Way OT: Military coup in Turkey

Submitted by Jon06 on

There appears to be a military coup in progress in Turkey. This is super OT, but I know there are days when I get all of my news via the MGoBoard, so I thought I'd post it. The coup attempt is frontpage news everywhere, so I'll let you choose your own sources instead of linking anything.

It'll be very interesting to see what happens. As some of you may know, President Erdogan had been fairly effectively trying to expand his power beyond the scope allowed by the Turkish constitution, while more or less waging war on Turkey's Kurdish population. For another bit of background information, Turkish F-16s shot down a Russian warplane 8 months ago, causing an international incident that could have easily had major implications for the US. (Turkey is a member of NATO, so we have treaty obligations that would be hard to ignore if Erdogan were to start a war with Russia.)

Turkey is also a key ally in the fight against ISIS, so this is worth watching for that reason alone. A step back from the direction Erdogan had been tending, including the restoration of peace with Turkish Kurds and cooperation with Syrian Kurds who have often been the most effective opponents of ISIS, would appear to be a great boon to American strategic interests. But who knows what the consequences of a military coup might be.

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BornSinner

July 15th, 2016 at 11:31 PM ^

Ataturk is rolling over in his grave right now. Erdogan is undoing all his hard work in establishing a secular state populated by Muslims. Kemalism will die once Erdogan fakes another election to seize full control of Turkey in order to turn it into another Wahabi Salafist state funding terrorism globally. He has already began slowly changing laws and censoring the press. It will be complete if the country elects to change Ataturk's original constitution. I really wish the military succeeded tonight like they have 5 prior times since Ataturk passed away to preserve secularism and preventing the people from destroying their own country via radical Islam. Smh.

Joined: 09/20/2014

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BursleyBaitsBus

July 16th, 2016 at 2:35 AM ^

True, Turkey loves its coups. Already happened every time they voted Islamic radicals in govt in 1960, 71, 80, 93 and 97 since Ataturk.

Which should tell people whether Ataturk's efforts were pointless dreams of a scenario that could never happen in reality?

Seems like the people would rather live in the stone age with 0 rights and women being relegated to slaves rather than equals under Sharia. They keep voting in these morons decade after decade and finally one is smart enough to consolidate power away from the military, the vanguard of Turkey's secularism and Constitution.

Joined: 01/20/2016

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BornSinner

July 16th, 2016 at 2:38 AM ^

At the end of the day, there won't be much of a difference between the Wahabis in Saudi Arabia and Turkey if Erdogan moves forward with his plans imo. 

Let's be honest with ourselves, is it really on religious grounds that Erdogan and the Saudis have a rift? They both just want to be the de facto source of influence in the Middle East. (especially with their cozy relationships with ISIS) 

 

These dudes make Iran seem pretty normal by comparison. lol.

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Gooseggs

July 16th, 2016 at 11:05 AM ^

None of this is about religion, which is the problem i see everywhere in mainstream media and in this thread, everyone makes it about Islam. Beyond that, there are no similarities bw the two. Wahabis use religion to suppress their populace,erdogan is doing the opposite bc he is in a country where the seculars have historically suppressed those w religion. Erdogans end goal is very different as well. But in the end, none of this is about religion. Erdogan started off idealistic, brought unprecedented economic success by opening up his population, allowing the underrepresented and oppressed muslim conservatives economic and religious equality. He then cleaned up the corrupt and self interested political and police forces. But since then he has gone crazy in response to his opposition, jailing journalists, opposition politicians, suppressing rallies and then implementing cronyism.

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Gooseggs

July 16th, 2016 at 11:13 AM ^

This argument that erdogan is islamist while these other middle east dictators are secular is inaccurate. This is power, not religion. Every middle east dictator uses religion to his benefit even the ones that are not Muslim. Bashar,who is not Muslim frequently evokes religion to rally support, claiming that the west is trying to destroy Islam. He is alawite. Sisi and hosni mubarak have a long history of blaming all the ills of Egypt on Jewish people and making the claim that without the us and Israel, Egypt would be the dominant world power lol.in these states the govt controls all media, so it pervades everything including movies, tv shows, etc. The problem in the middle east is not the people that these dictators are oppressing, but rather the dictators that are doing the oppression through means of splitting, antagonizing, inducing paranoia and radicalized. It's unfortunate erdogan had moved in that direction w his dealing w the kurds. But in the end he's still better than the other aholes in power in the middle east.

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Gooseggs

July 20th, 2016 at 9:34 PM ^

Don't consider themselves Muslim and generally sunnis don't consider alawites Muslim. But thank you for trying to correct me on something you are completely ignorant on. I know quite a few more alawites, shiites, ahmadis, druze and sunnis than you.

Joined: 07/16/2016

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turtleboy

July 16th, 2016 at 6:06 PM ^

Apparently the purge has already begun. The "coup" was tiny, staged to fail, and quickly crushed, so Erdogan could rewrite laws, purge any remaining dissenters, and potential opponents, with a free hand. I swear this guy has pictures of Putin, Saddam, and Emperor Palpatine hanging in his office.

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Sac Fly

July 15th, 2016 at 6:10 PM ^

There didn't seem to be much support for the government when it started and the President himself was on vacation. I think it only took like a half hour.

Joined: 04/03/2010

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Jon06

July 15th, 2016 at 6:45 PM ^

As of now, it looks like it will be a lot messier than that...

Update: Facebook friends in Turkey are now reporting sporadic gunfire in the streets, pro-Erdogan civilian supporters shooting people in the streets, crowds of pro-Erdogan supporters marching on the airports to confront the military, the military bombing Erdogan's palace, and the military bombing the police headquarters. This is going to be very, very messy. Hopefully it will not be too drawn out.

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jmblue

July 15th, 2016 at 6:28 PM ^

Erdogan's benefitted immensely from a Turkish law that prevents parties with under 10% of the national vote from getting any representation in parliament. His party has formed huge parliamentary majorities while getting only a plurality of the vote.

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coldnjl

July 15th, 2016 at 6:36 PM ^

not only then, but when he didn't get a majority, he started a fake war with the Kurdish PKK so that their moderate kurdish party (which received over 10% of the vote) would lose and he would regain a majority. Turkey is really not a democracy anymore despite its outward appearance...hence the coup

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Sac Fly

July 15th, 2016 at 6:21 PM ^

It looks like it's starting to get violent now. The President is asking the people to fight back which guarantees that this is going to end in a bloody slaughter.

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coldnjl

July 15th, 2016 at 6:28 PM ^

I have been wondering when this would happen...a secular milatary that is tasked with maintaining a secular government/democracy vs. an islamist and ever-evolving autocrate in Erdogan. Erdogan has been removing various institutions (i.e. the press, political rivals, the kurdish party) that oppose him and fomenting a pseudowar with the PKK. Go military!

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jmblue

July 15th, 2016 at 9:06 PM ^

Yeah, I figured it would eventually happen. There is considerable opposition to Erdogan but it's been too politically fragmented to capitalize, and has stood helpless as he's reformed state institutions to suit his needs. The military was the one thing he couldn't tame. (Edit: or maybe he has tamed it?)

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