Monday, July 18, 2016

THREE COUPS & A BREXIT PART 1 TURKEY



   


KING CYCLOPS comes from a great and honourable tradition of gallows humour.

We are struggling to see the funny side of the coups in TURKEY and in the UK LABOUR Party.The Trump[f] coup a little easier-but not without misgivings.

But needs must.

Here we are with turmoil, terrorism, war, distress and economic dislocation; nary had a coup since the Egyptian military threw out the Muslim Brotherhood in July 2013.

No coup in Syria,Iraq,Saudi,Iran,Brazil,Venezuela ,Burma, Bangladesh ,Luxembourg or France[just kidding mes amis,its planned for after Le Pen wins the presidency].

Now three come along at once.

TURKEY

·        Second largest Army in NATO.
·        Largest military in the most volatile region in the world.
·        Critical Strategic Location.Borders with Russia, Syria, Iraq,Iran and the not yet created Kurdistan.

·        Major NATO air base, with Nukes.
·        Centre of Western Operations Against Isis.
·        The once and future hope for the most important Secular, Democratic, Muslim    State.
·        A “functioning” Democracy.


 There have been four effective coups since 1960.The military has seen itself as the protector of the Ataturk revolution and the guarantor of a “secular” state.


Erdogan has maintained a grip on power for thirteen years in an increasingly polarized  state. Despite early expectations within the court of King Cyclops of some sort of military move against Erdogan,none had materialised.This despite several unprecedented purges of the Armed Forces, an increasing Islaminisation of the State, renewed confrontations with the Kurds[“Mountain Turks”] ,the Army’s embarrassment with the blind eye turned to Islamic militants moving across loosely controlled borders and a spate of internal terrorist attacks.

Nevertheless my court and our wide network of international intelligence contacts were taken by complete surprise. We proved to be as much in the dark as the CIA and US State Department.

Once alerted early Saturday morning [Ankara time] of tanks on the street,the King himself followed events through his direct briefings from Al Jazeera,the BBC and CNN.

We assumed the coup would unfold much as those in the past. The Army would be in control by Monday, Erdogan’s para military police disarmed and the government and leaders of other political parties under arrest.

 This is really heavy stuff!

Within twenty four hours it was clear the coup attempt had failed and Erdogan was in Istanbul ordering the arrest of a long list of military officers,judges and his other “enemies”. A major Purge is now underway. http://www.jpost.com/International/Analysis-Why-the-Turkey-coup-failed-and-whats-likely-to-come-next-460561


Our court is stunned. We did not anticipate the coup and even less that once launched it would fail within within a day  


The King, his Sisters and many of our closest confidants have been educated in a set of British assumptions about history, politics and administration. The most importance of which is “The Cock Up Theory of History”.


Under the CUTH dogma the working assumption is that when things do not work out as planned or expected, there has been a cock up—unintended incompetence, bad planning or just bad luck. Often described in official documents as SNAFU—Situation Normal All F****d Up.

We assumed that this is what we were observing with the plotters in Istanbul and Ankara.

After about 48 hours members of the court were  reviewing events,receiving dispatches and raising questions.  http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/interrogation/2016/07/why_turkey_s_latest_attempted_coup_was_different.html    

Where was the overwhelming force?

In earlier coups there were hundreds of tanks and thousands of troops on the ground immediately. This time there were too few troops to control the para- military police and the soldiers seemed to be posted at photogenic but non strategic positions such as the Bosphorous Bridges.

Why had Erdogan not been arrested in the first hours?

He was holidaying on the Black Sea; the military had to know the location of the head of state. His personal security could not have been sufficient to withstand an army unit. This is always near the top of the list in coup manuals.

Why was social media not blocked?

Troops had taken control of TV and radio outlets. It is a minor matter to shut down social media and telephony—ask your cable company or Mr.Putin. Erdogan’s call to the streets came via a “face time” call to CNN Turkey to which a woman presenter  had returned within a couple of hours of the studio being cleared by soldiers. 
They apparently forgot to turn the lights out [or destroy equipment—standard coup operational procedure] or to put a guard on the door.



 Why had the coup leaders not appeared on TV to declare Marshall Law and to claim legitimacy?

We still do not know who they were

How was Erdogan able to fly so quickly into Istanbul?

The coup had closed Istanbul International and all other airports across the country.The whole country was a no fly area.Yet Erdogan was able to find a plane, crew and an unguarded airport.He flew in to Istanbul airport to rally his forces and show himself to the people. His was the only flight to land within a forty eight hour period.


Why were the police so brave in battling the army?

Despite Erdogan’s build up of his para military police they are massively out manned and out ordinanced by the largest army in Europe. This is a seasoned military engaged in combat with the Kurds, Isis and the Syrian army. This is no bunch of pussies.A coup should have rolled over the police in hours.Standing up against the military would have looked like a suicide mission.

Six thousand plotters?

As we edit this post, Erdogan's forces are reported to have rounded up eight generals hundreds of officers,several thousand troops and two thousand judges.It seems all these lawyers were very good at keeping the coup secret.Certainly the president has been very good at preparing lists.

The coup was planned and the counter coup spontaneous?

Yet media outlets have been closed more effectively than the coup plotters managed.
The coup leaders have been arrested while Erdogan and his entourage were not.
Erdogan is all over the TV and social media,while we never saw the faces or heard the names ,ranks or objectives of the plotters.
The para military is in control of all strategic points.


Erdogan is demanding the USA extradite Fethullah Gulen an ex ally and now arch enemy. Gulen in return has accused Erdogan of staging a fake coup as an excuse to impose autocratic rule on Turkey. http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2016/07/16/alleged-mastermind-attempted-coup-turkey----cleric-living-quietly-usa/87176144/


As one travels east from London the CUTH dogma weakens.Alternative theories of plots, schemes and conspiracies emerge. By the time one reaches Istanbul, Cairo or Baghdad it is gone—replaced by a fervent belief in CONSPIRACIES. This new dogma PARANOID CONSPIRACY THEORY [PCT] is dominant across all sections of society.


King Cyclops is not comfortable to abandon the CUTH assumptions of a lifetime

                   YET?             PCT RULES-OK?

















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