WikiLeaks: Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan Furious Over Leaked US Cable

ANKARA, Turkey — Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey on Wednesday reacted furiously to claims in a leaked U.S. State Department memo that he has money in Swiss bank accounts and said U.S. diplomats should be punished for allegations he branded as lies and gossip.

The angry outburst broke from Turkey's initial position of downplaying the significance of the leaks and saying that the documents would not affect Turkish and U.S. ties.

The classified cable, released this week by WikiLeaks, is dated Dec. 30, 2004 from then-U.S. Ambassador Eric Edelman, who was assessing Erdogan's second year in power.

It says: "We have heard from two contacts that Erdogan has eight accounts in Swiss banks; his explanations that his wealth comes from the wedding presents guests gave his son and that a Turkish businessman is paying the educational expenses of all four Erdogan children in the U.S. purely altruistically are lame."

Erdogan said on live television he was prepared to resign if opposition parties can prove that he has any money in a Swiss account.

"The United States is responsible for those diplomats' false claims and their smears. The United States should ensure that the diplomats are held to account," Erdogan said on live television. "To accept as true the lies and slanders that emanate from the personal hatred of one or two former ambassadors and to accuse the government is a great wrong."

Turkey's main opposition party this week called on Erdogan to explain the Swiss bank accounts claim and said it had formed a committee to investigate the allegation."

Another U.S. diplomatic cable, dated Feb. 27, 2009, claimed that Erdogan's friends were benefiting from Turkey's business deals with Iran. One friend from his days at a religious school was head of a Turkish company that had entered a joint venture with Iran to develop gas and build pipelines, the memo said.

Edelman served in Turkey at a time of when ties between the United States and its close NATO ally grew tense following the Turkish parliament's refusal to allow U.S. troops to use Turkey's territory for the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

Erdogan suggested Turkey might seek legal action against the diplomats, saying Turkey was determined to "pursue" the allegations at home and abroad.

"We have talked about these with the U.S. government. They have already made an apology, but we do not find this sufficient. They have to take every step necessary with those diplomats."

Comments

[Wonderwheel]

02:07 PM on 12/12/2010

Long live WikiLeaks!

[one1byke]

07:38 AM on 12/05/2010

Go Julian!

[cadawa]

04:38 PM on 12/04/2010

Though protesteth too much. If it weren't true, a simple denial would have sufficed.
You can't blame WikiLeaks for what this guy may have said to a member of the State Department or for that person putting communicating to others.
As for blaming WikiLeaks for exercising what passes for First Amendment rights in every civilized nation, Geeeez, where do you people get off? The beacon of freedom is extinguished in a nanosecond in a nations where 'just trust us' replaces civil rights. Anyone for Saudi Arabia? How about Libya?

[Susan Shaffer]

12:30 AM on 12/05/2010

fact 1. first amendments only apply in usa as that is the only country that calls it that. none the less most western nations allow freedom of speech.
fact 2 disclosing documents that are classified is not free speech

[cadawa]

01:42 AM on 12/05/2010

Yes it is. That's what the First Amendment is about. That was codified into law after the release of the Pentagon Papers by the Supreme Court.
When a government is lying to its people and deceiving them about what they are doing, then it is the duty of the press to report. Their speech is protected.
As I said before, whistleblowers are protected as well.
Don't give up the freedom that others fought and died for so easily. If you don't want it, someone else may.

[sanmigmike]

09:39 AM on 12/05/2010

Funny, at times during a police interrogation if you don't react with shock to an accusation you are considered guilty but since he is making a big deal of it he is guilty in your mind...hmh. But since he is already guilty to you if he just said..."Don't have them...never did" would you be saying...he isn't upset enough about it...must be guilty?

Don't know what the "normal" for that type of action (being accused of being on the take?) there so I don't know if you are supposed to act shocked or be cool about it. No idea...to a point with as many political figures around the world that the US has bribed I'd think a guy on the take would be a great find for us.

Wasn't the joke few years ago about the difference between French political figures (assuming male) and Americans...having a mistress in and being caught is bad...in France...not having a mistress and being caught would be bad... The point being, what is normal in one place does not make it a universal normal.

I would not try to put the way I would react to this as the way he should react.

But him being excited about it...seems kind of normal to me.

[Malbecman]

01:18 PM on 12/04/2010

GOOD! Deal with it Erdogan. Go Julian!

[cadawa]

04:39 PM on 12/04/2010

Fanned and Favorited. As another Huff poster said. Bravo Brevity.

[naytowl]

09:35 PM on 12/04/2010

im turkish and i want the same =)

[Farsha]

07:33 PM on 12/03/2010

Erdogan is the best leader in the region and hence is popular. He doesn't rig elections like the puppet in Egypt, he is not corrupt like saudis, he not a dictator like the Asad. And he works for Turkey, not for Banks or Defense or Oil corporations. We has made turkey strong.
And now its " Europe needs Turkey and not other way around".

[yavuz]

01:14 AM on 12/03/2010

somebody starts a rumor, which another person relays to an american embassy contact, who leaks it to media, and all of a sudden it becomes an unquestionable, proven fact. WHERE IS THE FRIKKIN EVIDENCE FOR ANY OF THIS BS EMINATING FROM NEOCON RULED AMERICAN EMBASSY IN ANKARA DURING 2002-2008???

[sanmigmike]

08:36 AM on 12/05/2010

One has to keep in mind part of the job of an Embassy. They function as a legal intelligence gathering agency. Passing on facts and rumors is part of the job. Trying to figure out what is true and what isn't is also part of the job..

While ordinarily I do agree that a country should have a certain amount of confidentiality in their communications with their Embassies and other parts of their foreign service I feel that part of this was called for by many of our actions in the world. Support of thugs and states that are indeed working against America interests. Supporting states that defy international law. Supporting states that demand that some of their neighbors submit to conditions that they themselves would not accept.

While like many countries the US has always done things for "practical" reasons or to support business in their often crooked and immoral dealings it seems in recent years we have gone off the deep end, harking back to the days of supporting dictators, while espousing democracy doing everything possible to prevent a fair and honest election since we know that the result of the election would not be in the best interests of certain groups in the US. While we react with shock and anger any country even suggesting that one candidate or another might be better for their interests we continued to bribe and support various groups in even "friendly" countries...not to mention what we do elsewhere.

[Bhokara]

06:00 PM on 12/02/2010

With this pronouncement, Turkey's hopes of ever joining the European Union are permanently de.ad. Turkey is not a European state, and does not share European values. It is an Islamist state with Islamist values. All that remains is for Erdogan to declare himself Ayatollah Erdogan, and the Kemalist dream of a modern, secular democracy will join Turkey's EU aspirations in the junkyard of history.

[Tlaltecuhtli02]

09:45 PM on 12/02/2010

That is the struggle in Turkey between the modernists and religionists. Islam is gaining and Erdogan seems to fallen in with the Islamists (political Islam).

This is representative of the struggle of Islam against modernism; Muslims seem to be reluctant to allow their culture to evolve. Islam's medieval cultural values find our culture insulting and "dirty."

The armed forces in Turkey are traditionally the modernists, but have been losing power rapidly.

[yavuz]

01:09 AM on 12/03/2010

you two are relentless fools

[Hregi Naldg]

05:52 PM on 12/02/2010

You cant eavesdrop and call what you hear slander. He's the leader of turkey; I personally don't need any further evidence to the fact that he's an @zzhoe.

[sanmigmike]

08:46 AM on 12/05/2010

As we have seen even given the Sainted Ronnie...what a leader says in public might be different than what he or she says surrounded by their friends and supporters.

Seems astonishing to me that we expect a country that has a lot of Muslims in it to share our values and interests...just as bizarre as as expecting countries in the Middle East to be exposed to our military and our movies and join in and share our "values". Of course it also is just as silly as Iran or Afghanistan, Iraq or Yemen or Kuwait or any number of other countries expecting us to understand them and their values.

I am sure that you are happy to know that many people around the world agree with you...they only need to know where a person is from and they know all about them and that they are indeed an @zzhoe. Some people need to know more about a person and can make guesses from public comments or actions.

[xMoonWalkerx]

05:14 PM on 12/02/2010

A more troubling disclosure is that the Turkish govt is putting islamists in key positions in society. This would mean that turkey is going irans way and will turn into a Islamist dictatorship with a democratic veneer like Iran

[Rock Brasiliano]

06:45 AM on 12/03/2010

What disclosure? Erdogan's party is Islamist. He ran as an Islamist. Turkey's Anatolian peasants are now the dominant force in the country....not the army, not the pseudo-European cosmopolites of Istanbul who dream of having a red EU passport someday.

[cadawa]

04:57 PM on 12/04/2010

Iran is not a dictatorship. They have elections. I can understand how you made that mistake, given the miserable state of what passes for news. Iran's sin is refusing to acquiesce to US power and open their resources to exploitation by US multinationals. They wish to maintain their indepence; allegedly an American value but which is always punished by the power elite.
Another problem is that when the neocons stupidly invaded Iraq, it made Iran the regional "big dog". Independence is not be tolerated and if that nation has influence, that's a hundred times worse. Besides Israel has its eye on that job as well as the terrorities that stand between itself and Tehran. Israel is a firmly entrenched theocracy.
Dominoes is a game played by another generation and has been long discredited. Whenever you see or hear anything that sounds like a dominoe theory, back slowly away and forget you ever heard it.
Turkey has been firmly secular since it won its independence, almost a century ago. But why should we care how another nation chooses to run itself? It's none of our business. It's an admission of the worst kind of intolerance. We have plenty on our plate right here at home; most of it, the result of meddling in the affairs of others by fools who think because they have money, they have wit.

[sanmigmike]

08:54 AM on 12/05/2010

I don't think that Iran has free elections like we would like to think we do since I seem to recall at various times one group getting to decide if you could even run or not. But I do agree that a lot of America's actions have given Iran power that they may have not otherwise obtained.

I do think that Turkey will swing to and fro in how much influence "fundamentalists" have in their government but with luck (unlike a certain Western democracy) the "fundies will not go too crazy if they get too much influence.

But I think underlying it all is that American makes no bones about feeling that democracy is the only...as long as it gives us the governments and political leaders in other countries that we want and will support us no matter how stupid our actions are. If it gives us a country that is bright enough to know that it might not be in their best interests to march in lock step with us (the one big exception might be that theocracy you mentioned) we are perfectly happy with other options...like thugs or theocracies or just plain renting the leadership or changing the leadership of country. I mean it worked so well in Iran in the '50s and seems to be working so well in recent years...right?

[xMoonWalkerx]

05:10 PM on 12/02/2010

Regent of Anatolia has no clothes

[Rock Brasiliano]

06:46 AM on 12/03/2010

Actually he's very popular and Turkey's economy is booming.

[Trollstein]

05:05 PM on 12/02/2010

Screw him, and those two-faced Pakistani leaders too.

[sanmigmike]

09:03 AM on 12/05/2010

Right On! Any country that does what is in their best interests can't be a friend of America...I mean American does what is right for the world (given that what it right for the world serves Americas interests...and America's interests are what does good for the two percent that owns the rest of us) with that one glaring exception to doing what is best for America...no matter your own interests that happens the one country in that part of the world that is full of people almost like Americans (but you wouldn't allow them in your country club). But I have to wonder, is that one state the crazy one or is it the crazies are the people in America expecting that one state to bring about the return of a religious figure?

[Pema]

03:23 PM on 12/02/2010

RJR
run Julian run!

[poster1122]

03:17 PM on 12/02/2010

This is the problem with the let's-put-everything-out-there crowd. Items like these are the reason why you want to have confidential communications. You want your people to be able to give completely blunt opinions about the people you deal with. As opinions, they could be right or they could be wrong. But your people should be able to feel perfectly free to tell you what they really think. You can't do that if everything said gets put online the next day, or next year.

Because you still have to deal with these people. So here's the problem. Assume the assessment is correct and the PM's explanations for his apparent wealth don't add up. Whether he should or should not resign, what if he survives? We're not his constituency. He may have enough votes to survive an opposition assault. Then what? We're pretty screwed in dealing with him for the rest of her tenure, are we not?

But the person giving the opinion did the right thing; he/she gave an honest opinion to inform of who/what we're dealing with. We want that. We certainly don't want to be blind to that, just because we can't do anything about it publicly.

This is why privilege in other areas exist. Why attorneys can't and shouldn't be forced to divulge their clients' confidences. Because they need access to absolute candor if they're to be able to do their jobs properly.

[Susan Shaffer]

12:35 AM on 12/05/2010

i agree and it baffles me why everyone wants everything exposed. I cannot see that it makes people accountable as many seem to think.
no one except the turks have any control over their country unless people are so insensed about it they want to invade turkey too!
honestly! people are sick of war and yet they want to provoke more conflict

[yoyodyne666]

06:07 AM on 12/05/2010

It baffles me that there are people out there that would prefer to bury their heads in the sand. If you like being lied to that' fine, but I don't.

[tallen]

12:55 PM on 12/02/2010

The leaks have exposed what many already knew. Turkey is sliding into Islamism and is as corrupt as any of the middle east arab nations.
Some of the leaks have shown that Turkey has aided al qaeda in Iraq ( http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/86246/20101127/wikileaks-turkey-iraq-al-qaeda-al-hayat-us-diplomacy-secret-documents-release.htm ) , a more than troubling disclosure since Turkey is a member of NATO. The fact that Turkey is aiding those who kill NATO member troops should be the subject of a NATO investigation with the possible expulsion of Turkey as a consequence.

[Pema]

03:24 PM on 12/02/2010

how is a mid eas tnation more corrupt than this one? after seeing what we have done, i am more than saddened.

[Manny Peddy]

05:16 PM on 12/02/2010

Why? Because of torture? Most Middle Eastern nations are far far worse.

Because of killing of innocents? It is not even a contest.

At least the US has some democratic aspects. Almost no Middle Eastern country has any to speak of.

And human rights? It is not even close. The US wins by a mile.

[HansB]

04:48 PM on 12/02/2010

The leaks, as far as I can tell, reveal that US intelligence transmitted a cable reading “Large amounts of water have arrived from Turkey, large waves will hit Baghdad in a few hours. Some people are widening the irrigation canals.”

I call that proof of nothing. Similarly the fact that Turkish-made ammo was found on a terrorist says nothing, any more than US-made ammo would have said something. These things are for sale.

The leaks also "reveal" that the US has been aiding the separatist group PKK against Turkey. Should the US be expulsed from NATO - assuming that it's true, which I doubt?

[BestGuest]

03:48 AM on 12/03/2010

Thanks for pointing out the blatant hypocrisy....

[yoyodyne666]

06:09 AM on 12/05/2010

Yes.

[Justeden]

10:50 AM on 12/02/2010

Erdogan is an antisemite. This dude will blame Jews and Israel for anything including earthquakes and snow storms.
The "truth" as wikileaks allowed us to see is that Turkey under Erdogan is not a friend but an ennemy of the US.

[HansB]

12:52 PM on 12/02/2010

You mean that it is scandalous, simply scandalous, that Turkey's leader should protest the murder of nine Turkish nationals by a supposedly friendly state. Such a silly reaction to such a small matter could only be caused by "antisemitism".

[Tlaltecuhtli02]

03:25 PM on 12/02/2010

Ed Morgan is a professor of international law at the University of Toronto: "Israel and Hamas are in a state of armed conflict. A blockade of an enemy’s coast is an established military tactic. Blockades are often enforced in international waters. The blockading party has the right to fashion the arrangements, including search at a nearby port, under which passage of humanitarian goods is permitted.”

1)- The blockade of Gaza is legal according to maritime law, while attempts to run the blockade are not.

2)- Resisting arrest and attacking the blockade's enforcers is illegal, while the use of force to overcome that resistance is not.

[Albert Camus]

01:34 AM on 12/05/2010

Fifteen Kurdish people where killed at The same day of the killing of nine Turkish extremist on the flotilla.
The turkish claimed that they bombarded a Kurdish camp of "terrorist".
Turkey is a friedlly state but not the leaders.

[uansari1]

12:53 PM on 12/02/2010

Your comment would be hilarious if it wasn't obvious you believe the drivel coming out of your mouth. Where does he mention Israel even once in this story? If he holds Israel accountable for their war crimes, why is he automatically branded an anti-semite and an enemy of the U.S.? You're a joke.

[BestGuest]

04:26 AM on 12/03/2010

"If he holds Israel accountabl e for their war crimes, why is he automatica lly branded an anti-semit e and an enemy of the U.S.?"

The ever evolving use of the word. Check this little cookie:
"The conference of the Inter-Parliamentary Coalition for Combatting Anti-Semitism – a gathering of politicians from more than 40 countries – is largely aimed at exposing what its members say is the “new anti-Semitism,” which is defined as excessive and unjust criticism of the state of Israel."

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/ottawa-notebook/harper-pledges-relentless-stand-against-anti-semitism/article1789752/