I'm very worried for the future of Turkey. I was very impressed with how much development there and now all of that is in trouble. Just recently Turkish Air was named one of the best airlines and in the wake of this they can't even fly directly to the US. Everything is now on Erdogan and what he does in the next few days will signal what the future of Turkey will be. Unfortunately from what he's been saying this failed coup will fed into his his worst authoritarian instincts as he purges the military and judiciary. This might mean Turkey slips further from being a modern country that can integrate with Europe and instead more like the backward authoritarian states of the middle east.
It's such a horrible situation. If the west stands up to him he will simply use that as further pretext to consolidate power and sink further. He does not care anymore about the Turkish economy. Sounds like he has the military and a huge chunk of the population under his control for now. There wasn't many people in the streets cheering on for the coup - you would think that someone would take the risk and do that - unless the whole thing was staged to begin with. The mistake was made when he expanded presidential powers and circumvented democracy. At that time, NATO should have said if you do that you can't be in NATO.
The coup was a mess, half baked at best and even though I usually don't buy into conspiracy theories wouldn't surprise me if Erdogan had something to do with it. I'm not surprised that so many people opposed it because even if there are many who don't like Erdogan I doubt most modern Turks believe that military coups are the answer. Even if this coup had succeeded it still would've spelled trouble. While Europe and the US might be happy to see Erdogan go I think they wouldn't want to bring a country ruled by a military Junta into Europe. There is also no telling how much trouble angry AKP supporters would cause and this could've plunged Turkey into a civil war.
Interesting article here: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jul/16/fethullah-gulen-turkey-coup-erdogan Erdogan hasn't presented any kind of evidence to the U.S. that Gulen was involved (who is vehemently denying any involvement which is odd in any of itself) but is demanding his extradition? This thing was so pathetic - no one in the military made an arrest, the move was tepid and indecisive, they only took over CNN to conveniently appear that a coup was in place, there was no clear leadership.
What is stunning, despite the small military force that acted against the government, is that the coup was defeated using FaceTime and no guns...maybe a few guns.
Oh conspiracist ....most of you must thinks 9/11 is made up due to some obvious director/editing mistakes with challenging descending/270 degree maneuver and such @least this coupe seemed real, done by professional Pilots/military
Nah, we believe most of the 9/11 hijackers were Wahhabist Saudis... pretty much the scum of the Earth.
I think you refer to "we" as of those who low class undereducated clueless , because those ruling class in the White House& Congress seems to fall in love with them since decades
Europe should be worried too. if turkey continues on the path of islamization, europe might be looking at a new ottoman empire at its doorstep one day. Erdogan already floated the idea of a referendum whether to continue the effort to join the EU. it should be clear now which way he would campaign for.
The world needs to wind down its dependence on oil. At that point it won't matter what kind of empire that region has. Regardless for me. I changed my flight out of Istanbul in August. I'll be going to Copenhagen now instead; along with a few other places I will be checking out that I haven't been to before. It's disappointing though, I was looking forward to checking Istanbul more than anywhere else I was going.
You will like Copenhagen as well, I suspect. What else is on your itinerary? Sounds like you are using UA miles.
I agree everyone should be relived to have this coup failing but I highly think of Erdogan. As for igniting a new war ,you are absolutely right, maybe this is one of the oldest tricks in history of politics . U take Iraq/Iran war i.e both Sadam/Khoumini capitalized on power and eliminated their inner circle and potential competitors , Naser from Egypt did the same to get rid of top generals ,same with Turkey/Greece. I had a cool Freind from Greece he was remarkably mild manner unless he hear "Tureky" then he goes widely into Atw's mood
Gulen is now suggesting that the coup may have been staged by Erdogan in order to justify a crackdown and a roundup of his enemies. Considering Erdogan and his history, this sounds like a credible possibility.
There is no democracy without secularism. Turkey is in war in Syria, so carnage and death are already there. I don't think the military would've had the ressources to show aggressiveness towards you or other neighbours. Pure speculation, but with the military taking over Turkey would've had at least a chance to prohibit dictatorship and remain a 21st century country. Now there's no return on the path back to the dark ages.
Sadly, the only way Erdogan will relinquish power is when he is dead. Until then, he will continue to drag Turkey down and will keep moving it towards Islamism.
He may or may not being involved ...but Khuminism Turkish Edition in progress is written allover the places [youtube]xXF1mJaVybo[/youtube]
Not true. A pro Erdogan military fighter jet shot down a rogue helicopter IIRC. Also, if you were watching live feeds you'd know there were a LOT of guns. A lot of the time you couldn't even tell who the hell the people with the guns were. They barely showed it on CNN.
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/turkish-soldier-beheaded-pro-government-8433319 Turkish soldier 'beheaded by pro-government mob on Istanbul's Bosphorus Bridge' after failed coup attempt Graphic video footage and images online show the soldier lying on the ground surrounded by a pool of blood WARNING EXTREME GRAPHIC: Turkish soldier has throat split open on Bosphorus bridge A Turkish soldier has reportedly been beheaded on Istanbul's Bosphorus Bridge by a pro-government mob. Graphic video footage and images online show the soldier lying on the ground surrounded by a pool of blood. He can be seen with horrific injuries after the attack. He reportedly surrendered after last night's failed coup attempt but was allegedly attacked by pro-government supporters. More than 2,500 soldiers have been detained by Turkish authorities following the failed coup attempt. -------------- This should tell you everything you need to know about where Erdogan and his cronies stand. Erdogan represents a brand of Islam very, very similar to Saudi Arabia and ISIS, and he has been supporting ISIS from the start. I often hear the argument "but he was democratically elected". Ever heard of a tyranny of the majority? Freedom is more important than majority rule.
