The New Anatolian, Turkey
April 25 2005

Turkish PM seems on edge during Parliament’s anniversary
TNA / Ankara

Erdogan reproaches Polish ambassador and Ankara Chamber of Commerce
head

Erdogan chides Polish ambassador over his Parliament’s pro-Armenian
resolution: `You shouldn’t have done that but you were betrayed by
the others’

Chamber of Commerce Head Aygun: `He said things are going well. I
said things aren’t going well so he was upset’

On Saturday, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan seemed on edge at a
reception hosted by the Parliament speaker on the 85th anniversary of
Parliament. Journalists, ambassadors, and even some businessmen were
reproached by Erdogan during the event.

Erdogan was first introduced to Polish Ambassador Grzegorz Michalski.
Erdogan, referring to the Polish Parliament’s recent pro-Armenian
resolution, said to the ambassador, “I’m disappointed. You shouldn’t
have behaved this way. Even though Poland has always supported us
during the EU process, you shouldn’t have done this. But it’s
apparent that our Polish friends were betrayed by the others.”

To which the the ambassador replied, “I know what you mean but
Turkish support for Polish people during the Russian invasion [of
Poland] is taught in Polish schools. We’re grateful for this.”

Things aren’t going well

Afterwards, with Sinan Aygun, the head of the Ankara Chamber of
Commerce, Erdogan asked, “How are things going?” Aygun’s answer of
“Things are not going well” started a short quarrel. Aygun gave
details of his talk with the prime minister to The New Anatolian.

“When he asked, ‘How are things going?’ I told him that things aren’t
going well. But then he told me that in his barbershop his barber
tells him that things are okay. Then I said, ‘Mr. Prime Minister, my
barber doesn’t say the same, and the shoemaker, the tailor, and the
grocery man say things aren’t going well either.’ Then, to change the
subject, I told him that I was proud of what he said, meaning his EU
speech when he said, ‘ The EU is aiming at dividing Turkey.’ But he
retorted, ‘I didn’t say such a thing.’ So I asked him if journalists
made a mistake when quoting him. He replied that he meant to say that
Turkey should take part on the side of the leading actors in Europe,
and advised me that I too should go hand-in-hand with leading
figures.

Nowadays, it seems that the prime minister gets nervous easily. It’s
normal because there’s no end to negative developments abroad.”