The corruption scandal rocking Turkey shows no signs of abatement. Already dozens of high ranking officials and their close associates have either resigned, been jailed, or brought into questioning. The New York Times reports that even Erdogan’s own son appears to have been summoned for questioning. In the ensuing counteroffensive launched by the Erdogan administration to stifle the investigation over 2,000 police officers have been dismissed.
Erdogan’s latest offensive, however, targets the increasingly insubordinate Turkish media. For years already, Erdogan’s regime had imprisoned more journalists than anywhere else in the world, even China and Iran. For the most part, these intimidatory tactics have successfully ensured the compliance of the media.
The explosive details of this unprecedented corruption scandal have, however, made it impossible for some journalists to ignore. Mehmet Baransu is one such journalist who has continued to leak incriminating documents and photographs on his website. In turn, Baransu’s website has been censored in Turkey and he has been notified of an impending lawsuit against him by Erdogan himself.
As mentioned in previous blog posts, the corruption investigation is believed to have been initiated in secret by supporters of Fethullah Gulen, a former ally of Erdogan’s currently living in Pennsylvania. The scandal has, however, ballooned beyond an internal power struggle between like-minded moderate Islamists, and now appears the threaten the very legitimacy the current regime.
For a broad overview of the scandal, check out Bloomberg.
A few months ago, I wrote about the early stages of the conflict in Ukraine through the lens of Sun Tzu’s The Art of War. While it appears likely that the war will carry on into the foreseeable future, enough time has passed for us to make an honest assessment of each side’s relative […]
The Ukrainian Army has made dramatic strides in the last few weeks. Ukraine’s tactical commanders have outfoxed their Russian counterparts, and by issuing a feint towards the south the UA has been able to earn substantial gains in the north of their country. The impact of these efforts have been compounded by the steady stream […]
In mid-May the Irish political party, Sinn Féin, won the plurality of seats in the Northern Ireland Assembly. Many American readers might not fully understand the significance of Sinn Féin’s political victory- but rest assured that subjects of the United Kingdom and a wide range of political movements the world over have heard the message […]
The first wave of the Russian offensive in Ukraine has fallen short of Russian autocrat Vladmir Putin’s ambitions. Most analysts deduced that Putin had hoped to achieve a decapitation strike of the Ukrainian government- taking Kiev and replacing Ukrainian President Vladimir Zolinski with a pro-Kremlin voice. Kiev has been threatened repeatedly through the course of […]
On the weekend of March 26th, the notorious MS-13 gang went on a massive killing spree in El Salvador which left more than 70 people dead by Sunday. Even for a country where powerful gangs hold massive sway, this recent tragedy stands out considering that it was the bloodiest day on record since the civil […]
