Brandon TurbevilleActivist Post
July 18, 2016
With Turkey now undergoing the largest military/governmental purge in modern history, the question of Turkey’s future in terms of its domestic stability and structure is in flux and the possibilities facing the world, especially Syria, in regards to any changes of Turkish foreign policy are shaky as well. But even as the question of Syria’s future remains, what about who initiated the coup? Who was behind it? Why was it launched? In other words, what in the hell is happening in Turkey?
Unfortunately, there is not a clear answer to this question. There is, however, context into which we may place the situation for a better understanding of the possibilities and the potential directions of Turkey’s and, as a result, the Middle East’s future. Indeed, what is happening in Turkey will have reverberations that span across the globe in every direction.
The first thing that one must be aware of when discussing the crisis in Turkey is that Turkish politics, like internal politics of most nations but especially those of Middle Eastern countries and those with heavily fractured elements of political, ethnic, religious, and historical/imperial baggage, is extremely complex. While forces at the top of the pyramid may control the direction of the country, at the operative level, there are several different factions in motion in Turkey. Even within branches of the Turkish governmental structure, factions are a major issue that must be considered for any amount of analysis.
