Erdogan won a close election but did so by employing a dictator’s vicious tricks: state-directed media censorship, judicial threat and physical intimidation of his political opposition.
I’ve no evidence Erdogan’s stooped to assassinating his political opponents — yet.
Erdogan, however, is in the process of killing Turkey’s democracy, and that’s a very destructive historical crime with long term ramifications throughout the developing world, especially in culturally Muslim nations. …
Erdogan is Turkey’s most significant political figure since Ataturk. But he knows he fades in Ataturk’s shadow. Not capable of displacing Ataturk the man, he seeks to replace Ataturk’s state.
[Turkey made this choice years ago in keeping Erdogan in power, even after reversing Ataturk’s secularization. The military was Ataturk’s enforcers of this policy, but they failed to stop Erdogan when they had the means to do so. In light of this, at some point NATO will have to ask themselves whether Turkey still fits strategically within the Western alliance … as well as whether they may be more dangerous outside of it.
By the way, George Gawrych — a friend of mine — is about to publish a scholarly look at Ataturk, a sequel of sorts to his earlier work “The Young Atatürk: From Ottoman Soldier to Statesman of Turkey.” I’m looking forward to reading it, especially since George spent considerable time living in Turkey and knows the topic very well. I’ll do an interview with him when the book is published later this year (I believe). — Ed]
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