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| The Grand Turk |
| Erdogan proposes stripping terrorism supporters of Turkish citizenship |
| 2016-04-06 |
| [ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... should consider stripping citizenship from supporters of terrorism, President Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday, adding that the government had "nothing to discuss with terrorists". Erdogan gets to define "supporters of terrorism." The devil's in the definition. His comments, in a speech to a group of lawyers in the capital Ankara, come after he ruled out on Monday a revival of peace talks with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). He has vowed to stamp out the conflict in the mainly Kurdish southeast, at its deadliest in two decades, once and for all. "We need to be decisive to take all the necessary measures including stripping of citizenship for terror organization supporters," he said in comments broadcast live on television. "This state has nothing to discuss with terrorists. That business is over." Erdogan did not specify who he was targeting with the comments. In the past he said that those Turkey accuses of supporting terrorism - whether they are journalists or aid workers - are no different from snuffies themselves. Such comments have worried rights advocates who fear that anti-terrorism laws, already used to detain academics and opposition journalists, will now be used in courts to stifle discussion of issues such as the Kurdish conflict. |
| Posted by:Fred |