Are Merkel and Co. ready for this?

Submitted by Michael S (United States), Oct 26, 2015 at 20:56

This is speculation about what a mentally unbalanced person (Erdogan) plans to do if he fails to get a majority in the next election. How shall we approach this? Let's just assume E's mind is a clean slate, and look at it from the standpoint of possibilities:

Assuming he does not get a majority, how will he manage to "(leave) a seemingly unchanged government in place that behinds the scenes follows orders from the palace?" Julius Caesar was able to do this sort of thing, after he illegally entered Italy at the head of an army. Erdogan is not a general; where is his army? He did a massive purge of the armed forces a while ago. Do his hand-picked men have sufficient clout to stage a coup? Because that's what it would have to be.

Turkey is a large country, with a powerful armed forces and police force; and I expect that there are many in the ranks who would not stand for an illegal takeover -- especially if the courts oppose it. E. would have to use some sort of legal means, such as declaring martial law.

Voiter fraud seems like a less messy way to go; but I don't see how he could pull that off without acquiescence from the CIA and Obama.

By the way, Erdogan has the Russian army, navy and air force on his north and south sides now., and their Iranian allies to the east. I imagine they will consider themselves as having a stake in these goings-on.

It seems unlikely, whatever the outworking of it, that Erdogan plans to ever step down from the throne -- literally a golden throne (well, gilded), in a palace made for a sultan. I expect that his party WILL win the election, whether the people bring that about or no; and that Obama will go along with the charade.

One way or another, Turkey is on a slippery slope, and cannot be counted on to behave like a rational actor. In a short time, we may see hundreds of thousands of Turks joining their Syria guests in trying to escape to Europe. Are Merkel and Co. ready for this?

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".