On-Going Military Coup in Turkey

[Green Line]

There's no point in antogonizing Turkey any further with these threats, as much as I hate to say it.  Erdogan has won, and we're probably stuck with him until he dies.  We need Turkey in NATO, they're too important right now.

[Crumpets]

I think it might be time to change the title of this thread.

[Antonio the Sixth]

There's no point in antogonizing Turkey any further with these threats, as much as I hate to say it.  Erdogan has won, and we're probably stuck with him until he dies.  We need Turkey in NATO, they're too important right now.

A dictatorship has no place in NATO or in the EU.

Of course if they were consistent about that they should also kick out Hungary and threaten to kick out Poland, but something is better than nothing.

[YaBoyNY]

There's no point in antogonizing Turkey any further with these threats, as much as I hate to say it.  Erdogan has won, and we're probably stuck with him until he dies.  We need Turkey in NATO, they're too important right now.

A dictatorship has no place in NATO or in the EU.

Of course if they were consistent about that they should also kick out Hungary and threaten to kick out Poland, but something is better than nothing.

maybe because hungary and poland aren't dictatorships

[dead0man]

There's no point in antogonizing Turkey any further with these threats, as much as I hate to say it.  Erdogan has won, and we're probably stuck with him until he dies.  We need Turkey in NATO, they're too important right now.

Are they? Sure, in 1966 they were super important, but much less so now.  Yes, use of the air base is nice, but not the only option for us.

[Simfan34]

At height of Turkish coup bid, rebel jets had Erdogan's plane in their sights

So close, lol.

Killing Erdogan to create another Menderes. Coup leaders wouldn't be dumb to kill him.

Guardian article says the pilot tricked then by saying they were a commercial flight. Which reminds me of Morocco... 1972, I think, where the coup plotters were actually strafing Hassan II's 727 when he took the radio himself and told them to stop, saying he had already been killed. They bought it and the coup obviously failed.

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

At height of Turkish coup bid, rebel jets had Erdogan's plane in their sights

So close, lol.

Killing Erdogan to create another Menderes. Coup leaders wouldn't be dumb to kill him.

Guardian article says the pilot tricked then by saying they were a commercial flight. Which reminds me of Morocco... 1972, I think, where the coup plotters were actually strafing Hassan II's 727 when he took the radio himself and told them to stop, saying he had already been killed. They bought it and the coup obviously failed.

This is the best thing I've read in weeks.

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

There's no point in antogonizing Turkey any further with these threats, as much as I hate to say it.  Erdogan has won, and we're probably stuck with him until he dies.  We need Turkey in NATO, they're too important right now.

A dictatorship has no place in NATO or in the EU.

Of course if they were consistent about that they should also kick out Hungary and threaten to kick out Poland, but something is better than nothing.

maybe because hungary and poland aren't dictatorships

No, thanks God. But we're sometimes approaching the line in certain areas

[Citizen (The) Doctor]

There's no point in antogonizing Turkey any further with these threats, as much as I hate to say it.  Erdogan has won, and we're probably stuck with him until he dies.  We need Turkey in NATO, they're too important right now.

A dictatorship has no place in NATO or in the EU.

Of course if they were consistent about that they should also kick out Hungary and threaten to kick out Poland, but something is better than nothing.

Frankly I don't think the NATO higher ups care who's in the alliance as long as they're willing to counterbalance against Russia.

[Antonio the Sixth]

There's no point in antogonizing Turkey any further with these threats, as much as I hate to say it.  Erdogan has won, and we're probably stuck with him until he dies.  We need Turkey in NATO, they're too important right now.

A dictatorship has no place in NATO or in the EU.

Of course if they were consistent about that they should also kick out Hungary and threaten to kick out Poland, but something is better than nothing.

Frankly I don't think the NATO higher ups care who's in the alliance as long as they're willing to counterbalance against Russia.

It's pretty clear now that ISIS is a bigger threat than Russia, and US diplomacy has already taken actions that reflect that. And when it comes to ISIS, Turkey has been a huge part of the problem.

[dead0man]

It's pretty clear now that ISIS is a bigger threat than Russia,

Is it clear?  Really?  To whom?  Certainly not the US or the West at large.  You do recall Russia is still in the process of invading a country, in Europe even.  And all those weapons.  While ISIS isn't dead, they ain't looking as good as they did two years ago.

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This is very true.

I suppose one could argue that ISIS is a more immediate threat to our interests, but that's only because we're not all that interested in Ukraine.

[Velasco]

There's no point in antogonizing Turkey any further with these threats, as much as I hate to say it.  Erdogan has won, and we're probably stuck with him until he dies.  We need Turkey in NATO, they're too important right now.

A dictatorship has no place in NATO or in the EU.

Of course if they were consistent about that they should also kick out Hungary and threaten to kick out Poland, but something is better than nothing.

Frankly I don't think the NATO higher ups care who's in the alliance as long as they're willing to counterbalance against Russia.

It's pretty clear now that ISIS is a bigger threat than Russia, and US diplomacy has already taken actions that reflect that. And when it comes to ISIS, Turkey has been a huge part of the problem.

Turkey's fulfillment of democratic standards was never an issue in more than 60 years of NATO membership. Voices claiming that Turkey should be spelled from NATO point its unreliability as Western ally in the fight against ISIS, not democracy. As for the EU membership, such possibility stopped dead in its tracks many years ago and disappointment on Turkish side contributed to put an end to the reformist impulse of Erdogan's first years. On the other hand, voices inside Turkey claim that NATO membership "shackles" its potential as a regional and global power. I doubt it's in the NATO interests expelling Turkey, given that the country is still of great geostrategic importance both in the Middle East and as a counterbalance against Russia. A Turkey outside the alliance could adopt more aggressive and nationalistic policies that would destabilize the region to greater degrees. Maybe ISIS is regarded as a bigger threat than Russia in the short term, but not in the middle or the long term. Things could be even worse than they are now. Consider the terrifying scenario of a Donald Trump presidency. I don't want to imagine what might happen if Trump (who has clear symptoms of insanity) quarrels with Vladimir Putin (who is a criminal, but is not crazy). Arguably in the Trump scenario the very existence of the NATO would be compromised.

[Gass3268]

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For those who read Turkish:

[jaichind]

Turkey's Erdogan declares state of emergency after coup attempt
July 20 (AFP) -- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday declared a three-month state of emergency in Turkey in order to hunt down all those deemed to be behind an attempted coup.
The state of emergency was needed "in order to remove swiftly all the elements of the terrorist organisation involved in the coup attempt," he said at the presidential palace in Ankara.
Turkey has accused the group of US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen of being behind the coup and acting as a terror group. Gulen vehemently denies the charge.
"The decision has been made to declare the state of emergency for a period of three months," he said at a news conference.
He said the state of emergency is a measure "against the terror threat facing our country".
The annoucment followed long meetings of Turkey's national security council and cabinet chaired by Erdogan at the presidential palace.

[Blue3]

Erdogan now shutting down thousands of schools and charities, in his first "decree"

https://www.yahoo.com/news/turkeys-erdogan-signs-first-decree-under-state-emergency-084730090--business.html?ref=gs