"Collective Idiots"
donsutherland1, thank you for the informative post.
It seems this forum is stocked with morons, short on history lessons, that cannot discern the stark reality of ideology from its actual implementation, that are capable of distinguishing between elected parties that dismantle elections, and progressive change via a representative government.
The US further has a president and administration uneducated in the concept of
liberal democracy (link) as opposed to a simpleton's notion of democracy as abuse of individual liberty by the masses.
Quote:
Turkey - Government And Politics (link)
As of 2004, there were 50 registered political parties in the country, whose ideologies range from the far left to the far right.[29] The Constitutional Court can strip the public financing of political parties that it deems anti-secular or separatist, or ban their existence altogether
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Quote:
Turkish Armed Forces - Role Of The Military In Turkish Politics (link)
Since Mustafa Kemal Atatürk founded the modern secular Republic of Turkey in 1923, the Turkish military has perceived itself as the guardian of Kemalism, the official state ideology(link), even though Atatürk himself insisted on separating the military from politics. The TAF still maintains an important degree of influence over Turkish politics and the decision making process regarding issues related to Turkish national security, albeit decreased in the past decades, via the National Security Council.
The military has had a record of intervening in politics. Indeed, it assumed power for several periods in the latter half of the 20th century. It executed coups d'etat in 1960, 1971, and 1980. Most recently, it maneuvered the removal of an Islamic-oriented prime minister, Necmettin Erbakan, in 1997.[13]
In April 27, 2007, in advance of the November 4, 2007 presidential election, and in reaction to the politics of Abdullah Gül who has a past record of involvement in Islamist political movements and banned Islamist parties such as the Welfare Party, the army issued a statement of its interests. It said that the army is a party to "arguments" regarding secularism; that Islamism ran counter to the secular nature of the Turkish Republic, and to the legacy of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. The Army's statement ended with a clear warning that the Turkish Armed Forces stood ready to intervene if the secular nature of the Turkish Constitution is compromised, stating that "the Turkish Armed Forces maintain their sound determination to carry out their duties stemming from laws to protect the unchangeable characteristics of the Republic of Turkey. Their loyalty to this determination is absolute."
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