coup Archives

Will Turkey have Military Coup like egypt ? US, Europe Will Show No ‘Sympathy’ to Erdogan

March 25, 2016 By administrator

1030845190 American expert on the Middle East Michael Rubin in his article analyzed the possibility and perspectives of a military coup in Turkey.

According to the author, the current situation in the country is bad and “getting worse.” Particularly, the problem is rooted not only in the weakening system of national defense amid the growing terrorist threat.

Rubin also outlined a number of contributing domestic issues. Turkey’s public debt may be stable but its private debt is getting out control. The tourism industry is almost in ruins. Finally, the weakening national currency is having an impact on citizens’ buying power, the analyst wrote for the American Enterprise Institute.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is “out-of-control,” the article read. He is imprisoning political opponents, cracking down on the freedom of speech and “building palaces at the rate of a mad sultan.”

Earlier this month, Erdogan even threatened to dissolve the Turkish constitutional court.

“His outbursts are raising eyebrows both in Turkey and abroad. Even members of his ruling party whisper about his increasing paranoia, according to some Turkish officials,” Rubin wrote.

The analyst also brought up the Kurdish problem. Originally, Erdogan resumed peace talks with Kurds, but then he started a war against them. At the same time, Ankara has no chance to win this war while chances are high of a “de facto partition.”

Turkey understands that Erdogan is leading the country to nowhere, and the Turkish military understands this too.

“So if the Turkish military moves to oust Erdogan and place his inner circle behind bars, could they get away with it? In the realm of analysis rather than advocacy, the answer is yes,” the author wrote.

Ahead of presidential elections, Barack Obama’s administration is unlikely to do more than castigate possible coup leaders, especially if they laid out a path to restore democracy in Turkey.

Washington will no longer show sympathy for Erdogan as it did for dethroned Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi in 2013, according to the article. When Morsi was ousted his commitment to democracy was a matter of discussion. In the case of Turkey, both Republicans and Democrats will be ready to work with the new regime.

The fact that Turkey is one of the oldest NATO members could not prevent a coup, the analyst added.

He assumed that coup leaders would immediately release all jailed journalists and return seized newspapers and broadcasters to their rightful owners to avoid European and US criticism of human right violations in Turkey.

What is more, if the new government expresses willingness to work with Kurds the US and the EU would support it.

To sum up, Rubin noted that he makes no predictions. However, there are two strong factors that “Turkey’s rocky politics would soon get rockier” – the deepening domestic tensions and the chance that the Turkish military would suffer no significant consequences in the event of a coup.

Source: http://sputniknews.com

Turkey, Students handcuffed, laid face down in scene reminiscent of Sept. 12 coup era

April 3, 2015 By administrator

Istanbul, University students were handcuffed

University students were handcuffed with their hands behind their backs and laid face down on the ground by police in İstanbul on Wednesday, in a scene that was reminiscent of a notorious incident during the Sept. 12, 1980 coup era. Report ZAMAN

The 1980 military coup was the bloodiest in Turkey and affected the country more than any other coup in Turkey’s history. A total of 650,000 people were detained and police kept files on 1,683,000 individuals. In one incident during the coup period, about 500 high school students were handcuffed and laid face down inside the garden of the İzzet Ünüver High School in the Güngören neighborhood of İstanbul’s Bakırköy district. A similar incident took place in the Justice and Development Party’s (AK Party) “new Turkey” on Wednesday.

About 500 high school students were handcuffed and laid face down inside the garden of the İzzet Ünüver High School in the Güngören neighborhood of İstanbul’s Bakırköy district during the Sept. 12, 1980 coup era.

The “New Turkey” is a term formulated by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan during his presidential campaign to refer to the country after his election to the presidency.

On Wednesday, a group of university students took shelter in the İstanbul Tax Administration Directorate’s car park to hide after they heard gunshots during an attack on the İstanbul Police Department. However, the students were handcuffed by police and then laid face down in the car park. After photos of the incident were released on social media networks such as Facebook and Twitter on Thursday evening, the İstanbul Police Department defended the police officers, saying that they were “trying to ensure the security of the group.”

A woman carrying guns and hand grenades tried to attack the İstanbul Police Department’s headquarters on Wednesday. The police shot the woman dead and detained one man. The incident led to panic among nearby members of the public. Scared by the sound of the gunshots, some university students went to the İstanbul Tax Administration Directorate’s car park to protect themselves.

On the day of the constitutional referendum of Sept. 12, 2010, when major constitutional amendments were adopted, the Zaman daily put a photo displaying the high school students who were detained on its front page and wrote, “Such scenes should never be seen again in Turkey.” However, the same scenes have now been seen again in Turkey, just five years after the referendum.

A new internal security package introduced by the ruling AK Party authorizes the police to search people, vehicles and premises upon a verbal order from a senior officer. The package was passed by Parliament on March 27 after more than a month of debate that included brawls and rising tension between the opposition and the ruling party.

The package has been the target of harsh criticism from bar associations, civil society groups and individuals because it is seen as granting extensive powers to the police force, including the authority to open fire on protesters without warning or to detain and search anyone without a court order on the basis of “reasonable suspicion” — language that replaced the previous “strong suspicion based on concrete evidence.”

The gradual coup and probable civil wars in Turkey

December 13, 2014 By administrator

BY İHSAN YILMAZ

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is unlike any other previous anti-democratic figure in Turkey. He has been gradually eroding democracy and dismantling state structures to create an authoritarian one-man regime. The military generals who tried to stage coups or accomplished coups but could not fully control the state must be envying him right now.

Turkish media are almost fully under the control of Erdoğan. With the exception of a few newspapers and TV channels, none of them can freely write or broadcast about Erdoğan’s corruption. Because of threats of heavy tax punishment, influential dailies such as Hürriyet and Milliyet try to be critical of the government but in most cases do not cover serious issues that would harm the Erdoğan regime.

The biggest TV channels, such as Kanal D, Show TV and Star, are almost fully controlled by Erdoğan. The TRT state television channels that are respected, especially by the rural and uneducated sections of society, only propagate the Erdoğan regime. An already weak opposition does not have the chance to convey its messages of new and alternative projects for the country and its criticism of the government is not heard by the people.

According to a recent poll, about 12 percent of voters have never heard of Erdoğan’s new palace, which has 1,150 rooms, let alone the criticism surrounding it. To put it bluntly, the Erdoğan regime has illegitimately destroyed the opposition in Turkey. Yes, it exists but it is little more influential than the ones in Russia, Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan. It is no longer accurate to liken Erdoğan’s ambitions to Putinism; it is becoming clear that he has a Chinese model in mind. That is why anyone who critiques him is quickly denounced as a traitor and a spy working for both the CIA and MOSSAD. This has to be taken very seriously before it is too late. Had a whistleblower not shattered his project, last night his security apparatus would have imprisoned 400 journalists. I think this is telling enough.

Parliament has been impotent for a long time. Because of the country’s Political Parties Law, deputies have to worship the party leader to be re-nominated and this is what most of them do. Moreover, Erdoğan’s corrupt Mafiosi tactics have made sure that almost all his deputies have some sort of weaknesses that would make them liable to blackmail. For instance, many of the deputies or their relatives have become tremendously but illegitimately rich over the last decade. And/or their relatives have been given state jobs without the adequate credentials. And/or they have had extramarital affairs. Erdoğan keeps files of these deputies and makes sure they know this.

Erdoğan has also been eroding the independence of the judiciary. Judges and prosecutors in critical courts are carefully engineered to be either pro-Justice and Development Party (AKP) figures or corrupt guys with skeletons in their closet so that they have to obey the Erdoğan regime. Superior courts were exceptions, to a certain extent, but with new legislation, he will appoint hundreds of pro-AKP judges to these courts. The Constitutional Court’s membership will also gradually change since upon their retirement, old members will be replaced according to Erdoğan’s wishes.

Similar to the West’s appeasement strategy when it came to Hitler, Erdoğan’s gradual transformation of a democratic country into tyranny has been largely passively watched by Western observers, Turkey’s allies and Turkey’s White Turkish elite. In a few years’ time, the country can reach a critical point of no return. But since he will not be able to make diverse sections of society succumb to his illegitimate and corrupt will, multiple civil wars may erupt in the country: Kurds versus Erdoğan, Alevis versus Erdoğan, radical Islamists versus Erdoğan, ultra-nationalists versus Erdoğan, etc. It is obvious that in such a turbulent region, an unstable Turkey would pave the way for terrible regional disasters that no power on earth will be able to prevent or stop.

It is high time that the AKP’s wise members and voters, the AKP’s international appeasers and Turkey’s White elite push for the reinstatement of democracy in Turkey as soon as possible.

Israel accuses Turkey of aiding Hamas coup plan against Mahmoud Abbas in Judea and Samaria.

October 25, 2014 By administrator

Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon has implied that Turkey was responsible for Hamas’ alleged preparations for a coup against Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. “Turkey is playing a cynical game,” Ya’alon told US Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel on Oct. 21, criticizing Turkey for the support it provides to Hamas. “Hamas moved its terror headquarters from Damascus to Istanbul, in Turkey, a NATO member, where it is represented by Saleh al-Arouri, who orchestrates terrorist attacks against Israel from there and attempted to instigate a coup against Mahmoud Abbas in Judea and Samaria.” report Al monitor

Fadi al-Husseini, Palestinian Embassy spokesman in Ankara, however, told Al-Monitor that the Palestinian side has no knowledge of any Hamas coup preparations against Abbas. “We also heard about this alleged coup preparation from the media. The Israeli media also link the death of three Israeli teenagers to Arouri, but there is so far no evidence that Hamas was involved in these incidents,” Husseini said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu explicitly blamed Hamas for the teenagers’ deaths. “These teenagers were kidnapped and the kidnapping was carried out by Hamas members. Hamas denials do not change this fact,” he said June 15.

Netanyahu also said, “Those who perpetrated the abduction of our youths were members of Hamas — the same Hamas that Abu Mazen [Abbas] made a unity government with. This has severe repercussions.” Indeed, Israel began its Gaza operation in July 2014, killing more than 2,000 Palestinians.

“We see that Israel is increasingly sliding away from the peace process. They do not trust the Palestinian side as a real peace partner, nor do they have any trust in the United Nations body — specifically the UN Human Rights Council,” said Umut Uzer, an associate professor at Istanbul Technical University’s department of humanities and social sciences. “It is no longer even possible to expect a return to a more balanced politics toward Israel. Neither side has any trust left. Turkey has clearly sided with the Palestinians, but the current government here has also taken the side of the Palestinians favoring Hamas.”

Uzer said that although the Turkish government clearly sides with Hamas and considers it the legitimately elected representative of the Palestinian people, it conveniently forgets about Hamas’ terrorist activities. Uzer explains this approach as a part of the Justice and Development Party’s (AKP) ideological and emotional attachment to the group.

“Having said that, frankly speaking, it is a misconception to suggest that the Turkey-Israel relationship soared due to [Turkish President Recep Tayyip] Erdogan coming to power. One needs to admit that this relationship has no real counterpart on the Turkish streets. It was put together with a bureaucratic intention considering the country’s interests,” Uzer said. “Yet Turkey’s liberal, left and secular crowds are also sensitive about the Palestinian cause. They see the Palestinians as victims of World War II, and they would like to see their suffering come to an end. It is to say that, even if Erdogan were not in power, the relationship between these two countries would not show any real progress in the absence of a peace deal between Israelis and Palestinians resolving this issue once and for all.”

In the meantime, Ankara has kept quiet on Ya’alon’s accusation that Turkey was indirectly aiding Hamas’ preparations for a coup against Abbas. If proven, it would strike a significant blow to Erdogan’s strong condemnations of coup attempts, whether in Turkey, Egypt or elsewhere.

Since the deadly 2010 Mavi Marmara incident, Turkey and Israel’s political and diplomatic ties have soured. Some have speculated about a potential finalization of a deal, whereby Israel would give significant financial compensation to the families of those killed on board the Mavi Marmara. In turn, the countries would then reinitiate diplomatic relations at the ambassadorial level. Ya’alon’s statement makes it clear that we are nowhere near that day.

Uzer argues that Turkey turning a complete blind eye to Hamas’ terror activities is not good for peace efforts in the region. “The United States is certainly the real partner that could influence Israel and move things around. Turkey could have helped things with its soft power, just like the AKP did in its first years,” Uzer said. “On the other hand, Israel is increasingly becoming isolated. … The political right is getting stronger in Israel, and that means there is currently no strong peace camp there.”

Embassy spokesman Husseini said that, in hindsight, Turkey and Israel’s soured political relationship does not serve the best interests of the Palestinian cause. “We wish to see more of our friends to carry our messages and talk to Israel,” Husseini said. “A good relationship between Turkey and Israel would have benefited the Palestinian cause and help end the conflict.”

By Tulin Daloglu

Columnist

Turkey: LIFE WITHOUT PAROLE GIVEN TO SEPT. 12 LEADERS

June 18, 2014 By administrator

Daily Sabah report,

Two surviving leaders of 1980 military coup Gen. Kenan Evren and Gen. Tahsin Şahinkaya sentenced to life in prison on Wednesday.

During the hearing at the Ankara 10th High Criminal Court, Özdabakoğlu told the court that both former generals had planned the coup a year before Sept. 12.

Evren, 95, the former chief of the General Staff who led the 1980 coup and president of Turkey from 1982 to 1989; and Şahinkaya, 88, commander of the Turkish Air Forces (THK) during the coup period, are the only surviving leaders of the 1980 coup.

Since the beginning of the Sept. 12 coup trial in April 2012, the coup leaders have not attended any of the hearings, citing health problems. They sent medical reports to the Ankara court through their lawyers. In their testimonies, both Evren and Şahinkaya pleaded not guilty and expressed reluctance to respond to questions on the coup charges.