From Moscow to Washington, many capital cities are watching these elections with interest and excitement. Paris, Berlin, London, Brussels, Tehran, Yerevan, Baghdad, Damascus, Tripoli, etc. But some parties, which are not satisfied with watching the process, especially try to intervene through the media. It is no coincidence that in recent days, the "independent, professional, and impartial" Western media takes an open side, puts its media function aside, and engages in open propaganda.
Moreover, these broadcasts begin after the ban on the distribution of poll results, which began 10 days before the elections, according to the Turkish electoral law...
The English magazine The Economist, which has been published continuously for 180 years, takes a clear position with the subtitle "Erdogan must go" on its cover, calling the Turkish elections the most important election of 2023.
The French magazine Le Point put a picture of Erdoğan on the cover with the title "Erdogan La`utre Poutine" (Erdogan - another Putin) and equates him with Putin, who invaded Ukraine and Georgia, never held a normal democratic election, eliminated or imprisoned his opponents. It openly declares that "war threats, expansionism, hatred against the West..."
will continue with Erdoğan’s election.
Another French magazine L'express gave a shadowy image of Erdoğan (with bloodshot eyes) on its cover, and with the headline "Erdogan, le risque du chaos" (Erdogan, the risk of chaos) and subheadings "Turkey: the choice for all threats" and "Agreements with Putin", it states that Erdoğan is a great threat not only to Turkey but also to Europe by emphasizing the refugees taking refuge in Europe, as well as to the Middle East by hinting at his activities in Syria, Libya, Iraq, and the Mediterranean Sea.
Der Spiegel, a magazine published in Germany, depicted Erdoğan sitting on a broken chair with a broken image of the moon, known as a symbol of Islam, on the cover, stating that Erdoğan would lose the elections and circulating on its social network accounts with the title "Why should we be afraid of Erdoğan's re-election".
Austria's magazine Profil depicted Turkey's moon and star flag as its cover, depicting Erdoğan clinging to the moon on the flag and about to fall, and titled "Are we finally getting rid of him?". So, it sees Erdoğan's non-election as salvation.
Azerbaijan is an important place where the results of the elections are widely discussed and watched with interest. What makes the result of the elections important for Azerbaijan is the fact that the rapprochement with the Turkish leader Erdoğan has reached its peak in recent years; as a result, practical steps have been taken to solve the 30-year-old Karabakh knot and the occupation of Azerbaijan. Erdoğan, unlike his predecessors, provided military and political support to Azerbaijan not just in words, but in concrete actions, and conduced toward the successful conclusion of military operations that ensured the return of Azerbaijan to its occupied territories.
The joint statement signed in Ankara on January 15, 2015, and other approved cooperation documents, the Shusha Declaration on the alliance relations between Azerbaijan and Turkey, signed in Shusha on June 15, 2021, brought these relations to the top.
The people of Azerbaijan highly appreciate this support. In the polls, it can be seen that the support for Erdoğan is more[1] than in Turkey.
Even if the young people do not know, the middle and older generations remember very well the behavior and sayings of the Turkish leaders in the problems we experienced before and after the period of independence...
On January 20, 1990, after Moscow committed the January massacre in Baku, when journalists mentioned this issue and asked what position Turkey would take, Turkish President Turgut Özal said[2]: "They are Shiites, we are Sunnis. They are closer to Iran!". This answer was applauded in Moscow...
On April 4, 1993, when the Armenians occupied Kalbajar with the support of the Russian army, the late Abulfaz Elchibey, who saw himself as M. K. Atatürk's soldier and was the President of Azerbaijan, asked Turkish Prime Minister Demirel for a helicopter to rescue the civilians, women, and children left to die in Kalbajar, Bashlibel, he said, "We don't have such a big helicopter," and rejected this request.[3] However, Erdoğan's government kept[4] Turkish F-16s in Azerbaijan during the 44-day war and consistently emphasized its full support for Azerbaijan.[5]
Despite the ceasefire with Armenia, the conflict has not been concluded, the peace agreement has not been agreed upon, the control of the "Russian-keeping" forces in the region and the border disputes continue, and at a time when the "legal status" and "security" of the Armenians living in Karabakh remain on the table in Moscow, Washington, Paris, and Brussels as an urgent issue and are put forward as an element of repression against our country at every opportunity, in terms of the interests of Azerbaijan in the elections to be held in Ankara, it is an objective reality that the desire for Erdoğan’ election among the two main candidates competing in the presidential elections in Turkey will come to the fore.
The editors of the magazines, the cover pictures of which we see above, the governments of the countries to which they belong, want Erdoğan not to be elected, not because the Turkish voters bought onions and potatoes at a high price, but precisely in terms of the geopolitical interests of their country. Turkey has developed enough to protect its national interests in the region, especially in the field of military industry. It is not possible to take steps against Turkey and its allies in Syria, Northern Iraq, Libya, the Middle East, the Mediterranean Sea, the Caucasus, and the Black Sea as easily as before.
While the Republic of Turkey before the Erdoğan era met only 20% of the country's military supplies with its own domestic production in the 80-year period, with the breakthroughs initiated by the Erdoğan government in the last 10 years, this figure reached 80%. Erdoğan did not do this alone, the people of Turkey did it, but he did it with an administration with a political vision.
Turkey will be on the side of the party with a broad political vision in these elections. Processes show this.
In the next article, I will share my thoughts on the likely results of the elections.
[1] https://report.az/xarici-siyaset/azerbaycanda-respondentlerin-90-4-i-erdoganin-qalib-gelmesini-destekleyir-sorgu/
[2] https://www.sozcu.com.tr/2020/yazarlar/soner-yalcin/onlar-sii-biz-sunniyiz-6120173/
[3] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VjTnmn5Q7c4
[4] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3p5oInLW0w4&t=482s (bax: 7:40 dəq. etibarən) ; https://president.az/az/articles/view/44170/videos
Great East
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