Is Angelina Jolie an American Spy?
Published in Asharq Al Awsat
(Saudi Arabia) on 30 September 2012
by Mustafa Akyol (link to
original)
First, let me introduce to you the lead characters in this story line: Angelina Jolie. As everyone knows she is beautiful, famous, successful and an Oscar winner for Best Actress. At the same time, she is a humanitarian and a Goodwill Ambassador for the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees.
Next: Syrian refugees in Turkey. Those are individuals who fled the beastly dictatorship of Bashar al-Assad to survive. The number of Syrian refugees has reached close to 1,000. These refugees live in camps provided by the Syrian government.
Finally we have The Republican People’s Party: or the main opposition party in Turkey, founded by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. The party has long been a subject of praise as a pillar of secularism.
The link between these very distinct players is Jolie's visit to Turkey a week ago to inspect Syrian refugee camps, which turned global attention to this crisis.
Jolie visited the refugee camps, mingled and announced that she has never seen such high quality camps. Jolie told reporters, “The refugees are extremely grateful for the Turkish government. I would like to express my gratitude to them as well.”
Understandable that the Turkish government expressed its satisfaction with the visit, not because they have received praise from Jolie, but because it helped bring more media attention to a crisis in which Turkey has endured the bulk of the consequences. Then, Jolie received an invitation from the presidential palace, where she was welcomed by President Abdullah Gul, Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc and Minister of Internal Affairs Idris Naim Sahin.
Then The Republican People’s Party appeared on the scene. It was not expected that Jolie’s statements would capture the attention and admiration of the party; there has been constant criticism of the Turkish government for its anti-Assad positions and welcoming Syrian refugees in Turkey from the party. In the past, these refugee camps had been the subject of criticism, and had been recently dubbed as 'terrorist bases'.
Mohammad Kassim Oglu, one of the symbols of the party and the MP for the province of Kırklareli, praised Jolie; however, he presented a petition request for the interrogation of the Turkish Parliament in which he asked for the disclosure of the content of the confidential meeting between Jolie and the Minister of Internal Affairs and requested an investigation in to whether the actress is an agent of the CIA. Oglu questioned whether Jolie's visit was the sequel of visits initiated by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Director of the CIA David Petraeus. Is Jolie a puppet for the CIA? Are there any news reports that could point to the fact that she is used as a front for the political wars of the agency?
Maybe I do not need to explain how ridiculous these observations are, but let me try to clarify some of the facts about the Turkish Republican Party.
This party, which always refers to itself as Turkey’s “progressive” force, is home to some of the most narrow and intolerant minds. In domestic issues the party is involved in an anti-liberal mix of nationalism and secularism, while being committed to approach anti-imperialism in international issues. This kind of thinking has become obsolete, and perhaps that is the reason they are not able to become formidable challengers of the Justice and Development Party.
Best news here is that the leader of the Republican People's Party, Kemal Klechedaroglu, is attempting to introduce some changes to his party. And I trust in his sincerity and wish him success. But I also know that his mission is not easy; the party needs a lot of soul-searching to enter the 21st century.
Next: Syrian refugees in Turkey. Those are individuals who fled the beastly dictatorship of Bashar al-Assad to survive. The number of Syrian refugees has reached close to 1,000. These refugees live in camps provided by the Syrian government.
Finally we have The Republican People’s Party: or the main opposition party in Turkey, founded by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. The party has long been a subject of praise as a pillar of secularism.
The link between these very distinct players is Jolie's visit to Turkey a week ago to inspect Syrian refugee camps, which turned global attention to this crisis.
Jolie visited the refugee camps, mingled and announced that she has never seen such high quality camps. Jolie told reporters, “The refugees are extremely grateful for the Turkish government. I would like to express my gratitude to them as well.”
Understandable that the Turkish government expressed its satisfaction with the visit, not because they have received praise from Jolie, but because it helped bring more media attention to a crisis in which Turkey has endured the bulk of the consequences. Then, Jolie received an invitation from the presidential palace, where she was welcomed by President Abdullah Gul, Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc and Minister of Internal Affairs Idris Naim Sahin.
Then The Republican People’s Party appeared on the scene. It was not expected that Jolie’s statements would capture the attention and admiration of the party; there has been constant criticism of the Turkish government for its anti-Assad positions and welcoming Syrian refugees in Turkey from the party. In the past, these refugee camps had been the subject of criticism, and had been recently dubbed as 'terrorist bases'.
Mohammad Kassim Oglu, one of the symbols of the party and the MP for the province of Kırklareli, praised Jolie; however, he presented a petition request for the interrogation of the Turkish Parliament in which he asked for the disclosure of the content of the confidential meeting between Jolie and the Minister of Internal Affairs and requested an investigation in to whether the actress is an agent of the CIA. Oglu questioned whether Jolie's visit was the sequel of visits initiated by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Director of the CIA David Petraeus. Is Jolie a puppet for the CIA? Are there any news reports that could point to the fact that she is used as a front for the political wars of the agency?
Maybe I do not need to explain how ridiculous these observations are, but let me try to clarify some of the facts about the Turkish Republican Party.
This party, which always refers to itself as Turkey’s “progressive” force, is home to some of the most narrow and intolerant minds. In domestic issues the party is involved in an anti-liberal mix of nationalism and secularism, while being committed to approach anti-imperialism in international issues. This kind of thinking has become obsolete, and perhaps that is the reason they are not able to become formidable challengers of the Justice and Development Party.
Best news here is that the leader of the Republican People's Party, Kemal Klechedaroglu, is attempting to introduce some changes to his party. And I trust in his sincerity and wish him success. But I also know that his mission is not easy; the party needs a lot of soul-searching to enter the 21st century.