Denmark’s Rasmussen will reportedly apologize to “Islamic World” for Mohammed cartoons
From PoliGazette:
To become NATO secretary general, Anders Fogh Rasmussen will apologize for the Mohammed cartoons.
Anders Fogh Rasmussen, Denmark’s leader, was one of the few European politicians who refused to give in to pressure from fundamentalists in the Middle East when a Danish newspaper published the now infamous “Mohammed cartoons.” His attitude was welcomed by may Europeans, especially by conservatives. He was quickly promoted to “hero of the freedom of speech,” and became one of the old continent’s most popular politicians.
But then something changed. Rasmussen set his eyes upon NATO. He wanted to become the organization’s next secretary general. An ambitious man, he proved willing to do whatever it takes to accomplish his goals.
One of those ‘things‘: apologizing to the “Islamic world” for the cartoons.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip does not like Rasmussen very much (among other reasons because Rasmussen is anti-Turkey). So when the latter appeared to be the man most likely to succeed secretary general Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, the former put up a fight. Turkey would not agree to let Rasmussen accomplish his goal, Erdogan said, unless Turkey got something in return and unless the prime minister would apologize to “the Islamic world.’
Rasmussen reportedly agreed. Dutch magazine Elsevier says he will do so tomorrow, in Istanbul.
If true, it’s a major blow to the freedom of speech the prime minister said he held so dear. Rasmussen should have stuck to his guns and defended Western principles. This is not about whether one agrees with him on every single subject, nor about whether or not one is a fan of his (country’s) policy towards Turkey. It’s about the freedom of newspapers to publish whatever cartoon they want, no matter how controversial they may be in some quarters.
It is not only a sad day for those who love the freedom of speech, but also for Turkish secularists; Erdogan presented himself once again as spokesman for the “Islamic world,” which would have been unthinkable only ten years ago. Lest we forget, Turkey was, for over 80 years, a proud secular country. Erdogan has done everything in his power to end that beautiful streak. The negotiations over NATO’s next secretary general are yet another step in the wrong direction.
Lastly, not all news is bad: a Turk will be appointed vice-secretary general (which is not a problem at all of course) and its generals will enrich NATO’s top command with their knowledge and experience. These are rather obviously good results, both for Turkey and for NATO.
The cartoon-deal, on the other hand, is terrible for all involved.
Hat tip: Atlas Shrugs
Comments
By Helge Dyvik on April 6th, 2009 at 3:18 am
To apologize for something implies that it was in your power to prevent it from happening. Then how can a prime minister ‘apologize’ for something a newspaper did without implying that the government controls the press? This will make the difficult message of what freedom of the press means even more difficult to convey.
By Daniella Csizmadia on April 6th, 2009 at 9:20 am
Anders Fogh Rasmussens tale i Istanbul:
http://www.dr.dk/NETTV/Update/2009/04/06/103345.htm
By Henrik R Clausen on April 6th, 2009 at 2:21 pm
Latest news from Danish television is that Rasmussen didn’t apologize, he only repeated things he had said before. Interestingly, Erdogan seems to thing there’s an apology, but most journalists didn’t hear anything like an apology. That is somewhat embarrassing for – Erdogan :)
Further, Fogh didn’t make any promise to destroy ROJ-TV.
Rasmussen certainly is better than Obama (yuck!).