I have been following the events in Turkey as anxiously as I expect Americans followed the RNC and with every bit as much trepidation. Erdogan was a great prime minister from 2002 to 2012, when he began giving his dictatorial tendencies free reign, pushing the country more and more towards autocracy and Islamization. Erdogan's philosophy has become "I have the majority of votes so I can do what I want". Including creating (though not legally yet) a highly centralized presidential republic with a rubber stamp parliament. And anyone who opposes him is an enemy of Turkey to be destroyed.
The failed coup of 10 days ago was so clumsily executed that it was easily put down, especially when it did NOT have popular support and Turks turned out in the streets to defy the troops and tanks. Initially at least it was all men and all were mustachioed, the sign of devout Muslims in Turkey. they were not there to defend democracy, they were there to defend Erdogan and the destruction of Kemalist secularism in Turkey.
The speed with which thousands were arrested and tens of thousands dismissed indicated that lists were drawn up well in advance of the coup. Meaning the purge was already planned and the "gift from God" was just an excuse to trigger it and add a bunch more names to the list. About 1/3 of Turks believe Erdogan staged the coup himself, though they cannot say so or risk arrest as "Gulanists".
Fethullah Gulen has a world-wide organization called unofficially Hizmet (Service) which is mainly concerned with education and runs hundreds of charter schools and universities in many countries. It has been called a Sunni "Opus Dei" as it is huge, well funded and rather opaque in its organization and aims. Erdogan claims that Gulen is plotting his downfall and sees Gulenists behind every tree. Arrested people have confessed to being followers of Gulen. (I imagine they confessed, alright. Erdgan has declared a three month state of emergency AND suspended the European Convention on Human Rights.
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-turkey-security-gulen-insight-idUSKCN10407W
https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/turkey/2016-07-19/turkeys-troubling-turn
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-turkey-security-idUSKCN1051B0
http://www.theglobalist.com/turkey-elected-dictator-erdogan/
http://www.rferl.org/content/turkey-gulen-erdogan-collision-course/27877830.html
Now this article leaves me a bit puzzled. I hope that readers more familiar with this than I (Cheryl Roffer, this means you as one of them) will comment. It is not rocket science to see that Putin would love to tear Turkey away from NATO and the West but whether all the ideas voiced in this article have merit or not, I doubt.
http://freebeacon.com/national-security/putins-sinister-role-failed-turkish-coup/
Some links to articles about Putin/Russia, the DNC and Trump:
http://edition.cnn.com/2014/07/25/opinion/motyl-putin-is-evil/index.html
http://motherboard.vice.com/read/all-signs-point-to-russia-being-behind-the-dnc-hack
https://nucleardiner.wordpress.com/2016/07/24/trump-and-russia/
And a couple of general interest:
http://carnegieeurope.eu/strategiceurope/?fa=64159
http://cepa.org/The-West-is-exhausted-and-the-worst-is-yet-to-come
The failed coup of 10 days ago was so clumsily executed that it was easily put down, especially when it did NOT have popular support and Turks turned out in the streets to defy the troops and tanks. Initially at least it was all men and all were mustachioed, the sign of devout Muslims in Turkey. they were not there to defend democracy, they were there to defend Erdogan and the destruction of Kemalist secularism in Turkey.
The speed with which thousands were arrested and tens of thousands dismissed indicated that lists were drawn up well in advance of the coup. Meaning the purge was already planned and the "gift from God" was just an excuse to trigger it and add a bunch more names to the list. About 1/3 of Turks believe Erdogan staged the coup himself, though they cannot say so or risk arrest as "Gulanists".
Fethullah Gulen has a world-wide organization called unofficially Hizmet (Service) which is mainly concerned with education and runs hundreds of charter schools and universities in many countries. It has been called a Sunni "Opus Dei" as it is huge, well funded and rather opaque in its organization and aims. Erdogan claims that Gulen is plotting his downfall and sees Gulenists behind every tree. Arrested people have confessed to being followers of Gulen. (I imagine they confessed, alright. Erdgan has declared a three month state of emergency AND suspended the European Convention on Human Rights.
 |
| Source: RFE/RL |
https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/turkey/2016-07-19/turkeys-troubling-turn
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-turkey-security-idUSKCN1051B0
http://www.theglobalist.com/turkey-elected-dictator-erdogan/
http://www.rferl.org/content/turkey-gulen-erdogan-collision-course/27877830.html
Now this article leaves me a bit puzzled. I hope that readers more familiar with this than I (Cheryl Roffer, this means you as one of them) will comment. It is not rocket science to see that Putin would love to tear Turkey away from NATO and the West but whether all the ideas voiced in this article have merit or not, I doubt.
http://freebeacon.com/national-security/putins-sinister-role-failed-turkish-coup/
Some links to articles about Putin/Russia, the DNC and Trump:
http://edition.cnn.com/2014/07/25/opinion/motyl-putin-is-evil/index.html
http://motherboard.vice.com/read/all-signs-point-to-russia-being-behind-the-dnc-hack
https://nucleardiner.wordpress.com/2016/07/24/trump-and-russia/
And a couple of general interest:
http://carnegieeurope.eu/strategiceurope/?fa=64159
http://cepa.org/The-West-is-exhausted-and-the-worst-is-yet-to-come
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| Source: http://www.kyivpost.com/ |
Sometimes it seems like the whole world is going to hell in a handbasket.
ReplyDeleteI have thought that too
Deleteyep...I was right...we're fucked
ReplyDeleteAnd America has not yet made Trump president
DeleteSSDD on a different side of the planet.
ReplyDeleteubiquitous
DeleteI saw an interview with a Turkish national immediately after the failed coup and he predicted exactly these events; as did a lot of other people, both expert and amateur. You'd think that with so many people having so clear a vision of what's actually happening and where events are leading, we'd be able to do something more useful than passively watching it play out. I guess it's the NIMBY syndrome: Not In My Back Yard, so I don't have to worry about it... until it IS in my back yard, and then I'll scream bloody murder and blame everybody else for not preventing it. Sigh. Guess I'm feeling a little cynical today...
ReplyDeleteDiane, people predicted accurately in 2002 the situation in the Middle East if America attacked and over threw Saddam Hussein. No one listened to them either. Read Barbara Tuchman's "The March of Folly". Humans have been like this since at least Troy, when someone said, "Maybe bringing that wooden horse inside the city walls is NOT a good idea. Maybe we should burn it instead". There is no cure for hubris or stupidity.
Delete