Erdogan mission to become sultan over Turkey nears completion

[Arcade22]

Turkey’s president has approved a major constitutional reform bill granting him broad new powers under an executive presidential system, paving the way for a referendum on the bill on 16 April.

The 18-article bill was passed by parliament last month without garnering the two-thirds majority needed to become law.President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s approval allows the changes to go to a referendum in the deeply polarised country, which is still under emergency law.

The constitutional overhaul would allow Erdoğan to run for two more terms in office, potentially governing as a powerful executive until 2029. It is backed by the ruling Justice and Development party (AKP) and its nationalist allies in parliament.

Critics of the bill say it would lead to one-man rule with few checks and balances on the president by a loyalist parliament, allowing Erdoğan to consolidate power amid a widescale purge of civil servants and a crackdown on opposition media and political parties.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2...n-approves-constitutional-boost-to-his-powers

Wasting no time while Turkey is on lockdown under a state of emergency Erdogan may finally get what he wanted for so long: to openly rule Turkey effectively as an autocrat with a rubber-stamp parliament.

He's not content with being de-facto most politically powerful individual, despite only being a largely ceremonial president. He must cement his place in history as the person who tore away the facade of democracy.

 

[theprestige]

Huh. It's almost literally Hitler.

 

[ponderingturtle]

Huh. It's almost literally Hitler.

Putin is probably a better comparison.

 

[theprestige]

Putin is probably a better comparison.

I dunno. Changing the form of government to remove checks and balances, placing more power in the hands of a single executive, seems pretty Hitlerian.

 

[Giz]

Huh. It's almost literally Hitler.

Pffft. Don't you know that on this forum we reserve Hitler comparisons for Trump?

 

[twinstead]

Pffft. Don't you know that on this forum we reserve Hitler comparisons for Trump?

I actually compare Trump more to Erdogan than Hitler.

 

[Giz]

I actually compare Trump more to Erdogan than Hitler.

I think Berlusconi is appropriate for Trump: venal, narcissistic, conflict of interests, buffoon.


Trump hasn't gone the Erdogan route yet. He bears watching, but it's not very similar so far.

 

[twinstead]

Trump hasn't gone the Erdogan route yet. He bears watching, but it's not very similar so far.

True, but he bears watching. Turkey and the US have more in common than many people know. Both are deeply devided

 

[dudalb]

I dunno. Changing the form of government to remove checks and balances, placing more power in the hands of a single executive, seems pretty Hitlerian.

It applies to both Putin and Hitler, and good many other "elected dictators" as well.

 

[dudalb]

I think the idea of Democracy is under attack now more then any other time since the 1940's.

 

[dudalb]

True, but he bears watching. Turkey and the US have more in common than many people know. Both are deeply devided

True, but the US has a much stronger tradition of Democracy then Turkey did.
But agree that Trump needs to be closely watched.

 

[ponderingturtle]

True, but the US has a much stronger tradition of Democracy then Turkey did.
But agree that Trump needs to be closely watched.

The military had their history of pro democracy coups in turkey. Hopefully the US military would follow their example.

 

[dudalb]

THe fatal flaw with Turkey's constitution is that it was too easy to change. It should be hard to change a consituion...not impossible, but hard. That is one reason the US Constituion has survived.

 

[NWO Sentryman]

The military had their history of pro democracy coups in turkey. Hopefully the US military would follow their example.

The moment coup d'etats become a thing, there is no going back. As Latin America how that turned out, with its regular Juntas.

 

[twinstead]

The moment coup d'etats become a thing, there is no going back. As Latin America how that turned out, with its regular Juntas.

I'm concerned with the US adapting some sort of Lèse majesté laws. You'd be surprised how many Trump supporters I know who have no problem with the idea of people going to jail for defaming him

 

[dudalb]

I'm concerned with the US adapting some sort of Lèse majesté laws. You'd be surprised how many Trump supporters I know who have no problem with the idea of people going to jail for defaming him

I am am still amazed that a full scale Personality Cult has sprung up in the US. We have usually been pretty resistant to that thing on a wide scale.
I don't think it will happen, though. The right to bitch about the POTUS is a right too many Americans like for it to be taken away without a monumental fight,which I doubt the Lese Majersters will win.

 

[CapelDodger]

I think the idea of Democracy is under attack now more then any other time since the 1940's.

I think it's more a matter of demcracy's defences being weaker now than anytime since the 30's. Just like then, for a lot of people democratic capitalism is no longer delivering. It delivered for most people until the Great Depression, and it did again until the Chicago School Discontinuity of 1979-80, but now the likes of Trump can appeal to a growing population for which it isn't delivering. I think of them as the Trumpen Proletariat.

The likes of Putin can point to Trump and say "That's what an unmanaged democracy throws up". The US has a Yeltsin period - is that what Russians want? Or the Chinese? I think not. Democracy is a bloody hard sell in the world today, as it was in the 30's.

 

[CapelDodger]

True, but the US has a much stronger tradition of Democracy then Turkey did.

Turkey has less than a century's tradition of national statehood, let alone democracy. Born in war, for most of its national history Army and Nation have been synonymous. And, in the Middle East, nationalism and secularism were synonymous until very recently. Democracy had to be managed to keep religious influence out.

But agree that Trump needs to be closely watched.

Don't look at him. Look at Bannon and the like.

 

[CapelDodger]

from twinstead :

I'm concerned with the US adapting some sort of Lèse majesté laws. You'd be surprised how many Trump supporters I know who have no problem with the idea of people going to jail for defaming him

It would never get through Congress. Not even Republicans would pass what is in effect a gag-order on themselves.

 

[dudalb]

from twinstead :


It would never get through Congress. Not even Republicans would pass what is in effect a gag-order on themselves.

The right to call the President Insulting names is very close to the heart of Americans,and any attempt to take it away would result in the political demise of anybody attempting it.