Turkish PM Erdoğan’s top adviser Yiğit Bulut expects ‘European Spring’

COLOGNE

'I expect a spring' in Europe. When you look at the history of Europe, whenever assets shrink, state subsidies decrease and the shared pie becomes smaller, Europe falls out with itself,' Yiğit Bulut told a conference on Nov 30 in the German city of Cologne. AA photo

The prime minister’s chief adviser Yiğit Bulut has said he expects a “European Spring” to break out in the near future, suggesting that Europe is in decline.

“I expect a ‘Spring’ in Europe. When you look at the history of Europe, whenever assets shrink, the state subsidies decrease, and the shared pie became smaller, Europe falls out with itself,” Bulut told a conference on Nov. 30 in the German city of Cologne.

He said that everyone was expecting a “Spring” in Egypt, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan or in Central Africa, but they were looking in the wrong place. 

“The unemployment rate in North Rhine-Westphalia is 29 percent. Why? Because mines have been shut down as part of a EU strategy. Those people are not like us socially. In the Anatolian-Islamic synthesis, we eat the chicken that we brought from the village, and we can handle ourselves for a length of time. But Europeans don't have this in their culture. So I don’t expect an 'Arab Spring' in Europe, but I expect a ‘Spring’ in Germany, France and Italy,” Bulut was quoted as saying by the Anadolu Agency.

The top adviser also defended his remarks that the German airline Lufthansa was behind the Gezi protests in June. “I said Lufthansa would be worried because of the opening the third airport in Istanbul during the Gezi incidents. Two days ago, Lufthansa decided to end cooperation with THY. If Lufthansa could explain this, I’m ready to take back what I said,” Bulut said.

Last week, Lufthansa announced its plans to terminate their code-sharing agreement with Turkey’s flagship carrier, Turkish Airlines (THY).

Bulut, a former news anchor and editor-in-chief of the private news broadcaster 24 TV, was appointed as the chief adviser of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in July. He is still a columnist for the daily Star.

He raised eyebrows worldwide during the Gezi Park protests, when he claimed that foreign powers were attempting to “kill Erdoğan with telekinesis.”