In one of my first posts on the coup attempt in Turkey, I mentioned that Daniel Pipes had written a 2015 article asserting that Erdogan’s 2014 electoral victory was bogus. Many people in the west who have championed Erdogan against … Continue reading →
Now they’ve come for the teachers. It’s purge time. Yes, that coup certainly was fortuitous for (or staged by) our Turkish democracy champ, Erdogan: Turkey’s post-coup crackdown took a more sinister turn on Tuesday after tens of thousands of teachers … Continue reading →
Here’s an Erdogan quote on democracy, made in the 1990s when Erdogan was the mayor of Istanbul: “Democracy is like a train: when you reach your destination, you get off.” Well, can’t say he didn’t warn us. And Turkey may … Continue reading →
What a sad sad day. As commenter “Yancey Ward” writes: I think it possible, even likely, that Erdogan staged the coup himself, or knew it was coming in advance and allowed the plotter so openly hang themselves. Literally, Erdogan couldn’t … Continue reading →
Here’s Matt Yglesias: Picture Donald Trump on a series of calls with advisors and heads of government from around the region, and inside the NATO alliance, devising a constructive response to a coup attempt in Turkey. Good luck… …[T]o be … Continue reading →
I was watching Fox News about an hour ago and most of the commentators seemed to be guessing that the coup in Turkey has failed and Erdogan is in control. If true, this would not be a good outcome. The … Continue reading →
Very disturbing news: A search is under way for an EgyptAir flight from Paris to Cairo which has disappeared with 56 passengers and 10 crew on board – including one British national. The fate of the plane is not yet … Continue reading →
I concur with this prediction: There will be no liberation of Mosul in 2016. The Islamic State will outlive the U.S. administration whose lapses in Syria and Iraq helped to create it. It will be the ugliest piece of Barack … Continue reading →
[Hat tip: commenter “sdferr.”] I actually have come to the point of such skepticism about the press that I take nearly everything I read there with a grain of salt. But with that caveat, here’s an extremely lengthy article (and … Continue reading →
The recent sexual gropings in the New Year’s Eve crowds in various European capitals, apparently perpetrated by gangs of Muslim men on local women, have thrown Europe’s progressives into turmoil. They are being presented with the dilemma of choosing between … Continue reading →
There’s been a discussion in the comments section about the attitude of the Founders towards Islam, and how it relates to freedom of religion, and I thought I’d add some background. At the outset, when the principles of freedom of … Continue reading →
Helsinki has had some problems much like Cologne’s, but not quite as widespread: Asylum seekers who met in central Helsinki to celebrate New Years’s Eve “had similar plans” to commit sexual assault and other crimes as those who targeted women … Continue reading →