Turkey's ordeal, part 2

More beatings until morale improves

Back in the early 1960s, Washington sent expert negotiator James Britt Donovan to Cuba to negotiate for the Bay of Pigs prisoners. And to negotiate with none other than FidelFidelFidel! himself. The American did such a fine job, and was so popular after his stay on the island, that he joked with the island's boss/chief guerrilla that he might return and run for prime minister of Cuba the next election!

To which Castro replied, "You know, doctor, I think you might be right. So there will be no elections."


Ah, isn't that the way it is with dictatorships? Democracy is so messy. What if the people vote the wrong way? The paperwork alone to cover up such a matter would certainly be pricey. So if elections can't be completely one-sided (Saddam Hussein knew how to get 99 percent of the vote) then they'll just have to wait. Until we have more time. Like after we're all dead.

Across the big ocean, and another smaller one, sits Turkey's president, one Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has just been given a gift in the form of a failed coup. President Erdogan has been trying to consolidate power for years, even trying to rewrite the country's constitution in the attempt. He's pushed long-time allies out of key positions in his country, better to give himself an Executive Presidency and something more along the lines of complete power. You should see the new presidential complex where he lives--it's about 30 times the size of the White House.

The failed coup comes at such a fortunate time, and fits President-maybe-for-life Erdogan's plans so completely, that there are plenty of rumors that he had something to do with it. Besides, he's been complaining about a possible coup for so long that one has to wonder what the leaders of the coup were thinking. If their target was as paranoid as he let on, he was never going to be surprised.

So now the beatings will continue until morale improves. Mr. Erdogan's government is cracking down on the military, especially officers. And police. And judges. And governors. And civil servants of all stripes. And tens of thousands of teachers. School teachers!

To be certain the government doesn't miss any profession in the crackdown, it went ahead and fired hundreds of clerics, preachers and other religious teachers.

His opponents say his plan all along has been to gain power over the country's permanent institutions, and boy is he. As for his former pledges about democracy, he's been known to say that democracy is like a bus, and when you arrive at your destination, you step off.

So now, for starters, thousands of people are filling Turkey's jails. Even the police are talking to reporters about the abuses going on in those jails. That is, the police are talking to the few journalists who can get the news out of the country. For in Turkey, an opposition newspaper or TV station isn't very long.

Most of those held in jail are held without evidence. Their names aren't necessarily released to the public and their families. Human Rights Watch says "the speed and scale of the arrests, including of top judges, suggests a purge rather than a process based on evidence."

And who gets the blame? A mystic and self-imposed Turkish exile and alleged moderate who lives in seclusion in Pennsylvania. And one that the Turkish government wants extradited post-haste. The Americans have said, well, we have procedures for that, so how about some evidence?

"We would be disappointed," says Turkey's prime minister Binali Yildirim, "if our friends told us to present proof, even though members of the assassin organization are trying to destroy an elected government under the directions of that person."

Yes, well, democracies do have some pesky rules. Including the rule of law.

Some in the international commentariat have compared President Erdogan to Vladimir Putin in Russia, for several reasons. Not the least the habit of jumping from president to prime minister or vice versa to hold power. Even by filling the other slot with an easily managed "friend."

Vlad the Terrible also has his autocratic, uh, tendencies. He also jails the opposition or otherwise tries to shut it up, including journalists. He also has a built-in base in his own country that looks past the strong-arm tactics of the government because the man at the top is said to have restored a lost prestige. And there's no shortage of interested Russia-watchers who think Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin isn't above staging horrible acts to tighten his grip on power.

But Turkey is a member of NATO. And NATO doesn't need a Vladimir Putin in its ranks. It's more than enough dealing with the one in Moscow.

The officers supposedly responsible for the coup attempt in Turkey announced at the beginning of their doomed campaign that they were acting to restore democracy after all the years of Mr. Erdogan. So he responded by doubling down on oppression and dictatorship.

And he says he has the authority because he was once elected by the people. But how much longer until the democracy bus comes to the terminal? And will the people of Turkey, at that point, have any say left?

Editorial on 07/25/2016

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