Alexandra Bruce – A story about the weird coup in Turkey belongs here today but there is a distinct Reichstag aroma in the air and we’re still trying to sort it out.

It certainly seems unlikely that Fethullah Güllen, the US-based moderate Sunni cleric accused by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of staging the coup is personally guilty of anything of the kind. The brand of Islam preached by Güllen is refreshingly tolerant of other faiths and embraces science, maths and equal opportunity of education for girls and boys.

On the other hand, the Turkish military has historically defended the secular state founded by Kemal Atatürk against past Executive leaders, who like Erdogan began to impose a more theocratic order. The Turkish Army has staged two such coups over the past century and this coup had the ear markings of another of these except that there are indications that it was actually staged by Erdogan.

Continue reading →