The quashed coup in Turkey yesterday is being put across in the media as a bad thing that would have posed a major threat to democracy. In reality, it is the opposite of that. The Turkish Constitution has since Ataturk’s day allowed – rather, made it incumbent upon – the army to step in and take over the running of the country temporarily when the government of the day poses a threat to democracy. The head of government is required under the Constitution to step down when the army steps in. There must be, however, legitimate grounds for the army to step in and a real threat to democracy and human rights.
It is for the reason that the statement released by those who lead the coup made a point of declaring their aim as the safeguarding of democracy and human rights in Turkey. It struck an odd note with the many who don’t know that this is the legitimate justification for army action against the head of government under the Constitution.
The coup failed and could be considered constitutionally illegitimate because the army was not united under its highest command when acting. It should be the army’s high command who takes the decision to get rid of the head of government and give the order for the military to act in doing so. Instead the highest command appears to have been put aside or taken hostage, with factions of the military – it is not yet clear which at time of writing – acting unilaterally. That the highest command was reluctant to move against President Erdogan is not surprising. In one of his self-protective purges, Erdogan got rid of the most senior military officers who he believed might pose a threat to him, and replaced them with individuals loyal to him personally.
He will now use this quashed coup as justification to intensify his purges: yesterday, almost 3,000 judges were sacked from their posts right across Turkey. The reason given was that they were suspected of not being loyal enough, or loyal to the wrong people. This follows long months of systematic purges of journalists and the media generally, in which noted critics of the government are routinely slandered in terrible ways by the government-owned and government-sponsored media, arrested, harassed, prosecuted and imprisoned.
Turkey is not something apart from Europe. It is on our doorstep and what happens there matters to us in a way that what happens in China does not because it seems so remote. Those in favour of Turkey joining the European Union say that this is the greatest safeguard against further trouble in that country: it will force Turkey to get in line, to safeguard human rights, to become truly European. It will stop, in other words, being a time-bomb at Europe’s gate. More importantly, it will protect the people of Turkey, who don’t deserve this even if they have brought it upon themselves. For the Turkish situation is rather like the current seriously problematic situation in England, where you have the people of the cities Istanbul and Ankara, which are cosmopolitan, brought down by the political beliefs, prejudices, spite, bigotry and ignorance of the people of the hinterland. Erdogan’s support is not in the cities. It is from the millions who live in rural Turkey.
And it is exactly those millions in rural Turkey who opponents of Turkish EU membership most fear. Mental images of millions of Turkish peasants and yobs – for that is how they are pictured – swarming into EU member states have been used routinely in Far Right campaigns against the European Union. In the British referendum, fear of millions of Turks descending on England to take English jobs and English social benefits and English council houses and fill the streets with their foreignness was a major weapon in the UK Independence Party’s campaign. Even Boris Johnson, the great-grandson of a Turkish man – a politician in Ataturk’s government – who only a couple of years ago made a convincing plea for Turkey to be permitted to join the European Union, ended up using fear of Turkey to drum up Leave votes last month.
The likelihood that Turkey would be fit and proper for membership any time within the next couple of decades has long seemed remote, despite the nasty propaganda to the contrary. Now, with Erdogan showing more of his teeth in the post-coup scenario, and clearly about to start the downslide into a reign of terror, it looks as though it won’t happen in our lifetime. Those who object to Turkey being part of the bloc on grounds of bigotry (religion, darkies, ‘not like us’, etc) will celebrate this. But we have every reason to be worried – worried not only for the Turkish people who have a great deal to be afraid of right now, but worried also for Europe, which does not want more instability on its borders.
European and American politicians will, over the next few days, be heard speaking carefully about President Erdogan, saying that his government is democratically elected, and condemning the failed coup against him. They do this for their own sake, so as not to upset him further and make the problem worse. The reality is that the generals who tried to organise the coup failed, and will now probably be put to death after being tortured, are in the position of others who have tried and failed, with significant heroism, to put paid to an abusive tyrant, like the German military officers who tried to assassinate Adolf Hitler and ended up being killed themselves most cruelly. Elected tyrants are tyrants all the same; Hitler was elected at first. And being democratically elected is no justification for conducting the business of government in a dreadful manner that runs contrary to democracy. Fine, Erdogan was elected – but after that, unlike in Europe, there are no checks and balances on his behaviour and his power. That is what Ataturk hoped to safeguard against with his constitutional provision for the army to step in. But even that has failed, now.
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