Turkish Coup Staged? Dr. Mehmet Ate?, Other Erdo?an Critics Arrested In ‘Counter-Coup’ ‘Witch-Hunt’
Dr. Mehmet Ate?, a physician with SIFA University, and a critic of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an, has been arrested in what is being described as a “counter-coup,” by the New York Times and a “witch-hunt,” by Zero Hedge. It has been suggested that Erdo?an and his supporters have perpetuated a “staged coup,” as previously reported by The Inquisitr. Is a coup staged by Erdo?an a real possibility?
“I don’t believe that the world believes the accusations made by President Erdo?an,” former Erdo?an supporter, exiled Fethullah Gülen stated. “It could be a staged coup and it could be meant for further accusations [against the Gülenists].”
Zero Hedge reports that 2,745 Turkish prosecutors and judges have been “dismissed” in the counter-coup crackdown. A total of 6,000 people are reported to have been arrested in counter-coup operations by Turkish police. Three thousand members of the Turkish military, about one percent of Turkey’s reported 315,000-person armed forces, are said to have been taken into custody.
A series of tweets made by Dr. Mehmet Ate? announcing that he was being arrested led Turkish journalist Mahir Zeynalov to describe the post-coup situation in Turkey as a “witch-hunt.”
Turkey's witch-hunt kicks off. Former university rector, a govt critic, tweets that he is being arrested. https://t.co/psgC3R31Ir
— Mahir Zeynalov (@MahirZeynalov) July 17, 2016
“If Erdo?an regains power,” Turkish-American journalist with The Young Turks, Cenk Uygur, was quoted by The Inquisitr while the coup attempt was still in progress Friday evening. “He will be an immovable object. He will pass every draconian law.”
Zero Hedge has suggested that the speed with which President Erdo?an has mounted his counter-coup “witch-hunt” may be seen as a “clear indication” that the right-leaning leader was “prepared” for both the coup and its “inevitable outcome.”
The arrest of Dr. Mehmet Ate? may be the first in what is to become a list of academics and journalists prosecuted, not for causing harm, but for voicing points of view critical of Erdo?an. Zero Hedge writes that the next “critical” step for the Turkish president — if he indeed plans to consolidate his power — is to silence the “press and the educational system.”
The irony of President Erdo?an’s call for Turkish citizens to protest in the streets Friday, as the coup was underway, has not been lost on observers.
“Erdo?an has been no friend to free expression, ruthlessly asserting control over the media and restricting human rights and free speech,” the New York Times wrote with regard to the president’s seemingly increasingly draconian stance toward freedom of expression, political critics, and the right of the Turkish people to gather and demonstrate. It has been noted that, prior to Friday’s coup-attempt, Erdo?an’s forces had doused protestors with “fire water;” said to be made by mixing pepper spray into water cannons fired at demonstrators.
Demonstrators who took to Turkish streets on Friday were greeted with a seemingly different fate that those who chose to voice opinions critical of Erdo?an before the coup. All eyes in the international community will be on President Erdo?an and his counter-coup “witch-hunt;” observers will be taking note of the number of non-violent Erdo?an critics, such as Dr. Mehmet Ate?, who are taken into custody in the coming days.
“What happens next: an acceleration of the counter-putsch of course, with many more arrested, whose only crime is being guilty of criticizing the government.”
[Photo by Burak Kara/Getty Images]
