{"id":352555,"date":"2017-09-11T18:05:47","date_gmt":"2017-09-11T18:05:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/citifmonline.com\/?p=352555"},"modified":"2017-11-10T11:58:34","modified_gmt":"2017-11-10T11:58:34","slug":"ironically-erdogan-has-done-exactly-what-the-failed-coup-wanted-to-do","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/?p=352555","title":{"rendered":"Ironically, Erdogan has done exactly what the failed coup wanted to do"},"content":{"rendered":"

Some conspiracy theorists think Erdogan himself was behind the coup \u2013 indeed, that is Gulen\u2019s contention. Yet the reality is more straightforward: he has seized an unexpected opportunity<\/p>\n

Turkey has remained in a state of emergency since the failed coup\u00a0Murad Sezer\/Reuters<\/p>\n

If President Erdogan is to be believed,\u00a0last year\u2019s failed coup in Turkey<\/a><\/strong><\/span>\u00a0was an attempt by his erstwhile ally, Fethullah Gulen \u2013 a conservative Islamist like him \u2013 to overthrow the Government and do away with the Constitution and National Assembly. Gulen, it should be said, denies that he was in any way involved.<\/p>\n

Still, while Turkey has had a\u00a0chequered history<\/a><\/strong><\/span>\u00a0on human rights \u2013 particularly with respect to the Kurds \u2013 it was a functioning democracy with a Constitution protecting fundamental rights, and a relatively independent judiciary to provide some counterweight to executive excess. Even though suspicions about Erdogan\u2019s penchant for power had been gathering for some time, it was nonetheless a relief to most in Turkey that the coup failed within hours. And although there was considerable loss of life \u2013 about 300 died \u2013 it could have been much worse.<\/p>\n

The irony, however, is that what followed the\u00a0attempted coup<\/strong><\/span>\u00a0<\/a>has gravely damaged the institutions and constitutional framework that the plotters themselves sought to sweep away.<\/p>\n

Within hours of the coup, Erdogan had started rounding up his adversaries, far beyond those involved in the plot. To date, something like\u00a0160,000 public officials<\/a><\/strong><\/span>\u00a0\u2013 judges, academics, military and police officers, and civil servants \u2013 have been dismissed from their posts. More than 50,000 have been detained and mass trials are now taking place on charges alleging support for the coup.<\/p>\n

Erdogan declared a state of emergency which continues to this day, giving him enormous power by decree, and he has consolidated many of these emergency powers by a referendum heavily criticised by the EU, not only for dubious ballot results but also because those opposed to the President were not on a level playing field \u2013 harassed and refused access to mainstream media.<\/p>\n

In tightening his grip on power, Erdogan has particularly targeted the judiciary and journalists, removing supervision of the executive from within the state and criticism of it from without.<\/p>\n

Over 4,000 judges and prosecutors, a quarter of the total, have been dismissed from their posts for alleged links to Gulen. By decree, Erdogan changed the way judges are appointed, from an independent judicial committee to one of executive selection. Judicial independence has thus been substantially undermined by the fear of dismissal and by the replacement of a sizeable proportion of existing judges and prosecutors by government appointees. Defence lawyers face similar jeopardy with a number facing indictments of their own.<\/p>\n