Since the coup attempt that killed 270 people Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has turned a democracy into his autocracy. The purges in Turkey now makes the McCarthy era during the 1950’s look like a picnic.
A total of 2740 judges and prosecutors have been detained while 4,897 State employees were fired, and 76,567 State workers were suspended. The military lost 3000 arrested with officers leaving the country to seek asylum in the West.
In Turkey it is not the Communists being hunted but the Gulenists….to date over 40, 360 suspected Gulenists have been detained. The irony is that Fethullah Gulen, the Turkish preacher, and writer has supported President Erdogan’s rise to power.
During his early years as President after a history of military Coups in Turkey, Erdogan used to call the widely circulated Gulenist owned newspaper “Zaman” as the “guardians of democracy in Turkey.” In 2013 those same papers would expose the corruption of Erdogan regime. After the failed coup of July 2016 all Gulenists were labeled terrorists.
There is virtually no independent media left in Turkey with 160 media outlets shut and 108 journalists detained. His threat to bring back the death penalty has alarmed the EU members – as the EU does not allow the death penalty in its member states.
Ankara began its formal accession talks with the EU in 2005. In March 2016, the sides have reached what seemed like a landmark deal, when sealing a joint plan to combat the migration crisis. Ankara promised it would assist the EU in dealing with the influx of migrants in exchange for some funding and also to potential ease the process through which Turkey could gain EU accession and visa-free travel within the Schengen Zone for its citizens.
But despite plans to introduce the visa-free agreement in July, it has so far been postponed, with the EU authorities saying Turkey has failed to comply with all of the EU’s 72 criteria. Ankara’s tough anti-terrorism legislation, especially criticized by Brussels, is the main stumbling block.
Erdogan blasted Merkel, “Germany thinks that they are a first class country, a first class democracy and that Turkey is second class. We want them to treat us as equal partners.” German Chancellor Angela Merkel said it was “highly alarming” that “freedom of the press and speech are being restricted [in Turkey] again and again,” and provided the example of the arrest of at least 13 editors and editors in chief of the Cumhuriyet newspaper.
German Justice Minister Heiko Maas said that Berlin would not extradite suspects to Turkey if they were facing political charges, with the only exception being evidence of “classic criminal activity” presented by Ankara.
Foreign Minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu announced that people in Turkey no longer wanted the EU membership. The official said the government is under “huge pressure” to abandon its plans to join the EU bloc of 28 nations, which is being accused of “double standards.” “We are under huge pressure to stop the negotiating process,” Cavusoglu said at a Strategic Forum in Slovenia.
Turkey has since strengthened ties to Russia and it appears its bid for E.U. membership is slipping further and further away. Ankara’s large dependence on Moscow’s energy and tourism make this inevitable. Turkey’s constitution is shaped by Sharia law which is incompatible with Europe liberal thought. Turkey (NATO’s 2nd largest military power) is also gravitating towards Russia on the Syrian issue. This is reducing her ties with the U.S., as Russia continues to fuel tensions in NATO. Moscow could split NATO apart.
Her future loyalties will lie with Russia and the Middle East and not with Europe. As Russia enlarges her influence in the Middle East, Europe and America will find themselves sidelined. The U.S. wasn’t even invited to a meeting held in Moscow between Russian, Turkish and Iranian officials who discussed solutions to the Syrian war. Turkey is prophesied to be a part of the nine (9) nations including Russia that will ultimately invade Northern Israel. Ezekiel 38 and 39 are future events. That separates her future from Europe.