Is Turkey Seeing A ‘Cultural Revolution’ Of Its Own? 

Turkey has been in the news over the last several months for all the wrong reasons. The latest in this series is the unsuccessful coup attempt on the evening of Friday, 15 July.

Turkey is no stranger to coups. Violent ouster of four elected governments took place earlier in 1960, 1971, 1980 and 1997. The recent coup is the only botched attempt by the army to forcibly remove an elected government. In that sense it may be perceived as a victory of democracy as the coup was foiled by ordinary citizens pouring into the streets of Ankara and Istanbul, heeding the call of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the constitutionally-elected leader of the country. However as unfolding events reveal, it is anything but that. But more of that later.

Failure of the coup can in large measure be attributed to the concerted action of common civilians and possibly more so to the ineptitude of captains of the infructuous attempt. Some analysts have gone so far as to suggest that it was master-minded by Erdogan himself to discredit the opposition which has been getting restive in recent months owing to his increasingly authoritarian rule. This insurrection, they aver, would provide a pretext for him to crush his rivals and establish unchallenged sway over all instruments of power.

This possibility appears rather far-fetched but cannot be totally dismissed. Proponents of this view point to the fact that the coup did not have a leader, that Erdogan’s aircraft was allowed to land safely in Istanbul on 16th morning, and to several glaring errors of omission and commission by the perpetrators. Details of those behind the coup and exact sequence of events would become clear on completion of investigations.

The coup was apparently launched by a small faction of middle-rank Turkish soldiers. Five Turkish generals and 29 colonels were taken into custody, along with more than 2,800 soldiers. More than 290 people, including 104 coup plotters, 41 police officers and 47 civilians were killed, and 1,400 wounded. Around 2,745 judges were dismissed from their posts. Vice-chancellors of most universities including several thousand teachers of schools and colleges and tens of thousands of public employees from different ministries have been dismissed. The post-coup purge smacks of a ‘cultural revolution’ like the one in China under Mao. 

Erdogan vowed that those involved in the coup attempt would face severe punishment. Capital punishment, which was abolished in 2004, is likely to be reinstated to deal with the plotters. It is however shocking as to how culpability of such large numbers of judges, teachers, government officials, vice-chancellors, religious leaders has been determined overnight! It would appear that intention is to remove those perceived to be opposed to Erdogan and to stack up the benches, government offices and educational institutions with loyalists.

Erdogan has blamed Fethullah Gulen, a 74-year-old reclusive Turkish cleric, who leads an Islamic movement known as ‘Hizmet’(meaning ‘service’ in Turkish), of being behind the coup attempt. Gulen, who is reportedly in fragile health, has a wide following in Turkey that includes military, police and judges. He has been living in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania, US since 1999.

Gulen’s popular movement embracing moderate Islam has spawned a global network of altruistic and charitable organisations, publications, think-tanks and schools, among them dozens of high performing Harmony charter schools in the US.

Erdogan has demanded that the US extradite Gulen to Turkey because of his alleged role in the coup plot. Gulen’s supporters have denied any link to the violence. They termed the Turkish government’s charge as “highly irresponsible” and said that they do not support the military’s attempt to take power. In a subsequent interview, Gulen suggested that Erdogan government might itself be behind the coup attempt.

US Secretary of State John Kerry, who was in Moscow discussing the evolving situation in Syria and the Middle East with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov, said that the US would consider Gulen’s extradition to Turkey if there was evidence of wrongdoing by the cleric.

Gulen has long been an ardent and fervent advocate of tolerance, peace and “acceptance of religious and cultural diversity” drawing on the traditions of Sufism, a mystical moderate strain of Islam. In a recent op-ed in the Wall Street Journal, Gulen had denounced the Islamic State, called for an end to violent extremism and advocated equal rights for men and women, and education for Muslims.

Gulen and Erdogan had once been friends but split bitterly several years ago after Erdogan and his ruling party blamed the cleric for leveling allegations of corruption against senior officials as well as Erdogan’s son.

Since then, Erdogan has accused Gulen of trying to seize power by using his movement to infiltrate the government and its security forces. Turkish analysts appear sceptical that Gulen’s followers could have been behind the attempt.

The coup has resulted in Erdogan launching a massive witch-hunt to weed out opponents from the police, judiciary, army, academia and media. Erdogan’s initial statements suggest that his government will now hunt down opponents — real or imagined — with impunity, consolidating his already formidable personal power and fueling his ambition to further transform Turkey. Rather than serving as an opportunity to strengthen democracy, the aborted coup will only consolidate Turkey’s autocracy and despotism.

This has pitted Erdogan against the US and the EU, both of whom have proclaimed that North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato) will scrutinise Turkey in coming days to ensure that it fulfills the alliance’s requirements for democracy and rule of law in the aftermath of the failed coup attempt.

In an unusually strong statement, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said that Turkey considers itself at war with any nation that stands by Fethullah Gulen. Turkish Labour Minister Suleyman Soylu alleged that the US was behind the failed coup attempt. Kerry told Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu that it was irresponsible for Turkey to accuse the US of involvement in the coup attempt.

Many Europeans fear that the crackdown could unleash a new wave of refugees fleeing persecution in Turkey. It also threatens unraveling of a recent agreement in which Turkey agreed to take back some refugees to reduce the number of those seeking asylum in Europe. The crackdown could however prompt refugees to refuse to go back as they could face persecution and would not be protected in Turkey.

Whatever developments take place in the coming days, the coup is not good news for the US, EU or their Nato allies.

Relations between the US and Turkey have witnessed a rapid decline because of ostensible support by the US to Syrian Kurds as also due to rapid warming of ties between Turkey and Russia in recent days following the freeze after downing of a Russian jet-fighter by Turkey in November 2015. Turkey has also gone soft on regime change in Syria as both governments share same objective of annihilating the Kurds.

US and Europe suspect Erdogan of divided loyalties in the counterterrorism fight. Mutual distrust and suspicion between Turkey and the US and EU is likely to grow further because of the perceived delay by these countries in condemning the coup attempt. They spoke in favour of Erdogan only after the coup had been crushed.

The coup though unsuccessful has left Turkey severely bruised and damaged. It has seriously dented its image as a stable, secular, progressive country with an expanding economy. Tourism, a significant earner of foreign exchange, was already reeling as a result of several recent terrorist attacks. The coup attempt has rendered a body blow from which the polity and economy of Turkey will take a long time to recover.

Also Read:

-A Coup De Grâce By Sunni Islam In Turkey

-Turkey Is In Trouble And Its Military May Want To Help