Tourist Leverage

Apparently democratically-elected Islamists are inclined toward the tyrannical takeovers of their governments. We saw this develop in Egypt where President Mohamed Morsi jumped on a fast horse to try to outrun his political opposition ... and ended up angering many of his supporters and found himself and most of his posse behind bars after street rioting and a military coup ... see: BBC Story.

Now President Erdogan of Turkey is following this same game plan by arresting 27 of his opponents on trumped-up charges ... trying to cement his control over this Muslim country (which is also a member of NATO) ... see: Yahoo News Story. Certainly and rightfully, Erdogan's despotic moves have also estranged many countries in Europe and, I hope, many of those voters who mistakenly put him into office.

President Erdogan seems so anxious to rid Turkey of its secular heritage that he might find himself in the same super-steam bath that Morsi drew for himself. I would like to be sensitive enough to the Turkish psyche to be able to predict the outcome of this passion play. But, if tourism falls off in Turkey like it fell off in Egypt, I think that this might be a catalyst in the overthrow of this caliphate-loving Caesar. Economics very often trumps ideology.

My wife wanted us to take a cruise next year that stopped in Turkey. After some discussion about the situation there, we decided to forgo this junket. This is a shame ... for Turkey was on our bucket list and there isn't much water left in our collective pail. But, if many other tourists passing such an opportunity up, means that Erdogan, like Morsi, also must dine on bread and water for a number of years, it all would be well worth it.