The chief of staff of the military has not spoken yet and traditionally with Turkish coups you would expect the head of the military to be on TV taking command.”
The links offered don’t seem to go anywhere actually containing that quote.
But still – they have military coups so often they’ve developed traditions? Yike.
Love the cartoon. Kinda like how Christian fundamentalists are fundamentally so forgiving. Sometimes religion is really weird.
The coop failed. The final tally for the butcher’s bill was 161 killed and 2,839 plotters arrested.
The coop failed. The final tally for the butcher’s bill was 161 killed
I was momentarily confused by this. I was pretty sure Joel didn’t have 161 chickens in the coop…:-)
jabrwok, my bad, damn auto correct. Coup d’état was what I meant to type…
Coup d’état: a sudden attempt by a small group of people to take over the government usually through violence.
MJR, yeah, that’s what I figured. The synchronicity (may not be the right word) with Joel’s chickens was too much for me to pass up though:-).
Coups in Turkey are not just a tradition, they are required by the Constitution. The military is charged with ensuring a democratic and secular government, and to stage a coup if it looks like someone is setting themselves up to become a dictator.
I was in Antalya a couple of times in ’91, courtesy of the USN, & was struck by how Western a country it seemed, at least in the city. There was, of course, plenty of things to tell you that most folks were Muslim, but Ataturk’s legacy was still strong, & he was still very much revered–think George Washington in the early 19th century here. It wasn’t bad, & we felt pretty welcome.
Things are different there now, & Erdogan’s government isn’t all we could want, but its continuation is better than any alternative that comes to my mind. Hell, Muammar had pretty much renounced belligerency, AFAIK, & Obumble & co. managed to fuck that all up, or so it seems.