Turkey to suffer more instability after Erdogan election: Analyst

Press TV has interviewed William Jones, a member of the Executive Intelligence Review in Leesburg, to discuss the White House’s concerns over the intimidation of journalists critical of the Turkish government during the country’s recent parliamentary election.

Following is a rough transcription of the interview.

Press TV: Why is it that the US has chosen to voice its displeasure against this campaign of intimidation against journalists after the elections?

Jones: It is rather surprising. They have gone out so strongly given that Turkey has been kind of their prize cash cow in terms of the region and a member of NATO.

I think the blatancy of the violations were so great that something had to be said. Of course, it would have been better to say that before the election, which they did not do; might have changed the nature of the whole thing, but it is also very doubtful since the AKP [Justice and Development Party] administration is simply intent on disenfranchising the Kurds, who won heavily in the last election; and they want to go further with these reforms of making Erdogan a president in power, essentially giving him imperial powers in Turkey against the Constitution itself and now they have the means of doing that.

Why the United States acts now? I think as one handed was so blatant that the violations and the abuses were so great that one could not keep silent, but there is also practical reason that the United States is trying to engage against the ISIL in the region, and Turkey, with its own agenda, is putting the brake on it by going against the Kurds, by targeting some of the Kurdish fighters, which are really in the breach in the fight against ISIL.

So there are a number of different motives that are involved here, but I think the basic fact is that this election just stank to high heaven and nobody could really hold their peace and let it go by.

Press TV: How much of an effect or impact will this criticism have, particularly when, as you have just mentioned, Turkey’s role when it comes to terror groups like Daesh and also let’s not forget it is a conduit for the refugees who are crossing into Europe and Turkey has tried to use that card as leverage?

Jones: Very much so. I do not think it will have much of an effect. I think ... there will be more and more confrontations between Turkey and many of the other parties that are fighting ISIL, because of this hidden agenda. I think what you are going to see, however internally, is a lot of instability within Turkey. The Kurdish minority, which is really stronger than was indicated in this election, now feels themselves disenfranchised, and that is going to cause a lot of social unrest. So while there is certain amount of euphoria among Erdogan and his supporters at this point, I think it is going to be a very serious and a very unstable situation internally for Turkey as well as externally in the situation with ISIL that they are going to have to face. They are going to probably rue the day that they have moved in this direction sooner rather than later.

Press TV: And so do you think there will be more crackdown on journalists that are critical of Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government? 

Jones: I think they are certainly trying to do that. Erdogan wants to carry through his program and to really make himself the Czar and he is not going to brook any opposition, and I do not know; they are just saying things coming from the West, it is going to have an effect unless some kind of force behind it in terms of sanctions or whatever can be exerted on Turkey in that respect.

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