Keyword: Democracy
What Erdogan and Khomeini Have in Common
The Turkish secular elite who have long feared an Iranian-style theocracy in their own country may finally be seeing the worst of their fears come true. The widespread purges under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan following last month’s failed coup attempt against his government suggest the Turkish state is moving toward authoritarian Islamist rule of the sort that Iran introduced in 1979.
The aftermath of the failed Turkey coup: Torture, beatings and rape
The Turkish government has embarked on a crackdown of exceptional proportions, targeting people it accuses of being linked to Fethullah Gülen – a Turkish cleric in exile in the US, who the government accuse of masterminding the failed coup on 15 July 2016. More than 10,000 people have been detained since the attempted coup and […]
New Level of Witch Hunt: Relatives are Targeted in Turkey
On July 26, Turkish police stormed the house of Muhammet Cakir, a lawyer wanted for arrest on coup charges. Failing to find the lawyer at home, they detained his 86-year-old mother to force her son to surrender. She has been kept as hostage since.
PM Sipilä and FM Soini of Finland: Turkey needs to return to a path that respects human rights
Prime Minister Juha Sipilä and Foreign Minister Timo Soini [of Finland] have responded to a letter from the Finnish Union of Journalists. The Union’s missive asked the ministers to urge Turkey to avoid extreme measures in the aftermath of July’s failed coup.
Turkey Heads Toward Radical Islamic Dictatorship
Thousands have been arrested. Civil rights are suspended. People are jailed with no way to consult lawyers or present a defense. The coup has become an excuse for Erdoğan to purge state institutions, and even the private sector, of his critics, regardless of their guilt with regard to the insurrection. The Turkish government — and a 100% state-controlled media — has accused the U.S. government of being behind the coup attempt itself and harboring its purported mastermind, Fetullah Gulen.
What’s Friendship Got to Do With [Mr. Gulen’s] Extradition?
On a visit to Washington to lobby for Gülen’s extradition, Nationalist Action party parliamentarian Kamil Aydin expressed his belief that “America is going to refuse losing Turkey as a good partnership in the region.” But even if Turkish politicians do not believe that America operates according to the rule of law, they should at least be aware that most Americans are proud to think that it does.
Turkey’s crisis deepens
Therefore, it is not surprising the attempted coup in Turkey aroused such concern and reaction. But to use it as an exercise in settling political scores with related or unrelated enemies will only further inflame the situation. There are reports that the Erdogan government had already prepared lists for purges and suspensions, and the failed coup has brought forward the whole exercise.
German Politician: Turkey like Nazi Germany after Reichstag
FDP leader Christian Lindner said he saw parallels between Erdogan’s behavior and the aftermath of the Reichstag fire in 1933 portrayed by the Nazis as a Communist plot against the government and used by Adolf Hitler to justify massively curtailing civil liberties. “We are experiencing a coup d’etat from above like in 1933 after the Reichstag fire. He is building an authoritarian regime tailored solely to himself,” Lindner said.
21st century Pharaoh rises: The tragedy of Turkey’s failed coup
Recep Tayyip Erdogan, even before the coup occurred, has been seen as a dictator who has constantly sought to crackdown on his opponents, and consolidate his power within the country. Turkey has one of the worst freedoms of expression record globally, with tons of journalists imprisoned for criticizing the Turkish Government.
Expert’s opinion: Turkey’s Demanding Extradition Of Fethullah Gülen Is Frivolous Grandstanding
Although ordinarily I respect his cool-headedness and self-control, in hindsight I wish President Obama had been equally blunt in responding to President Erdoğan’s demands that the US extradite Fethullah Gülen. All of his demands, beginning in 2014 and vigorously renewed in the wake of the July 15 attempted coup, have been completely illegitimate and unfair.
Sweden delays sending back Erdogan dissenters
Asylum seekers with ties to the opposition from last month’s failed coup attempt in Turkey will not be sent back to the nation by Sweden until further notice, the Swedish Migration Agency has decided. People who have taken part in “credible political opposition” are also part of the risk group, the Migration Agency writes on its website.
The Government Response to Turkey’s Coup Is an Affront to Democracy
It is vital for Washington and Turkey’s other international partners now to use all their influence to press Ankara to reverse course, to safeguards the rights of those caught up in the purge, and to strengthen rather than weaken the independence of the institutions that underpin it, including the courts, media, universities and parliament itself. The people who died defending it deserve nothing less.
A Personal Story from Turkey: I am a “Man of Law” Not a Terrorist!
I am a lawyer, I am man of law but according to President Erdogan I am a “terrorist” who attempted for a coup! I am writing this letter from a city in Eastern Europe as I had to run away from persecution. Just after my departure on 22 July, Turkish police arrived at my house but could not find me. Instead, with the intention to bring me out they have decided to detain my mother who is 86 years old and can barely walk.
The lethal and bitter aftermath of Turkey’s failed coup
The purge hurries Turkey on its way to what was already looking increasingly inevitable as its unfortunate destination: an illiberal executive presidency with a fading democratic lustre and Recep Tayyip Erdogan ruling more or less unchecked and unrivalled until he dies or steps down.
