Daily Times

The failed coup in Turkey was not the coup in the real sense of the term, as it was planned by a section of the military, and the chain of command — the chiefs of army, air force and navy — was not involved in it. Apart from that, there are many reasons for the failure of this coup. In 1994, Recep Tayyip Erdoðan was elected mayor of Istanbul, and emerged over the next four years as a pragmatic leader who tackled many chronic problems in the city, including pollution, water shortages, and traffic. He also cleansed the city of vagabonds and criminals for which people admired and respected him. Since the focus of the coup was mainly Istanbul — the support base of Erdoðan — the people came out in droves in response to his call, of course, not only to save democracy but also their own vested interests.

The Justice and Development Party (AKP) had won a landslide victory in the 2002 elections, and embarked on political, economic and foreign policy reforms, and also in other key areas that are collectively referred to as the New Turkey. Turkey had recorded a 6.2 percent growth in 2002 to recover from a 5.7 percent contraction the previous year. In 2008, it recorded over 10 percent growth, and in 2010 and 2011 8.5 percent when the European countries could not achieve a little more than two percent. Since the economic growth was phenomenal, there was a lot more than trickle-down effect with the result that the people of Turkey benefited from the stability and strength of the economy in the form of marked improvement in their living standards. This was the main reason they stood by the
Erdoðan government.

As reported in international media, President Erdoðan, Prime Minister Binali Yildirim, and many politicians from different parties believed the person who planned and directed the coup was the US-based religious ideologue, Fethullah Gülen. Earlier, Erdoðan had blamed the US and CIA for having planned the coup. Despite some criticism on his authoritarianism, Erdoðan is immensely popular with the people of Turkey at the moment, because he delivered first as prime minister and later as president. He enjoys sympathy from a wider spectrum of Turkish opinion, even more than the 51 percent mandate that the ruling AKP secured in the 2014 parliamentary poll. A memoir by the former Turkish intelligence chief, Osman Nuri Gundes, published in 2011, alleged that Gülen’s worldwide Islamic movement based in Pennsylvania provided cover for the Central
Intelligence Agency.

Erdoðan and Gülen were once allies, but parted their ways for various reasons. Gülen had voiced strong disapproval of many aspects of Erdoðan’s regional policies, and was of the view that Turkey should not get involved in the confrontation between Israel and Palestine. Gülen was critical of government for its handling of the Kurdish problem and the Turkish intervention in Syria. Turkey was instrumental in providing arms and logistics support to opposition forces in Syria at the behest of the US and the EU. But what is happening now between Damascus and Ankara is a cold war in which the former is poised to crush the opposition, and the latter supports the rebels. Turkey had explicitly stressed the need for the Bashar al-Assad’s regime to go; it supported the Syrian opposition, received generals and soldiers defecting from the Syrian army, and even helped the opposition take over Syrian border crossings with Turkey.

The Syrian forces, with the help of Hezbollah, had recaptured the crossing the very next day. Assad, in a quid pro quo, has been inciting the Alawite sect in Turkey to overthrow the Erdoðan government. In Turkey, the CHP is the largest opposition party, and includes in its ranks the largest proportion of Turkey’s Alawites, a sub-sect of Shiites, as Assad belongs to the Alawite sect. According to a conservative estimate, there are between 13 million-20 million Alawites in Turkey. Indeed, Erdoðan is not infallible; he made mistakes, and made many enemies. He is accused of taking advantage of the failed coup to put his opponents in the dock. Western countries have expressed concerns about human rights violations in the sweeping purges the government has carried out after the failed military coup that have left at least 10,000 people in jail, and another 60,000 thrown out of
their jobs.

Erdoðan is also being criticised for his dictatorial tendencies and authoritarianism. He believed that people were with him, and he could do anything even though as a president he had some constitutional constraints. Turkey has imposed a three-month state of emergency, and detained or dismissed tens of thousands of people in the military, the judiciary, education and other institutions. Turkish leaders allege that supporters of the US-based cleric, Gülen, infiltrated state agencies, and groomed loyalists in a vast network of private schools as part of an elaborate and long-term plan to take over the country. Turkey on Saturday announced it had taken control of more than 2,250 social, educational and health care institutions and facilities that it claims pose a threat to national security. Erdoðan has to his “credit” the closure of scores of newspapers and TV channels, and many journalists have been put behind the bars.

Turkey is indeed very important for the US and the West. After the failed US attempt to overthrow the Castro regime in Cuba with the Bay of Pigs invasion, Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev reached a secret agreement with Cuban premier Fidel Castro in July 1962 to place Soviet nuclear missiles in Cuba to deter any future invasion attempt. The US, in a quid pro quo, had installed Jupiter missiles pointing towards Turkey. On October 27, 1962, Khrushchev sent a message indicating that any proposed deal must include the removal of US Jupiter missiles from Turkey. Of course, the US and the West cannot digest the popularity of any leader, especially in the Muslim world. That point besides, if the Turkish government continues to tread the present dangerous path, it would be helping the US and the West to make Erdoðan unpopular not only in Turkey but also throughout the world.

The writer is a freelance columnist. He can be reached at mjamil1938@hotmail.com