Egyptian Coup Shakes Turkey
Turkey struggles to find the right response to the military coup in Egypt.
Despite the obvious differences between the two countries, Turkey felt the political shock waves of the military coup in Egypt much more than any other country, due to its own conflict between secularists and Islamists. From the moment news of the coup broke, Turkish politicians, columnists and members of the public adopted strong positions based on where they stand in the midst of this growing divide.
No one supports the coup, of course, since this would be politically incorrect in a country whose own past military takeovers are widely condemned. But it is clear that the secularist camp is much more understanding of the reasons behind the events in Egypt than the Islamist camp.
The anger among Islamist supporters of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP) toward those who carried out this coup is tangible and vocal. The bottom line for AKP supporters is that ousted Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi is a victim of the enemies of democracy, pure and simple.
Clearly, there is more to it than a simplistic “majoritarian” interpretation of democracy. At any rate, it is obvious that the coup in Egypt has once again raised the specter for Turkey’s Islamists of being shut down by the military, though this is highly unlikely at this stage. Erdogan’s principle mission since coming to power has included clipping the political wings of the military and he has made serious headway in this regard.
