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Thread: Turkey: what is going on?

  1. #41
    Council Member AdamG's Avatar
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    ISTANBUL, Jan 6 (Reuters) - Former Turkish armed forces chief General Ilker Basbug spent his first night behind bars on Friday, charged with trying to overthrow the government in an unprecedented development likely to exacerbate tensions with the military.
    http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/...8C600320120106
    A scrimmage in a Border Station
    A canter down some dark defile
    Two thousand pounds of education
    Drops to a ten-rupee jezail


    http://i.imgur.com/IPT1uLH.jpg

  2. #42
    Council Member davidbfpo's Avatar
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    Default One explanation what is going on?

    I am still trying to follow this developing situation, with the current Islamic government pursuing via the criminal justice route the leadership of the army and other critics.

    Hat tip to FP Blog for offering a background explanation, 'Behind Bars in the Deep State' which is sub-titled:
    Does a shadowy mullah in Pennsylvania really hold the reins of power in Turkey? If not, then why are the country’s leaders so intent on silencing a single investigative journalist?
    The article points the finger at a shadowy Muslim group.

    Oddly the article has been pulled and is not cached. Will try to link another day.
    davidbfpo

  3. #43
    Council Member tequila's Avatar
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    The Fetullah Gulen movement is not that "shadowy" - it is a massive outfit its own website and quite a large number of media outlets.

    BBC story with some details about Ahmet Sik's case.

    Recent NYTIMES story about Gulen charter schools in Texas.

    I'd be worried less about the Gulen movement and more about the AKP's actions - though given the Turkish military's actions in the past, it's hard for them to complain about creeping authoritarianism.
    Last edited by tequila; 01-13-2012 at 08:59 PM.

  4. #44
    Council Member AdamG's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by davidbfpo View Post
    Oddly the article has been pulled and is not cached. Will try to link another day.
    I think you might have encountered internet outages/hiccups over the last 48h.

    Here it is

    http://www.foreignpolicy.com/article...the_deep_state

    also here
    http://arunwithaview.wordpress.com/2...he-deep-state/

    Meanwhile, historical precedence in the news
    http://articles.cnn.com/2012-01-10/w...n?_s=PM:EUROPE
    A scrimmage in a Border Station
    A canter down some dark defile
    Two thousand pounds of education
    Drops to a ten-rupee jezail


    http://i.imgur.com/IPT1uLH.jpg

  5. #45
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    Default A Different War on Terrorism: The U.S., Turkey and the PKK

    A Different War on Terrorism: The U.S., Turkey and the PKK

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  6. #46
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    Default Book Review: Democracy, Islam and Secularism in Turkey

    Book Review: Democracy, Islam and Secularism in Turkey

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  7. #47
    Council Member davidbfpo's Avatar
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    Default Turkey, the end of Islamism with a human face

    An interesting analysis of what is going on:
    Turkey's AKP government has over a decade promised a new model of governance: progressive and reformist, Islamist and democratic. But a series of developments, including the expanding power of prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, is now exposing the party and its policies to ever-deeper scrutiny....
    Link:http://www.opendemocracy.net/kerem-o...ith-human-face
    davidbfpo

  8. #48
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    this is an interesting article about fethullah gulen http://www.city-journal.org/2012/22_...lah-gulen.html

  9. #49
    Council Member Fuchs's Avatar
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    Keep in mind some if not most of the Western-like modernisation of the Turkish state in the last decade or more was done in order to conform enough to the EU for becoming a member.

    Bluntly stated, enough Europeans don't want the Turks to join - the EU is already very diverse without growing beyond actual occidental Europe. It's having its issues and doesn't need more.

    The membership of Cyprus coupled with the basically unresolved conflict on Cyprus basically ensured that if Greece doesn't veto, Cyprus does and if Cyprus doesn't, some other veto will be found.

    So the Turks basically gave up the idea of joining the EU and Erdogan et al instead began to develop Turkey as a comeback great power with an identity between Europe, Arab countries and Central Asian turk nations.

    With Turkey going its own way, he apparently also figured that Turkey can have its own interpretation of what a modern state is like and doesn't need to accept Western ideas on this at face value.


    The problem in Turkey is in my opinion a lack of political and probably also media plurality. It's either AKP or the pro-military autocrats IIRC, and there should really be a third choice which could form a coalition with both and keep the political culture from going too far towards either extreme.
    I'm not well-informed on their party landscape, though.

  10. #50
    Council Member davidbfpo's Avatar
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    Default The Fetullah Gulen movement in Azerbaijan

    Hat tip to a "lurker" for this article, published by the Hudson Institute, 'The Gulen Movement in Azerbaijan' by Fuad Aliyev:http://www.currenttrends.org/researc...-in-azerbaijan

    The conclusion starts with:
    The Glen movement has arguably emerged as the most successful movement in Azerbaijans unfolding Islamic revival. No other Islamic movement in Azerbaijan can claim such an extensive organization or level of influence in business, charity, lobbying and, above all, in the field of education. Moreover, the movement has managed to acquire this influence without revealing its ideological mission. This has, not surprisingly, generated considerable suspicion of its motives. And despite its reputation as a post- Islamist movement that seeks integration with society, it is nonetheless still widely perceived as having a religious-political agenda.
    Not sure if there is an Azerbaijan thread, so placed here.
    davidbfpo

  11. #51
    Council Member davidbfpo's Avatar
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    Default Once powerful, now so many officers are in jail

    It is more than admirals, but The Economist provides an update on the apparent emasculation of the Turkish military by the civilian government. It starts with:
    ..has nobody to command its navy. Just such a situation looms in Turkey after this week’s resignation of Admiral Nusret Guner, the number two in the navy who was expected to take over when its incumbent head steps down in August. There are no other qualified candidates, not least because more than half of Turkey’s admirals are in jail...
    Link:http://www.economist.com/news/europe...d_his_generals
    davidbfpo

  12. #52
    Council Member davidbfpo's Avatar
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    Default Strange? No, it's Turkey

    Prime Minister Tayyip Erdoğan did something quite symbolic last weekend: He visited the hospitalized ex-general Ergin Saygun, who was recently sentenced to 18 years in prison for a military coup plot against Erdoğan’s own government. Both Saygun, who had undergone a heart operation just hours after the postponing of his sentence, and his family were positively surprised. Many others were puzzled.
    Link:http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/lov...=238&nid=40968
    davidbfpo

  13. #53
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    Default Why Syrians in Turkey are Not “Refugees” and Why it Matters

    Why Syrians in Turkey are Not “Refugees” and Why it Matters

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  14. #54
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    Default The Young Ataturk: From Ottoman Soldier to Statesman of Turkey

    The Young Ataturk: From Ottoman Soldier to Statesman of Turkey

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  15. #55
    Council Member davidbfpo's Avatar
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    Default Sledgehammers and Byzantine politics

    In August 2011 the contest between the politicians and generals appeared to end with the 'Sledgehammer' criminal charges being laid against over two hundred suspects (see Posts 33-35). A 2014 BBC report after earlier trials and appeals:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-24457491

    Today on Twitter a US observer tweeted:
    Sledgehammer saga ends as Turkish court acquits all defendants, citing strong suspicion of fake evidence.
    One I think Turksih report:http://www.worldbulletin.net/turkey/...tary-coup-case

    Curiously and purely by coincidence attention has been diverted, including the BBC, to two quite different news stories. First a near nation-wide electricity outage:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-32130567

    Then a siege in Istanbul, where a banned Marxist-Leninist group DHKP-C, have seized a state prosecutor in a court building. News report:http://mashable.com/2015/03/31/prose...bjBrb2xtdF8ifQ

    Or the BBC:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-32129012

    Background reading on this group, suitably Byzantine:http://america.aljazeera.com/article...oodarrows.html
    davidbfpo

  16. #56
    Council Member davidbfpo's Avatar
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    Default Turkish driving lesson

    Hat tip to WoTR for this commentary:
    Most observers of Turkey have reduced every single problem facing Turkey to one factor: Erdogan, its president. He is certainly a troubling leader, but Turkey's trials run far deeper than one man.
    Link:http://warontherocks.com/2015/09/the...-telling-you/?

    A taster:
    We are looking at a multi-player game of chicken where different actors are speeding toward each other with no intention to step on the brakes. Erdogan is driving the largest vehicle, but it takes more than one driver to cause a pileup.
    davidbfpo

  17. #57
    Council Member davidbfpo's Avatar
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    Default Turkey’s Military Rulers

    A somewhat surprising opinion column in the NYT, by an American SME, who writes that the military are now back in favour with President Erdogan:http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/12/op...y-rulers.html?
    davidbfpo

  18. #58
    Council Member davidbfpo's Avatar
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    Default Moderator at work

    Moderator's Note

    This thread has been renamed from 'WTF News Network : Turkish Senior Ranks' mass resignation/retirement' to 'Turkey: politicians and generals - what is going on?'

    In October 2015 the thread was renamed from Turkey: politicians and generals - what is going on? - to Turkey: what is going on? A small number of older threads and SWJ pieces were merged in.

    A thread 2008-2009 called 'Secularism and Foreign Policy in Turkey', which contains background to the latest issues has now been merged into this thread (Ends).
    davidbfpo

  19. #59
    Council Member davidbfpo's Avatar
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    An Open Democracy article on Turkey after the terrorist bombing of a pro-Kurdish rally in Ankara; in summary:
    What we have witnessed in the last two years, culminating in the horrible scenes of 10 October in Ankara, is the end of the Turkish Republic as we know it.
    Link:https://www.opendemocracy.net/umut-o...rkish-republic

    This article cites another report, minus a link, so here it is:http://www.theguardian.com/world/201...-attack-coming

    A lengthy BBC report after:
    he Islamic State (IS) group is the prime suspect in the Ankara bombings that killed nearly 100 on Saturday, Turkish PM Ahmet Davutoglu has said.
    Link:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-34505030
    Last edited by davidbfpo; 10-13-2015 at 02:00 PM.
    davidbfpo

  20. #60
    Council Member davidbfpo's Avatar
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    Default Inside Turkey a small war

    Those who watch Turkey will probably know, but given its regional role we should note "enemies to the front and rear". The article starts with:
    The latest footage to come out of Sur, the historical district in Diyarbakir that has been under total lock down by Turkish armed forces for the past sixty days, shows a level of devastation one would sooner expect in Syria. In more ways than one – empty streets lined with debris, bombed-out buildings, tanks and soldiers shooting at invisible assailants – the situation in Turkey’s predominantly Kurdish southeastern regions resembles a war zone.
    Link:http://www.juancole.com/2016/02/turk...escalates.html

    Then a UK paper headline, sadly:
    Horrific video 'shows unarmed Kurds waving white flag shot dead by Turkish soldiers'
    Link:http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-n...-kurds-7225065
    davidbfpo

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