Herr Steinmeier, we really beg to differ
There is a growing distrust in Turkey toward EU countries, led by Germany due to their open support to the PKK terrorist organization
The visit by German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier to Turkey comes at a time when relations between Germany and the European Union are at an all-time low. The visit comes soon after the EU foreign ministers came together in Brussels to discuss various issues including Turkey and they, with the exception of Austria, agreed that accession talks should continue and that any move to suspend these negotiations would only be counterproductive. So the German foreign minister is in Ankara to make "friendly warnings" to the Turkish administration after the Brussels meeting. The visit also comes a day after President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan clearly stated that Turkey is fed up with the EU leaders' hypocritical attitude on the accession process and abiding by the agreements on migrants. The issue will be referred to a referendum of the Turkish people on whether we should try to continue the process of accession or abandon it once and for all. Turks are deeply saddened and frustrated that the EU has not supported Ankara properly after the failed coup attempt of July 15, on the contrary the actions and statements of European leaders have in fact been supportive of the coup plotters and those who are cooperating with them, like the Kurdish secessionist militants. There is growing distrust in Ankara and among Turks in general that EU leaders do not mean well and want the creation of a Kurdish state on Turkish soil. The fact that many countries, led by Germany and Belgium, are paying lip service to the PKK terrorist organization is seen as clear proof of this.A newspaper that is regarded as the mouthpiece of the PKK in Germany ran the headline "we kicked the roof down over the caretaker mayor" in a banner headline reporting the news that PKK terrorists had launched a bomb attack on the municipality of Derik in southeastern Mardin killing caretaker Mayor Muhammet Fatih Safitürk, who was the local governor. Turks are mourning the death of Safitürk after a reckless terrorist bombing and were shocked and angered by the way the PKK boasted about its attack in Germany. The authorities who say they consider the PKK a terrorist organization remained silent. But Turks in general feel Germany is protecting the PKK and thus paying lip service to terrorists fighting a blood secessionist war in southeastern Turkey. Turkey has until now asked for the extradition of 4,560 PKK militants and Germany has only sent three PKK people back to Turkey. Besides this, Turkish security forces are capturing German-made weapons in the hands of the PKK terrorists. The German government has not been able to explain how these weapons ended up in the hands of the terrorists.Herr Steinmeier is of course trying to lecture us about human rights and freedom of expression under the pretense of "friendly advice" but it seems he is hardly in any position to address us on such issues when Turks who are trying to speak up for the Turkish government are being silenced in his own country through various "means." Germany is providing red carpet treatment to the opponents and adversaries of the Turkish administration, which is an unfriendly act. He seems to forget that this is a country that has suffered a major bloody coup attempt and strong measures have to be taken against the perpetrators. A nation that has stopped a coup with its bare hands and was shot at and suffered 247 deaths will of course demand capital punishment for the attackers. It will demand a widespread clampdown on the coup plotters who have infiltrated the state system. So Herr Steinmeier, this is not a banana republic. If today Turkish authorities are using the State of Emergency to weed out the coup plotters and bring them to justice, if we are jailing secessionists including Kurdish militant deputies who have actively served the PKK we are doing this to preserve the unity and integrity of the Republic of Turkey. Or else this is the most modest state of emergency ever applied in Turkish history. If we really wanted revenge we would have shot all the coup plotters on July 15-16, but we did not. We rounded them all up and sent them to jail to face justice. That included the hit squad that was sent to assassinate President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his family.Steinmeier should not kid himself or any of us. The EU and the leaders of the member states do not want Turkey in the fold. They are creating all kinds of alibis to alienate the Turkish people and force us to say "to hell with you" and end our bid for accession. But then they can all remember the nightmare that could happen if the Syrian migrants flood the European borders, thus they are all playing for time to delay the inevitable. Poor Germans, poor Europeans.