Turkey coup wasn’t a military coup against a civilian authority – Saqlain Imam
Editor’s note: Erdogan’s support for Al Qaeda and ISIS against the Syrian Government is a continued cause for concern. It would not be outlandish to suggest that this failed coup attempt could be another False Flag operation by Erdogan to further erode Turkey’s struggling Institutions and concentrate more power within his family, cabal and himself. Refer to this Zero Hedge report (available on my timeline for hyperlink img). We need a more nuanced discussion than the simplistic and typical binaries and comparisons being offered in the local media and this post is a good starting point.
Turkey coup wasn’t a military coup against a civilian authority in a traditional sense of the word; it was a mutiny of some factions in the army against the top brass of the forces. Since top brass was not behind the coup therefore it was doomed right from the beginning. However, this coup has degraded the Turkish military’s traditional discipline and caused irreparable damage to this standing. Even if this coup had succeeded it had to fail. Such coups succeed when they are inspired by some revolutionary ideas.
Those Pakistani analysts who are trying to compare Turkey’s botched mutiny with any feared coup in Pakistan are living in a delusional world. God forbid, if there would be a coup in Pakistan it won’t be a mutiny, it would be a take-over ordered or prompted by the top military brass.
Moreover, due to strengthening of the political system and better governance in Turkey the military’s political position as power centre had already been degraded. However, Pakistan presents a different picture: military leadership in Pakistan is popular and trusted more than political/civilian leadership; apart from this, political/civilian leadership has been failing in Pakistan both in terms of strengthening democratic institutions and providing good governance. So the the fear is that if Pakistani military interfered, the people of Pakistan are less likely to resist any coup the way Turks resisted last night’s mutiny.
Therefore, the lesson for Pakistan is that if the civilian leadership wants to protect civilian rule then they need to either build democratic institutions and improve governance otherwise be ready for any eventuality.