Wednesday, July 20, 2016

Commentaries, Analysis, And Editorials -- July 20, 2016



Deniz Aribogan, The Nation: Why Turkey’s Coup Failed

The attempted coup challenged Erdoğan’s grip on power. Will he now grasp it more tightly or pivot towards some reform?

July 15 was a day of firsts in Turkey’s political history. To be clear, waking up to the noise of an army tank is not an exceptional morning for Turkish citizens my age. Throughout my life, I have already witnessed four military interventions: in 1971, a “coup by memorandum”; in 1980, a “military coup d’état”; in 1997, a “military memorandum”; and in 2007, a “military e-memorandum.” Turkey’s military has long seen itself as the “guardian of democracy and secularism” and considered it a basic duty to rescue the nation from falling off the edge of a cliff into instability and chaos. So, last Friday, when I heard on TRT, the state-run TV channel, that martial law was being declared along with a curfew, I was not quite shocked. But I was surprised. Surprised, because each coup up until this point had been carried out within a political process that legitimized it, or at least created popular support for the aim of the intervention. What happened last week was unprecedented, even in Turkey’s coup-filled history.

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Commentaries, Analysis, And Editorials -- July 20, 2016

The Turkish Internet Is a Battleground, and Erdogan Is Winning -- Elias Groll, Foreign Policy

It looks like nearly everyone was wrong about a key aspect of Turkey’s military coup -- Natasha Bertrand, Business Insider

'We see him as one of us': why many Turks still back authoritarian Erdoğan -- Patrick Kingsley, The Guardian

Turkey's long road to EU membership just got longer -- Jenifer Rankin, The Guardian

Putin May Be Turkey's New Buddy after the Failed Coup -- Nikolas K. Gvosdev, National Interest

Why the Failed Turkish Coup is Very Bad News for the War on ISIS -- Michael Weiss, Daily Beast

Retaking Mosul Is ‘Now Upon Us’ Top US Official Declares -- Jeff Seldin, VOA

The Sense Behind the Nonsense From Iraq's Foreign Minister -- Eli Lake, Bloomberg

Bombshell: Obama's Secret Backdoor Deal Giving Iran Nukes: Everything You Need To Know -- Michael Qazvini, Daily Wire

An Important Part of the Iran Nuclear Deal Was Just Made Public for the First Time -- Armin Rosen, The Tablet

The New Normal in the Middle East -- Marina Ottaway, Real Clear World

With faith and Facebook, Zimbabwe preacher takes on Mugabe -- Ed Cropley, Reuters

How the West can prevent Nice from becoming the 'new normal' -- Peter Van Buren, Reuters

Murdering a Journalist, and the Truth, in Ukraine -- Anna Nemtsova, Daily Beast

Rio Olympics: who are the real winners and losers? -- The Guardian

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