Prime minister’s selection among oppressors

Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu has accused the three opposition parties of acting as they are favoring one oppressor over the other.

“We call an oppressor by name, we call him ‘the oppressor’ and we side with the oppressed without any discrimination,” he said.

These are laudable words. How nice it would have been if these words had been kept in real life, especially for Davutoğlu.

One of the cruelest oppressors of our time is Sudanese President General Omar Hassan Ahmad al-Bashir. He is responsible for the killing of more than 300,000 civilians and causing the displacement of 2,700,000 people.

The International Criminal Court indicted him on charges of genocide; if he steps foot in a civilized country, he will be caught and taken to court.

His only friend in this world is Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. They almost “love” each other.
This murderer has visited Turkey many times. While then-Prime Minister Erdoğan was hosting him, it was Davutoğlu who was occupying the Foreign Ministry seat.

I am sorry, but I must say Davutoğlu also has favorites and is selecting among the oppressors.
 It is good to utter admirable words, but it is not enough for a politician to merely say them, he is also expected to act in accordance with these words.

Regarding the construction of a power plant that resulted in the hewing of 6,000 olive trees, Energy Minister Taner Yıldız said “A project that constitutes any threat to the environment will not be built in Turkey.”

These are again commendable words to be applauded. Unfortunately, reality does not match up with these words.

After all, Yıldız is a part of a government that included this article in the omnibus bill that passed in May: “Projects and associated buildings and facilities that have been included in the investment plan before the date of June 23, 1997 … or those that have started production or operation, are exempt from the Environmental Assessment Impact [ÇED] report.”    

Before building any project, there absolutely must be a ÇED report, but this article exempting the ÇED reports was annulled by the Constitutional Court in July. Since the high court’s decisions are irrevocable, those projects that started in the time period before the annulment can still be built.

Just like the third airport project for Istanbul, there are several major projects that are advancing regardless of their impact on the environment.

As I said, nice words look good on politicians only if they can keep them…