Whazzup in Turkey?

[tomahawk6]

This vote may have saved democracy in Turkey.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/08/world/europe/turkey-election-recep-tayyip-erdogan-kurds-hdp.html

ISTANBUL — Turkish voters delivered a rebuke on Sunday to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as his party lost its majority in Parliament in a historic election that dealt a blow to his ambition to rewrite Turkey’s Constitution and increase his power.

- mod edit of thread title to make it more general, not just elections -

 

[cupper]

It's interesting that the Kurds played a large part in blunting Erdogan's ambitions. Taking a gamble by running a unified campaign and finally getting representation in the Turkish Parliament may well put them into a much better bargaining position.

 

[jollyjacktar]

I'm glad to hear he's been slapped down.  Too bad it wasn't a total defeat.

 

[Kirkhill]

The Kurdish party opted to run as a unified slate, rather than field independent candidates as it had in the past. But it was a big risk: either it would reach the 10 percent threshold and enter Parliament, or it would be shut out, and its seats would have gone to the A.K.P.

In the city of Diyarbakir, in the Kurdish heartland in the southeast, celebrations broke out as people flooded the streets, dancing and setting off fireworks.

In Istanbul, Kurds saw the election as the culmination of decades of struggle, some of it waged violently by the Kurdistan Workers Party, or P.K.K., which has waged an insurgency from a base in northern Iraq for more political rights. In recent years Mr. Erdogan’s government had entered peace talks with the Kurds and violence ebbed, and Sunday’s vote raised hopes for a final deal.

“This is the victory of peace against war,” said Sirri Sureyya Onder, an H.D.P. official, speaking to a group of reporters after preliminary results were published.

I wonder if this means anything?  Is it possible that Turkey might be seeing benefits to a Kurdish Cordon between the Arabs/Persians/Jews and themselves?  Conceivably it could be used to justify moving the EU boundary to the Eastern edge of Turkey.  The Kurds have been getting the benefit of the doubt from the last few American administrations and have been showing themselves capable of acting strongly in their own defence - as well as being relatively tolerant and secular.

If there was a thinking President in the White House a strong Kurdish State would be just what the doctor ordered to upset both the Mullahs and the Caliphs.

 

[tomahawk6]

I think the best option for the Kurds is to work within the Turkish system.On their own they would have to deal with Iran.

 

[CougarKing]

Related updates on Turkey: perhaps it's time to change the thread title to "Time running out on Turkey's Erdogan?"

Reuters

Turkey faces fractious interim rule as PM gives up on forming new government
Tue Aug 18, 2015 11:00am EDT

By Orhan Coskun

ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu will formally give up trying to form the next government on Tuesday after weeks of coalition talks failed, raising the prospect of a fractious interim administration leading the country to a new election.

Davutoglu had been trying to find a junior coalition partner since the AK Party lost its parliamentary majority in an election in June, leaving it unable to govern alone for the first time since it came to power in 2002.

AKP spokesman Besir Atalay said Davutoglu would hand the mandate back to President Tayyip Erdogan at a meeting later on Tuesday, and that the party would hold a congress on Sept. 12. That meeting could be crucial for the its strategy going into a fresh election.

The NATO member has not seen this level of political uncertainty since the fragile coalition governments of the 1990s - turmoil it could do without as it takes on a frontline role in the U.S.-led campaign against Islamic State insurgents in Syria and battles Kurdish militants at home


(...SNIPPED)

Reuters

Turkish nationalists reject minority government in blow to Erdogan
Fri Aug 14, 2015 3:46pm EDT

By Orhan Coskun and Ercan Gurses

ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkey's nationalist opposition made clear on Friday it would not roll over and back a minority government, making President Tayyip Erdogan's aim of taking the country to a snap election with the ruling party in control look increasingly difficult.

Talks on forming a grand coalition between the AK Party and the main opposition CHP broke down on Thursday, making an autumn election almost inevitable and leaving the ruling party having to turn to the nationalist MHP for support.

The uncertainty comes as the NATO member faces a confluence of national security threats, battling Islamic State insurgents on its borders and Kurdish militants at home. The lira currency hit a record low on Friday and stocks were little recovered after sharp falls the previous session.

The AKP failed to hold onto its majority in an election on June 7, leaving it unable to govern alone for the first time since coming to power in 2002 and plunging Turkey into uncertainty not seen since the fragile coalitions of the 1990s.

(...SNIPPED)

 

[cupper]

Hmmm. Wonder how long before the Army decides that it is time again to step in and take over.

 

[Colin Parkinson]

He attacks the PPK to get them to attack Turkish targets in the hopes of creating a backlash against the Kurds in Turkey.

 

[CougarKing]

A Turkish coalition government with a pro-Kurdish opposition party?

Reuters

New Turkish cabinet includes opposition, but little policy change seen
Fri Aug 28, 2015 3:24pm EDT

By Gulsen Solaker and Orhan Coskun

ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu appointed nationalist and pro-Kurdish opposition politicians to an interim power-sharing cabinet on Friday, but left his finance and economy ministers unchanged in a team dominated by ruling party loyalists.

Davutoglu was forced to form the temporary cabinet after his AK Party failed to find a junior coalition partner following the loss of its parliamentary majority in a June election which ended more than a decade of single-party rule.

(...SNIPPED)

 

[tomahawk6]

Erdogan feels the need to expand Turkish borders southward.This naturally would upset the Kurds and Iraq. Erdogans southern border would include Iraqi oil centers. It would be a non-starter in the UN for sure,not to mention destabilizing.Throw into the mix Armenia's new  Russian-made advanced 9K720 Iskander Short-Range Ballistic Missile System.This is an export variant with a range of 280km.Naturally if the Iranians buy, some then Turkey wont be far behind.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/turkey-maps-reclaiming-ottoman-empire-200053589.html

 

[Kirkhill]

Erdogan feels the need to expand Turkish borders southward.This naturally would upset the Kurds and Iraq. Erdogans southern border would include Iraqi oil centers. It would be a non-starter in the UN for sure,not to mention destabilizing.Throw into the mix Armenia's new  Russian-made advanced 9K720 Iskander Short-Range Ballistic Missile System.This is an export variant with a range of 280km.Naturally if the Iranians buy, some then Turkey wont be far behind.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/turkey-maps-reclaiming-ottoman-empire-200053589.html

Actually, I'd let him go with it.  That would put all the Kurds, minus some in Iran, inside one set of borders.  Erdogan would then have to try and hold not only his borders against Syria and Iraq, he would also be fighting a unified Kurdish polity who would see the opportunity to connect their mountains to the sea at Iskanderun.  He would also have a whole bunch of non-Islamist muslims, as well as a bunch of unbelievers that, if they united with the modernists in Constantinople would end up squeezing the Hittites in Gordium.

 

[The Bread Guy]

... This naturally would upset the Kurds and Iraq ...

There's already a bit of sand in the gears along those lines ...
-- “Battle for Mosul: Turkey- Iraq row over ISIL operation”
-- “Iraq denies Turkey taking part in Mosul battles”
-- “#MosulOps: Iraq denies reports of Turkish military participation”

... as well as signs of at least SOME Kurds working with Iraq (for now, anyway) ...
-- “President Barzani hails historic coordination between Kurdish and Iraqi forces”

... and some with Turkey ...
-- "Turkey hits ISIS in Iraq following Kurdish request"

... as it moves to protect itself as well?
-- “Turkey to recruit 5,000 new ‘security guards’ for Kurdish regions”
#KurdsWithinKurds