WHERE will Turkey go from here after the failed coup attempt? Will there be a new coup in a decade’s time? One can only wonder since the country has a record of a coup attempt every 10 years.
Fethullah Gulen, at the moment, is a name all of Turkey wished never existed. Indeed, through his organisation Feto (Fethullah Gulen Terrorist Organisation), their treachery will, undoubtedly, haunt Turkey for a long time to come.
The infiltration of nearly all of Turkey’s most important institutions by Feto agents may be hard to believe but for Muslims, it is not.
It is a universally-accepted norm that if someone says he is doing something in the name of religion, the individual is thought to be a good person. That mindset, however, is forever changed when Gulen, through Feto, tried to take power on July 15. It reminds me of this chit-chat between super spy James Bond 007 and Mr White in the movie Spectre, of why Turkey has taken a swift and drastic counter action against Feto:
Bond: So why don’t you tell me how to find him again?
White: Oh, come on!
Bond: Tell me where he is!
White: He’s everywhere. Everywhere. He’s sitting at your desk. He’s kissing your lover, he’s eating supper with your family!
A case in point is the arrest of the aide to general chief of staff among the 50,000 people who were detained.
If we take into account the infiltration in other sectors, including banking and finance, health, education and security, the comparison with Spectre is apt. Gulen and Feto are now unsurprisingly the enemy of the Turkish state and people for trying to usurp power secretly and threatening social order.
Put yourself in Turkey’s shoes. Would you have done things differently? As a country with vast potential split between Asia and Europe, Turkey has enjoyed tremendous change and development under the leadership of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The economy will always be a challenge to any leader of a nation anyway.
But, after 14 years of Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP) rule, Turkey has risen to No. 16 on the world’s biggest economy category and sixth biggest in Europe.
Surely, that is impressive. Which begs the question, why the European Union (EU) seems intent to delay the admission of Turkey as a member after 53 years of negotiations? Somehow, there is always something Turkey needs to do before admission. The current ones, albeit longstanding, are human rights and democracy vis-a-vis the thousands who were apprehended since the failed coup.
Turkey’s patience, nevertheless, is nothing short of miraculous. It is amazing to hear a senior AKP official, when asked about this, said: “If human being’s existence is about three billion years, what is 53?”
Turkey will, however, continue to show the West that a Muslim country can be a stable and robust democracy that can rival the best values a modern and progressive Western country can attain, despite whatever imperfections.
Turkey has proven itself to be durable in meeting current challenges involving a few of its neighbours with Syria’s conflict pitting the world’s powers, which have dragged and forced Ankara to take measures to protect herself.
Also, despite taken by surprise by Gulen and his followers, the people, media and institutions fully support the government. Doubts over the validity of the action taken against thousands who participated and supported the attempted coup, expressed by other countries including friendly and western countries, are only to be expected.
This attitude among Turkish allies and friends, especially in the west — not exclusive to Turkey — about what’s right and wrong is the crux of the matter when it comes to it. As if Turkey is never good enough for EU. Turkey needs to propagate, perhaps, that it is the other way around.
Even Erdogan seemed at the end of his patience on the issue of membership when he warned EU to stop playing games recently. The EU is now grappling with the aftermath of Brexit, while the United States is too busy electing either a billionaire with a penchant for controversies or a woman who is also a former first lady to replace President Barack Obama.
Therefore, Turkey should continue with its “Witnessing History and National Unity” programme from time to time, where various foreign journalists can assess first-hand the situation in the country.
The Southeast Asian media delegation, including Malaysia, who visited Ankara and Istanbul from Oct 1 to 6, has definitely gained a deeper understanding of the issue of Gulen and Feto, apart from Syria and EU-Turkey relations.
Azman Abdul Hamid is ‘Berita Harian’ features and op-ed editor