Turkey

Certainly agree with you Mike.

The whole 'show' started with a well orchestrated 'coup' last summer. If one thinks about it the speed and the range of arrests that took place right after the 'coup' is a dead giveway it was orchestrated. The rest of the events are logical, if very unnerving, followups heading in just one direction - dictatorship.

A benevolent dictatorship can be best for a country: but the word benevolent is key, and unfortunately all too often - so much so that it is almost invariably - power corrupts.

It looks like I got the numbers completely wrong about this weeks suspension of police;   its not 1000,  its 9000.    Al Jazeera report dated 27 April says  "Turkey has temporarily suspended more than 9000 personnel from the country's police force while they are investigated for suspected links to US-based cleric  Fethullah Gulen.............  " 

Another report says that Turkey has arrested more than 47000 people since the failed coup, including police & military.  And additionally  sacked or suspended 120,000 police, military, teachers, government & other public servants.  Its not clear if that includes the latest 9000,  I don't think it does.        I wonder who is left to police, protect & run the country?  

Like any revolution (and I think it should be classified as a revolution what Erdogan is undertaking right now) long-term planning is not the strongest one on the agenda. It's the current hatered / desire to change that is so much stronger. In that respect all revolutions seem follow the same path...

So all in all - looking at the near future of Turkey, I cannot help but remain a pessimist.

Unfortunately, the EU did not help things by easing the pressure on Erdogan and looking the other way when anti-Democratic steps were being taken in Turkey, in return for his control of refugees flow coming out of Syria attempting to reach Europe.

It was a major mistake on behalf on the US and its NATO partners not to insist from day one of the civil war in Syria that Turkey completely seals the border with its neighbor. That would have prevented volunteers from the West from joining ISIS as well as curtailing the organization ability to sell the oil it controlled in Mosul and raise revenue to pay its fighters and buy arms. The civil war in Syria and the refugee problem it created would have remained on a drastically smaller scale.

This is a new release just checked out of the library which I am about to start reading (sorry for the large image, couldn't find any smaller: 

I love Turkey and its people.  Have been going over there for over thirty years and have friends who live there but I am really worried about the direction it is taking.  As things stand I think that my trip there last year may well be my last for some time.  I hope things work out better than I fear for the Turkish people 

Mike-B posted:

Have any forumites been keeping abreast of Turkey over the recent months ??   

G

I hadn't noticed that one until a few hours after I posted it G.    it's the way I tell'em,      

I saw this tread by chance, it is a looking story

Now we have a president we are going to solve everything..

Look at Putin and how happy the Russians are...

The direction of my country is a great concern for me and many others like me unfortunately 

Emre posted:

 

Look at Putin and how happy the Russians are...

 

It' s like in that poor joke:

A man asks a Russian: 'I've heard you don't really have democracy, freedom of speech and human rights are violated in Russia nowadays. How is it for you?"

The Russian answers: 'Can't complain'

Emre, you have my heartfelt sympathy.

I used to have a friend who had to return to Iran after the revolution as his family were threatened.  He burnt every photograph of himself in Britain just in case there was a bottle in the image that may have been thought to contain alcohol.  After he went back I never heard from him again.  I really hope Turkey doesn't become that bad.

Huge posted:

Emre, you have my heartfelt sympathy.

I used to have a friend who had to return to Iran after the revolution as his family were threatened.  He burnt every photograph of himself in Britain just in case there was a bottle in the image that may have been thought to contain alcohol.  After he went back I never heard from him again.  I really hope Turkey doesn't become that bad.

thank you.... they have to give me a week notice to finish up my stock!!!

I wish to say Turkey never will be like Iran but nobody in Iran also saw it coming....

Canadian embassy is overworking with aplications by best brains of this country, so sad

Anyway i like to believe that %50 of Turkey thinks like me... it is not a small number

Some more news that follows the trend of Turkish state oppression of dissenting politics.    Turkish NBA player Enes Kanter has been stopped at a Romanian airport because Turkey has cancelled his passport.  It appears his political views are the problem.  He's tweeted that Erdogan is to blame who he's called "a bad, bad man", and a "dictator".  He has been allowed to fly to London. 

A decent PM never leaves the home country tactics behind when he or she travel abroad:

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-39956699