TRT – Radio Ankara:
Recent events in Libya have affected not only global markets but also our domestic market. Since around 25.000 Turkish citizens live in Libya and many Turkish companies have investments in the country, Libya carries special importance for Turkey. Therefore recent events will have an indirect effect on Turkey. Our guest today is the Honorary President of the of the Turkish-American Business Association Dr. Zeynel Abidin Erdem and we will focus on this issue. Mr. Erdem, welcome to our show.
Zeynel Abidin Erdem :
Goodmorning Mr. Adem, goodmorning Turkey. TRT - Radio Ankara: Mr. Erdem, I would like to hear your comments on Turkish investements in Libya and the probable damage to be suffered by mutual business relations because of recent events, but first I would like to ask your thoughts in general about these events. Yesterday Kaddafi made a tv appearance, everybody expected him to leave just as it happened in Tunisia and Egypt but "No, I won't leave, I'll continue to fight" he said. His people are against him but he is still saying that "he is going to fight". What would be the consequences of this attitude? I would like to hear your opinions on this matter sir.
Zeynel Abidin Erdem :
I have been following Mr. Kaddafi since 1986, when Mr. Özal was in office. I have read all the books and information published about him. For years I followed all developments concerning him with attention. Because since the Ottoman period both Libya and Egypt are closely related to our country and a considerable percentage of their people have kinship and blood ties with Turkey. For instance, you can't see such sympathy and love towards Turks in Algeria. But in Libya, Egypt, Syria, Iraq, Jordan, Palestine and Lebanon we have close and far relatives sharing our blood. They are people of thoughts, religion, language and culture similar to or the same as ours. Therefore I make a habit of studying their leaders. I followed the events of last week, yesterday and today from international tv networks and the press. I have been following the events in Egypt since the first day and I wouldn’t be wrong in saying that 80% of my predictions came true. For instance, when on the evening of February 21st, while the British Prime Minister was saying "Right now Kaddafi might be in plane headed for America" we were discussing the matter at a live show on SKY Türk TV and when they aksked me “What’s going on, is Kaddafi running?”, I said: ”No way. The Kaddafi I know wouldn't run but would stay and even at the price of a civil war, he would fight to the end, because he is somebody who always puts his interests above the interests of his country”. 10 minutes later the British Prime Minister made a statement saying that the information he was given was incorrect and he started to talk about “a civil war in Libya”.
TRT - Radio Ankara:
You said that Kaddafi is somebody who always puts his interests above the interests of his country. Yesterday he delivered a speech broadcasted on TV, but he didn’t talk about his own interests at all. "I don't even have a palace, let’s share the fuel profits with our people” he said. And then he talked about an American occupation and he said:” If you don’t want to be like Felluce, like Iraq, fight against the protesters and let’s take our country back, otherwise America will come and occupy our country". What do you think about what he said?
Zeynel Abidin Erdem :
Yes, this is exactly what he said yesterday and he is getting ready for this. Or rather, he is paving the way for this. I would like to state a few facts our public should know. Today there are workers from Spain, France, Italy, Turkey, Egypt, Sudan, Chad, India, Pakistan and Afghanistan and many other Muslim countries who are stranded in Libya. Their evacuation would be very difficult. We also hear that their possessions have been taken. I mean the protesters have confiscated their computers, bags, work machines; they destroy the work parks, burn workplaces. Today these actions are external but people who do those are likely to open fire with kalashnikovs soon. When this happens the UN and NATO will use their forces and enter the country. That’s why Muammer Kaddafi is making a mistake. We as Turkey don’t want to see him shooting his mouth off and making inapproriate comments against our country. He is a president who has provided a lot of work for Turkey. Unfortunately Egyptian President Mubarak had been one of Turkey’s greatest enemies for years. He allied with Cypriot Greeks and all the other nations who act against us, he took a 43%-share from whoever wanted to look for petrol within the territorial waters of North Cyprus. He talked about it publicly on many occasions. Whereas when Israel and Greece, who were behind Mubarak's actions, approached Kaddafi with the same plan, he refused and said "I won't participate in something to be done without Turkey's approval". This was an important gesture and Turkey should have evaluated it correctly. Due to the benefits we gained from Libya and Prime Minister Erdoğan's attitude toward Kaddafi, the relationship is still strong. That's why our Prime Minister is not listening to those wh’ advise him to talk against Kaddafi and he is doing the right thing. Until recently Kaddafi was somebody who took a stand against people who had hostile intentions against Turkey. So it is obvious that unless anything resembling a massacre happens in Libya, Turkey is not going to do anything against Kaddafi. That's why I don't want Turkey to talk against Kaddafi too much. We have 25000 people there. We have 21 billion dollars worth of ongoing work and a potential of 36 billion dollars. Within the next 10 years Kaddafi is going to invest 200 billion dollars for infrastructure and superstructure, 42 billion of which he openly offered to Berlusconi. Then he stated that Turkey would get at least 25 billion dollar worth of contracting business. Therefore, we all have to be careful about what we say. Turkey doesn't have any fuel, any gold, any gas or jewellery. Our only treasure is our human resource. Workers are a source of income for our country, wherever they go. So, protecting this source requires people to be careful, show respect to recent events, not to speak too early and to leave things to time. My answer to your question is derived from history. Kaddafi is going to fight to death. If somebody makes a big gesture, goes to Libya and tells them "not to engage in civil war, not to kill each other, that they are all Muslims” maybe an agreement can be reached. This is our hope. Now you will tell me that eksik many people think this is a movement undertaken by Libyans. No, this movement involves foreign powers. They knew it would happen and their agents have been working towards this goal for years.
Today, they are trying to create new leaders to be their servants by taking advantage of the confusion. They are trying to find somebody who would set Middle Eastern countries against each other, who would shed blood and who would serve foreign powers. There is also a saying about this: The enemy of my enemy is my closest enemy. The enemy of my enemy is my closest friend. If Libyans, in this confusion, choose somebody to be their leader and follow him in the wrong direction, the whole Muslim world would suffer the consequences. And it will be a long time before the situation is remedied. In conclusion, we have to observe very carefully what happens in the next 48 hours. If the people of Libya continues to occupy the streets under the pressure of military forces, then Kaddafi's situation is pretty dire. We wouldn’t want it to happen, but if he acts in a very cruel manner and attacks these poor, barefoot, hungry and miserable people who get by with 2 dollars a month with weapons, tanks and planes, there would be many many deaths but the streets would be cleaned. But if he does that Kaddafi himself, his country and his children would all perish. Yesterday Prime Minister Erdoğan said something very true: “Administrations who are deaf to the expctations of their people cannot survive for a long time” he said. In other words, as an administration you can’t go beyond logic and justice against your people. They wouldn’t tolerate it, and you wouldn’t be able to stay in power. Therefore Kaddafi has to listen to his people who have been opressed for 41 years. Unfortunately, except a small of group belonging to a certain class, everybody else in that country is being crushed by poverty for long years.
TRT - Radio Ankara:
Mr. Erdem, thank you very much for sharing your opinions. Comments
Name-Surname: Mehmet Aldanmaz
Mr. Erdem, I hope informed people like yourself would share their opinions more frequently and extensively to guide the community. I know that you are a very informed person in many topics. Unfortunately many ignorant people are boradcasting their opinions too. My hope is to see you in many more news shows. Regards.
