Turkey’s Downward Spiral

[dukkha]

Not long ago it would have seemed unthinkable to add Turkey to the list of countries — including North Korea, Iran and Russia — that the United States had sanctioned for unscrupulous behavior.
As a NATO ally, Turkey has a mutual defense treaty with Washington,
benefits from American intelligence and hosts American nuclear weapons at Incirlik air base, near its border with Syria.

As August began, however, President Trump named Turkey’s interior and justice ministers as “specially designated nationals” barred from doing business with Americans and gaining access to financial assets in the United States. On Friday, Mr. Trump announced in a tweet that he had authorized a doubling of the steel and aluminum tariffs against Turkey.

The object is to force the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, to release Andrew Brunson, an American and evangelical Christian pastor who has been imprisoned by Turkey since 2016 on trumped-up charges of aiding an aborted coup by Erdogan opponents.

The current tension is a far cry from the camaraderie expressed at the NATO meeting last month, when Mr. Trump fist-bumped Mr. Erdogan, previously one of his favorite strongmen. But it’s also the latest example of how dangerously frayed the United States-Turkey relationship, with its accumulating resentments, has become over the past decade, giving rise to the question: Is Turkey still an American ally?

Strong ties between the two nations go back to World War II. With NATO’s second-largest army, after America’s, Turkey anchors NATO’s eastern flank, and the country has long been viewed as a bridge between the Muslim world and the West. But Mr. Erdogan’s increasingly authoritarian rule and the regional unrest caused by the Syrian conflict have tested this bond.

[dukkha]

fter Mr. Erdogan took office in 2003 and began reforms, Turkey looked set to become a model Muslim democracy with aspirations to join the European Union, a path similar to that taken by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk a century ago when he founded Turkey as a pro-Western, secular republic.

Mr. Erdogan, who heads the country’s largest Islamic party, probably was never a real democrat. But over the years, he has shown his true colors as an autocrat, skilled at promoting economic populism, militant nationalism and social conservatism — all while cultivating his own cult of personality. He has all but crushed independent media, jailing journalists and other critics, and fosters corruption. He effectively took control of all government institutions when he was re-elected in June under a new, more centralized presidential system.

Experts offer a number of reasons for Turkey’s democratic implosion. Ataturk imposed democracy from above, focusing on the elite, as opposed to cultivating it organically, from the citizenry up. In June’s election, a few credible candidates emerged to challenge Mr. Erdogan. Still, in general, Turkey’s political opposition has for years been fractured and feckless, detached from much of the population and offering no compelling alternative to Mr. Erdogan, who has been the only leader to effectively appeal to religious communities that have long felt marginalized.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/10/o...ol-left-region
Mr. Erdogan was emboldened in 2007 when the military,......

[anonymoose]

The fall of the Berlin Wall marked the beginning of a New World Order . We're in the midst of a New World Disorder.

[Jack]

Maybe this has something to do with it:

"Turkey Dismisses U.S. Warning Against Buying Russian Missile System"
https://www.rferl.org/a/turkey-cavus.../29197261.html

[Jack]

"Turkish lira plunges as Trump takes tariff action"
"Erdogan vows to fight back against ‘economic war’ as government prepares plan"
https://www.ft.com/content/f50594a8-...7-f854c65a4465

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fter Mr. Erdogan took office in 2003 and began reforms, Turkey looked set to become a model Muslim democracy with aspirations to join the European Union, a path similar to that taken by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk a century ago when he founded Turkey as a pro-Western, secular republic.

Mr. Erdogan, who heads the country’s largest Islamic party, probably was never a real democrat. But over the years, he has shown his true colors as an autocrat, skilled at promoting economic populism, militant nationalism and social conservatism — all while cultivating his own cult of personality. He has all but crushed independent media, jailing journalists and other critics, and fosters corruption. He effectively took control of all government institutions when he was re-elected in June under a new, more centralized presidential system.

Experts offer a number of reasons for Turkey’s democratic implosion. Ataturk imposed democracy from above, focusing on the elite, as opposed to cultivating it organically, from the citizenry up. In June’s election, a few credible candidates emerged to challenge Mr. Erdogan. Still, in general, Turkey’s political opposition has for years been fractured and feckless, detached from much of the population and offering no compelling alternative to Mr. Erdogan, who has been the only leader to effectively appeal to religious communities that have long felt marginalized.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/10/o...ol-left-region
Mr. Erdogan was emboldened in 2007 when the military,......

Erdogan is a total bastard, he needs to go.

[Jack]

Erdogan is a total bastard, he needs to go.

Mmmmmmm ... probably why Erdogan is buying the Russian Defense System.

[iolo]

'When thieves fall out, honest men have their day'. The problem, given the bullyboys concerned concerned, is to find any honest men.

[dukkha]

Erdogan is a total bastard, he needs to go.

frankly I wonder if Turkey being in NATO is feasible

[dukkha]

Mmmmmmm ... probably why Erdogan is buying the Russian Defense System.

One reason I'm against NATO expansion is tieing a common defense to some of these countries..
I suppose NATO still works with Turkey but Montenegro? etc?

[Jack]

One reason I'm against NATO expansion is tieing a common defense to some of these countries..
I suppose NATO still works with Turkey but Montenegro? etc?

During the Iraq invasion, Turkey at the last minute refused US access to the planned 'Northern Invasion' route. Turkey is NOT a reliable partner.

[dukkha]

During the Iraq invasion, Turkey at the last minute refused US access to the planned 'Northern Invasion' route. Turkey is NOT a reliable partner.

aside from Incirlik air base, I don't see Turkey offering anything under Erdogan

[Jack]

aside from Incirlik air base, I don't see Turkey offering anything under Erdogan

"Turkey Threatens to Attack Syrian Town Held by US Troops"
https://www.military.com/daily-news/...us-troops.html

With friends like this, who needs enemies?

[kudzu]

The fall of the Berlin Wall marked the beginning of a New World Order . We're in the midst of a New World Disorder.

There have been so many new world orders, I sometimes lose track after Alexander and Napoleon.

[kudzu]

During the Iraq invasion, Turkey at the last minute refused US access to the planned 'Northern Invasion' route. Turkey is NOT a reliable partner.

That was smart. Turkey was over run with Iraqi refugees in Gulf War 1 and Clinton promised them compensation...but then he forgot.