A coup plot in Turkey
I'd have thought this would be bigger news....
Later: A little more detail. Not a violent coup, more a plot to unseat the government through illegal means.
Turkish authorities detained at least 24 ultra-nationalists, including two prominent retired generals, on Tuesday in a widening police investigation into a suspected coup plot against the government.
Later: A little more detail. Not a violent coup, more a plot to unseat the government through illegal means.
posted by mikevotes at
5:05 PM
3 Comments:
The military did it before in Turkey when the religious Parties took control, and the US loved it. Now the State Dept. is taking a hands-off approach, which is uncharacteristically wise.
One thing that is left out of a lot of the news reports about this crackdown is that journalists were also arrested, which is odd because the media usually howls about that kind of thing.
This isn't over. It could turn into a really mean witch-hunt. I think it's a bit of a stretch to term Ergenekon as a "gang" or as "terrorists", which is what the AK is doing. These are businessmen, newspaper editors, and retired military officers after all.
I thought it would be bigger news, too, along with the riots in Mongolia over the stolen election. As per usual, however, if it doesn't play into clear-cut "good guys" and "bad guys" then it is too "complex".
By
Todd Dugdale , at 10:11 PM
I don't know my Turkish politics all that well, but Turkey's a major player, which was considered for EU membership. I know that the Turks have had coups and temporary seizures of power, like the one recently, but this is a major key country. You would think that would get some press.
(I saw Mongolia as well, but it doesn't have the same status or role (or western sponsorship,) so I wasn't horribly surprised it got left out.)
By
mikevotes, at 10:28 PM
Mongolia is interesting because it is one of those ex-Soviet states, and the latest events bring it into line with the dire failure of democracy in the other ex-Soviet states. But in the big picture, people don't follow this stuff like I do.
Ergenekon is playing out to be the Turkish version of "The Gang of Four". Everything is their fault. Nothing is beneath them. Their sinister schemes are at work everywhere, and everything would be peachy if they would only go away.
On a related note, I saw poll results showing that favourable views of the US among Turks has now dropped into the single digits, though I can't find a link now. The AK is itching for some reason to take a stand against us and capitalise on that sentiment.
By
Todd Dugdale , at 11:50 PM
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