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A strategically opportune moment
The Turkish president has seen an opportunity to get rid of yet another opponent, Český rozhlas comments:
“His long-standing exiled adversary Fetullah Gülen is dead and another opponent, Abdullah Öcalan, who’s serving a life sentence, has called on the Kurdish PKK to lay down its arms. The eyes of the world are elsewhere and Turkey is trying to make the most of the regime change in Syria and perhaps elsewhere in the wider region. That said, it’s also possible that parts of Turkish society will not let Erdoğan’s latest attempt to outsmart democracy pass.”
Erdoğan needn’t fear pressure from the West
Any criticism from Europe will probably fall on deaf ears with the Turkish president, writes the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung:
“Erdoğan knows that he is an indispensable partner for the Europeans, in migration policy, in Syria and in the Ukraine war. So he needn’t fear being put under serious pressure by them. The criticism from the German government and other European states will leave him cold. All the more so as Washington has let it be known that it will not interfere in the internal affairs of other countries. Consequently, Erdoğan can feel encouraged by Donald Trump.”
Europe must defend the rule of law and democracy
De Volkskrant rejects the idea that Turkey’s military strength means that the EU has to rely on Erdoğan:
“The EU not only needs to strengthen its defence, it must also be clear about what it is defending: democracy, pluralism and the rule of law. Democracy is already being eroded from within by Hungary, Slovakia and radical and far-right parties that are growing stronger and stronger in many member states. European democrats are becoming increasingly isolated in a world where autocracy is on the rise. The EU must therefore fight to defend democracy and the rule of law in its own part of the world. That means keeping a man like Erdoğan at arm’s length.”
An unstable ally
Political scientist Ronald Meinardus comments on To Vima:
“The signs indicate that the controversial deepening of relations between Turkey and the EU is not yet a foregone conclusion. … To be accepted as an ally in a new European security architecture, Turkey must first abandon its ambivalent attitude towards Moscow and explicitly oppose the aggressor Putin with words and deeds. Erdoğan’s authoritarianism makes this rapprochement with Europe even more difficult. The arrest of his greatest domestic rival may not provoke any major protests in the White House, but Erdogan’s authoritarianism remains an important issue for Europe, which is largely characterised by liberal democratic values.”
In Putin’s footsteps
Turkey increasingly resembles an authoritarian state, Večernji list explains:
“With the arrest of Istanbul mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu and the open repression of the opposition, Turkey looks more and more like Vladimir Putin’s Russia and Belarus under Alexander Lukashenka. Like them, Erdoğan leaves nothing to chance; he doesn’t defeat his opponents in elections but eliminates them with court proceedings and prison sentences. Opposition leaders not only lose political influence, but also become the victims of staged court cases and their supporters of brutal police violence. Like Putin, Erdoğan uses the judiciary as a tool against political rivals. … Turkey is increasingly moving away from democracy and closer to the model of rule of Russia and Belarus.”
A bad role model for the world
The events in Turkey could set a precedent, fears Népszava:
“The question is whether the Turks, who trust in the restoration of democracy, are strong enough to resist, or whether the current protests will end up like the 2013 demonstrations in Gezi Park, which were ultimately broken up by the police. … The current events in Turkey are a warning to the whole world: after Budapest and Ankara, political leaders in more and more countries could become even more authoritarian now that they no longer need fear Washington. It is to be feared that Erdoğan may also give Viktor Orbán tips on what tricks he can use against his biggest political rival, Péter Magyar.”