First of all, I would like to point out that not all Europeans share the same opinion over the blood-stained coup attempt recently experienced in Turkey. It is known that numerous European people look at the subject within the framework of democracy and human rights, determinedly reacted against the heinous coup attempt and are grieved by the loss of people who were killed while struggling against the coup. However, when the leading actors of European politics and media are considered, it can be seen that they pursue an ambiguous policy by focusing on who would rule after the coup instead of determinedly reacting against the coup. They acted the same way in the face of former coups staged or attempted in Turkey, Egypt, and Algeria. Within the framework of interest-focused policies, they seem to lean towards the coup that might overthrow a government that does not align with their policies, and object to the coup if it would happen to bring the parties they dislike to power. It is not hard to explain this interest and power-focused approach in the scope of the general principles of international politics. We should not allow their anti-coup remarks to deceive us since they issued these remarks after understanding that the attempt they originally supported resulted in a failure. Unless a coup is plotted by them from the very beginning, they support or object to the coup based on their political interests. Their statements underlining “siding with the legitimate government” and “defending democracy” carry little significance.
Europe does not support Turkey’s fight against FETÖ
To comprehend the policies of our Western “allies” in the process of FETÖ’s coup attempt, we must bear in mind the abovementioned points. The first point that must be emphasized within this scope is the fact that Erdoğan and the AK Party, the targets of the coup attempt, have not always acted in line with the policies of Europe and the United States. They objected to the crackdowns imposed by Washington or European capitals and embraced Turkey’s own interests. Particularly Erdoğan has been the target of various Europe-based smear campaigns for a long time since he gives priority to Turkey’s interests. When we consider the media outlets of leading European countries such as Germany and England, we can observe that the smear campaigns also continued throughout the coup attempt process. Chronic Erdoğan dissidents in these countries’ media maintained their anti-Erdoğan remarks, proving how organized the smear campaigns are, and demonstrated their disappointment in the face of the failed attempt. The “solidarity with legitimate government” themed messages issued by European politicians after a long-lasting silence are not enough to cover the degree of Erdoğan dissidence in Western countries.
In the light of these considerations, can it be argued that European countries provide covert support to FETÖ? To answer this question, it is necessary to place countries into one of the following categories.
When we look at the positions of the Western countries through this picture, we unfortunately see that none of our “allies” are in the first or second categories. When their policies regarding FETÖ are considered, European countries fall into 5th, 4th, or 3rd categories. However, FETÖ openly engages in activities to threaten Turkey’s security. For a long while, it resorted to every possible means to overthrow the democratically elected government, and with its latest violent coup attempt of July 15 and 16, it killed hundreds of people.
FETÖ bombed the institutions representing state and popular will, including the parliament. Europe’s inability to side with Turkey against FETÖ has very problematic implications. It is not known how long it will take Europe to realize that their position is not in line with interest-focused policies and might pose a risk to them in terms of security. However, Ankara expects its Western “allies” to adopt a rational policy with regard to the fight against FETÖ, which is even more threatening than PKK and DAESH terrorist groups. Turkey sided with its allies after Sept. 11, the London, Brussels and Paris attacks without hesitating, and now, it demands to see the same solidarity from Europe and the U.S.A.
