![\"Turkey\u2019s](\"http:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/Erdogan-2-1024x688.jpg\")
The only certainty is that the attempted coup became the excuse Erdo\u011fan needed or crafted in order to purge those opposed to or insufficiently enthusiastic about his agenda. Much of what has been reported in the Western media has focused on the ongoing purge of teachers and university professors.<\/p>\n
Certainly, there is a newsworthy irony to a man whose university diploma appears to be forged assuming the right to appoint university presidents through a board he has staffed with his cronies. But it is what Erdo\u011fan has done in recent days to the police which should put chills down the spines of those who care about Erdo\u011fan\u2019s intent and Turkey\u2019s future.<\/p>\n
The problem seems not that Erdo\u011fan believed all the sacked chiefs disloyal \u2014 most were not and many he had appointed in the first place \u2014 but rather that he considered them soft\u2026<\/p>\n
Last week, Erdo\u011fan appointed new police chiefs for 61 out of Turkey\u2019s 81 provinces. He also assigned 55 police chiefs to central departments that act as police professional bodies. (On page 105 of this book chapter, Turkish academic and counter terrorism specialist Ahmet Yayla explains how these positions relate to Turkish counterterrorism).<\/p>\n
Some of the police chiefs Erdo\u011fan fired were religious and some even supported him. None were followers of G\u00fclen, simply because those who were had long ago been purged. Most of the chiefs whom Erdo\u011fan has appointed are fiercely nationalist, very young, and relatively inexperienced, and so are likely to more easily defer to Erdo\u011fan\u2019s orders.<\/p>\n
The problem seems not that Erdo\u011fan believed all the sacked chiefs disloyal \u2014 most were not and many he had appointed in the first place \u2014 but rather that he considered them soft, unwilling to use the extreme violence Erdo\u011fan believes will be necessary to exert not only on Turkey\u2019s Kurds but also many liberal or apolitical Turks as he moves to further consolidate control.<\/p>\n
Throw into the mix that Erdo\u011fan has also just in the past few days extended the time for which Turks can be detained without access to an attorney to six months. What this sets the stage for is a significant augmentation of torture in custody in order to extract forced confessions, a practice that has become more common since July.
\nErdo\u011fan\u2019s ruling party has also begun issuing weapons permits to loyalists, especially through the Ottoman Youth Authority (Osmanli Ocaklari).<\/p>\n
I have previously reported Erdo\u011fan\u2019s appointment of former general Adnan Tanriverdi, the head of SADAT, to be his military counsel. Tanriverdi had been dismissed by the Turkish General Staff during the 1997 soft coup and appears bent on revenge against the secular order. SADAT, which has trained paramilitaries and Special Forces, is increasingly becoming Erdo\u011fan\u2019s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Indeed, SADAT appears to have been behind much of the killing of civilians which Erdo\u011fan\u2019s media blamed, absent any evidence beyond forced confessions, upon G\u00fclenist coup plotters.\u201d<\/p>\n
All this hints at Erdo\u011fan\u2019s long game. He appears to be consolidating his own religious control through the Service for Youth and Education Foundation of Turkey (T\u00dcRGEV, a charity on whose board Erdo\u011fan\u2019s son sits) and Heyrettin Karaman, Erdo\u011fan\u2019s favorite local Islamic leader.<\/p>\n
But, as Erdo\u011fan seeks to change the constitution, he also wants to win through the point of a gun what he cannot win popularly. The issue at hand is not simply the Turkish public \u2014 Erdo\u011fan believes he has them cowed \u2014 but rather Do\u011fu Perin\u00e7ek, a former Maoist and ultranationalist. Perin\u00e7ek has been the chief beneficiary of Erdo\u011fan\u2019s purges, as they have eliminated many of his opponents as well.<\/p>\n
Today, Perin\u00e7ek is effectively the shadow defense minister. He has said he will not allow the constitutional change, which means the terms of the showdown are now clear.<\/p>\n
Whomever wins, the only certainty is that Turkey is headed for a bloodbath. The only questions are how soon it comes, and whether Erdo\u011fan is more prepared than Perin\u00e7ek.
\n–
\nBy: Michael Rubin@mrubin1971\/ aei.org
\nForeign and Defense Policy, Middle East<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdo\u011fan called the failed July 15 coup attempt a \u201cgift from God.\u201d The Turkish government immediately blamed Erdo\u011fan\u2019s former ally-turned-rival Fethullah G\u00fclen for being behind the plot, the genesis of which remains unclear, but the simple fact is that none of the material Turkish officials have given to their US counterparts […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[107,374],"tags":[2645,1308],"yoast_head":"\n