Turkish democracy has a tough road ahead

The government of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan managed to withstand an attempted coup last week. As soon as the coup failed, the crackdown began. The government

The government of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan managed to withstand an attempted coup last week. As soon as the coup failed, the crackdown began. The government arrested at least 6,000 people — mostly military personnel —dismissed nearly 3,000 prosecutors and judges, and sacked 8,000 police officers in a wholesale gutting of the nation’s military and legal apparatus. Supporters of Erdogan rallied in Istanbul advocating the re author is at ion of the death penalty, abolished in Turkey in 2004, for the coup’s supporters. This has been backed by Erdogan, suggesting that “in democracies, whatever the people say has to happen”.

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The Turkish government has also accused Washington of directly helping to foment the putsch. Erdogan has claimed the conspirators were loyal to US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, whom Erdogan has accused of attempting to overthrow the government. A one-time ally of Erdogan, the Gulenists have become rivals in recent years and in May the Turkish government declared them a terrorist organisation. Turkey has demanded that Washington extra di te Gu len, something secretary of state John Kerry said is possible if enough evidence against him could be furnished. The Obama Administration has been very critical of the Erdogan regime’ s increasingly authoritarian tendencies.

The Turkish armed forces remain badly divided and it is clear that the country remains far less stable than had been thought. It is expected that Erdogan will use this opportunity top urge the military at all levels. The Turkish government’s response to the failed coup has alarmed both the US and the EU, after it described the plotters as a “cancer” which had to be “cleansed” from public institutions. It is likely that the turmoil in Turkey won’ t be good news for the fight against Islamic State. Washington has long been openly critical of the limited role the Turkish military has played in stopping the flow of foreign fighters into Syria.

Europe, like the US, had long been concerned about Erdogan’s authoritarian tendencies, and now there is reason to believe that Erdogan will goal lout to consolidate his hold over the country. Johannes Hahn, European commissioner for regional affairs, suggested that Erdogan was ready for the crackdown. European officials underline that reinstating the death penalty would end consideration for Turkish accession to the EU.

Turkish democracy now seems on its death-bed with no major political player in the country having any incentive to prevent its terminal decline. Civil strife is likely to increase in the coming years. This can neither be good news for the Turkish people nor for a wider Europe.

Harsh Pant is professor of international relations at King’s College, London. The views expressed are personal.