OutByEaster? Posted July 15, 2016 Moderator Share Posted July 15, 2016 Jeez there's a lot of news lately isn't there? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Rev Posted July 15, 2016 Share Posted July 15, 2016 Yep. 2016 will certainly be a year for the history books. Assuming anybody survives it of course. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OutByEaster? Posted July 15, 2016 Moderator Share Posted July 15, 2016 I'm unclear - has the US now backed Erdogan? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snowychap Posted July 16, 2016 Share Posted July 16, 2016 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LondonLax Posted July 16, 2016 Share Posted July 16, 2016 It's not looking good for Turkey whichever way this ends. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snowychap Posted July 16, 2016 Share Posted July 16, 2016 So which lot are the 'terrorists' here? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maqroll Posted July 16, 2016 Share Posted July 16, 2016 This is going to have massive implications, yikes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Awol Posted July 16, 2016 Share Posted July 16, 2016 All hail Sultan Erdogan & his Islamic State. Did none of them watch Valkyrie? Kill the dictator first! Clearly this was carried out without full military buy in & once he called out supporters the plotters had a choice, kill civilians or not? Admirable that the rebels refused but they'll all dangle from piano wire for it. Turkey is utterly goosed now. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Awol Posted July 16, 2016 Share Posted July 16, 2016 (edited) Erdogan speech on TV saying coup forces are taking their orders from Pennsylvania. Presumably he means Pennsylvania Ave.. Lots of foot shuffling and looking at the floor in Langley right now I'd imagine. Washington and Berlin have come out in support of Erdogan now it's clearly failed. White House saying it doesn't support coups against democratically elected governments... world rolls around laughing. EDIT: Apparently the Pennsylvania reference was to a Turkish cleric living in exile there called Fethullah Gulen. He denies any involvement. Edited July 16, 2016 by Awol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keyblade Posted July 16, 2016 Share Posted July 16, 2016 7 hours ago, OutByEaster? said: I'm unclear - has the US now backed Erdogan? Yeah, after making sure to find out which way the wind was blowing first. When the coup first started Kerry all but refused to condemn it, which of course was odd for the gatekeepers of democracy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Demitri_C Posted July 16, 2016 Share Posted July 16, 2016 The Turkish people clearly support a terrorist this eas their chance for change and they blew it big time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisp65 Posted July 16, 2016 Share Posted July 16, 2016 I would imagine Merkel & Johnson & Kerry et al had a moment of clarity and wondered exactly how many million sleeping bags and ration packs they would have to ship to Greece if the coup gained traction. No sorry, I retract that. No way did any western leader think about day 2. I also accidentally included our Foreign Minister Boris Johnson in the statement. You can imagine somebody at the F.O. trying to delay the in calls from around the world because Boris is busy in his dressing up box looking for a suitably funny hat for the occasion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr_Pangloss Posted July 16, 2016 Share Posted July 16, 2016 Turkey on route to being a theocracy, amazing that the west backs this ISIS enabler. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisp65 Posted July 16, 2016 Share Posted July 16, 2016 7 minutes ago, Dr_Pangloss said: Turkey on route to being a theocracy, amazing that the west backs this ISIS enabler. Perhaps our expertise in backing horses in Libya, Iraq, Egypt etc., has caused us to start a slight learning curve on these things. Perhaps the Greeks sent a few world leaders a photo of the distance to the Turkish coast and a picture of 2 million immigrant rape gangs trying to get to the UK. Personally I'm not convinced it's a case of backing a winner in a two horse race. I think it could be complicated. But I'm not an expert. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisp65 Posted July 16, 2016 Share Posted July 16, 2016 That wasn't a pop at you there Dr P. That was my general observation that an awful lot of people got quite excited last night that a group of a couple of thousand soldiers had seized a couple of bridges and this was going to cure Turkey of corruption and religion. We had no idea who the leaders were or what their long term aims were. We didn't know if they would kill people. But somehow, at least 50% of all commentary was in favour of a military take over of a country of 70 / 80 million people with a european land border. There was a presumption it was endorsed by the USA and Russia. If those 2,000 troops had decided to fire back at the stone throwers and try and properly get the foot hold we were told they had it would have been a blood bath with thousands dead on day one and every chance of a real civil war on the borders or europe in a country with a border with Syria. Was that ever really a great idea? I don't know, I really don't. But what I do know is, we have a good few bad bets under our belts over a lot of years in this region and if I was a gambler with our track record, I'd stop betting on outcomes. How much money is one nice big drone delivered bomb? How much money would stop radicalisation in a UK prison? Bombs are sexy though, so they win every time. Gotta love a late night light show. Shock n awe baby, shock n awe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post LondonLax Posted July 16, 2016 Popular Post Share Posted July 16, 2016 10 hours ago, OutByEaster? said: Jeez there's a lot of news lately isn't there? "There are decades when nothing happens. There are weeks when decades happen" -Vladimir Lenin 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sne Posted July 16, 2016 Share Posted July 16, 2016 Erdogan safe to continue his plans to become Lukashenko 2.0 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AshVilla Posted July 16, 2016 Share Posted July 16, 2016 Just read that the leader of the failed coup promotes a philosophy which incorporates a mystical form of islam with advocacy of democracy education and science Sounds good to me 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjmooney Posted July 16, 2016 VT Supporter Share Posted July 16, 2016 2 minutes ago, AshVilla said: Just read that the leader of the failed coup promotes a philosophy which incorporates a mystical form of islam with advocacy of democracy education and science Sounds good to me I would amend that to promotED, past tense, any day now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wainy316 Posted July 16, 2016 Share Posted July 16, 2016 Was Erdogan's 'democratic' election not rigged? I'd find it hard not to sympathise with any coup intent on removing retarded stone age philosophies ruling over a country. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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