Geopolitically, Turkey is one of the most strategic countries in the world. It is the meeting point of three continents- Asia, Europe, Africa and surrounded by three seas,- Black Sea, Mediterranean Sea and the Aegean Sea. For decades Turkey has been used as economic, cultural and political binders between east and west. Moreover, the present political and military chaos like the threat of Islamic state, the Syrian crisis and the flow of migrants to Europe prevailed in the region have increased its importance. In short, what affects Turkey affects the world. After more than 300 deaths (including 200 civilians), 6000 arrests, thousands of judge’s dismissals and some extraordinary drama, Turkey is crawling back to normalcy. The failure of the military coup has been hailed as a great win for democracy and President Erdogan. The celebrations of people at Taksim square has been described as historic. Many people feel it has put to rest the debate of sustainable co-existence of Islam and democracy.
Is it as plain as it appears or is there something more to it?
First of all, I will try to find an answer to the basic question –who orchestrated this coup in Turkey? Was it Fethullah Gulen, an Islamic cleric who live in exile or the mightiest Turk on earth president Erdogan himself?
The modern Turkish Republic was founded in 1923 by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, a former military officer deeply committed to a form of democratic nationalism and secularism. The Turkish military is the long-time defenders of Kemal’s idea and an accusation of working them at the behest of some Islamic cleric doesn’t sound logical. Moreover, turkey has a long history of coup and the intensity and execution of this coup was by far the least effective.
On the other hand, in last three years, president Erdogan has slowly and methodically taken over the nodes of power. The freedom of the press has been sabotaged, the judiciary has been taken into control, and the schools were “reformed” along Islamist lines. He was also planning to take the sweeping control over parliament and military. This incident will not only shift the public debate away from his authoritarian policies to the man who protected the democracy but also give him the opportunity to stamp his ultimate authority. No wonder when Erdogan declared his intent to bring a law in parliament for awarding the death sentence to the perpetrators.
Even if the conspiracy is proven wrong, the fact remains that when military faced a choice of shooting crowd or surrender, they chose later and avoided a massive bloodshed. On the contrary under the veil of protecting democracy, President Erdogan unleashed the beast out of common Turks. The disturbing visuals of soldiers beaten, stripped and in some cases lynched by violent mobs were chilling. Moreover, the reputation of adorable Turkish soldiers was destroyed by the incident while the popularity of the president soared to all time high – and all of these happened in a flash of time.
What lies ahead in the region is dreadful. The turkey is slowly being taken away from sane voices. The rule of mob has started dictating their terms. The way anti-Erdogan voices is being suppressed by the state and Erdogan supporters are phenomenal. Erdogan has already started pushing the US to deport Fateh Ullah Gulen. The anti-Kurds stand of Erdogan is well known. In the view of the increase in recent terror attacks in west, the world is least prepared for an autocratic rule in Turkey. Therefore, it is necessary for the US and other NATO members to re-evaluate their ties with Erdogan and do whatever they can to prevent him from becoming another Saddam Hussain or Colonel Gaddafi.