There seems to be no let up in the turmoil in Turkey 15 days after the failed coup. The planned overthrow of the government fizzled out in a few hours but left in its wake a situation that has seen the government clamp down hard on perceived sympathisers of Fethullah Gulen, a Muslim cleric in self-imposed exiled in the United States.
Ankara claims Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s bête noire orchestrated the coup with help from his supporters in Turkey. Gulen and Erdogan have been at loggerheads for years and the cleric commands immense influence within and outside Turkey. The Turkish leader doesn’t have any kind words for Washington for harbouring the ageing Gulen.
US Secretary of State John Kerry has tactfully tried to ward off Ankara’s demand to extradite the cleric by demanding evidence of his complicity in the planned coup. Though it is hard to glean evidence in such cases, reports yesterday said Turkey intercepted encrypted messages sent by Gulen’s followers even before the coup attempt was launched. Based on the information, the government has been able to identify the names of 40,000 Gulenists.
Turkey’s National Intelligence Organisation (MIT) had begun decrypting messages sent on the app ByLock in May last year. Gradually, it got a grip on Gulen followers’ whereabouts. Getting wind of the trap, Gulenists stopped using ByLock and switched to another App.
The Turkish establishment has come down hard on the coup plotters. The West, to the chagrin of Erdogan, has stopped just short of criticising the clamp down by calling it a purge. Thousands of teachers, military and police officers, members of organisations and university staff have either been fired or detained in a broad crackdown seen to be a cleansing operation by Erdogan.
Immediately after the crackdown, military officers and soldiers who participated directly in the coup plot were fired and detained. Amid the hurly burly of crackdowns and arrest in the aftermath of the failed coup, Turkey’s relations with US, one of its closes allies have been somewhat under strain. While it is understandable for Erdogan to deal a hard blow to his detractors who had the audacity to plan an overthrow of the government, it is not right for other countries to expect him to tread softly under such circumstances. Erdogan’s snub to a senior US general who cast aspersions on future American-Turkish military ties in wake of the crackdown is also justified.
It is not surprising what Turkey is going through at this time. A volcano has erupted and ashes and lava have spilled all around. It will take some time for the ‘ashes’ to settle down.
There seems to be no let up in the turmoil in Turkey 15 days after the failed coup. The planned overthrow of the government fizzled out in a few hours but left in its wake a situation that has seen the government clamp down hard on perceived sympathisers of Fethullah Gulen, a Muslim cleric in self-imposed exiled in the United States.
Ankara claims Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s bête noire orchestrated the coup with help from his supporters in Turkey. Gulen and Erdogan have been at loggerheads for years and the cleric commands immense influence within and outside Turkey. The Turkish leader doesn’t have any kind words for Washington for harbouring the ageing Gulen.
US Secretary of State John Kerry has tactfully tried to ward off Ankara’s demand to extradite the cleric by demanding evidence of his complicity in the planned coup. Though it is hard to glean evidence in such cases, reports yesterday said Turkey intercepted encrypted messages sent by Gulen’s followers even before the coup attempt was launched. Based on the information, the government has been able to identify the names of 40,000 Gulenists.
Turkey’s National Intelligence Organisation (MIT) had begun decrypting messages sent on the app ByLock in May last year. Gradually, it got a grip on Gulen followers’ whereabouts. Getting wind of the trap, Gulenists stopped using ByLock and switched to another App.
The Turkish establishment has come down hard on the coup plotters. The West, to the chagrin of Erdogan, has stopped just short of criticising the clamp down by calling it a purge. Thousands of teachers, military and police officers, members of organisations and university staff have either been fired or detained in a broad crackdown seen to be a cleansing operation by Erdogan.
Immediately after the crackdown, military officers and soldiers who participated directly in the coup plot were fired and detained. Amid the hurly burly of crackdowns and arrest in the aftermath of the failed coup, Turkey’s relations with US, one of its closes allies have been somewhat under strain. While it is understandable for Erdogan to deal a hard blow to his detractors who had the audacity to plan an overthrow of the government, it is not right for other countries to expect him to tread softly under such circumstances. Erdogan’s snub to a senior US general who cast aspersions on future American-Turkish military ties in wake of the crackdown is also justified.
It is not surprising what Turkey is going through at this time. A volcano has erupted and ashes and lava have spilled all around. It will take some time for the ‘ashes’ to settle down.
