The Turkish military’s apparent attempt to seize power on Friday unleashed panic in the streets and sent shockwaves through Nato and across the Middle East.
The attempted coup in Turkey threatens to dangerously destabilised a western ally in a region already reeling from war, terrorism and mass migration, according to experts and analysts in the region.
With the state broadcaster TRT off the air, and martial law and a curfew declared across the country, people in Istanbul scrambled to get indoors as military jets flew overhead.
The extraordinary turn of events also baffled many in the foreign policy community, many of whom perceived Turkey’s elected government as relatively stable.
But some news watchers are not surprised at the turn of events.
See below report published more than three months ago.
Obama and Putin Agree That Turkish Dictator Erdogan Must Go by Webster G. Tarpley, 22 MARCH 2016
“…Especially important is the agreement reached by Presidents Obama and Putin about two or three weeks ago that the continued tenure of Turkish President Erdogan is intolerable, and that he should be removed from office before he can start a wider war. Russian and US weapons are currently flowing into Turkey for the purpose of speeding the departure of the dictator. Contacts are also being made with the Turkish political parties, the top generals of the Turkish military, and others to help bring down the dictator. The Turkish nationalists are turning against Erdogan. The PKK will also mobilize. Erdogan’s presidency is illegitimate because his most recent election victory was carried out with massive vote fraud.
Erdogan
“This hard line of Moscow and Washington towards Erdogan contrasts most sharply with the policy of the European Union (including Britain and France), which is offering tribute of €3 billion per year to Erdogan over the foreseeable future to get the Turkish president to house more Syrian refugees and to prevent them from crossing into Greece. Naturally, since Erdogan functions as the de facto commander of ISIS/Daesh, he could at any time order the total cessation of combat operations, and remove the main factor which is impelling civilians to flee from the terrorists in the combat zones. But he prefers to cash in, obtaining concessions like visa-free travel for Turks in the EU.
“Obama’s interview to the Atlantic Monthly is remarkable since it reads like the memoirs of a president who has already left office, and thus feels free to frankly speak his mind. His comments about King Salman of Saudi Arabia, Sarkozy, Cameron, and Erdogan are devastating. The message seems to be that these figures are being told to cooperate, or else they will be exposed for their machinations of recent years, and thus destabilized.