The AKP's path to the coup

A July 27 cartoon by popular Turkish cartoonist Musa Kart speaks volumes. Ruminating after the failed coup attempt, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is depicted wondering, “Somewhere I didn’t make a mistake, but where?” Indeed, the list of the Justice and Development Party’s (AKP) wrongs is so long that the rights are hardly discerned.

After 14 years of AKP rule, Turkey is in turmoil. The events that led to this state of affairs boil down to one simple reason: the AKP’s skewed understanding of democracy and popular will.

The toll of the July 15 coup attempt, blamed on followers of US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, is staggering. Some 250 civilians were killed and around 1,500 injured. As of July 28, about 16,000 people were detained, including 9,000 in jail pending trial. Close to 50,000 public employees were dismissed, and 149 generals and admirals, roughly 40% of the total, were expelled from the military. Dozens of media outlets were shut down, and arrest warrants were issued for more than 50 journalists. The pre-charge detention period was extended from four to 30 days. The crackdown is being conducted through legislative decrees, made possible under the emergency rule declared after the coup attempt.

The first harbinger of the current turmoil was perhaps the 2010 referendum on constitutional changes that profoundly reshaped the judiciary. Erdogan drummed up popular support for the amendments, arguing they would end the supremacy of elites and make the judiciary truly independent and impartial. Soon, however, Erdogan and his aides would admit that Gulenist judges and prosecutors took advantage of the amendments to take control of the judiciary. This admission, however, happened only after massive corruption probes targeted government ministers and Erdogan’s family in December 2013, shattering the decadelong alliance between the AKP and the Gulen community.