Of judges and coupists – Recent coup attempt in Turkey


Date posted: July 20, 2016

Frank Talk

If I were to be in Turkey, I’d probably be in jail by now. For I doubt if any judge, tribunal or, much less, a political power monger – in the mould of ‘The Boss’ in Ankara, would believe I was not preparing the ground for Friday’s coup attempt in Turkey, with my article of penultimate Wednesday.
But since I do not intend to write about Turkey again, let me put it on record that I’m one of the few who strongly believe the alleged coup attempt could have been stage-managed to give Tayyip Recep Erdogan the justification to clamp down on real and perceived opponents to his ambition to rewrite the constitution and transfer the centre of executive power from the office of the Prime Minister to the office of the President, which he presently occupies.

Coups have been a particularly sour spot for everybody in today’s Turkey – be they cronies or critics of the government in power. Almost every Turkish citizen today is, therefore, ready to spill his blood to forestall another coup. That means that one of the quickest ways to get lynched on the streets of Istanbul or Ankara is to be accused of plotting a coup. It’s like accusing somebody of blaspheming the Holy Prophet (SAW) before a mob of Islamic fundamentalists. Erdogan knows this sentiment and he played it to the hilt, especially among his army of cronies, and the rural populace, most of whom depend on his regular handouts for survival.

But the dizzying thing about this coup is the ease with which the ‘coupists’ were rounded up, without much of a fight. Then there was the allegation that over 200 people had died. And you’d be tempted to ask: Who got killed? Where? Who killed them? Was it the same coupists whose fighter jets allegedly refused to shoot down Erdogan’s plane, despite having it in sight? The same coupists who refused to fire a shot at unarmed (apparently, rented) crowds of the president’s on the Bosphorous Bridge?

Everything looked so rehearsed: ‘Coupists’ shooting into the air, crowd booing them, protesters climbing all over the armoured tanks and nobody getting hurt, ‘blood-thirsty’, coup-plotting soldiers being picked up from inside their tanks like sitting ducks.

Even in democratic America, policemen would fire live bullets in less dangerous circumstances. Haba!

My takeaway? Somebody wanted to use judges and the police to overthrow strongman Erdogan – in a Turkey that is not naïve to military coups. And in this age of ICT, all the coupists planned to do was to, like a certain Bukar Suka Dimka, take over a radio station? If this could not work in Nigeria of 1976, how did they think it would work in the Turkey of 2016? Beats my imagination! And this coup was supposed to have been co-ordinated from the United States? By a group believed to have, arguably, the best of Turkish elite and intelligentsia? Benumbing!

And, wait for this, barely one hour into the coup, Erdogan (on Facetime) and his Prime Minister were already blaming Fethullah Gulen and the Hizmet movement for masterminding it. And calling for the extradition of the Muslim cleric, even when the coup had not been quelled and the plotters arrested?

And less than 24 hours later, over 12,000 people had been arrested (and stripped to their underpants), including some 2,700 judges, who have been suspended. Erdogan argues that Gulen has infiltrated the judiciary – and if the cleric is a ‘terrorist’, then all the judges must be terrorists too. He is also toying with the idea of damning the European Union and returning the death penalty to Turkey as well as making insinuation to stop co-operating with the US and NATO over strikes on ISIS. Hmmm. Some narrative!

Excerpted from the column. Click the link below to read the rest of the article.

 

Source: The Sun, Nigeria , July 20, 2016


Related News

We’ll kiss the hands of those who tell us our shortcomings

HÜSEYİN GÜLERCE I have been a guest of the esteemed Fethullah Gülen for one week. I am visiting not just as a friend, but as a journalist as well. Being here in this place as a writer is very exciting. You are in the same place, breathing the same air as this person who has […]

Hizmet will continue its mission regardless of attacks

Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen, who, along with the faith-based Hizmet movement, has been subjected to numerous attacks from Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, has said the movement will continue to perform its mission regardless of circumstances.

Return to Turkey or lose citizenship, gov’t tells Gülen followers

The Justice and Development Party (AKP) will revoke the citizenship of followers of the faith-based Gülen movement who sought refuge abroad due to a government crackdown on alleged movement sympathizers if they do not return to Turkey within a certain period of time, the pro-government Sabah daily reported on Thursday.

US House Intel Chair Says ‘Hard To Believe’ Gulen Behind Turkey Coup

The United State House Intelligence Committee chairman has said it is “hard to believe” that U.S.-based Turkish cleric is behind the military coup attempt last summer, questioning Turkey as a reliable ally.

Erdoğan vows to strip Gülen sympatizers off Turkish citizenship

Speaking in his Black Sea hometown of Rize on Saturday, Erdoğan repeated his unsubstantiated accusations against the Gülen movement, calling its sympathizers “terrorists.” Erdoğan urged these people under persecution to become citizens of the countries in which they are living, saying that “they will not be considered citizens of this country.”

An Exiled Cleric Denies Playing a Leading Role in Coup Attempt

Fethullah Gulen, the Turkish cleric whom President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey has accused of inspiring the coup attempt against his government, gave a rare interview on Saturday at his compound here in which he denied involvement in the coup, but compared Mr. Erdogan’s administration to that of the Nazi SS.

Latest News

Fethullah Gulen – man of education, peace and dialogue – passes away

Fethullah Gülen’s Condolence Message for South African Human Rights Defender Archbishop Desmond Tutu

Hizmet Movement Declares Core Values with Unified Voice

Ankara systematically tortures supporters of Gülen movement, Kurds, Turkey Tribunal rapporteurs say

Erdogan possessed by Pharaoh, Herod, Hitler spirits?

Devious Use of International Organizations to Persecute Dissidents Abroad: The Erdogan Case

A “Controlled Coup”: Erdogan’s Contribution to the Autocrats’ Playbook

Why is Turkey’s Erdogan persecuting the Gulen movement?

Purge-victim man sent back to prison over Gulen links despite stage 4 cancer diagnosis

In Case You Missed It

Malaysia: Turkish wives say husbands not terrorists, want them released

The ‘other’ interview

How the fallout from Turkey’s coup attempt has been felt in South Africa

Panicky parents calmed over Feza Schools closure reports

AFSV Condemns Erdoğan’s Persecution of the Hizmet Movement

Turkey’s Unethical Interference in American (Muslim) Civic Society is Dangerous

Prominent Alevi leader welcomes Gülen’s remarks on bridge controversy

Copyright 2025 Hizmet News