Not completely calm yet. This morning:
11:44AM
Frigate ‘seized’ by anti-government forces
A Turkish group opposed to the government has taken over a frigate at Turkey’s Golcuk naval base and the head of the Turkish fleet is being held hostage, a senior Greek military source told Reuters.
I think Klein is way off base with this analysis. Erdogan will use the failed coup to purge the military and any political opposition. Many will be killed and disappeared and Erdogan will rush to make Turkey a theocratic Islamist state and eliminate remaining Western influences.
The basic mistake: not killing Erdogan first, so the snake would have been headless.
Also described is how the military would dismantle Erdogan's support of radical Islamists around the Globe. Much more. This could even go a long way to settling the Syrian conflicts.
IMO this describes exactly why Obama supports Erdogan over the military trying to do its duty to restore secular government.
No, far from shattered, Erdogan will be able to slaughter the opposition and extend his ruthless control. 14 years in power and now he has the pretext to assert greater control.
I think this might be a hopeful analysis and not an accurate one, at least for a few years.
Dictators generally grip more tightly on power after such attempts.
This guy could become like Saddam Hussein—surrounded by a loyal cadre and protected for many years by a slaughtering of enemies—real and merely perceived.
All while Valerie’s man child applauds.
12:56PM
Thousands of judges purged
The Turkish government has embarked on a purge of the judiciary following the botched coup, state TV reports, in the first sign of how last night could increase Erdogan’s authoritarian rule.
NTV said 2,745 judges had been removed from duty, following a decision of the High Council of Judges.
Five members of the High Judiciary Court Board were also removed
Turkey on its way to becoming another Caliphate. Obama will assist. Dangerous times lie ahead.
Just like the attempted coup in Venezuela against Chavez, right?
Why didn’t someone just empty a 30-round magazine into Erdogan’s face?
Yep. Xerxes bleeds. And a vital part of the real axis of evil just showed cracks.
I don’t see how Erdogan is weakened, since he will now have an excuse to purge the military of dissident elements. The military must have known about something awful to make them think a coup attempt was warranted. Is Erdogan going to go full Islamic now? Is he going to try to establish a new caliphate to supplant ISIS? He will have an easier task now.
The U.S. C.I.A. fails miserably once again!!! Blindsided as usual.
John Effing Kerry’s handiwork, you suppose?
After all, he does need something to buttress his resume, after all, his predecessor was responsible for how many countries being thrown into crisis?
Gotta have some resume enhancements, dontcha know?
I know Turns. This was a put job by the black dog Erdogan and his Islamist fellow travelers.
First, Turkey’s much-heralded economic growth spurt of the 2000’s has come to a grinding stop.
Secondly, Turkey’s internal cohesion is at risk due to the rapid increase of its Kurdish-speaking minority and the relative decline of the ethnic Turkish population.
To prevent the Syrian Kurds from controlling the northern border of their country and linking up with their Iraqi compatriots, Erdogan covertly supported Sunni terrorists, including ISIS, as Michael Rubin explained last March in Newsweek. Erdogan’s back channel to ISIS blew up in Turkey’s face–literally–when ISIS suicide bombers killed 42 people and injured hundreds at the Istanbul Airport June 29.
Since the collapse of the Ottoman Empire after World War I and the foundation of the modern state, Turkey’s army acted as the guarantor of the country’s secular state.
http://atimes.com/2016/07/the-sick-man-of-europe-once-again/
This is not the last round.
Fox is reporting now that eight generals have fled to Greece seeking asylum and Erdogan is demanding their return....