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2012 Feb 22 |
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http://www.theatlanticright.com/2009/04/05/rasmussen-to-apologize-to-islamic-world/
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Posted by Michael van der Galien   |   87 comments

UPDATE II: Yes, this is what we call a political apology.

UPDATE: A Danish newspaper reports that Rasmussen says he will not apologize.

Turkey should not expect any apologies when NATO’s next Secretary-General and former Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen makes a speech in Istanbul today.

“Listen. In Denmark we do not apologise for having freedom of speech,” Fogh Rasmussen is quoted by Ritzau as saying.

“You all know that a Danish Prime Minister cannot apologise on behalf of a newspaper,” he continues.

The newly-appointed upcoming secretary-general for NATO is in Turkey to speak at a United Nations conference on intercultural dialogue and understanding.

Turkish media
The Turkish media has widely reported that Fogh Rasmussen will issue an apology during his speech today, and that the apology was one concession offered in order to get Turkey to withdraw its opposition to Fogh Rasmussen’s appointment.

But Fogh Rasmussen rejects the assertion.

“We have nothing in the bag,” he is reported as saying.

Not apologizing is obviously the right way to go. However, if he did agree to the conditions as reported by German, Dutch and Turkish media, he could cause a major international controversy by not following up on his promises. Interesting: will he ‘not apologize’ but ‘reach out’? Or will he apologize nonetheless? Or, lastly, will he continue to defend the freedom of speech in the West and refuse to compromise during his speech in Istanbul, even if this means that Turkey will revolt?

END UPDATE

To become NATO secretary general, Anders Fogh Rasmussen will apologize for the Mohammed cartoons.

Anders Fogh Rasmussen, Denmark’s leader, was one of the few European politicians who refused to give in to pressure from fundamentalists in the Middle East when a Danish newspaper published the now infamous “Mohammed cartoons.” His attitude was welcomed by may Europeans, especially by conservatives. He was quickly promoted to “hero of the freedom of speech,” and became one of the old continent’s most popular politicians.

But then something changed. Rasmussen set his eyes upon NATO. He wanted to become the organization’s next secretary general. An ambitious man, he proved willing to do whatever it takes to accomplish his goals.

One of those ‘things’: apologizing to the “Islamic world” for the cartoons.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip does not like Rasmussen very much (among other reasons because Rasmussen is anti-Turkey). So when the latter appeared to be the man most likely to succeed secretary general Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, the former put up a fight. Turkey would not agree to let Rasmussen accomplish his goal, Erdogan said, unless Turkey got something in return and unless the prime minister would apologize to “the Islamic world.’

Rasmussen reportedly agreed. Dutch magazine Elsevier says he will do so tomorrow, in Istanbul.

If true, it’s a major blow to the freedom of speech the prime minister said he held so dear. Rasmussen should have stuck to his guns and defended Western principles. This is not about whether one agrees with him on every single subject, nor about whether or not one is a fan of his (country’s) policy towards Turkey. It’s about the freedom of newspapers to publish whatever cartoon they want, no matter how controversial they may be in some quarters.

It is not only a sad day for those who love the freedom of speech, but also for Turkish secularists; Erdogan presented himself once again as spokesman for the “Islamic world,” which would have been unthinkable only ten years ago. Lest we forget, Turkey was, for over 80 years, a proud secular country. Erdogan has done everything in his power to end that beautiful streak. The negotiations over NATO’s next secretary general are yet another step in the wrong direction.

Lastly, not all news is bad: a Turk will be appointed vice-secretary general (which is not a problem at all of  course) and its generals will enrich NATO’s top command with their knowledge and experience. These are rather obviously good results, both for Turkey and for NATO.

The cartoon-deal, on the other hand, is terrible for all involved.

We thank the Huffington Post, Little Green Footballs and Hot Air for linking to this story.

Last updated at 6:51 PM ET.

  1. Posted by Bob
    | Quote | Trackback | Link #89477 ›
    Bob @damianna How are cartoons about Muhammad hate speech? I hope your indignation and label of hate speech is applied to the many many cartoons that are produced all over the Arab world about Jews and Israel. Your indignation with these cartoons should be greater because in many instances the newspapers in the Middle East are controlled by the govt. The West is losing bit by bit their freedoms due to this ignorant concept that all cultures are valid and equal. Europeans and Westerners have been brow beat about all the bad things that their culture has done to the world while the cultures of the rest of the world are held up as only being noble. Well we are seeing the fruit of this now and all I have to say to that is good bye Europe.
  2. Posted by marc
    | Quote | Trackback | Link #89479 ›
    marc This should be obvious but I see that it's not: Hate speech is a subjective term and should not be made a matter of law or government save for the most egregious violations. These cartoons meet no such standard and should be protected speech in every country on Earth that claims representative government, bar none. Yes, they offend. What of it? No one is guaranteed a life free of hurtful words, nor should anyone be, for enforcing silence on citizens to ease the minds of others is no function of government or religion. Moreover, on a continent whose peace has been marred by killings of those critical of Islam, waves of violence caused by "rioting Asian youths", to quote a local euphemism, and deliberate undermining of western freedoms and cultural mores they are also highly relevant, as is the principle represented by their publication.
  3. Posted by Nacrem Rimker
    | Quote | Trackback | Link #89484 ›
    Nacrem Rimker @StonesK: Moslems did not "come" to Europe. They were invited, in many instances bribed, by the European nations to move to Europe to help rebuild their war torn countries after WWII. Some of the Moslems had been brought over earlier as slaves and servants when the European powers were colonizing lands thousands of miles away from Europe. They were not trespassing or invading Europe as one would think reading your silly rant. Get your history straight, first! @EdWhite, @Craig: Get the sequence of events right. Moslems started protesting and causing street violence only after the Danes showed how tone-deaf they were by provoking the issue by not even considering a dialogue with elders/leaders of the Islamic community (that would have potentially calmed down later reactions). And one would think that protests, car burning, blowing stuff up is an Islamic invention. Are you second graders? You should open your eyes and study the history of European social movements. You don't have to go all the way back to the French revolution to find blood and violence on European streets. What happened in London a few days ago? People throwing rocks at banks in the middle of the financial district, protesters being beaten up by police. Isn't England the birthplace of classical liberal tradition? What's up with that?
  4. Pingback | Link #89486 ›
  5. Posted by Jim
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    Jim lol
  6. Pingback | Link #89498 ›
  7. Posted by Dennis
    | Quote | Trackback | Link #89501 ›
    Dennis This is not a story about Danes or the western world losing their freedoms at all. This is the story of the ambition of one man, who poorly handled the cartoon crisis, and now, as the fates would have, is forced to backtrack and apologize for his deeply held beliefs. Such are the fractured beliefs of the heart of a politician. Everyone, save perhaps the Danes and the Dutch, understand that freedom of speech is nuanced, not rigid, which speaks more directly to their problems with rule-boundedness. Danish newspapers have all kind of unwritten laws about what to publish and what not to publish. Apparently publishing aspects of one's personal life is frowned upon. Anyone with any knowledge about the state of Denmark, knows the majority culture likes to bully their largest minority (Arabs/Muslims)and to hide behind freedom of the press to do so is disgraceful. Rasmussen, as many have said in Denmark, should have been made to attend cultural sensitivity classes instead of celebrated as a champion of freedom.
  8. Posted by Tice
    | Quote | Trackback | Link #89507 ›
    Tice A Dane draws a picture for Danish consumption, and prints it with Danish ink on Danish paper. If someone has a problem with that let us all please remind them that it is THEIR problem. Tell them to get with it! But it looks like a Danish spine is going to be a wet noodle.
  9. Pingback | Link #89517 ›
    Fausto Dinamarquês « BLASFÉMIAS [...] por jcd em 6 Abril, 2009 Segundo se lê aqui, a Turquia só aceitou a nomeação do primeiro-ministro dinamarquês para a liderança da Nato em [...]
  10. Posted by Michael
    | Quote | Trackback | Link #89520 ›
    Michael Anders F. Rasmussen has not apologized for the cartoons, and he's not going to..(He's going to Istanbul today 6th of April, to meet with Turkish prime minister.. There will be no apology.) Nacrem Rimker : Some Muslims were invited to Europe as guest workers.. That much is true.. The rest you wrote is utter BS! Brought over earlier as slaves? lol, what?? From which Muslim country and where to? The vast majority of Muslims in Europe are refugees.. Political and war. Then the muslems in EU wanted to bring the rest of their family to EU too, so they got their moms, dads, grandparents, uncles, cousins, just about everything up here too.. There are other religious groups in EU than just Muslims. Buddhist, Hindu, Jews and ofc Christians. How come only Muslims seem to have a problem adjusting to European laws and way of life? Did people one day decide just to dislike Muslims? I don't think so. People got tired of Muslims wanting everybody else to adjust to their lifestyle. Tired of Muslims wanting to change our freedom of speech, even though Muslims are exercising that very freedom here in the streets of Denmark.. Talk about being a hypocrite!
  11. Posted by Bill Clinton
    | Quote | Trackback | Link #89521 ›
    Bill Clinton Muslims never use HATE speech, they just cut heads off.
  12. Posted by Michael
    | Quote | Trackback | Link #89522 ›
    Michael "Muslims never use HATE speech" Oh really? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AeUzAk1nXy4
  13. Posted by Niels
    | Quote | Trackback | Link #89524 ›
    Niels Keith, "Cartoons written and published as a protest over several muslim advertisements in major Danish newspapers advertising a reward for every Kaffir (non-muslim) killed." This is simply not true. I live in Denmark and the story is somewhat different from your version. A danish author wanted to write a childrens book about the lift of Mohammed and he experienced some problems finding an illustrator. Most professionals he asked simply dared not draw the prophet. Outraged, the author talked to one of the larger newspapers here and they became interested in the story. They then challenged a great number of cartoonists and illustrators to draw Muhammed, to see if it was really true that free speech was being cowed. It was. Only a handful or two actually dared submit their drawings which were subsequently published. Six months went by, practically without incident, when a delegation of imams from Denmark took a trip of the middle east, spreading lies and the illustrations... You all know the rest.
  14. Posted by Michael
    | Quote | Trackback | Link #89525 ›
    Michael And please note the nazi-salute at 0:42 in the video..
  15. Posted by Sypin
    | Quote | Trackback | Link #89527 ›
    Sypin Its only those who generalize the muslim world as "scum" "primitive" or whatever other bias remark who would associate a blatantly obvious example of hate speech and parade it under the guise of free speech. Its also not surprising that those completely ignorant to perceptions and worlds outside of the western hemisphere, whether Middle Eastern, African or Asian- cannot identify the red herrings that would genuinely offend or cause considerable tension and misunderstanding (ofcourse, any misunderstanding is the result of primitive cultures and countries misinterpreting the superior ideals of the western world- or their just extremists. The Western world is civilized, and advanced! We're never wrong!). Thats not to say that the Arab world is not guilty of this crime. But you are all hypocrites- if some of you could see the publications that come out of Saudi Arabia, i doubt you would still beat the drum of "free speech" and start labeling it "hate speech, anti-semitic and racist". And it would also be arrogant of me to accuse the commenters of being incapable of comprehending without giving an example- Section 140 of the Criminal Code in Denmark, known as the blasphemy law, prohibits disturbing public order by publicly ridiculing or insulting the dogmas of worship of any lawfully existing religious community in Denmark. Section 266 criminalises insult, threat or degradation of natural persons, by publicly and with malice attacking their race, color of skin, national or ethnical roots, faith or sexual orientation. 22 Countries issued diplomatic protests, and representatives from head of states cited their grievances and reasons. On 28/01/07, The Danish ambassador in Saudi Arabia interviewed by the American Associated Press Television News (AP-TV) criticises Jyllands-Posten's lack of judgement and knowledge of Islam. And calls the "free speech" argument a "terrible perversion". Danish exports were reduced to 15.5% and the biggest boycott ever was unofficially supported by politicans and people of influence (athletes, actors, singers, etc.) If you don't understand (not agree, but understand) what was offensive- the connections that were implied, or the reason why dissatisfaction escalated towards Denmark. Then your premature assumptions will obviously lead you to an incorrect conclusion.
  16. Posted by Bill Clinton
    | Quote | Trackback | Link #89531 ›
    Bill Clinton Here is where you go wrong. I can say what I think about ANY subject. That is free speech. There should never be a law passed as those you have quoted. Never. If you don't like what you read/hear, go away or put it down. no one makes you read it. Muslims are trying to as we speak pass a UN resolution banning all freedom of speech regarding Islam. Can't say sh!.t. or go to jail or die.
  17. Posted by Bill Clinton
    | Quote | Trackback | Link #89532 ›
    Bill Clinton I'll say one thing about Muslims, they sure do have a lot of extra virgins laying around. Now that is a law breaker too.... Too Bad.
  18. Posted by Nacrem Rimker
    | Quote | Trackback | Link #89533 ›
    Nacrem Rimker @Michael: Brought over "earlier" as slaves. That's true. Why don't you google "slave trade" along with keywords "french", "dutch", "spanish", "english"?.. Many African slaves picked up from African and Asian countries and brought over to Europe were Moslems. Even after slavery was abolished in 19th Century in Europe, the second wave of colonization (new imperialism) brought another fresh stream of Moslems in the form of servants. Your ignorance of world history is astounding. Just because you don't see mosques in European capitals doesn't mean that there were no moslems in Europe. They just were not allowed to practice their religion openly. Even today, residents of many European countries are very opposed to the idea of having a mosque in their neighborhood.
  19. Michael van der Galien Michael: this was as close to an open apology as he could go. sad
  20. Posted by SharS.
    | Quote | Trackback | Link #89550 ›
    SharS. The man in the photo looks crazy.
  21. Posted by Aris Katsaris
    | Quote | Trackback | Link #89551 ›
    Aris Katsaris "Bill Clinton", that's idiotic. There have been many Christian terrorists, and many Christian terrorism acts. Besides, e.g. the most famous examples of Irish Catholics in Northern ireland, there was the Christian Orthodox "November 17th" group in Greece, whose chief terrorists were not just Christians, but the sons of a Greek Orthodox priest. Sypin, have you even checked the cartoons? There was no hate speech there. There was NOTHING there. There was simply A DEPICTION OF MOHAMMED. It is significant to note that no single Muslim in Europe even cared about this, until countries Syria and Iran (the most nakedly imperialistic nations in the Middle-east) chose to attack the West over this. It's noteworthy, but not all surprising, that the countries with the most naked imperialist ambitions (Syria over Lebanon, Iran over Iraq) would be the most anxious to assault another nation's liberty, attempting to control even the publications in a country as far away as DENMARK. If this was about offended Muslims, I might respect the argument. But Muslims themselves weren't offended, until certain fascistic, imperialist regimes in the Middle East told them to get offended, and ordered up protestation rallies. The chronology doesn't work if this was an honest Muslim reaction. The supposed "offense" over the Danish cartoon is as such sheer Islamofascist imperialism. Which has little to do with the Islamic faith, everything to do with certain fascist countries seeking to control others.
  22. Posted by Elif
    | Quote | Trackback | Link #89555 ›
    Elif Aris, I could not agree with you more. I am a Muslim and I do not even live in Europe but I am not offended by the cartoons. However what I am offended about is how this issue brought surface (or maybe it was already on surface) all the real hate against Muslims. The ones talking about hate speeches are making real hate speeches above. Whether they are aware of it is another story. Look at the comments above, people saying a word that is slightly in defense of Muslims are labelled as idiots or stupid, even Bill Clinton made a very out of line comment about virgins. People accusing others of not being civil show very well here how they can be civil. To the editors out there, I strongly believe some of the comments above need modification or deletion completely.
  23. Posted by Jakob H. Heidelberg
    | Quote | Trackback | Link #89558 ›
    Jakob H. Heidelberg That's not an apology - he's still standing strong on free speech and separation of religion and politics. Let's NOT try to shoot the man down for something he did not do - he is STILL one of the worlds strongest leaders when it comes to protecting liberty of speech, thought and other human rights!
  24. Posted by Stones K.
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    Stones K. Too bad that Obama did not ask Turkey to apologize for the atrocities Turkey committed against the Armenians.
  25. Posted by Elif
    | Quote | Trackback | Link #89562 ›
    Elif And just as I was wondering in addition to the hate speeches above, when the so called genocide issue would be brought up. Thanks for not letting me down Stone K. If you had a bit historical knowledge, you would not even talk about Turkey for events that took place in 1915 but I know I am asking for too much.
  26. Pingback | Link #89578 ›
    Learn About Terrorism » Danish PM issue semi-apology to Islamic world for Motoons — so that Turkey will accept him as NATO chief [...] was widely reported yesterday (which I mostly spent hurtling through the air in a tin can) as agreeing to apologize to the [...]
  27. Posted by Thomas Larsen (denmark)
    | Quote | Trackback | Link #89590 ›
    Thomas Larsen (denmark) @Nacrem Rimker Dear Nacrem Rimker You are missing some facts. you write "Get the sequence of events right. Moslems started protesting and causing street violence only after the Danes showed how tone-deaf they were by provoking the issue by not even considering a dialogue with elders/leaders of the Islamic community (that would have potentially calmed down later reactions)." The truth is as follows. A small group of muslim leaders which represented less than 5% of the danish muslims demanded that the danish minister set aside time to speak with them about getting the government to take action against the newspaper. Seeing that the Danish prime minister had no legal rights in this matter, and seeing that they DID NOT represent the muslim community at large, he DECLINED. Later those "muslim leaders" searched the internet for other pictures NOT RELATED to those published by the newspaper and when on a muslim tour trying to rally support in muslim countries. A curious side note was that one of the pictures was from a french pig festival where people competed to dress up as the best looking pig. These pictures was what was shown to the muslim countries. But... here is where freedom of speach comes in. If europeans living in many muslim countries had done the same just the other way around. they would have been taken out and shot. But... Freedom of speach.... you should try it. How do i know the above...??? simple, be in the middle of it, read and the hard part... UNDERSTAND what you read Best Regards from Denmark Thomas Ps. ofcourse no apologies were nessecary and Anders Fogh Rasmussen gave none ;)
  28. Posted by Samir
    | Quote | Trackback | Link #89600 ›
    Samir I think there is a difference between free speech and hate speech. USA and westerners need to draw the line and start being nice to us after 8 years of hate and hostility.
  29. Pingback | Link #89601 ›
    I was wrong about NATO « The Western Experience [...] Article from Poligazdette via Memeorandum.  To become NATO secretary general, Anders Fogh Rasmussen will apologize for the Mohammed cartoons. [...]
  30. Posted by GeoffP
    | Quote | Trackback | Link #89615 ›
    GeoffP Fair criticism now is represented as "hate speech"? What a curious society some people seem intent on creating. I wonder if, say, Saudi Arabia has the same "anti-defamation" laws that the Turks suddenly expect Denmark to bow to? Or perhaps they do, but for that one religion again?
  31. Posted by pub
    | Quote | Trackback | Link #89616 ›
    pub The world better stop messing with these Muslims. We need to ignore everything they do and call them the intolerant, invading scum that they are. Are you leaving children on this planet when you die? You better get serious about the world you're going to leave them.
  32. Posted by GeoffP
    | Quote | Trackback | Link #89617 ›
    GeoffP
    If you had a bit historical knowledge, you would not even talk about Turkey for events that took place in 1915 but I know I am asking for too much.
    If you had even the slightest morality, your nation would apologize for the events of 1915. But I know I am asking for too much.
  33. Posted by Sam Cunningham
    | Quote | Trackback | Link #89643 ›
    Sam Cunningham Mr. Erdogan's argument was pretty reasonable. He said one who is unable to draw a line between freedom of speech and insult to other's beliefs is not supposed to take that position. I believe he is right. We all have certain believes that are holy to us. These may be family, religion, etc. If you let one insult these in the name of "freedom of speech", that would be nothing but a barbarian act, a moronic behavior. For sure, there is a line between right and wrong. Freedom of speech doesn't give you an excuse to cross that line. How did he dislocate his shoulder? How did he fall down the stairs? What a moron...
  34. Posted by Elif
    | Quote | Trackback | Link #89710 ›
    Elif GeoffP, do you know anything about events of 1915? Do you know anything about what happened before or even after events of 1915? Do you know anything about numbers? Have you even heard about a party called Dasnaktsutiun? Do you know when Turkey was founded? The worst and maybe the most effective way of making propaganda is when the propagandist accuses the other side having counter-claims making propaganda. The propagandist leaves no room for the other side to defend himself against false accusations and labels the side having counter-claims as a denier or even in your case as lacking morality. This is conviction without a trial and this racist and biased approach leaves the side having counter-claims always in defense resulting in a pyschological break and makes it easier for the propagandist to form his self-fulfilling prophecy along with other haters and communities with vested interests. A topic which is even not directly related to Turks or so called genocide can easily be turned into a propagandist scene with allegations about Turks by some. I did not even address my comment to you but does it make any difference? You also prove me right with your accusations that you lack serious historical knowledge, but will this situation make you go and check and analyze that part of history? Let me answer. Absolutely not. So if you have something to say about the article, feel free to do so but making racist accusations about some part of history while having little to no knowlege about it is out of line and I repeat, just proves me right.
  35. Posted by Sally
    | Quote | Trackback | Link #89817 ›
    Sally How about a new poll on this website once a week? I find it a lot quicker to get a feel of your readers through a poll. Not all of us have time to sit and read, read, read.
  36. Posted by Bill Clinton
    | Quote | Trackback | Link #89905 ›
    Bill Clinton Solution, Stay in your own muslim country. If you don't like the political atmosphere of the country that you are in, move your azz back to where you came from. The USA is a Christian country, NOT muslim. You have done NOTHING to build this country yet all the changes are being asked of you are anti Christian. Screw your muslim faith I don't care. You are murders and child killers. you treat your women like chattel. You smell and dress in the 6th century. mohommed was a village raider and a pervert with young wives. You hide your women, public beatings and have absolutely crazy "laws" about women talking with the other sex but YOU whore around at every bar. You sure do here in the US as I have been to many bars and witnessed the standard. Who are YOU to tell us how we should do anything? 72 virgins, give me a break you freaks.
  37. Posted by Bill Clinton
    | Quote | Trackback | Link #89906 ›
    Bill Clinton I forgot to add this. The Slave Trade in North Africa, West Asia, East Africa and Europe was done by YOU MUSLIM ARABS, not the white Europeans. YOU raided the coast all the way to the shores of the Mediterranean. YOU scum slavers!! Not US YOU. Google it yourself you sand scum. I am tired of holding my tongue while you people spew so much hate around the world killing Christians. When was the last time that the Christians killed by terrorist acts? Not civil war as in the British Isles ie. Ireland, Belfast etc. but as the muslims are doing throughout the world. When? NOT. All you people do is KILL in the name of your allah. Wow some God you got. Now go home.
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