Turkish opposition attacks FM Davutoğlu for ‘destructive regional policy’

ANKARA

FM Ahmet Davutoğlu has been criticized for Turkey’s regional policy.

Both the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) and the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) have increased their condemnation of Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu over to his approach toward the Islamic State (IS).

“Davutoğlu’s sectarian politics have brought destruction to our region. Yazidis, Armenians, Turkmens and Christians who are fundamental elements of our region are being agonized in the hands of fundamentalist organizations. Davutoğlu, about whom five censure motions have been filed, should urgently resign from office. Davutoğlu, who accuses people who criticize him of treason, should know solely being unable to fulfil the requirement of being a successful minister should resign.” CHP Deputy Chair Faruk Loğoğlu said in a written statement released on Aug. 8.

Loğoğlu’s statement was an apparent response to Davutoğlu’s remarks in a recent interview. The minister suggested the opposition parties who are accusing the government of cooperating with the IS, formerly known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), were committing “treason.”

Loğoğlu, a veteran retired diplomat who also served as the undersecretary of the Foreign Ministry in the early 2000s, recalled how Sunni fighters from the IS, an al-Qaeda offshoot bent on establishing a caliphate and eradicating unbelievers, have been sweeping through northern Iraq and parts of Syria since June. Hundreds of thousands of Iraqi Christians and other minorities have fled from IS fighters, who have beheaded and crucified some of their captives and broadcast the killings on the Internet.

Loğoğlu argued that “While these are happening in our neighboring country Iraq, the government has acted out of greed and set its eyes on Iraq’s oil by excluding the Baghdad administration. The government has a great responsibility in the collapse of Iraq’s unity.”

Earlier this week, the CHP filed a censure motion against Davutoğlu due to the government’s handling of a hostage crisis in Iraq. It accused him of mismanaging the crisis which erupted when jihadist militants seized 49 people, including children, from the Turkish consulate in Mosul in June.

HDP deputy Ertuğrul Kürkçü, meanwhile, argued Turkey has not been doing its part in regard to the humanitarian tragedy in the neighboring country.

“The foreign minister whose Mosul consulate staff is being kept hostage in the hands of ISIL is not able to call this organization ‘terrorist,’ is not able to condemn the murders and massacre, but is busy creating excuses for them,” Kürkçü said at a press conference at Parliament on Aug. 8.

“Like it did during the Israeli attack on Gaza, Parliament should gather and raise a joint voice against the ISIL attacks in Syria and Iraq. The dimensions of the massacre in Sinjar have grown larger than Gaza. Turkey is taking sides between murderers,” Kürkçü added.