Nigeria wants peace to return to Turkey
Violent extremism in Turkey has destroyed the peace and stability enjoyed by the Turkish citizens, and now the country is characterized by political uprisings, militancy and extreme insurgency in some major regions. The political and economic challenges arises from the one-man rule of President Recep Tayip Erdogan who introduced despotic and tougher measures to fight […]
Violent extremism in Turkey has destroyed the peace and stability enjoyed by the Turkish citizens, and now the country is characterized by political uprisings, militancy and extreme insurgency in some major regions. The political and economic challenges arises from the one-man rule of President Recep Tayip Erdogan who introduced despotic and tougher measures to fight his political opponents and those he describes as enemies.
Nigeria as a country may not claim to have addressed the problems of insurgency and militancy completely, just as it cannot lay claims to robust political and economic environment for some time past. But what is remarkable is the fact that the Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari has not allowed himself to be weighed down by these challenges and has respect for the rule of law which restrains him from human rights abuses.
The rights of citizens and liberties are not negotiable in Nigeria but guaranteed as provided in the constitution of the Federal Republic. Perhaps that is clearly why Nigeria has not recorded high political violence over time. Erdogan has made so many enemies than friends since he chooses to fight and silence all forms of opposition and critics from the civil liberty organizations, the media and the judiciary in Turkey and its environs.
Right now, there are over 120 journalists serving various jail terms across different prisons in Turkey. A group of media personalities have either published or written articles that disagreed with the policy direction of the state. And once you are found to had published a contrary view of the Turkish authorities, you are arrested and tried for terrorism and a follower of Fethulah Gulen, an arch enemy of Erdogan as declared by the state.
Right away, Nigeria wants peace, political and sustainable democracy to return to Turkey as a nation to strengthen its international relations and diplomacy which is the hallmark of any progressive nation globally. How will peace return? It’s entirely the responsibility of the leadership of the state to ensure peace through a creation of dialogue and wide consultation on the need to come together to foster unity and harmony.
Continuous allegations and counter-allegations of the Hizmet group will not address the challenges in Turkey, but concerted efforts to embrace and draw close participants of the group to foster unity. Russian ambassador to Turkey was shot dead by a police officer who shouted “Don’t forget Aleppo” as he pulled the trigger. The chilling attack on Monday evening, which was captured on video, appeared to be a backlash against Russian military involvement in the Syrian civil war.
Andrei Karlov was attacked at the opening of an art exhibition in Ankara by a man believed to be an off-duty Turkish police officer. Karlov was several minutes into a speech when he was shot. Footage of the attack showed a man dressed in a suit and tie standing calmly behind the ambassador. He then pulled out a gun, shouted “Allahu Akbar” and fired at least eight shots.
President Putin, called the killing a “provocation” aimed at sabotaging a rapprochement between Moscow and Ankara and attempts to resolve the conflict in Syria. “The crime that was committed is without doubt a provocation aimed at disrupting the normalization of Russian-Turkish relations and disrupting the peace process in Syria that is being actively advanced by Russia, Turkey and Iran,” he said in televised comments.
Putin said: “There can be only one answer to this – stepping up the fight against terrorism, and the bandits will feel this.” He said Russian officials will be dispatched to Ankara to investigate the killing. “We have to know who directed the hand of the killer,” he said.
Turkish security officials and Erdoğan supporters have alleged that the gunman was linked to the exiled Turkish cleric Fethullah Gülen, whom they accuse of orchestrating a failed coup in July. A spokesman for Gülen described the accusation as “laughable” and told Reuters that it was intended to cover up for lax security. Then again, the insensitivity of the government of Turkey is clearly seen by accusing someone in faraway U .S to be the mastermind of the killing of the Russian ambassador.
Nigeria and other world leaders have to come to the aid of Turkey to ensure that peace is restored to the state for enduring and sustainable democratic tenets to thrive. Internationally, the killing of Karlov throws into doubt the ongoing evacuation deal for civilians in besieged east Aleppo, an agreement that was brokered by Turkey and Russia. A source with knowledge of the negotiations said Moscow was the main reason the deal did not fall apart over the weekend, despite the objections of Iranian and Jihadi interlocutors.
The ambassador had been part of discussions with Turkey that led to an evacuation of east Aleppo getting under way late last week. Russia and Iran engineered the deal allowing civilians and rebel fighters in Aleppo to be evacuated, with Turkey acting as the brokers for the Syrian opposition in the discussion.
The attack comes the day before the Turkish foreign minister, Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, is due in Moscow for Syria talks with his Russian and Iranian counterparts. In the weeks running up to the fall of east Aleppo, the Russians, Turks and Iranians have increasingly been working together on Syria’s future, to the exclusion of western powers, including the US, as well as the Gulf states, normally the sponsors of the Syrian opposition.
Uket wrote in from Abuja.