Turkey going down a dangerous path?

Boggit · May 06, 2016, 07:01:00 PM

Ahmet Davutoglu the AKP Prime minister has resigned. He was a key figure in moderating President Erdogan's increasing acquisition of power, and was willing to negotiate with the PKK to find a political solution to civil unrest in Turkey. And now he's gone. What will happen now?
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/06/world/europe/ahmet-davutoglu-turkey-prime-minister.html?_r=0

MetalDog · May 06, 2016, 09:06:32 PM

I heard this morning on National Public Radio that the Turkish Parliament won't give Erdogan the power he wants. I expect he will put forward someone he can manipulate as PM to get around them.

Gusington · May 07, 2016, 11:51:54 AM

He's been a dictator for what...five years at least? Not what the world needs in that neighborhood right now, especially with other dictators in such close vicinity.

Pete Dero · May 07, 2016, 12:28:19 PM

Turkey jails Cumhuriyet journalists Can Dundar and Erdem Gul http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-36233282

Some quotes :

Mr Dundar and Mr Gul were charged in November with espionage after their reports in May 2015 alleging that Turkey's intelligence services were sending weapons and ammunition to Islamist rebels fighting the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Alongside the newspaper report was video footage showing police discovering crates of weapons hidden beneath boxes of medicine.

Turkey ranks 151st amongst the 180 countries in the Reporters Without Borders' World Press Freedom Index 2016

airboy · May 07, 2016, 12:31:49 PM

My wife and I were in Ephasus in Turkey for a day last year. Rode in a bus for maybe 100 miles to various tourist attractions. There were a lot of flags on balconies of apartments. Some had Edrogen, others Kamil Attaturk, others just the Turkish flag. People were literally flying their politics from their house. I asked several locals about it and got the same responses from everyone.

This is a big tourist location and I don't know how well it represents Turkey - if at all. But it appeared to be more publically factionalized than the USA even with public banners.

The Turks have an active war on their border in Syria. They have had a guerrilla operation (probably at least 2) in the Kurdish part of the country for decades. There are a lot of bombings in Turkey that usually don't make the international news. Russia has also got troops on two different borders with Turkey (Russia and Syria).

Turkey itself and her people are having a very rough go of it at the moment. I'm certain of the stresses on their country. I don't know enough about the political situation to have a strong opinion.

pawelj · May 10, 2016, 10:19:50 AM

Quote from: airboy on May 07, 2016, 12:31:49 PM
My wife and I were in Ephasus in Turkey for a day last year. Rode in a bus for maybe 100 miles to various tourist attractions. There were a lot of flags on balconies of apartments. Some had Edrogen, others Kamil Attaturk, others just the Turkish flag. People were literally flying their politics from their house. I asked several locals about it and got the same responses from everyone.

This is a big tourist location and I don't know how well it represents Turkey - if at all. But it appeared to be more publically factionalized than the USA even with public banners.

The Turks have an active war on their border in Syria. They have had a guerrilla operation (probably at least 2) in the Kurdish part of the country for decades. There are a lot of bombings in Turkey that usually don't make the international news. Russia has also got troops on two different borders with Turkey (Russia and Syria).

Turkey itself and her people are having a very rough go of it at the moment. I'm certain of the stresses on their country. I don't know enough about the political situation to have a strong opinion.

Actually Russia does not border Turkey anymore. There's Georgia and Armenia. Russians occupy some of Georgia but that is on the other side. There may be some "peace keeping" Russian troops in Armenia, but Armenia is isolated from Russia.

airboy · May 11, 2016, 10:24:52 AM

Quote from: pawelj on May 10, 2016, 10:19:50 AM
Quote from: airboy on May 07, 2016, 12:31:49 PM
My wife and I were in Ephasus in Turkey for a day last year. Rode in a bus for maybe 100 miles to various tourist attractions. There were a lot of flags on balconies of apartments. Some had Edrogen, others Kamil Attaturk, others just the Turkish flag. People were literally flying their politics from their house. I asked several locals about it and got the same responses from everyone.

This is a big tourist location and I don't know how well it represents Turkey - if at all. But it appeared to be more publically factionalized than the USA even with public banners.

The Turks have an active war on their border in Syria. They have had a guerrilla operation (probably at least 2) in the Kurdish part of the country for decades. There are a lot of bombings in Turkey that usually don't make the international news. Russia has also got troops on two different borders with Turkey (Russia and Syria).

Turkey itself and her people are having a very rough go of it at the moment. I'm certain of the stresses on their country. I don't know enough about the political situation to have a strong opinion.
Actually Russia does not border Turkey anymore. There's Georgia and Armenia. Russians occupy some of Georgia but that is on the other side. There may be some "peace keeping" Russian troops in Armenia, but Armenia is isolated from Russia.

You are right.

The Fall of the USSR still messes with my mental war-maps.

Boggit · May 11, 2016, 09:06:02 PM

The big worry for many Turks is that they have grown up in a secular state (courtesy of Kemal Ataturk), which was a huge thing for stability and modernisation. Sadly, Erdogan's AKP has fundamentalist Islamic leanings, and combined with his attacks on free speech in Turkey, creates a backward direction in the eyes of many Turks.

There is no doubt that Turkey is under strain with the Syrian war next door to it, but the worrying trend towards autocracy and 'popular' Islamism within Turkey adds to the instability of the country. A few years back the EU would not even have entertained the accession of Turkey on human rights grounds, but now is openly discussing accession to the EU. It is already negotiating visa free access for Turks to the EU. What will that do for stability in the region?

MetalDog · May 22, 2016, 08:27:58 AM

Erdogan ally gains Prime Minister post:

https://www.yahoo.com/news/turkeys-incoming-pm-yildirim-vows-fight-against-terror-113449549.html

jejo68 · May 26, 2016, 04:40:27 PM

Quote from: Boggit on May 11, 2016, 09:06:02 PM
The big worry for many Turks is that they have grown up in a secular state (courtesy of Kemal Ataturk), which was a huge thing for stability and modernisation. Sadly, Erdogan's AKP has fundamentalist Islamic leanings, and combined with his attacks on free speech in Turkey, creates a backward direction in the eyes of many Turks.

There is no doubt that Turkey is under strain with the Syrian war next door to it, but the worrying trend towards autocracy and 'popular' Islamism within Turkey adds to the instability of the country. A few years back the EU would not even have entertained the accession of Turkey on human rights grounds, but now is openly discussing accession to the EU. It is already negotiating visa free access for Turks to the EU. What will that do for stability in the region?

When Europe blows up in civil wars, it will make the middle east look relatively peacefull