The Telegraph (Britain's leading conservative daily) claims that the Iranian government has agreed to make a $25 million donation to Tayyip Erdogan's Justice and Development Party, the ruling party in Turkey. The donation is to be made through the IHH, the same group that brought us the Mavi Marmara and the Gaza Flotilla.
Both Turkey and Iran deny these claims, and according to Zaman (Turkey's leading Islamist daily) Erdogan is preparing a court case against the Telegraph.
Erdogan is used to bullying around the press in Turkey, but this lawsuit is obviously going nowhere, and only makes Erdogan look worse internationally. The best reason to believe that the allegations are true is because the Telegraph is a professional newspaper with good sources -- for instance, it broke the huge British MP expenses scandal last year. The reason to be skeptical is that accepting money directly from Iran shows very poor political judgment on Erdogan's part--it's not going to win him votes, and there is no indication that his party needs the money. The best explanation seems to be that Iran thought that nobody would notice if it just funded IHH. Keep posted for updates.
Both Turkey and Iran deny these claims, and according to Zaman (Turkey's leading Islamist daily) Erdogan is preparing a court case against the Telegraph.
Erdogan is used to bullying around the press in Turkey, but this lawsuit is obviously going nowhere, and only makes Erdogan look worse internationally. The best reason to believe that the allegations are true is because the Telegraph is a professional newspaper with good sources -- for instance, it broke the huge British MP expenses scandal last year. The reason to be skeptical is that accepting money directly from Iran shows very poor political judgment on Erdogan's part--it's not going to win him votes, and there is no indication that his party needs the money. The best explanation seems to be that Iran thought that nobody would notice if it just funded IHH. Keep posted for updates.
