Military coup in Turkey

He's a horrible and dangerous man (in my opinion) but it seems the majority of people in Turkey support him.

There is an argument, of course, that if a person imprisons journalists and anyone else who opposes him/her and closes down news networks that don't follow the "party line", then can such a country be described as "democratic"? Having said that, I'm not sure that a successful military coup in Turkey would have ended well as it would have needed to forcefully suppress all those people who support Erdogan.

Turkey is a country of 2 halves.
Half would sit comfortably in the EU where they would have the freedom of speech which should be available to all,and where they would fit into the Western way of life.
The others are supporters of the strong Islamist ,Erdogan.The man is a wretch.
His appointment is as a result of a democratic vote no doubt,but Turkey is far from being a democracy.Erdogans 'democracy' sees judges sacked,media monitored and journalists incarcerated.
Not to mention the Kurds and human rights abuse.
I would,t put anything past Erdogan and could well see this 'coup' as being of his own making.
Best thing to do with Turkey is split it down the middle,Erdogan and his supporters in one half,the remainders in the other with a leader who will allow them to live freely in a true democracy.

@ExaltedWombat.
We had the power to smack Maggies knuckles.

Democracy is what you decide it is. We have parliamentary democracy, which means we elect representatives then leave the decision-making to them. Unless we don't like their decision, when we call for a referendum. We democratically elect a leader of the Labour party, but then have our decision challenged. We have a Church of England, and tolerate it because it doesn't try to enforce its teachings. Many of us quite liked it when Thatcher inched towards dictatorship instead of striving for (democratic) concensus.

Do elections have to be regular to ensure democracy? British elections were called at the whim of whoever was the Prime Minister until quite recently, although they had to be called within five years of the previous one.

obieone 10 yrs ago. All I do know now, through my Bulgarian friend is that economically the country is doing very well.

There was a thread on gransnet fairly recently about what is democracy. I think it was going at a time I wasn't on gransnet much. I will go and have a look at it tomorrow. I suspect it will enlighten me somewhat as to what counts as democracy.

HOw long ago was that petra if you dont mind me asking.

[I do know a North Korean for what it is worth. Well I know someone who knows him well. He doesnt live there now!]


What difference does it make whether one knows a citizen of the country concerned

I do not believe everything I read in the papers, not even the Observer with whose politics I am generally in agreement.

M0nica. You answered your own question.

obieone when I lived in Bulgaria I went there many times with a friend who bought her gold and silver there. We would arrive at Istanbul coach station at 5 in the morning, then have to wait around until business opened. We always felt safe.

What difference does it make whether one knows a citizen of the country concerned? I do not know any North Koreans, that doesn't stop me saying, correctly, that it is governed by a family of brutal hereditary dictators.

I do not believe everything I read in the papers, not even the Observer with whose politics I am generally in agreement.

I make no defence of Erdogan or his oppressive policies but he was elected into power by 52% of all Turks and they can, if they wish, vote him out at the next election. Presumably those who vote for him think that a brutal regime that limits civil liberties and tortures its prisoners, is just the kind of government they want. But while free and fair elections take place and the electorate can decide what government they want at regular intervals, the country is a democracy.

George Bush Junior was a freely and fairly elected President, who had most of his country behind him when he was torturing Iraqis and Afghanis, generally they supported him over illegal renditions and the appalling treatment of those held at Baghran Prison and Guantanamo Bay. It does not mean the USA is not a democracy.

observer.com/2016/03/turkey-is-now-a-democracy-in-name-only/

Written on 8 Mar this year in the Observer.

I think it depends on what you mean by democracy, if you think Turkey is democratic.

It is not democratic in my opinion.

Having said all that, I have never been there,and I dont think I know anyone who is Turkish. How about you?

It is democratic because it was elected into power with 52% of the vote. The elections were fair and free. Whatever Erdegan is doing in power, if the Turks do not like it they will be able to vote him out at the next election. That is what democracy is. Free elections at regular intervals.

I am not defending Erdegan's administration. It does not appeal to me, but as he has been re-elected several times it presumably does appeal to the majority of Turks.

I never said the British government was not democratic. I said that no British government has succeeded in getting 52% of the vote (except for the referendum) in the last 30 - 40 years. All our governments have been formed by parties that received less than 50% of the vote. this does not make them undemocratic as they were elected in open and free elections.

And why isnt the British government democratic?

Are you sure it is democratic M0nica. It didnt sound like it from what I heard on the news.

No, fortunately it has failed. The current Turkish government is a legitimate government, democratically elected.

It may be autocratic and trying to move away from the secular government decreed by its constitution to a more Islamist form but 52% of the Turkish people voted for it in their last election, which is more than can be said of the British government for the last 30 or 40 years.

No coup, by a small group of people who oppose a democratically elected government is ever a good thing.

Unfortunately it seems to have failed,