Al Monitor | Cengiz Candar: July 15 marked the first anniversary of last year's botched military coup in Turkey. The date has been officially deemed “Day of Democracy and National Unity," and the celebration ceremonies and commemoration of the “martyrs” who lost their lives during the turmoil on that night and during the early hours of July 16 revealed deep divisions within Turkish society. Those splits and further polarization exposed on the first anniversary of the failed putsch were accentuated by the two articles published in the British daily The Guardian.


One was by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan titled “Turkey, a year after the attempted coup, is defending democratic values.”

Erdogan wrote in his op-ed piece, “The thwarting of the coup marked a turning point in the history of democracy; it will be a source of hope and inspiration for all peoples who live under dictators.”

Yet he then followed by directing venomous criticism toward Turkey’s Western allies, writing, “Unfortunately Turkey’s allies, particularly our friends in the west, have been unable to fully appreciate the significance of what happened. … Their hypocrisy and double standards deeply disturbed the Turkish people, who risked everything to defend freedom.”

The other was an op-ed by Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the main opposition leader of Turkey, titled “In the year since Turkey’s failed coup, democracy has become near dictatorship.”

The Republican People's Party leader wrote, “In the year since, Turkish democracy has given way to a near-dictatorial regime. Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the president, exploited the crisis to declare a state of emergency, led a purge against all oppositional voices and started ruling by decree."



Read More Here