The world witnessed one of the worst instances of an attempted coup in modern times, inTurkey, last Friday. With over 265 people dead; 1,440 injured; 2,839 soldiers arrested and over 9000 suspected coup plotters under investigation and likely to face the death penalty if convicted, (if we read Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s body language correctly), the attempt at a forcible takeover of power in that country is a tragedy of immense proportions.
Now, the world watches with bated breath as over 9000 people, including  over 100 Generals and the Deputy PM are being investigated for involvement in the coup attempt.  In a way, but for the fact that a coup has become an outdated, discredited and absolutely unacceptable way of changing a government in modern times, the attempted coup is Turkey would not have come as a surprise to anyone.  For one, the country’s President Erdogan has for long been engaged in running battles with many segments of the Turkish population, including the media, with some of its journalists in jail. There has also, for many years now, been no love lost in Erdogan’s relationship with some high ranking political and religious figures within and outside the country, one of whom he has alluded to as being behind the plot to overthrow him.
But even then, a coup would be one of the last things to expect from any right-thinking person today, including the opposition figures in this Euro-Asian country that straddles both continents.
For one, such an enterprise could not have enjoyed the backing of the global community which it would require to legitimize itself. It was also bound to be resisted by the segments of the population which still support Erdogan. The idea was bound to lead to massive shedding of blood, which is exactly what happened in Turkey last week. The planners and executors of the coup ought, therefore, not to have contemplated such an action and it is expected that people of similar inclinations in all parts of the world will learn the necessary lessons from the disaster in Turkey.
Sadly, the history of governance in Turkey has always been inexorably linked to the military. The country, since the time of Attaturk and the Ottoman Empire, has been under the military for much of its existence and, from what can be gleaned in the recent coup attempt, its military has quite not let go of the idea of being at the commanding heights of the nation, once again.
But, beyond the role of the military in Turkish history is the fact that the forceful removal of elected governments, no matter how unpopular they are, has become anathema in today’s world. And, it is good that the entire world is telling the coup planners in Turkey just this.
There is a generally acceptable way of removing unpopular governments. This is through the ballot. Although some leaders have made this virtually impossible through the various ways that they manipulate their country’s electoral processes in order to remain in office in perpetuity, this does not make the staging of a coup acceptable. This is more so as an election was held in the country in the country just last year which appeared to somehow vindicate Erdogan’s support base.
President Erdogan has won nine elections in Turkey in the last 14 years. He won three parliamentary elections, three municipal elections, two referenda and a presidential election. What this suggests is that he is as much loved as he is hated in the country, and cannot easily be removed without the kind of bloodshed we saw in the country last week.
Now that the deed has been done and the investigations are ongoing, it behooves the Turkish authorities to be thorough in their investigations and respect the rights of all suspects. The country outlawed the death penalty some years ago in its bid to join the European Union. From all indications, Erdogan may be on the way to bringing it back to deal with the coup plotters. He has told the world that this is the demand of the people of the country and has expressed his exception to the continuing feeding for life of the high number of the people suspected to be involved in the plot.
He should, however, not take advantage of the situation to terminate the lives of those he suspects to be involved in the plot. Beyond the demands of his angry nation, and the need to completely remove the virus of rebellion from the country, he needs to consider the high number of suspects and not turn the country into a bloodbath by executing them all, even if they are guilty of the offence. This is because the death penalty is a sanction that has been rejected in most parts of the world and Turkey should not reverse its rejection of the practice simply because of this coup attempt.
Already, America where the immensely popular opposition figure and cleric who has been said by Ferdogan to be behind the plot resides, has asked for evidence of his involvement in the coup attempt if he is to be extradited to Turkey. This is a fair enough request. Let the Turkish authorities conduct their investigations and come up with incontrovertible evidence of the involvement of all categories of suspects before dragging them to justice.  Erdogan deserves congratulations for surviving this coup attempt. His loyalists who helped to foil the coup also did a great service to their country and to democracy.
The high number of people involved in the plot, however, should send a strong message to Erdogan and his supporters on the need to pursue reconciliation and peace in Turkey. It is not good to have the country divided right down the middle, and to have such a large number of citizens against the president. Erdogan needs to rethink the repression of the media in his  country and work to bring all its people together in his efforts to build a greater country. He needs to rethink the serial human rights violations in Turkey that has been acknowledged throughout the civilised world. His  arbitrary detention of citizens and restriction of the opposition Fethullah Gullen movement from the internet and the media in his country during the last elections raised questions on his democratic credentials.
The failed coup should be a good lesson to  people throughout the world to be circumspect in the choice of their leaders and to abide by their country’s constitutions in their efforts to change them, once they have been elected into office. Coups are an aberration and the earlier this sinks into the consciousness of all the better for the world.

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