Human Rights Watch Warns of 'Authoritarian Drift' in Turkey

[Ed Anger]

I'm a A-4 skyhawk fan.

[CountDeMoney]

I'm a A-4 skyhawk fan.

Liar.

[Ed Anger]

I'm a A-4 skyhawk fan.

Liar.

The autism has hit Seedy. 

Tomorrow will be the Seedy memorial wake and afterwards, dividing up his wargames.

[CountDeMoney]

Ed still hasn't put together his F-85 Goblin model kit.

[Ed Anger]

I USE TOO MUCH GLUE

[CountDeMoney]

Stupid water transfer decals always bunched up, too.   USS ENTPRISE SON OF A

[Ed Anger]

Stupid water transfer decals always bunched up, too.   USS ENTPRISE SON OF A

Sounds like a model Tim built. What a hassel.

[11B4V]

Better keep that weak ass Dassault bullshit out of here.

My favorite Frenchy jet is Super Etendard.

[Ed Anger]

Better keep that weak ass Dassault bullshit out of here.

My favorite Frenchy jet is Super Etendard.

Ugh.

[grumbler]

Why did we have to retire the F-14 again?

Because the olds people like grumbler bitched about shit like spare parts.  Today's piece of shit planes less moving parts are much more senior-friendly. INTRODUCING THE F/A-24 JITTERBUG

Hey, gramps, I was the biggest proponent of the F-14D in these parts.  Your memory is apparently shot.

[CountDeMoney]

Hey, gramps, I was the biggest proponent of the F-14D in these parts.  Your memory is apparently shot.

It is shot.  Through and through. 

[Eddie Teach]

Grumbler was also the biggest proponent of Daedalus' wing design.

[grumbler]

Grumbler was also the biggest proponent of Daedalus' wing design.

If Daedalus had used the swing-wing, as I advised, Icarus would be alive today.

He'd be pretty old, though.

[Syt]

Meanwhile, between Germany and Turkey ...

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-40973197

Turkey's Erdogan says German leaders are enemies

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has called Germany's ruling politicians "enemies of Turkey" who deserve to be rejected by German-Turkish voters.

Germany will hold a general election on 24 September, and about one million ethnic Turks living in Germany can vote. A majority of them backed Mr Erdogan in an April referendum.

"The Christian Democrats [CDU], SPD [Social Democrats], the Green Party are all enemies of Turkey," he said.

German ministers protested angrily.

Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel said Mr Erdogan's comments were an "unprecedented" act of interference in Germany's sovereignty.

Mr Erdogan has lashed out at Germany before, yet the two countries are major trade partners and allies in Nato.

He was furious that the German government refused to let some of his allies campaign for him in Germany before the April vote, which paved the way for him to get sweeping new executive powers. That refusal, he said, was "Nazi-style" behaviour.

Tensions increased after the abortive coup attempt against Mr Erdogan in July 2016, during which at least 240 people died.

President Erdogan blamed the network of US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen over the coup plot, and accused Germany of protecting Gulenists. The cleric has denied any role in the plot.

Mr Erdogan conveyed his message to German Turks via reporters in Istanbul after Friday prayers.

"Give necessary support to political parties that do not engage in enmity against Turkey.

"It is not important whether they are the first or the second party. In a way this is a struggle of honour for all my citizens living in Germany," he said, implying that voters should back far-right or far-left parties.

Chancellor Angela Merkel's centre-right CDU has been governing in coalition with the Mr Gabriel's centre-left SPD. Opinion polls suggest the CDU has a strong lead over the SPD.

The Turkish diaspora in Germany is estimated to number about three million people. "I think they will be giving the necessary lesson to those parties at the ballot box," Mr Erdogan said.

More than 50,000 people have been arrested in Turkey since the coup plot, including hundreds of journalists, opposition politicians, academics and activists.

Mr Erdogan's ruling AK Party has also purged the armed forces, judiciary, police and education sector, sacking more than 140,000 people.

In German media he's also quoted as hinting that Germany can have its citizens released (among others a journalist and a member of Amnesty International) if Germany extradites alleged coup supporters.


The Turkish response to German response (sorry, only English link I could find ad hoc):

https://www.wort.lu/en/politics/international-relations-turkey-slams-arrogant-german-reaction-to-erdogan-poll-call-599822f6a5e74263e13c5f6f

Turkey slams 'arrogant' German reaction to Erdogan poll call

(AFP) Turkey lashed out  on Saturday at the "arrogant" German reaction to comments by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan urging ethnic Turks in Germany to vote against parties in Chancellor Angela Merkel's ruling coalition.

The latest spat between Ankara and Berlin risks propelling a months-long strain on ties between the two NATO allies to a new level ahead of Germany's September 24 general election.

Erdogan said ethnic Turks in the country should not cast their ballots for Merkel's Christian Democratic Union (CDU), the Social Democratic Party (SPD) of Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel or the Greens, labelling all three parties "enemies of Turkey."

Gabriel condemned Erdogan's comments as an "unprecedented act of interference" while Merkel's spokesman Steffen Seibert said on Twitter: "We expect foreign governments to not interfere in our internal affairs."

The SPD's chancellor candidate Martin Schulz went even further, saying Erdogan had "lost all sense of proportion."

But Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdag, who is also the official government spokesman, defended Erdogan's comments saying they were only aimed at Turkish-origin voters in Germany.

"This was expressed very openly and clearly. But then look at these very disrespectful and very arrogant reactions that go beyond the bounds of decency," he said in televised comments. "I want to condemn these reactions and the disrespectful language used."

Bozdag accused Germany of meddling in Turkey's April 16 referendum on expanding Erdogan's powers saying the German "government's attitude was very clear" in backing the 'No' camp.

He also reaffirmed past Turkish accusations against Germany that it was giving refuge both to wanted Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants and suspected plotters in the July 15, 2016, failed coup bid.

"Germany supports the PKK," Bozdag said. "The PKK is a terror group but Germany quite clearly gives it protection."

Analysts said that some 1.2 million people of Turkish origin will have the right to vote in the September polls as German citizens.

And then also:

http://www.business-standard.com/article/news-ians/turkish-born-german-writer-arrested-in-spain-117081900779_1.html

Turkish born, German writer arrested in Spain

Turkish-born German writer Dogan Akhanli was arrested in the Spanish city of Granada on Saturday by police fulfilling an international arrest warrant issued by Interpol in response to a request by authorities in Turkey.

A police spokesman told Efe news that the arrest took place in the morning at a hotel in the city centre where Akhanli was staying.

The writer was then driven to the police headquarters for the region of Eastern Andalusia and was to be interviewed by a judge in the next few hours, the police official added, without specifying the motive for the arrest cited in the warrant.

After the 1980 coup d'etat in Turkey, Akhanli went into hiding and was a political prisoner in a Turkish military jail between 1985 and 1987. He was accused of armed robbery at an exchange office in 1989.

He fled Turkey in 1991 and settled in Germany.

In August 2010, Akhanli returned to Turkey to visit his dying father, but was arrested at the airport and thrown into prison for four months. But he managed to leave Turkey and returned to Germany after a campaign by civil rights activists and Turkish and German intellectuals.

[Zanza]

Who cares? 2/3 of the voters with Turkish roots vote for the SPD.

We should just ignore that troll.