Turkey Coup Aftermath

Conspiracy theories have been cropping up all over that the recent military coup in Turkey might have been staged by President Erdoğan and/or his allies. It is foregone conclusion that they are capable of such acts. They started the current war on Kurds for suppressing their protest against an ISIL attack in Suruç that killed 33 Kurds, just to force their votes during the 2015 re-election. Further back you have the Ergenekon and Balyoz plots, false flag operations that devastated the military command with the possible involvement of Gülenist - former ally of President Erdoğan, also recently a "terrorist group" as designated by the Turkish government... that promotes peace and democracy.

Whether the Turkish government staged the coup or not is of little relevance now. What matters is the immediate repercussions that would impact the lives of Turks, especially their elites, now that the coup has failed. Within hours of the coup, 2,745 judges have been dismisses and hundreds arrested for being "associated with terrorists". A response a wee bit too soon for a supposedly surprise coup. As of the moment of writing (20/7), 9,000 police have been fired, 24 radio and TV channels closed, all schools including 15,000 teachers have been suspended, and all university deans are fired. The Islamist tendency is obvious.

One need not look too far back in history to see the devastating effects of the Islamic Revolution in Iran, where woman rights got shoved back to Medieval standards. Ironically, it was the then-recently liberated women who fervently supported the revolution. While military coups in Turkey always return the power to the people, it appears unlikely that President Erdoğan will relinquish his powers any time soon. With 97.8% of the population being Muslims, tyranny of the majority is a real danger in Turkey. We have seen non-mainstream Muslims, such as Alevis (20% population), being oppressed before.

Lest we forget that Libya used to be the top African country in Human Development Index. Once a mob is incited, it will be unstoppable even by Erdoğan. Civilization is fragile, and there is a real risk that Turkey will crumble to become a third-world country. No external actor can plausibly steer Turkey back to its original path: Europeans have their hands tied on refugee issues, Americans on Islamic State (Incirlik Air Base), and Russia isn't exactly friendly. The future of Turkey lies solely in the hands of the Turkish people. Let us all pray that there remains some rationality in the Turkish populace, and that Erdoğan indeed is doing all these for the greater good.