Amidst Lynchings Erdogan Calls for Death Penalty for Alleged Coup Participants

nsnbc : Turkey’s President R. Tayyip Erdogan held a blazing speech before thousands at a public rally, calling for the reintroduction of the death penalty and the death of those who were involved in the failed military coup on July 15. More than 2,800 have been arrested.

Erdogan_Jul 2016_Death Penalty_TurkeyHolding a blazing speech, Erdogan called for the reintroduction of the death penalty in Turkey and insisted that foreign governments and rights organizations have no business interfering in Turkish legislators’ answers to the requests made by the Turkish people.

Erdogan’s speech came after several persons, including soldiers who were involved in the coup and “suspects” had already been lynched in the streets. Erdogan insisted that a decision on the reintroduction of the death penalty should be made, urgently, to purge the military from the virus that has infiltrated it. The traitors must pay the price for their actions, he said.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel underpinned that Turkey could not become a EU member if it reintroduced the death penalty. U.S. Secretary of State warned against overreactions and stressed that proper legal procedures against alleged participants in the failed coup must be guaranteed.

Erdogan noted that it, of course, would take a parliamentary decision to take action to change the constitution so as to reintroduce the death penalty. Riding on a wave of populism, Erdogan underpinned that he, as a president, would approve such a decision.

Turkey’s major parties as well as smaller parties like the leftist nationalist Patriotic Party – Turkey condemned the failed coup. However, there is no unanimity as to the reasons for condemning the coup. The Patriotic Party described the coup as an attempt to further weaken the role of Turkey’s military as a guardian of the secular Turkish republic.

Both the AKP and the Patriotic Party – Turkey, traditional adversaries, insist that the US – based Turkish cleric Fetullah Gülen and his Hizmet organization are responsible for the coup. Erdogan demanded that the US extradite Gülen. US Secretary of State John Kerry reiterated that an extradition requires that Turkey presents evidence.

Gülen and Hizmet have consistently been linked to the Turkish “Deep State”, the CIA, as well as NATO intelligence structures. Gülenists were, among others,  linked to planting false evidence that resulted in the notorious Ergenekon and Balyoz trials and the conviction of hundreds of officers and soldiers. The rulings were later overturned by the supreme court. However, the affairs severely weakened the position of secular republicans among Turkey’s officer corps.

Some analysts suggest that the “failed coup” is a continuation of this process, other suggest that Erdogan and the AKP now want to weed out Gülenist officers. Yet others suggest a foreign hand behind the failed coup that came as Turkey was taking steps to improve relations with Russia and Israel. Turkey is rife with speculations, while little evidence about the coup and the planning of the coup has been presented.

Only a few names of the estimated 6,000 persons who are being held in detention have been made public. This situation makes it difficult for journalists to assess who was behind the failed coup and to determine the alleged perpetrators eventual affiliations and motives. It also makes it difficult to assess who may  eventually be “targeted” by a purge. Some of the soldiers who were arrested claimed they believed that they took part in a military drill until they were confronted by protesters and police.

Erdogan’s and the AKP’s push for the “constitutional change” that would be necessary to reintroduce the death penalty has raised suspicions that the AKP prepares more sweeping constitutional change to introduce a unitary, semi-dictatorial presidency and facilitate the AKP’s push for the continued Islamization of the secular State.

CH/L – nsnbc 19.07.2017

Source Article from http://nsnbc.me/2016/07/19/amidst-lynchings-erdogan-calls-for-death-penalty-for-alleged-coup-participants/

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