Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government seemed threatened last night, but then it began to appear that the tide was turning. The coup, led by mid-ranking military leaders, seemingly has not been able to sustain their drive to force Erdogan from office.
Many world leaders have condemned the coup, including US president Barrack Obama. That is not surprising given Obama's ties to the Islamic Brotherhood, a status shared by Erdogan. Over recent years Erdogan has moved to subvert the Turkish Constitution and has packed the courts with Islamic hardliners who share his vision of converting Turkey into a full-fledged Islamic Republic.
Erdogan has also replaced many top military leaders prior to the coup with those of his own choosing. Turkey's Constitution actually authorizes for the military to perform checks and balances against any government that might wish to move from a secular state to an Islamic one. When Barrack Hussein Obama calls for Turkish citizens to honour the democratically elected government-perhaps he might wish to brush up on the Turkish founding documents first.
Erdogan is no friend of democracy and has systematically curtailed freedoms, including harsh policies towards Christians and other religious minorities in Turkey.
One big question is what will Russia do during this time of Turkish instability? Turkey has the largest standing NATO allied military in Europe. Russia and Turkey have been at odds on everything from the Islamic state (ISIS) which often enjoys support by Erdogan, to the downing of Russian military aircraft over Turkish and Syrian airspace.
If there is a vacuum of any length, count on Vladimir Putin to try to fill it.
