[anarchist23]

Turkey: Witch-hunt or precautionary measures?

Turkey's leaders are under pressure to show restraint as thousands are arrested or fired following the failed coup.

20 Jul 2016 23:46 GMT Politics, Turkey attempted coup.

It started with the police and military.

Now the Turkish government is having a major purge of civil servants too, following last week's failed coup which threatened to topple President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Tens of thousands of Turks have been arrested, fired or suspended from their jobs.

The Turkish leadership said they are carrying out a legitimate security operation to safeguard the country.

And many of the detained have links to Fethullah Gülen. The US-based cleric is accused of orchestrating the coup bid.

Human rights groups are alarmed by the sheer number of Turks involved.

#Turkey: Witch-hunt or precautionary measures? https://t.co/YxiktfaJUB https://t.co/eoplu4hfaH

Is the crackdown justified?
Could it backfire?
And is Ankara going too far?
Will Turkey ever be a full member of the EU?

[Zionist Nationalist]

Is the crackdown justified?

No. its just another way to get rid of everyone who opposed to erdogan

Could it backfire?

sure it will backfire

And is Ankara going too far?

Turkey is now a de facto authoritarian regime

most of the people that the Turkish regime is arresting have nothing to do with this coup attempt

Will Turkey ever be a full member of the EU?

No. Erdogan knows that and thats part of the reason why he is doing all of this.

[JohnRawls]

1) Yes
2) Yes
3) No but if death penalty is introduced then Yes.
4) Not in the next decade after this.

[anarchist23]

It seems that the clampdown by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, is to deep and is destroying democracy in Turkey

MUCH is unknown about the attempted military coup in Turkey on the night of July 15th. Why was it botched so badly? How far up the ranks did the conspiracy reach? Were the putschists old-style secularists, as their initial communiqué suggested; or were they followers of an exiled Islamist cleric, Fethullah Gulen, as the government claims?

But two things are clear. First, the people of Turkey showed great bravery in coming out onto the streets to confront the soldiers; hundreds died (see article here and here). Opposition parties, no matter how much they may despise President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, united to denounce the assault on democracy. Better the flawed, Islamist-tinged strongman than the return of the generals for the fifth time since the 1960.

The second, more alarming conclusion is that Mr Erdogan is fast destroying the very democracy that the people defended with their lives. He has declared a state of emergency that will last at least three months. About 6,000 soldiers have been arrested; thousands more policemen, prosecutors and judges have been sacked or suspended. So have academics, teachers and civil servants, though there is little sign they had anything to do with the coup. Secularists, Kurds and other minorities feel intimidated by Mr Erdogan’s loyalists on the streets.

The purge is so deep and so wide—affecting at least 60,000 people—that some compare it to America’s disastrous de-Baathification of Iraq. It goes far beyond the need to preserve the security of the state. Mr Erdogan conflates dissent with treachery; he is staging his own coup against Turkish pluralism. Unrestrained, he will lead his country to more conflict and chaos. And that, in turn, poses a serious danger to Turkey’s neighbours, to Europe and to the West.

The failed putsch may well become the third shock to Europe’s post-1989 order. Russia’s annexation of Crimea and invasion of eastern Ukraine in 2014 destroyed the idea that Europe’s borders were fixed and that the cold war was over. The Brexit referendum last month shattered the notion of ineluctable integration in the European Union. Now the coup attempt in Turkey, and the reaction to it, raise troubling questions about the reversibility of democracy within the Western world—which Turkey, though on its fringe, once seemed destined to join.

The turmoil is unsettling NATO, the military alliance that underpins Europe’s democracies. Without evidence, Mr Erdogan’s ministers blame America for the coup; they have demanded that it extradite Mr Gulen, who lives in Pennsylvania, or risk Turkey turning its back on the West. Electricity to the military base at Incirlik, a hub of American-led air operations against Islamic State (IS), was cut off for a time. Were Turkey an applicant today, it would struggle to qualify for NATO; yet the alliance has no means to expel a member that goes bad.

With the second-largest armed forces in NATO, Turkey has been the forward bastion of the West, first against Soviet totalitarianism and then against the chaos of the Middle East. In the early years of government under Mr Erdogan’s Justice and Development (AK) party, the country became the model of a prospering, stable Muslim democracy. It sought peace with the Kurdish minority, and the economy grew healthily thanks to sensible reforms. The EU opened membership negotiations with Turkey in 2005.

But since major protests in 2013 against plans to build over Gezi Park in Istanbul, and then a corruption scandal, Mr Erdogan has become ever more autocratic. His regime has jailed journalists, eviscerated the army and cowed the judiciary, all in the name of rooting out the “parallel state” Mr Erdogan claims the Gulenists have built. As a cheerleader for the overthrow of Syria’s president, Bashar al-Assad, he turned a blind eye to the passage of jihadists through Turkey. Mr Erdogan wants a new constitution to allow himself to become an executive president, though he hardly lacks power. He has abandoned all caution to achieve it, not least by letting peace talks with the Kurds break down. Turkey now faces a double insurgency: by the Kurds and the jihadists.

Handled more wisely, the failure of the coup might have been the dying kick of Turkey’s militarists. Mr Erdogan could have become the magnanimous unifier of a divided nation, unmuzzling the press, restarting peace talks with Kurds and building lasting, independent institutions. Instead

Erdogan "is staging his own coup against Turkish pluralism" & democracy--a countercoup coup https://t.co/SnSFszbACv https://t.co/71GPDHdsjg

[JohnRawls]

There has been a coup in his country so you shouldn't expect nothing less of a crackdown. So what is he supposed to do? Not crackdown on the coup members who violated the democratic procedure fully?

[Frollein]

Is the crackdown justified? - Depends on your frame of reference.
Could it backfire? - Define "backfire". Some people thrive on chaos.
And is Ankara going too far? - Depends on where you draw the line.
Will Turkey ever be a full member of the EU? - Ever? I have no idea. As long as they are on their current course - no. Of course, they could stay that course for another 1400 years...

[Redneck]

Justification is always a matter of perception.

[noemon]

Exactly, the problem is we do not know anything of internal Turkish politics and how guilty all these people are.

[KlassWar]

Is the crackdown justified?

Yes and no. Some sort of crackdown on the putschists is par for the course, but this is an opportunistic power grab, a totally partisan Islamization of the state.

Could it backfire?

Yes, and it probably will. Erdogan's regime is burning its bridges. The opposition won't be backing it against any further rebellions, that's for sure.

And is Ankara going too far?

Yes.

Will Turkey ever be a full member of the EU?

Maybe eventually. Not under an overtly islamist dictatorship, so the AKP regime will probably have to fall before it happens.

[Zionist Nationalist]

:| There has been a coup in his country so you shouldn't expect nothing less of a crackdown. So what is he supposed to do? Not crackdown on the coup members who violated the democratic procedure fully?

Erdogan is arresting people that had nothing to do with the coup its just an excuse for him to clean up his opponents.

[anarchist23]

Not only has EU condemned Turkeys attack on laws and freedoms but also President Recep Tayyip Erdogans suspension of the European Convention on Human Rights.

The European Union says Turkey's measures against the education system, the judiciary and the media following the failed coup are "unacceptable".

In a statement, High Representative Federica Mogherini and Commissioner Johannes Hahn said they were "concerned" by Turkey's decision to declare a state of emergency.

The move gives Turkey's leaders "far-reaching powers to govern by decree".

Thousands of people have been sacked or arrested following the failed coup.

The two senior EU officials urged President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to respect the rule of law, rights and freedoms.

And they also warned Turkey over its decision to suspend the European Convention on Human Rights, saying it must stick to the conditions by which a suspension is permitted.

Turkey is a candidate to join the EU, but its accession talks have progressed extremely slowly.

[b]The state of emergency gives President Erdogan radically enhanced powers for three months.

He and the cabinet will be able to enact laws bypassing parliament; the constitutional court will be unable to challenge them; there could be restrictions on publications and freedom of assembly; and broader powers of arrest.

The question is: how will this be applied?

The government insists it will not affect the daily life of citizens and that the state of emergency will only root out the "virus" behind the coup. It points out that similar measures were adopted in France after the Paris attacks last November. And President Erdogan says this actually aims to protect democracy and human rights.

But given the criticism of the president for curbing both while in office, doubts persist over how an increasingly authoritarian leader will use this, especially given the recent purges.

France and Germany have spoken out loudest, but Mr Erdogan has been typically forthright in his response, telling the French foreign minister to "mind his own business".

In the immediate aftermath of Friday's failed coup, thousands of soldiers - including high-ranking generals - were arrested, along with members of the judiciary.

Since then more than 50,000 state employees have also been rounded up, sacked or suspended and 600 schools closed.

Academics have been banned from foreign travel and university heads have been forced to resign.

The government has also revoked the press credentials of 34 journalists, according to Turkish media.

The president has blamed the coup attempt on US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, a former ally who is believed to have much support in Turkey's military and state institutions.

Mr Gulen has denied any involvement.

Turkey is seeking the cleric's extradition, but the US says it needs to see hard evidence of his involvement in the coup attempt.

BBC

[Atlantis]

Is the crackdown justified?

No, it's a witch hunt pure and simple. Erdogan is mobilizing the Islamist mob to go after everyone he always wanted to persecute. He himself said the coup is a god-sent gift. I don't even believe that Gulen engineered the coup, even if some Gulen supporters may have been involved in the coup.

Could it backfire?

In the long term, it will lead to a repressive society that will breed discontent.

In the short and medium term, there is nothing to stop him from reaching for absolute power.

And is Ankara going too far?

Most definitely, Erdogan's civilian coup will undo secular Kemalist Turkey for good.

Will Turkey ever be a full member of the EU?

Erdogan is taking the country further away from the EU than it has ever been.

[anarchist23]

It seems that the clampdown, the arrest of tens of thousands has been planned for years. The failed coup was a perfect excuse to carry out a weeding out of dissidents.

Deputy PM: Turkey’s Mass Detentions Just ‘the Tip of the Iceberg’
Posted By Jason Ditz On July 22, 2016

Deputy PM: Turkey’s Mass Detentions Just ‘the Tip of the Iceberg’
Posted By Jason Ditz On July 22, 2016 @ 7:03 pm In News | No Comments
At least 60,000 state employees have been “purged” in Turkey in the week since last Friday’s failed military coup, and somewhere in the realm of 10,000 have been detained outright on suspicion of involvement. That number, according to Deputy Prime Minister Nurettin Canikli, is just the “tip of the iceberg.”

Canikli accused the Gulen movement of infiltrating every aspect of the government for the past 40 years. The ruling AKP may well be in a position to know that, since Gulen was a close ally for much of their history, and only split with the group in 2013.

Canikli warned that it wasn’t just the judiciary, courts, police, and military, but that everything had been targeted, saying the education field was the one they were most successful in. In the past week Turkey has fired every single university dean in the country, from public or private universities, and some 21,000 teachers.

He insisted only people “100% identified” had been targeted so far, and claimed the Gulen Movement, which again, was a close ally of the ruling party until just four years ago, is a greater threat than ISIS or the Kurdish PKK.

“They’ve been hyponotised. They’re like robots,” Canikli added, saying that a number of additional measures could be expected going forward, and claiming that any Gulen support was a potential suicide bomber.

Other reports suggested that Turkey’s main intelligence agencies have been aware of the possible coup for years, and have spent those years drawing up lists of a huge number of potential enemies to be “purged” when the time was opportune. This explains how Turkey was able to go from fending off a coup to rounding up tens of thousands in a matter of hours.

[Atlantis]

We haven't seen anything like it since Hitler or Stalin.

Erdogan is not just going after the opposition, he is going after everybody capable of independent thought.

Thousands of passports are being revoked. State employees (and their families) have to get a special permission for traveling abroad. All academics are barred from traveling and Erdogan is calling back Turkish scientists based abroad.

How long before we see Sharia police patrolling the streets?

[anarchist23]

Finally Presidenr Recep Tayyip Erdogan has found an excuse to centralise his control in Turkey. We will have to wait till the details emerge.

Speaking to Reuters after last week’s failed military coup against him, Turkish Presidenr Recep Tayyip Erdogan claimed “significant intelligence failures” ahead of the incident, and promised a major restructuring of the military.

Erdogan said he had told the head of national intelligence that he saw “significant deficiencies” in their lack of intelligence on what was ultimately a significant attempt to remove the government from power, saying that the system needs a whole new structure.

He talked of the possibility of speeding up a planned meeting with the Supreme Military Council for a significant shift in the military, which historically has been mostly autonomous in Turkey, a fact which has played a role in previous coups and attempts.

Around 100 generals and admirals have already been detained over the coup, with thousands of other troops also arrested over their suspected role in Friday’s incident. Turkey has been expelling large numbers of government employees from other ministries as well on suspicion of their involvement.

Though there is little information on what the post-restructure system will look like, Erdogan has been obsessed with centralizing control for years, and presumably will move further toward that end.