Turkey’s President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, is leading a crackdown on his political opponents in the wake of a military coup that may have almost taken his life. As many as 6,000 face detention while the President reasserts his power and goes after a Muslim cleric and former ally. Meanwhile, NATO allies worry about the fragile stability of an important member country in the war against ISIS and Islamist terrorism.
By early Sunday, up to 6,000 people were detained in connection to the coup, according to Turkey’s justice minister and the Washington Post . Among that number are about 3,000 military officers and soldiers. Likewise, 2,725 warrants for judges and prosecutors have been issued.
Erdogan said after the attempt to take over the government, “They will pay a heavy price for this. This uprising is a gift from God to us because this will be a reason to cleanse our army.”
The crackdown is going after big names in Turkey’s military, causing anxiety among Western leaders. The government detained General Bekir Ercan Van, who commanded the Incirlik Air Base. U.S. and NATO forces were using Incirlik to launch airstrikes against ISIS and house nuclear weapons.
During the crackdown, Turkey cut power to the Incirlik airbase and closed its airspace to military aircraft, but according to the Pentagon’s press secretary, Peter Cook, the base is still operational.
“U.S. facilities at Incirlik are still operating on internal power sources, but we hope to restore commercial power soon. Base operations have not been affected.”
Turkey’s airspace is also now open to military aircraft.
The most senior military official to be taken in the crackdown is General Akin Ozturk – who is a member of the Supreme Military Council, former commander of the Turkish air force, and military attache to Israel.
Another crackdown detainee, General Adem Huduti, protects the country’s border with Syria, Iraq, and Iran. Soner Cagaptay, director of Turkish research at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, explained that the last thing the U.S. wants is Turkey’s military to go through such a massive upheaval.
“What we saw appears to show serious fracturing in Turkey’s military. This is the second-largest military of NATO, an ally of the U.S. that borders Iran, Iraq, Syria, Russia and the Islamic State. And the last thing Washington wants is to see such an influential NATO member’s military fracture.”
Still, Labor Minister Suleyman Soylu accused the U.S. of helping to orchestrate the failed coup according to Reuters . Secretary of State John Kerry was quick to deny any connection, saying that rumors of American involvement are “utterly false.”
President Erdogan has accused U.S.-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen of being the mastermind behind the coup, saying that he has been creating a “parallel structure” within the justice system and the military.
Gulen also denies any wrongdoing and insists that he will comply with any extradition hearing but isn’t worried about one.
The death toll from the near government takeover is currently over 290 people, with hundreds more injured. Some foreign leaders are now uncomfortable with the rhetoric coming from Ankara.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said, “[The coup attempt] is not a blank cheque for Mr Erdogan. There cannot be purges, the rule of law must work.”
Oettinger, an ally of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, said that if Turkey’s president used the incident as an excuse to restrict human rights, it would “strengthen his position domestically, but he would isolate himself internationally,”
Erdogan opponents in Turkey and elsewhere say that rights will almost certainly be restricted, and the crackdown is just the first example.
[Photo by Chris McGrath/Getty Images]
