Turkey's expulsion of Western ambassadors cements authoritarian shift - analysis
Despite being a member of NATO, Turkey has routinely crushed the media, bulldozed Turkish neighborhoods in cities as part of claims it is fighting “terrorism” and has launched invasions of Syria.
By SETH J. FRANTZMAN
OCTOBER 25, 2021
Turkey’s leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan ordered ambassadors from 10 leading democracies to be declared “persona non grata,” cementing Ankara’s shift toward authoritarianism and its alliance with countries that oppose the US and the West. The attack was made by Ankara after the US and other countries critiqued Turkey for continuing to imprison philanthropist Osman Kavala. Kavala is one of tens of thousands of Turks who have been imprisoned on false charges by Ankara as part of a purge led by the ruling AKP party that targets liberals, college students, LGBT activists, Kurds, opposition members of the HDP (The People’s Democratic Party), women, media and critics of all stripes.
Recently, Ankara’s government has gone back to 2013 and 2014 to find activists involved in any protests against the AKP and imprison them. Turkey is the world’s larger jailer of journalists. Despite being a member of NATO, Turkey has routinely crushed the media, bulldozed Turkish neighborhoods in cities as part of claims it is fighting “terrorism,” and has launched invasions of Syria, ethnically cleansing Kurds, Yazidis and other minorities.
more............. https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/t...s-cements-authoritarian-shift-analysis-683006
Despite being a member of NATO, Turkey has routinely crushed the media, bulldozed Turkish neighborhoods in cities as part of claims it is fighting “terrorism” and has launched invasions of Syria.
By SETH J. FRANTZMAN
OCTOBER 25, 2021
Turkey’s leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan ordered ambassadors from 10 leading democracies to be declared “persona non grata,” cementing Ankara’s shift toward authoritarianism and its alliance with countries that oppose the US and the West. The attack was made by Ankara after the US and other countries critiqued Turkey for continuing to imprison philanthropist Osman Kavala. Kavala is one of tens of thousands of Turks who have been imprisoned on false charges by Ankara as part of a purge led by the ruling AKP party that targets liberals, college students, LGBT activists, Kurds, opposition members of the HDP (The People’s Democratic Party), women, media and critics of all stripes.
Recently, Ankara’s government has gone back to 2013 and 2014 to find activists involved in any protests against the AKP and imprison them. Turkey is the world’s larger jailer of journalists. Despite being a member of NATO, Turkey has routinely crushed the media, bulldozed Turkish neighborhoods in cities as part of claims it is fighting “terrorism,” and has launched invasions of Syria, ethnically cleansing Kurds, Yazidis and other minorities.
more............. https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/t...s-cements-authoritarian-shift-analysis-683006
