Licenses of 21,000 Turkish teachers have been revoked • Hacker News Board

Re: Licenses of 21,000 Turkish teachers have been revoked

#31

Post by lettergram » Tue, Jul 19, 2016, 4:45 PM UTC

It seems more and more (to me at least) that the coup d'état attempt could have been allowed, if not blatantly organized by the ruling elite of Turkey.

There's actually a great scene in the end of the Anthony Bourdain Parts Unknown Istanbul episode where someone close to the ruling class (a business owner), makes the following comment[1]:

> "Fear works. Fear gets votes."

Beyond that, I can't find a clip, but it was the most real-life foreshadowing I have ever seen in my life.

[1] http://www.eater.com/2015/11/8/9684640/parts-unknown-recap-i...

Re: Licenses of 21,000 Turkish teachers have been revoked

#32

Post by glass_of_water » Tue, Jul 19, 2016, 4:45 PM UTC

mcbits wrote: post #9

It's starting to seem like they had these lists made up ahead of time and have been waiting for the right time to start cleansing the ranks.

It's possible the coup was staged as an excuse to purge the opposition and seize more power.

Edit: changed "quite likely" to "possible" to address valid criticism.

Re: Licenses of 21,000 Turkish teachers have been revoked

#33

Post by hardlianotion » Tue, Jul 19, 2016, 4:47 PM UTC

jayess wrote: post #10

How Turkey could possibly still be in accession talks to join the EU is baffling and appalling to me.

That, most definitely, before. Things very different now.

Re: Licenses of 21,000 Turkish teachers have been revoked

#34

Post by madelinecameron » Tue, Jul 19, 2016, 4:48 PM UTC

spriggan3 wrote: post #24

sickbeard wrote: post #7

Why was everyone screaming democracy when they never had one in the first place?

> Why was everyone screaming democracy when they never had one in the first place? Political correctness. Turkey is defacto ruled by a brutal dictatorship now, the failed coup was the last chance of restoring actual democracy in Turkey. The Turkish constitution is actually good and acknowledge the danger of an Islamic theocracy. The role of the Turkish army is/was to prevent it.They failed.

I don't think they failed as much as they were never meant to succeed. There are just so many places where the military could've outright "taken out" Erdogan but didn't (such as when the "coup" had two jets right next to Erdogan's jet... but didn't shoot then completely backed off)

This was completely set-up to round up popular support / not make it look suspicious when Erdogan did exactly this.

Re: Licenses of 21,000 Turkish teachers have been revoked

#35

Post by heliumcraft » Tue, Jul 19, 2016, 4:48 PM UTC

JohnStrange wrote: post #22

The coup was a last chance effort. Now Turkey has become a totalitarian dictatorship, there is no doubt about that. To be more precise, it already lost its status as democracy years ago when Erdogan had hundreds of prosecutors and policemen fired who dared to investigate corruption within his family. But with the latest purges you've got to wonder where they want to get the replacements from. Any sane person will pro…

This happened before in Iran's revolution, School Deans, and even Hospital Directors were replaced by pro-revolution islamists regardless of education or qualifications. We might see Turkey transform itself into what Iran became. After this they need a War (a la Iraq-Iran war) to keep people distracted and then the changes will be permanent.

Re: Licenses of 21,000 Turkish teachers have been revoked

#36

Post by blahi » Tue, Jul 19, 2016, 4:48 PM UTC

JohnStrange wrote: post #22

The coup was a last chance effort. Now Turkey has become a totalitarian dictatorship, there is no doubt about that. To be more precise, it already lost its status as democracy years ago when Erdogan had hundreds of prosecutors and policemen fired who dared to investigate corruption within his family. But with the latest purges you've got to wonder where they want to get the replacements from. Any sane person will pro…

It wasn't any last chance. It was obviously staged.

Re: Licenses of 21,000 Turkish teachers have been revoked

#37

Post by James001 » Tue, Jul 19, 2016, 4:48 PM UTC

JohnStrange wrote: post #22

The coup was a last chance effort. Now Turkey has become a totalitarian dictatorship, there is no doubt about that. To be more precise, it already lost its status as democracy years ago when Erdogan had hundreds of prosecutors and policemen fired who dared to investigate corruption within his family. But with the latest purges you've got to wonder where they want to get the replacements from. Any sane person will pro…

The coup was never real to begin with. There have been so many holes in this narrative that it's like swiss cheese. Why did the military not fire on Erdogan when he was in their sights? Why did Erdogan even risk flying into Istanbul when he knew there would've been a significant chance of being shot down? The answer of course is that he knew there was no risk cause it was a fake coup to begin with.

Re: Licenses of 21,000 Turkish teachers have been revoked

#38

Post by hardlianotion » Tue, Jul 19, 2016, 4:49 PM UTC

partisan wrote: post #23

MrZongle2 wrote: post #6

This does not bode well for Turkey. It is unfathomable how 21,000 teachers were directly related to the coup attempt. It makes me think that the coup was Turkey's Reichstag fire moment.

Absolutely. From the comfort of the States, I am glad that the coup did not succeed, but only because Turkey falling into chaos would be beyond terrible. That said, the recent fallout has all the markings of opportunism and expansion of power.

Not sure I am going to be able to appreciate the difference between chaos and what seems likely to follow this.

Re: Licenses of 21,000 Turkish teachers have been revoked

#39

Post by ianai » Tue, Jul 19, 2016, 4:49 PM UTC

lettergram wrote: post #31

It seems more and more (to me at least) that the coup d'état attempt could have been allowed, if not blatantly organized by the ruling elite of Turkey. There's actually a great scene in the end of the Anthony Bourdain Parts Unknown Istanbul episode where someone close to the ruling class (a business owner), makes the following comment[1]: > "Fear works. Fear gets votes." Beyond that, I can't find a clip, but it was t…

That show has been amazing for its relevancy.

Re: Licenses of 21,000 Turkish teachers have been revoked

#40

Post by hx87 » Tue, Jul 19, 2016, 4:49 PM UTC

JohnStrange wrote: post #22

The coup was a last chance effort. Now Turkey has become a totalitarian dictatorship, there is no doubt about that. To be more precise, it already lost its status as democracy years ago when Erdogan had hundreds of prosecutors and policemen fired who dared to investigate corruption within his family. But with the latest purges you've got to wonder where they want to get the replacements from. Any sane person will pro…

> totalitarian

Probably the most misused term/epithet in international relations. At its worst Turkey is no more repressive than Russia or China and less repressive than Iran. Once you use "totalitarian" to describe authoritarian regimes, you run out of room to describe those that actually qualify as totalitarian, such as North Korea or Eritrea.