MORE FROM HUFFPOST
MORE FROM HUFFPOST
gezi park
The American people typically have little stomach for a military coup. But given the undemocratic nature of the Erdogan regime, Turkey may have had no choice.
In mid-December of 2015, I leave New York to go to Istanbul for the holidays. It doesn't take long before I'm sucked into the stress that comes with being a Turkish citizen who's living in Turkey.
The world wants Turkey to be back on the international trade and regional diplomacy track, but that's only possible if corruption and crackdowns discontinue. The biggest obstacle, at this point, to a lasting and successful Erdogan presidency is Erdogan himself.
Fifteen years ago, the mainstream media in Turkey had worked under the shadow of the ruthless military and hostile judiciary. Little has improved since 1990s, and this time the tyrannical elected government is unchecked to a degree that there is no formidable power that could hold the authorities accountable.
WHAT'S HAPPENING
WHAT'S HAPPENING
Turkey has the potential of becoming a significant global power, but to realize that, Erdogan must change course or leave. His arrogance, though, and self-styled piousness will prevent him from doing either and deny Turkey its deserving place to play a constructive role on the global stage.
By ignoring all these legitimate reasons for Turkey's failure to win the Security Council seat, Foreign Minister Cavusoglu falsely attributed his country's defeat to its reluctance to abandon "its values for the sake of getting more votes."
In one small village in Germany, when the police arrived to shut down his performance, the people held hands in a circle around the piano to stop them. Later in Stockholm, a couple got engaged in front of him.
The message these elections have hammered home, and here the "context" does matter, is the apparent lack of willingness on the part of these groups to continue to live together.
It seems that Turkey is confidently on its way to becoming a member of the "freedom league" --- with such players as China, Saudi Arabia, Iran and North Korea, where freedom of speech and human rights are secondary issues.
