As was totally expected the current state of emergency has been extended for a further three months. Not unreasonable some might think, given that France has had an extended state of emergency due to concerns over domestic terrorism.
However, what is concerning is how these extraordinary powers have been used to to carry out purges in the civil service, the Polis, the military, education, the media and the judiciary - another thirteen thousand Polis sacked and now being investigated for "links to terrorism" just this week. There have been various figures bandied about relating to the total number of folks detained, suspended or dismissed as a result of these post coup purges, anywhere from 98,000 (semi officialish figure) up to 200,000 (unofficial figure). Its got to the point that many schools in the east of the country are closed - they simply don't have any teachers left.
A few facts are clear though - there are 32,000 folks locked up with no imminent prospect of a trial. That figure includes 110 journalists who in the main are guilty of nothing more than writing the facts and giving their opinion. Over 250 companies turning over billions of shoeboxes per annum have been seized and taken into government control, close to 140 media outlets (TV stations, newspapers, magazines etc) have also been seized and subsequently silenced, hundreds of schools, colleges, universities and hospitals have been seized and closed down - this isn't a fight against terrorism anymore, this is a "lets get rid of or silence anyone who doesn't agree with us" campaign.
Unfortunately all that sh1t is just peripheral. Its noise.
As it stands, the ruling party can do what they like, literally. They could ban bananas tomorrow and by Friday you'd be eating apple splits. That's the way government works under a state of emergency.
To the wee man, this is the opportunity he's been waiting for, he told the country's muhtars this week that the state of emergency could last for up to a year. I don't think there is much doubt in many folks minds what his end game will be. He told parliament this week that the only way forward for Turkey is a new constitution and we know what style of future presidency he has in mind.
The effect on the Turkish economy is marked. The international credit agency Moodys downgraded Turkeys status to "junk", the lira has gradually crept back to over three to the dollar and the governments economic forecasts have gone right out the window. The only bright light on that front is that inflation has dropped slightly, sitting around 7.3% just now.
All this crap going on has made me wonder what the future holds for Turkey, mainly for the guy in the street not the ex pats with pensions and foreign passports. They can enjoy the sun shining, the cold beer and the cheap cost of living for as long as they want, but if things go really pear shaped then its off to the next place, so to speak.
Tourism has played a large part in keeping food on the table and a roof over folks heads for the past twenty years or so, and the extraordinarily poor season this year has affected thousands of families, not just along the coast but in Istanbul also. Keeping the country under a state of emergency is not going to help, the US still state "U.S. citizens should still carefully consider the need to travel to Turkey at this time."
What will 2017 bring? Will a cheap lira be enough to tempt folks (who don't own holiday homes) to Turkey given the political situation?
JF
PS: Yeah I know, its a bit of a rant BWTF.
