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A coup foiled in Turkey?

ADEM ALTAN/AFP/Getty Images If you haven’t been paying attention to Turkey, this news may come as a shock. Turkish police have arrested 24 people for allegedly plotting a coup against the government. Among the accused are two retired generals and the head of Ankara’s chamber of commerce. Also today, prosecutors formally moved to shut down ...

By , a former managing editor of Foreign Policy.
594345_080701_erdogan5.jpg
594345_080701_erdogan5.jpg

ADEM ALTAN/AFP/Getty Images

ADEM ALTAN/AFP/Getty Images

If you haven’t been paying attention to Turkey, this news may come as a shock. Turkish police have arrested 24 people for allegedly plotting a coup against the government. Among the accused are two retired generals and the head of Ankara’s chamber of commerce.

Also today, prosecutors formally moved to shut down the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) on the grounds that the prime minister is trying to establish an Islamic state, a no-no for a country founded by the staunchly secular Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.

We’ve seen this movie before, when the Turkish military forced a similar moderate Islamist party to resign in 1997 for the same basic reason. What’s different this time is that the AKP has been a smashing success — it has modernized the economy, enacted dozens of political reforms, and is hugely popular at the ballot box. What happens now is anybody’s guess, but I’d be surprised if the military wins so easily this time.

Blake Hounshell is a former managing editor of Foreign Policy.

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