Mick Hartley

Erdogan continues his increasingly tough line on any form of dissent. From the Times (£):

State workers in Turkey have been told to inform on anyone who uses social media to insult President Erdogan or other senior government officials.

A letter to government workers by the governor of Isparta province tells them to report incidents to the police. Under Turkish law anyone convicted of insulting the head of state can be jailed for up to four years.

The letter warns that “action must be taken for the [social media] posts . . . that have increased lately in direct proportion to the increase in terrorism activities in our country.”

The government appears to be toughening its stance as the Kurdish PKK militia wages an insurgency. On Monday an MP from the main opposition party was jailed for 14 months for claiming that Ahmet Davutoglu, the prime minister, backed Islamic State.

Last month a teacher was sentenced to 11 months and 20 days in prison for making a rude hand gesture at Mr Erdogan during a political rally in 2014.

The new crackdown is already having an effect:

Administrative and judicial investigations have been launched into 53 people from 20 provinces across Turkey for allegedly insulting President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on social media since the Isparta Governor's Office sent a notification to all state institutions and organizations in the province, instructing their staff to urgently report all incidents in which Erdoğan or other senior government officials are “insulted” on social media to the police….

As a result judicial and administrative investigations were launched into 53 people in 20 provinces, including Afyonkarahisar, Ankara, Antalya, Balıkesir, Çanakkale, İstanbul, İzmir, Kocaeli, Kütahya, Manisa and Van, on suspicion of “insulting the president,” “defaming the government of the Turkish Republic or the institutions of the state,” "inciting people to enmity or hatred or denigration” and “insulting a public officer regarding the performance of his duties.”…

The National Police Department on Jan. 6 sent a circular to the police departments of all 81 provinces across Turkey about “insult crimes” against senior state officials, particularly Erdoğan. The circular advised the police departments to take immediate action against individuals who engage in “any insult crime” against Erdoğan and other senior state officials.

Erdogan himself, meanwhile, on a tour of South America, has been explaining why Daesh (ISIS) has nothing to do with Islam:

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaking in Chile said that the Daesh group, has “nothing to do with Islam,” according to Anadolu Agency.

“Islam never allows terrorism; this is one. Secondly, Islam and terror cannot be mentioned together. Third, Daesh is a terror organization and it has nothing to do with Islam,” the Turkish President said.

The logic is inescapable.