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The point is a coup is opposite to that of Democratically elected process. "Part of their purpose" means the democracy is a farce, and there was never a choice

The point is a coup is opposite to that of Democratically elected process. "Part of their purpose" means the democracy is a farce, and there was never a choice of the people.

darkmarmot 10y ago
Historically, the population has voted for dictatorial islamists -- and has been saved only by secular military intervention. It's the standard problem of having a democracy that votes to end democracy. In America, we get Trump, which is debatably similar...
bllguo 10y ago
The assumption that democracy is an undeniable good, that democratic government suits all nations, needs to be revisited.
- tonyedgecombe 10y ago
  It's not democracy that is the problem in Turkey.
edthrowaway 10y ago
Many horrible things have been done by democratically-elected governments. In my own country, slavery was actively promoted while we were still one of the world's few "democracies". And as we've seen in more modern times in Iraq and the Balkans, democracy and war-torn ethnically-divided territories do not always work well together. When I was younger, I thought of democracy as the end-all and be-all of political philosophies, since that the progressive march toward of the perfection of democracy is what was emphasized in school. As an adult, I've come to believe that a nation's true value is in to the extent it promotes the liberty and welfare of all its inhabitants, including minorities. By this metric, my country, the United States, often viewed as one of the world's "great democracies", is doing relatively poorly.
rtkwe 10y ago
In places that have a history of subverting democracy by voting in dictatorial leaders all on their own having an institution that is supposed to over throw them strengthens the democracy so long as it's functioning properly and only comes into play at the right times. It's easy to want a dictator when you're in the majority, they hold the beliefs you do and you're probably going to not be the groups oppressed (at first). Raw complete democracy doesn't have a good way of dealing with a majority wanting to repress a minority. So founders (at least smart ones) put checks in to balance that, in the US it takes the form of the Supreme Court and in Turkey they have the military as a final ultimate check. edit: Source for my original post (can't edit now) of the history of Turkish coups: http://www.aljazeera.com/news/europe/2012/04/20124472814687973.html http://www.aljazeera.com/news/europe/2012/04/201244728146879...

The point is a coup is opposite to that of Democratically elected process. "Part of their purpose" means the democracy is a farce, and there was never a choice of the people.

darkmarmot 10y ago

Historically, the population has voted for dictatorial islamists -- and has been saved only by secular military intervention. It's the standard problem of having a democracy that votes to end democracy. In America, we get Trump, which is debatably similar...

bllguo 10y ago

The assumption that democracy is an undeniable good, that democratic government suits all nations, needs to be revisited.

tonyedgecombe 10y ago
It's not democracy that is the problem in Turkey.

edthrowaway 10y ago

Many horrible things have been done by democratically-elected governments. In my own country, slavery was actively promoted while we were still one of the world's few "democracies". And as we've seen in more modern times in Iraq and the Balkans, democracy and war-torn ethnically-divided territories do not always work well together. When I was younger, I thought of democracy as the end-all and be-all of political philosophies, since that the progressive march toward of the perfection of democracy is what was emphasized in school. As an adult, I've come to believe that a nation's true value is in to the extent it promotes the liberty and welfare of all its inhabitants, including minorities. By this metric, my country, the United States, often viewed as one of the world's "great democracies", is doing relatively poorly.

rtkwe 10y ago

In places that have a history of subverting democracy by voting in dictatorial leaders all on their own having an institution that is supposed to over throw them strengthens the democracy so long as it's functioning properly and only comes into play at the right times. It's easy to want a dictator when you're in the majority, they hold the beliefs you do and you're probably going to not be the groups oppressed (at first). Raw complete democracy doesn't have a good way of dealing with a majority wanting to repress a minority. So founders (at least smart ones) put checks in to balance that, in the US it takes the form of the Supreme Court and in Turkey they have the military as a final ultimate check. edit: Source for my original post (can't edit now) of the history of Turkish coups: http://www.aljazeera.com/news/europe/2012/04/20124472814687973.html http://www.aljazeera.com/news/europe/2012/04/201244728146879...