So there was this odd coup in Turkey. No one knows who was responsible for it and it wasn't a bloody and well organized as they usually are. 161 dead, that wasn't trying very hard was it?
Over the past few years President Erdogan has been ruling Turkey pandering to the Islam Extremists by buying oil, having open borders and just not acting while also being a friend to the West.
Turkey has been vital to the west ever since JFK had secret missiles there pointing at the USSR. Today the US use Incirlik air base to launch numerous missions from. Turkey knows its strategic value and has used it as leverage to become a member of the EU which is hasn't completely managed yet.
Fethullah Gulen, Turkey's second most powerful person.
Erdogan blames an exiled cleric living in the US for the coup but that seems very unlikely. Fethullah Gulen has lived in the US since the 90's and denies just about everything. Still powerful he says he had nothing to do with the coup or the 2014 investigations into corruption among senior members of Erdogan's AK Party which have led to a number of police commissioners being sacked and to some of Erdogan's allies being arrested.
Gulen had schools in Turkey that Erdogan had closed down. The 75 year-old former Iman believes in science, altruism, hard work and education and has held dialogue with Jewish organizations and the Vatican. Not something Erdogan supports. He is on Turkey's most wanted terrorist list .... yeah the US would totally take him in if he was a terrorist .... not!
He believes freedom of religion and belief to be compatible with Islam. He has said that you can't be a Muslim if you are a terrorist. He's a cool guy, no wonder Erdogan hates him. His movement is called Hizmet or Jamaat and has millions of followers in Turkey and abroad.
The soldiers in the coup thought they were doing military exercises and gave up pretty easily. Now there have been theories that it could be the CIA who had a recent failed coup in Yemen if you remember or more likely it was Erdogan himself.
He had to have known that something was going to happen otherwise why talk peace and friendship with countries that Turkey have been abrasive with for years? It's like he was making sure he had allies for something. Then he made sure he was on holiday while shit went down just enough time for him to return and stop it.
This coup doesn't seem very serious as there wasn't a social media blackout, we saw a few tanks and some blood. What happened next was a lot of soldiers surrendering and getting arrested, 2,745 judges getting dismissed and a call for Turks to rise up against the traitors.
Hitler and Stalin have done similar things to get rid of opposition. Bush used 9/11 (though he didn't do 9/11) to get the Patriot act passed and to invade other countries. Other nations have been careful not to support Erdogan but instead support the democracy that elected him.
Turkey have a terrorism problem with the Kurds and they also don't want to be a target for ISIS so Erdogen has become more authoritarian rejecting Turkey becoming a modern secular society. He is still playing both sides. It's a balancing act which means we (the west) can't fully back the Kurds without pissing off Turkey who we need. Which is why we pretend not to notice when Turkey bombs them.
What should happen next will be to round up some scapegoats (the opposition) which will ensure that from now on there aren't too many of the wrong questions being asked and people may think twice about accusing Turkey of enabling ISIS.
By blaming Gulen he can go full tilt at his followers ..... the men of science .... the intellectuals. Like I've said, we've seen this before.
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