Parallel Lines

Is there a parallel to be drawn between the current coup underway in Turkey and what happened in Egypt three years ago? To me, it appears so. Mohamed Morsi, with the tacit support of President Obummer, was elected President in Egypt in a supposedly free election. So was Recep Erdogan reelected in Turkey ... also with a nod from the current U.S. administration. Morsi rapidly began to consolidate his undemocratic control in Cairo by seeding secular Egyptian institutions with his Muslim Brotherhood cronies and fomenting radical unrest. Erdogan has clearly departed from General Mustafa Ataturk's secular vision for Turkish government and has more gradually reimposed autocratic Muslim strictures on the media and those who elected him. He has also been playing footsie with ISIS by allowing it to smuggle Syrian oil and refuges through his country ... and foreign fighters to join ISIS. Morsi clearly found the levers of power intoxicating and lined his and the Muslim Brotherhood's pockets. Erdogan recently built himself a super extravagant  $615 million royal palace ... see: Yahoo New Story ... and his son has been accused of benefiting from ISIS oil smuggling.

Morsi's excesses and attempts to crush Egypt's democracy finally inspired huge street riots and its military to stop this country's slide into a caliphate. General Abdel el-Sisi ousted Morsi who is now on trial with the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood for murder and crimes against the state. Now, Turkey is going through a similarly coup to try to wrest Erdogan firmer grip on power. Whether this coup succeeds is still very much an open question. If it doesn't prevail, the Middle East will certainly experience a great deal more innocent bloodshed.

True to form, the Obummer administration is supporting Erdogan in this putsch attempt whereas I can't help but wonder if Russia's Putin might not be pulling some other strings in this puppet show ... and he doesn't like to lose.

We should know the results of this Turkey trot fairly soon. Is Erdogan gone? Let us hope so ...

Afterward: Bloody failure ... see: Daily Mail Story. Did Erdogan set this up to cleanse things?

More: And now others are speculating the same thing ... see: Daily Mail Story.