[Innovative]

It will probably take a few more days to find out what really happened and who is really in control.

I also recently read articles saying the coup was successful.

[ColdOne]

Very dad if true. White House wins again. The world loses.

[ColdOne]

dad=sad

[dragnet2]

Until next time!

[RitaOK]

Yes, you’re right. CNN is reporting at midnight CST, that it is quite unclear who is really gaining control.

Media control is always a factor of importance in any uprising.

[AnotherUnixGeek]

A pity for Turkey, for the US (despite Obama’s blather), and for the memory of Kemal Ataturk.

[heterosupremacist]

We shall see. I read just a few hours ago, he jumped onto a jet and fled the country...

[kaehurowing]

Now the executions begin.

[UnBubba]

I’ve seen better coup’s at my local Cadillac dealer.

[Rebel2016]

That’s too bad, hopefully they have better luck next time.

[blueplum]

I admit I didn’t read the linked article, but I’ve heard that the military has the capitol and Erdo has Instanbul, who’s tower at first wouldn’t let him land? Caption on Fox says ‘coup won’t succeed’, instead of ‘coup didn’t succeed’. Is it still a fluid situation?

[VanShuyten]

An earlier report said that the coup leaders were Islamic extremists.

Is that the new meme?

[Scott from the Left Coast]

The whole damned thing is suspicious - this seemed to fold so quickly. Social media call for people in the streets - unarmed people - causes the military to immediately stand down. Turned it around on a dime. I don’t know, there’s a lot happening we aren’t seeing.

[VanShuyten]

So, how was your stay at the airport?

[TheNext]

Ted Cruz was advising the hopefuls, don’t need no schtinking will o the people.

[quesney]

What was all this about? Was the military trying to restore secular government?

[4rcane]

The coup was setup by Erdogan himself imho. Coup 101. First mission of any coup, Capture/kill the leader. It always fail if you fail to do this

[LeoWindhorse]

They should have killed him right off the bat

[lee martell]

Now Erdogan will be REALLY paranoid. If you so much as look cross-eyed at his image, you risk being thrown into Lock-UP and forgotten about. Your family would hear nothing and better not start complaining about their Dear Leader.
Sort of like Cuba or Venezuela.

[Paladin2]

Bummer. Even if the counter revolutionaries were Islamic.

[nathanbedford]

The interesting questions for me include:

1. Will Pres. Erdogan initiate a purge of the military?

The answer that one is easy, he certainly will purge the military and the question is whether the purge will extend into civilian ranks.

2. Will Turkey accelerate its lurch toward Islamicist sharia?

Again the answer appears to be easy, Erdogan will almost certainly accelerate the move towards sharia if only for his own protection and because he will have owed those Islamists who have stood by him during the coup.

3. Will Turkey's affiliation with NATO become even more strained?

Very likely.

4. Will the deal cut between Merkel and Turkey survive? Will Turks be admitted into the European Union without visas? Will Turkey's lurch toward sharia alienated it from the European Union?

I suspect the deal will survive on paper but somehow never quite be implemented as resistance to the incorporation of Turkey into the EU grows in the wake of Nice, the expected crackdown in Turkey after the coup, and the next terrorist strike. The failure of the coup might not be entirely without a silver lining.

When dealing with a Muslim country the idea that democracy should prevail is utterly irrelevant. To follow that rule is to subject our foreign policy to country after country having one vote, one time. There is no philosophical, cultural, or religious support for democracy in Islam. To maintain that the United States should not support a coup which ostensibly is undemocratic, can be very naïve.