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Yes. Which again shows it was never correct to see Erdogan's increasing
repression over the last couple of years as "Islamist." Actually it was
more a reconstitution of the Kemalist state (sure, with a bit of Islamic
colouration, and Erdoganist colouration). In particular once the
decision was made to abandon the AKP's relatively good (by Turkey's
historical standards) Kurdish policy and re-launch the 80-year Kemalist
war against the Kurds. The recent foreign policy reversal (rapproachment
with Russia, Israel, Assad etc) also fits this same bill.
These two articles give more detail about the AKP's growing
reintegration of the Kemalist old guard, and its new alliance with the
Ergenekon group in particular:
http://www.wsj.com/articles/turkish-militarys-influence-rises-again-1463346285
and
https://foreignpolicy.com/2016/07/12/turkeys-deep-state-has-a-secret-backchannel-to-assad/?utm_content=buffer1a643&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer
The AKP's Daily Sabah openly now says the Ergenekon trials were wrong, a
frame up by the "Gulenists", of course:
http://www.dailysabah.com/investigations/2016/04/21/court-overturns-verdicts-in-coup-case-allegedly-tied-to-gulenists
Hence the blame for everything on "the Gulenists". Ridiculous, of
course, but no doubt half true. Appears to be an odd alliance not based
on any political agreement between newer Gulen-connected forces in the
state and the most recalcitrant Kemalist elements of the old deep state.
Doesn't make a lot of sense for the latter given the AKP was moving
their way, but seems the most hard-line element were either going to
lose out in upcoming dismissals, or were never in the mood to compromise
with the AKP no matter what.
One point where they and the Gulen crowd may have lined up was
Kurdistan. Despite the AK's renewed war and alliance with the old deep
state in this, it was notable that the top military leadership involved
in the Kurdish war were heavily involved in the coup. Now there are
suggestions that they struck because they feared the AKP would weaken in
that war:
https://www.buzzfeed.com/borzoudaragahi/document-reveals-what-really-drove-turkeys-failed-coup-plott?utm_term=.fkEpvvXOz.
That may be fantasy, of course, and would contradict the direction of
the AKP and its reaccommodation with the Kemalist old guard. But then
again it could be a wing that preferred to go Assad-style against the
Kurds.
One clue to that is that the government is re-opening investigations on
the terrible Roboski massacre of Kurds of late 2011. As you may guess,
Daily Sabah tells us that the massacre was deliberately orchestrated by
"the Gulenists" in the military in order to sow discord between the
Turkish and Kurdish peoples ...
-----Original Message-----
From: Louis Proyect via Marxism
My wife just got finished with a Skype call to her mom in Istanbul who
reported that Erdogan has released the Kemalist officers who were in
prison as a result of the Ergenekon trials in order to use them against
the Gulenists. She says that he has begun to adopt Kemalist coloration,
even to the point of condemning schools that have an Islamist agenda--of
course targeting the Gulenist schools. Is there any politician on the
planet today who is more Machiavellian than Erdogan? I can't think of
any.
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