Erdogan’s move towards dictatorial powers is nearly complete with a State of Emergency Declaration that will allow him to rule by decree.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced three months of emergency rule late on Wednesday, saying the country remained under threat even as his government has arrested, detained or suspended almost 60,000 people it suspects of complicity in Friday’s failed coup.
“The declaration of a state of emergency is to protect [democratic] values,” Mr Erdogan said, speaking after a meeting lasting several hours with his National Security Council and cabinet.
Turkey’s constitution allows Mr Erdogan’s cabinet to issue decrees under the state of emergency that take immediate effect and are not subject to review by the constitutional court.
The decrees can be reviewed by parliament but Mr Erdogan’s AK party has a majority in the Grand National Assembly, thus giving the president and his cabinet the ability to pass laws immediately and unchecked.
Mr Erdogan interrupted the cabinet and NSC meeting for an interview with Al Jazeera, in which he criticised European politicians, telling Jean-Marc Ayrault, the French foreign minister, to “mind his own business”.
Since the failed coup, the government has asked deans of all universities to retire, restricted foreign travel for as much as 5 per cent of the population, suspended the licenses of thousands of schoolteachers and purged the military, police and intelligence services.
Mr Erdogan spent a significant part of his address attacking rating agencies, particularly Standard & Poor’s, after a downgrade sent the Turkish lira to a historic low of 3.09 to the dollar. S&P warned that Ankara faced unpredictable capital flows that could constrain its indebted economy after the failed coup.
“What’s S&P got to do with Turkey?” Mr Erdogan asked.
The count of fired judges, police officers, military personnel, etc., in Erdogan’s purge has now topped 60,000.
Perhaps German chancellor Angela Merkel wants them, assuming they do not rot away in prison or are are soon executed.
Mike “Mish” Shedlock
Turkey is committing economic suicide right now. They scare the away the foreign investment they desperately need. Sooner than later the economy will start to crumble, the banks will be in trouble and Erdogans foolish policies will come back and bite him.
Economic suicide?
Bro, he’s aiming to become CALIPH.
You think ISIS is gonna be the Caliphate? Nope.
Watch as Inskirk is seized. TYVM for the 50 or so B60 gravity bombs supposedly there. This will occur if as a pretext of Gulen is not extradited, for a supposed “bargaining chip.”
Erdogan is playing for far larger stakes here, and “economy” is not one of them.
Trump Effect: The EU, Turkey, NATO and Now Clinton Democrats Demand War…
https://theconservativetreehouse.com/2016/07/21/trump-effect-the-eu-turkey-nato-and-now-clinton-democrats-demand-war/
As usual, the EU won’t do anything. Didn’t they learn anything from Chamberlain? Europe is its own problem.
While Turkey now suspends EU charter of human rights, only Austria so far has suggested sanctions.
Just note there is a news blackout now, not just in Turkey but western media are out of the loop also. Verification and investigation of known events is not possible.
At Incirlik communications from those present on their state is now censored. What is known is that the situation has not de-escalated yet, apart that there is only second hand reporting such as
http://www.trunews.com/article/Is-Incirlik-Air-Base-being-held-hostage-by-Turkey
Which to me sounds something close to reality.
Turkey’s foreign minister has suggested Russia should be allowed to use Incirlik, obviously not compatible with US presence there.
Reminds me of one moustachioed gent in the 20’s in Germany.
In Turkey, it’s only been about 20 years since the government raised the 5th-grade education minimum requirement to 8th grade, then, later, it was raised to 12th grade.
So yes, it’s been easy to lie and manipulate an uneducated mass.
As a university teacher there last year, one student wrote how the USA had more than two thousand colleges and universities and Turkey only had about 200. Many of my college students’ mothers only had a fifth-grade level of education. (As usual, men had more educational opportunities.)
Additionally, some people say the financial boom Turkey has experienced is not because of the leaders’ genius, but the overflow of wealth from Europe before the crash. Turkey still is on the receiving end for EU money, such as in educational exchanges.
Additionally, Turkey’s rich people have exploited the cheap labor of Syrian refugees to illegally increase their wealth and avoid taxes.
For three years, I watched Turkey turn more and more Islamic with the leader squelching dissent in small ways. Please remember, a leader is a reflection of the people, and much of Turkish businesses and colleges are ruled like the ‘elected’ Erdogan. I felt I was living in pre-Hitler days.
“What’s S&P got to do with Turkey?” Mr Erdogan asked.
Translation : “I own the printing presses in Turkey, don’t I?” asked Mr. Erdogan.
“three months of emergency rule” will turn into three years, then thirty years, etc.
Heil Hitler! Zeig Heil!
He is worse than Assad in Syria.
Will obama push for regime change?
^This
Four fingers.
This is a foretaste of what will happen in the USA if Trump becomes president.
a perfect ploy to seize power is to stage a phony coup. you then arrest your enemies and rule by edict. smart play for a dictator. Terrible for the people. Down goes Turkey.
America conveniently turns a blind eye to despots who they can work with either openly or covertly. Look for foreign aid to continue with only token comments.
“Mr Erdogan spent a significant part of his address attacking rating agencies, particularly Standard & Poor’s”
Not surprising. That is what a Totalitarian does.
Oh wait, Secretary of Treasury Geithner threatened S&P in 2011 over downgrade …
On one hand, I understand the complaints about him being a Monster.
On the other hand, what would a few million Syrian refugees, some being undercover terrorists, do to your state of mind, especially when a kick the can EU is offering moral support? If I were him, I would consider, at least daily, letting the flood gates open in the direction of Europe. Especially since bad policy from others created a lot of the problem he has to deal with. I might be a monster of some type, too.
“What’s S&P got to do with Turkey?”
Less than they’d like, obviously. Hand over some of that Merkel Bounty, and I’m sure they’ll do a more thorough review, where they’ll realize everything is just a-ok.
I emailed Mish about 18 months ago telling him off a book by an FBI Whistleblower called Sibel Edmonds, a translator in the Anti – terrorism task force just after 9/11 ,It details among other things the extent that Turkey was involved in supplying arms to Al queda, the use of Turkey as a corridor for movement of extremists into Syria and Europe and the infiltration of Turkish nationals into the FBI language department.
It is a shocking eye opening read. It is called Classified woman.
The evidence is looking more and more that Erdo planned his own coup to usurp power and gain dictatorial powers.
Any pol in the EU or the USA that continues to support him is effectively promoting fascism.
Nothing is as it appears in this world anymore. You have to dig down about 4 layers to separate fact from fiction.
Signs of a declining civilization.
Maybe God planned it this way.
No, pols that support Erdo are not promoting Fascism, they are demonstrating their ignorance of Turkey’s likely return to being a typical Islamic theocracy – hence their will be no need for any political opposition, no need for secular judges, teachers, police, etc. And Turkey is still a member of NATO and Merkel is working to allow them to join the EU??? And they say Trump is the crazy one?
Amazing, few times in history can you see the exact moment a democracy dies.
This is the death of Turkeys democracy.
Democracy died in Europe in 1999 when unelected officials took power in Brussels. Maybe you missed that?
All the brainless twits making comments about Hitler (because western media told them to think that way) might want to think about how many times they used that line in the last 10 years.
Erdogan is a bit of a tyrant, whether he turns into a full blown fascist like the EU leadership or not.
The problem is: you brainless non-thinkers have over-used the Hitler meme so many times that it is exactly like crying wolf. You sound ridiculous and unable to think for yourselves.
Turn off your TV set, turn on your brain (if it still works). Turkey is geographically and philosophically the midpoint between extremist Islam in the middle east, and extremist fascism in Europe (calling it “the EU” doesn’t change the reality).
The fascists of Europe and the extremist Islamist groups were destined to butt heads at some point, and the countries in the middle were always going to be the battle ground.
The big global government movement that is Obama/EU/G7 is simply not compatible with having an Islamist caliphate.
The US would be smart to step aside and let both crazy groups fight their own war(s); unfortunately, Obama is part of the problem. Russia and especially China will benefit from Washington DC’s shortsightedness. The big government crowd will cry blue murder when they realize the Russians/Chinese played the game better.
Yes, I was reading the comments, going, this is Mish’s blog? I can sort of imagine the kinds of things the TV is saying in America. In Japan, it is saying basically nothing except a coup was thwarted and there has been a lot of violence and a real crackdown (no kidding?). While I find little to like about Erdogan, he’s showing more signs of intelligence than the average dictator recently. You keep toadying to the Empire past your expiry date and your head (or some other part of you) will soon be on a pike.
Turkey is the next Islamist Fundamentalist Dictatorship.
The Turkish military could (and did) keep Turkey secularist, but they could not stop the EU from becoming fascist,(again) and they could not stop the middle east from becoming extremist Islamist (again).
Not sure Erdogan knows which is worst. He just purged a lot of Islamists from his regime, before that he had purged a lot of Euro leaning fascists at the behest of the radical Islamists.
Quite sure western media and Obama are ignorant of history, which is why Erdogan is increasingly looking to Russia for guidance. If it wasn’t Erdogan, whomever in Ankara would be in the same position. Erdogan might not be playing this the best way, but its not obvious there is a good solution. Having fools in Washington DC (the current seat of power) is more challenging for Turkey than having fools in Vienna.
The issues in western europe that led to WW1 were settled (for the time being) by WW2… but the issues in southeast Europe / Ottoman Empire / middle east remain un-addressed.
Putin saw that several moves ago. Obama is still an idiot. Hilary is just going to lie about everything and demand bribes for the Clinton Foundation. Not sure how much Trump has studied the regions history