Turkey’s Hypocrisy 11-6-2018

                                  

6, November 2018              Turkey’s Hypocrisy

Relations between Turkey and America continue their downward spiral even after the release of American pastor, Andrew Brunson. The preacher had been detained and convicted by Turkey’s pro-government press long before he was sentenced in court. Brunson was accused of being a spy relating to the failed coup against President Erdogan.

The release of Brunson had little to do with the pursuit of justice and everything to do with Turkey’s declining economy.  The Turkish lira was already in a tailspin.

Yet that did not stop Erdogan making the audacious claim that Brunson’s release was proof of Turkey’s “independent and impartial” judiciary. What Chutzpah!

Erdogan’s non-stop drumbeat of the killing of Jamal Khashoggi by the Saudis was a further effort to deflect Turkey’s appalling record on human rights abuses.

Several American nationals remain in prison in Turkey, alongside tens of thousands of people arrested on spurious grounds following the failed coup.

The crackdown on dissidents, journalists and alleged coup plotters in Turkey seems to confirm what many observers have long suspected: Turkish democracy is dead, and President Erdogan’s grip on society is tighter than ever.