Breaking News: Military Coup D'Etat in Turkey

bioixi

Apparently the army has taken over the presidential palace.

This is problematic. Turkey borders several EU countries and it's a NATO member. We might be forced to take military action because of that treaty.

thekodanarmada

Who's we here?

smeeinn1t

Internal conflicts are not a NATO issue.​​

marcusdkane

This is why I love the Prime Directive... "Not our business to be involved in..."

Unknown

This content has been removed.

jonsills

Yup, the NATO Treaty specifically prohibits member nations from interfering in each others' internal affairs. We might be called upon if, say, Turkey were invaded by Armenia (although the Turks could probably handle that sort of thing on their own), but a coup is strictly a Turkish affair.​​

markhawkman

thee is the question of how long it will stay that way though....

fmgtorres1979

Yep.
No NATO.
But latest reports indicate the government supressed the de terrorists/traitors/freedom fighters/liberators.

Unknown

This content has been removed.

jonsills

Apparently the difference this time, at least from the reports I've gotten so far, is that the military wasn't united in the idea that a coup was necessary. Preliminary reports (which, of course, may be mere propaganda) indicate that in this case, those behind the coup may have been sympathetic to jihadists; traditionally, Turkish coups have been a matter of the government becoming too religious, and being reined in by their military, which generally prefers a more secular government and no wonder.​​

fmgtorres1979

jonsills wrote: »

Apparently the difference this time, at least from the reports I've gotten so far, is that the military wasn't united in the idea that a coup was necessary. Preliminary reports (which, of course, may be mere propaganda) indicate that in this case, those behind the coup may have been sympathetic to jihadists; traditionally, Turkish coups have been a matter of the government becoming too religious, and being reined in by their military, which generally prefers a more secular government and no wonder.​​

I heard a commentator saying he sort of believes it's staged. Apparently the "rebels" didn't try to occupy relevant or core sectors of the state. So they're either very bad at tactics and stratregic planning, or they weren't aiming at winning from the start.

jonsills

If they weren't trying to engage in a coup, then this would be mass "suicide by cop"; it certainly involved a number of lethal attacks, including at least one incident in which a government F16 shot down a coup-aligned helicopter over Ankara.

I believe that a part of the issue is that a large part of the officer corps weren't aligned with the coup this time. Those rebelling had to engage in an all-or-nothing attack to seize the news media (which they did) and the seat of government (which they didn't). There was no time for taking strategic positions and engaging in battles of attrition, as they would lose such battles.​​

fmgtorres1979

Yeah, but I wouldn't be too surprised if they had been played to do things a certain way. Not so much as being suicidal, but being the puppets of a larger plot.
I know it's farfetched, but I don't know, it's also plausible in a sense.

markhawkman

It'd have to be masterminded by nuts to involve actual live fire combat as part of a PR stunt.

fmgtorres1979

Erdogan is nothing short of a tyrant. Now he has an excuse for a series of extra powers and measures, as well as "legitimacy" to implement them.

Unknown

This content has been removed.

captainchaos66

Last report I heard, Erdogoon was using this to crack down even harder on his naysayers and decenters. Does kind of lend credence to the idea this may have been staged,, but perhaps it was more of a loyalty test. Some general working with Erdogoon plants the idea of a coup in a disgruntled generals head. A few months later said coup happens. Coup attempt fails, everyone involved is rounded up and eliminated. Leaving only loyal military commanders in place. What the heck, it happens in the movies.

artan42

The Turkish militry holds to the principles of Atterturk. They've removed two past presidents for attacking secularism. Erdogan is a disgrace.
Ordinarily I'd be seeing the military's side here but it apears it's cells within and not the military proper.
I wouldn't put it past Edrogan to have staged this to further his own power.
He's dismantling Attaturks victory bit by bit.

angrytarg

I'm not firm enough on turkish policies to speak about the internal consequences this had, but what I see is that now Erdogan is arresting thousands of people including judges of the turkish supreme court "disloyal" towards him and seeks to reinstate the death penalty to possibly execute hundreds of people. And the EU and world leaders praise a victory for "democracy" and once again assure us all how awesome Erogan is to shoot refugees for us so we don't have to keep our romises and uphold our core values. It makes me sick.

I have no idea what a militry coup would have meant for Turkey, Erdogans followers are fanatics and might have thrown the country straight into a civil war. But I also don't know what the rebels really wanted. But Erdogan, in any case, is a dangerous demagouge.​​

Unknown

This content has been removed.

artan42

The military would do what they did in Egypt and install their own leader. It would be a dictatorship but there would be stability. Democracy does not work universally yet and the two faced hypocrites praising Erdogan from the US and EU need to take a good long look at the sorts of people he associates with.

wildthyme467989

http://news.sky.com/story/live-turkish-army-says-taken-power-over-country-10503062

fmgtorres1979

It's always "the devil you know" routine. As long as it doesn't really conflict with other countries' interests, these people keep being supported.

artan42

The AKP is what the Muslim Brotherhood hopes it could be. A moderate economic success story quietly tearing down seculrism and insatution Sharia law on a secular nation founded on those very principles. With restrictions on abortion, acohol, women's rights. Basically the Turkish Republican Tea Party but with Islam rather than Christianity and with far more censorship of the press and media.
Their Islamic stance also gives Turkey a stake in Iran and Saudi Arabia's cold war. The same one that is tearing apart Syria and Iraq.

The lesser of two evils is apt in Turkey, though it's far from clear which is which. Saddam had to go. There was no question there. But Assad or Erdogan? They're hardly in the same league. Difference is Assad is the direct opposition to IS wheras Erdogan is happy to let IS wipe out the Kurds for him.

Unknown

This content has been removed.

gradii

Just feed Turkey to Hungary.

lordgyor

The Turkey opposition parties need to get their TRIBBLE together to remove the Erdogan in the next Turkish elections. I wish them luck.

angrytarg

lordgyor wrote: »

The Turkey opposition parties need to get their **** together to remove the Erdogan in the next Turkish elections. I wish them luck.

As it looks, there won't be another "election" in the foreseeable future.

I just read an essay by a Turkish jounralist who moved to Germany a few months ago and has now written his "good byes" since he won't return to Turkey. He writes about the toxic mood amongst Turkey's citizens, Erdogan followers chanting "One word from you and we kill, one word from you and we die", government fueled denunciation of fellow citizens to spot "traitors", the mass imprisonment of police officers, judges and attorneys persecuting governmental corruption and now Turkey is under martial law, allowing Erdogan free reign. And the "west" sits by and applauds this victory of democracy.​​

fmgtorres1979

It's pretty obvous he just became "emperor"

lordgyor

This coup back fired.

artan42

The coup set up Erdogan to solidify his power and weaken hundreds of his military and judicial opposition back fired?