anatolian province of Konya. There was such a big crowd in front of the store that if you saw it you would likely think that if it was a political party meeting, that party would be heading to power.

The second piece of footage showed groups in Turkey protesting U.S. President Donald Trump’s declaration of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. In none of them was there any crowd similar in size to the one in front of the store selling discounted electronic goods in Konya. This lack of interest was not only in Turkey; a similar situation was valid everywhere in the Islamic world.

There is only one conclusion we can draw from this comparison: The “ummah,” the Muslim religious community, is tired of the Jerusalem issue.

Why is it tired?

Perhaps because for many years angry groups have been chanting “Down with Israel” and nothing happens to Israel. The angry slogans and burned flags have been no use for many decades. Most leaders of Muslim-majority countries are wary of the issue, and the Palestinian cause is used in many others countries simply as an outlet to reinforce the ruler. The Middle East is already full of bloodshed that nobody can do anything about.

In short, the “ummah” is tired and this tiredness has many valid reasons.

‘If we do not stand behind our deputy, the rest will follow’

“We make our mayors to resign. The opposition parties could start similar processes for their mayors. If they do not start it, the Interior Ministry will step in,” President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan had said.

“We do not have a mayor who has earned a single unlawful cent. Mind your own business,” replied the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP).

A response came to this answer. The Interior Ministry suspended Battal İlgezdi, the CHP mayor of Istanbul’s Ataşehir district.

As far as I see, CHP believes that if it caves in over Battal, the rest will follow. For this reason the CHP will do everything in its power to keep the agenda busy with the Battal issue.

Let’s see if they succeed.

Razi against Reza

The ongoing New York trial featuring Turkish-Iranian businessman Reza Zarrab as star witness has brightened Hürriyet’s New York correspondent, Razi Canikligil.

Canikligil has been reporting the case closely and recently recorded a great journalistic success by publishing footage of former Halkbank deputy general manager Mehmet Hakan Atilla being interrogated by FBI agents Jennifer McReynolds and Scott Giessler on March 27, immediately after his arrest.

Congratulations to him.

Wi-Fi passwords in İzmir

A friend of mine recently asked for the Wi-Fi password at a restaurant in the Aegean province of İzmir. The waiter replied “Atam izindeyiz.” “Atam” in Turkish means “founding fouder,” referring to Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of the Republic of Turkey. The password can be translated as meaning: “We are following in your footsteps.”

İzmir really is a special city.