Coup Underway in Turkey

[Danny Jarman]

More and more progressive Turks are talking of leaving Turkey for now, if not permanently. While most of these at this time are well educated and can likely fit in in Europe or where they go, if the average Turks try to leave and flood Europe to get away from a growing dictatorship, look for BIG problems in Europe, reacting to a new flood of refugees.
Well over 60.000 now arrested or have lost their jobs....no coup is ever that big...these are Stalin-like purges of ideological opponents and suspected opponents. I don't know how one makes a logical argument [one can't] for the forced resignation of EVERY single higher education dean throughout Turkey. Specific instructors were also fired from lists long ago drawn up [pre-coup]. I think the existence of these lists is very sinister and interesting. All opposition media have been closed. This 'house cleaning' will surely continue. At what point will the Turkish public start to object publicly. They are very quietly privately, but are even afraid now to Tweet or post on internet sites their opposition to what is going on - yet.

They can just vote Erdogan out in the next election....

[Drew Phipps]

There was a very informative BBC News Hour on NPR today about Erdogan and Gulen. (I wish there was a link for it so I wouldn't have to rely on memory.) Erdogan's US lawyer says he's published proof that Gulen is laundering money and bribing public officials here in the US to avoid investigation or prosecution; apparently the State of Oklahoma (at least) made official findings adverse to Gulen about his network of schools. The money laundering the lawyer talks about sounds similar to "zakat," a common Muslim practice, but the US Government has suggested that "zakat" also funds terrorist activities. The alleged "bribery", giving "awards" and "trips" to legislators, sounds like "politics as usual" for the corporations and the 1% to me. Still there could be something more there. Even if all that is proven, however, it doesn't demonstrate that Gulen incited the "coup."

On the other hand, the government of Erdogan has corruption issues of its own. Which apparently Gulen had a hand in bringing to light. The scope of the sweeps, including thousands of civilian arrests, and suspending secondary school teachers' permits, etc., doesn't really look to be a legitimate security response to the "coup" that lasted mere hours and caused remarkably little damage. Neither party sounded fundamentally interested in "democracy" or even "what's good for Turkey" to me.

It does sound like Erdogan is afraid of a large swathe of his populace; and if he didn't have reason to fear them before, after taking their jobs and arresting them, he probably will now.

[Magda Hassan]

Yeni Safak reports General Polat had 12 meeting with Americans in Incirlic base and that US & FETÖ planned the coup.

A Googlish translation below.

Americans with 12 secret meetings in Incirlik

Feton uniformed terrorists in the coup, Brigadier General Hasan Polat Americans with vision 12 times before appeared in Incirlik. The coup leaders also jus ...

Bilge Yilmaz

04:00 July 18, 2016 new Dawn








Today detained 39 Mechanized Brigade Commander Brigadier General Hasan Polat's alleged coup Incirlik Air Base in Amerikalılar'l 12 times before the invention. It stated that the talks were mostly set up a colonel and made a Commander and build. Even the number of people to be killed in order to be successful impact of the Americans with fetö'cü had proposed that plan.

Uniform Ä°ncirlikte the terrorists on the 10th Tanker Base Commander Brigadier General Bekir Ercan Van was arrested.

THOUSANDS OF BOMB PLAN

case of a successful coup in Istanbul and Ankara, the full brutality of traitors learned that they will implement the plan. Fetö'c the terrorists would bomb exploded near total ride in the central Anatolian city location. The resulting chaos and uniformed terrorists taking advantage of the confusion, the central locations would be seized. Traitors would dominate the entire country shed the blood of thousands of people this way. 12 people were arrested on the other hand, Adana Fethullahist Terror Organization (feto) was referred to the court and detained about a coup attempt, and among them in Incirlik 10 Tanker Base Commander Brigadier General 11 soldiers, one of the Bakr Ercan Van locate police arrested 12 people. Than 14 people were referred to court 10 Tanker Base Commander, Air Pilot Brigadier General Van, 10 Tanker Base Command in charge of Air Pilots Staff Major Revolution Ağırağaç, Air Pilot Lieutenant Speed ​​Özyuv the Air Pilot Lieutenant Fatih Akbulut, Air Aircraft Maintenance Senior Sergeant Bulent Lark, Colonel Halil Celik, Judge Lieutenant Gani Çetintas, Judge Lieutenant Faruk war in Adana Provincial Gendarmerie Command officials Gendarmerie Major Osman Tunahan Berk, Gendarmerie Lieutenant Hasan Şannah Gendarmerie Senior Sergeant Tahsin Seyhan with sickle County Deputy Police Chief Class 4 Police Director Haluk Pamukçu were arrested.

[Drew Phipps]

That reminds me, wasn't Erdogan a mastermind/suspect for the suicide bombing of a peace protest that killed a bunch of people back in 2015?

It's strange that the mention of bombs as part of the "coup" plot makes me even more sure the US wasn't involved. If Obama has proved anything over the last 8 years about the power of the US military, it's that we can and do deliver bombs on request. And that they explode when we tell them to.

[Peter Lemkin]

More and more progressive Turks are talking of leaving Turkey for now, if not permanently. While most of these at this time are well educated and can likely fit in in Europe or where they go, if the average Turks try to leave and flood Europe to get away from a growing dictatorship, look for BIG problems in Europe, reacting to a new flood of refugees.
Well over 60.000 now arrested or have lost their jobs....no coup is ever that big...these are Stalin-like purges of ideological opponents and suspected opponents. I don't know how one makes a logical argument [one can't] for the forced resignation of EVERY single higher education dean throughout Turkey. Specific instructors were also fired from lists long ago drawn up [pre-coup]. I think the existence of these lists is very sinister and interesting. All opposition media have been closed. This 'house cleaning' will surely continue. At what point will the Turkish public start to object publicly. They are very quietly privately, but are even afraid now to Tweet or post on internet sites their opposition to what is going on - yet.

They can just vote Erdogan out in the next election....

Under normal circumstances the next election that could remove Erdogan would be about Oct of 2019...quite a long time from now. In that time he could stop the democratic process or so corrupt it as to assure his re-election even if that were not the will of the Turkish population. Even in the USA 'elections' are mostly a sham and dog and pony show, and can be manipulated in many ways to effect the outcome against the natural public will. Erdogan has already shown his inclination to be 'Sultan' rather than President. I don't think democracy will increase or even stay the same in Turkey under his tenure...... The mass arrests before indictment, and mass firings even more so only back up what I'm suggesting. Turkey is not unique in moving away from democratic principals - it seems to be the trend lately with the USA, France, Russia, UK and many other nations all around the World headed in that direction, sadly. Many are using terrorism as the excuse and this seems to be the case in Turkey too....the coup is being branded as a kind of terrorism and secret state action.

[Danny Jarman]

You can't be a real Sultan and be best buddies with Israel.

If his purges cut off the Guelen and CIA tenticles then so be it I say.

Erdogan could very well have prevented Turkey from becoming another Egypt...

I don't like the man myself but there doesn't seem like many other options atm.

[Peter Lemkin]

You can't be a real Sultan and be best buddies with Israel.

If his purges cut off the Guelen and CIA tenticles then so be it I say.

Erdogan could very well have prevented Turkey from becoming another Egypt...

I don't like the man myself but there doesn't seem like many other options atm.

Pre-'coup' there was a law put on the books in Turkey that made it illegal to speak disrespectfully of the President and many in the media were arrested or lost their jobs based on this law. Now there is an official State of Emergency and Erdogan can unilaterally bypass the Parliament in making arrests, decisions, regulations, suspend rights, et al. This was for three months..but I'm sure will be extended and extended as is being done in France. Once one starts on the path away from democracy, there is a tendency to never return short of a revolution.

I think Turkey is well on its way to becoming another Egypt if via a different formula.

I don't like any of the major players in this. Both Gulan and Erdogan want to Islamisize Turkey and move away from a secular democracy. Secret actors, be they CIA or others, are bad and need exposure. Ataturk will be turning in his grave as the secular and democratic principals he founded Turkey upon are now in tatters even though I see behind Erdogan there is sometimes an image of Ataturk. Turkey under Erdogan had already become a very polarized nation - with two sets of women, for example: one who wore a scarf at all times, the others very westernized in their dress and lifestyle. The 'westernized' secular Turks are now under attack and keeping a very low profile to not be arrested. They are the ones thinking of leaving. I often meet them here in Prague, and other than that they are speaking in Turkish one could not in their dress or way they live their lives distinguish them from the standard European. I think Erdogan is more of a danger than you seem to think even if this 'coup' was an illegal action against him - he was no champion of democracy to begin with. It is a mess and Turkey is a very powerful and populous nation. It is also in the middle [overtly and covertly] in all the major geopolitical events in the Middle East and some beyond. They are the second largest military contributor to NATO and the largest supplier of both weapons and aide in Syria.

[Peter Lemkin]

Now ALL Turks need official permission to travel outside of the country! Democracy is disintegrating quickly! ::prison::

[David Guyatt]

Madga: My browser is reporting that your link is unsafe.

The link is now:

https://wikileaks.org/akp-emails/emailid/9841

[Magda Hassan]

Now ALL Turks need official permission to travel outside of the country! Democracy is disintegrating quickly! ::prison::

Well, that certainly sux. Not that everyone there can afford to travel any way but still.