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Source: http://www.weeklystandard.com/the-coup-in-turkey-reveals-a-damaged-democracy/article/2003346
The Coup in Turkey Reveals a Damaged Democracy
(Weekly Standard) Lee Smith - The attempted coup was not an effort on behalf of the entire military, but, as Erdogan, the Turkish intelligence agency, and the justice ministry have contended, it was rather the handiwork of one faction in the army manipulated by a political grouping opposed to Erdogan-the followers of Fethullah Gulen. Gulen and Erdogan broke several years ago, partly because the latter sought to initiate a peace process with the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), negotiations the Gulen movement strongly opposed. After their falling out, the Gulenists sought to topple Erdogan. The conflict in Turkish political circles during the Erdogan years has never really been about the direction of the country's democratic culture. Rather, it's a very nasty Middle Eastern showdown over power politics. There are no good guys here, no one who was ever going to ride to the rescue of Turkish democracy. The opposition parties are filled with haters of every variety-anti-American leftists, right-wing bigots, and everywhere are anti-Semites.