"TURKEY IS NO RUSSIA, RECEP TAYYIP ERDOGAN IS NO PUTIN"

In a letter to the editot published on June 17th, in The Wall Street Journal, Egemen Bağış, AK Party Vice Chairman in Charge of Foreign Affairs, rebuked Michael Rubin, who had penned an article titled "Turkey's Putin Deserves to Go," which was published in the same newspaper on June 6.

Bağış's brief response was titled "Turkey Is No Russia, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Is No Putin."

"This article is full of baseless political allegations and half-truths. It is very easy to distinguish who stands where in Turkey. Our government stands for democracy, law, human rights, free markets and the European Union's political/economic standards. The other side cannot stand any of these, let alone a democratically-elected government, so they promote lies," Bağış said, adding that since coming to power in 2002, the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government has been accountable to the electorate, to the nation, to the Constitution and -- in the context of accession talks -- to the EU.

"Turkey, as described in this article, does not exist. If our words are not enough, the EU statements made since mid-March are the best confirmation that the AK party government has been, is, and will be Turkey's and Eurasia's best hope," Bağış, also a vice chairman for the ruling party, wrote.

"So Turkey's government is being deceptive, the Turkish electorate is misled, the whole set of EU government leaders, EU parliamentarians and EU high officials are being fooled and the whole world has been blinded. Instead, you have one single talent who exclusively preaches the 'truth.' What he does is to shamelessly throw mud around, wrapped in the Journal," Bağış concluded sarcastically.