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He has taken his referendum victory as a sign that Turks are happy with his government's crackdown following last July's failed military coup, which has gutted the opposition, civil society and free press.

And the emboldened President appears to be taking this new confidence abroad. The airstrikes in Syria and Iraq mark an escalation by Turkey and put it in conflict with the US-led coalition's mission against ISIS in those countries.

Kurdish elements of the Syrian Democratic Forces -- the main US ally in the fight against ISIS in Syria -- and the Iraq-based Kurdish Peshmerga said at least 25 of their fighters were killed Tuesday in the airstrikes. The People's Protection Units (YPG), the Kurdish faction of the Syrian Democratic Forces, is considered a terrorist group by Turkey's government; it is armed and supported by the United States.

Turkey's air force claimed it was actually targeting members of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), considered a terrorist organization by both Turkey and the United States. But Turkey often bands the PKK and YPG together. Seventy people were killed in the raids, the air force said.

Turkey's military described the strikes as a "counterterrorism" operation "within the scope of the international law" to prevent the PKK from sending "terrorists, arms, ammunition and explosives" to Turkey, according to state media.

Erdogan was unapologetic about the strikes, telling the Reuters news agency that he would not let northern Iraq's Sinjar region become a base for PKK militants and that Turkey would will continue military operations there and in northern Syria "until the last terrorist is eliminated."

On Wednesday, the Turkish military carried out another air raid on the PKK, killing six fighters in the Zap region of northern Iraq, the country's armed forces said. It was the latest in the Turkish government's decades-long fight against the PKK, a Kurdish separatist group that has carried out attacks in Turkey.

The Tuesday airstrikes caused a rift with the US, which sent forces to the strike site Wednesday, a US official said.

"We are very concerned, deeply concerned, that Turkey conducted airstrikes earlier today in northern Syria as well as northern Iraq without proper coordination either with the United States or the broader global coalition to defeat ISIS," US State Department spokesman Mark Toner said.

"We have expressed those concerns to the government of Turkey directly," he said.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said that the US and Russia were informed two hours before the raid. "We informed the US, one of our allies, that we would carry out an air operation in this region soon and requested that they withdraw their armies to 20-30 kilometers south out of our border," he said through state media Anadolu.

The information was also shared with Russia and the coalition's air coordination center in Qatar, Cavusoglu said.

But a spokesman for Operation Inherent Resolve said Turkish airstrikes were conducted without proper coordination with coalition forces. There was less than an hour's notice before the strikes and coalition forces were within six miles of the strike, Colonel John Dorrian said in Baghdad, Iraq.

"We believe that's inadequate," he said. "That's not enough time."

Russia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs also criticized Turkey, issuing a statement that said, "We consider such actions unacceptable and contradictory to the basic principles" of intergovernmental relations. The statement added Moscow "is very concerned about these actions. The Kurdish forces are fighting 'terrorist' organizations, namely ISIS."

Turkey detained 1,009 people in raids in 72 cities across the country, Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said in a televised statement Wednesday, adding that some of them were from the country's police force.

The detainees were connected to Fethullah Gulen, the reclusive cleric accused by Turkey of being behind the coup attempt, he said.

"It is an important step for Turkish republic," Soylu said, describing those detained as "secret imams."

Turkey accuses Gulen of orchestrating the failed coup attempt.

Authorities have detained more than 47,000 people in the country since then in what Europe has slammed as an autocratic clampdown on civil freedoms.

The new round of detentions come as European leaders on Wednesday discuss relations with Turkey.

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe on Tuesday placed Turkey back on a human rights watch list, claiming the referendum was conducted on an "uneven playing field" and that Erdogan had ruled undemocratically through decrees following the attempted coup.

Erdogan dismissed the decision as "entirely political," and in an earlier interview with CNN, he denied accusations that he had become a dictator.

He also responded with a threat to drop his country's bid to join the European Union.

Talks over Turkey's application to join the union have continued for more than five decades and have gone nowhere. "Why should we wait any longer? We are talking about 54 years," Erdogan said in an interview with the Reuters news agency.

"In Europe, things have become very serious in terms of the extent of Islamophobia. The EU is closing its doors on Turkey, and Turkey is not closing its doors on anybody."

Turkey has welcomed more Syrian refugees than any other country in the world, with around 3 million now living there. It also has agreed to a people-swap deal to keep a large number of refugees from leaving its shores for EU countries, which it has used as a bargaining chip to try and win visa-free travel to the EU for its citizens.

The Turkish President said he wasn't against a referendum on dropping the EU bid, pointing to the British vote last year to leave the union as a positive decision for the country's future.

"They have peace of mind, they are walking towards a new future," Erdogan said.

The President has already shown he has lost interest in the EU, suggesting his country may reintroduce the death penalty, which would automatically disqualify the country from membership.

But Erdogan does not appear to want Turkey to be solely inward-looking. As he shuns the West, he is finding new allies north and east.

Turkey is a co-broker with Russia and Iran in ceasefire talks in the Syrian conflict.

CNN's Ryan Browne, Elise Labott and Elizabeth Roberts contributed to this report.

See the article here:
Erdogan shuns West with Syria strikes and more mass ...

He has taken his referendum victory as a sign that Turks are happy with his government's crackdown following last July's failed military coup, which has gutted the opposition, civil society and free press.

And the emboldened President appears to be taking this new confidence abroad. The airstrikes in Syria and Iraq mark an escalation by Turkey and put it in conflict with the US-led coalition's mission against ISIS in those countries.

Kurdish elements of the Syrian Democratic Forces -- the main US ally in the fight against ISIS in Syria -- and the Iraq-based Kurdish Peshmerga said at least 25 of their fighters were killed Tuesday in the airstrikes. The People's Protection Units (YPG), the Kurdish faction of the Syrian Democratic Forces, is considered a terrorist group by Turkey's government; it is armed and supported by the United States.

Turkey's air force claimed it was actually targeting members of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), considered a terrorist organization by both Turkey and the United States. But Turkey often bands the PKK and YPG together. Seventy people were killed in the raids, the air force said.

Turkey's military described the strikes as a "counterterrorism" operation "within the scope of the international law" to prevent the PKK from sending "terrorists, arms, ammunition and explosives" to Turkey, according to state media.

Erdogan was unapologetic about the strikes, telling the Reuters news agency that he would not let northern Iraq's Sinjar region become a base for PKK militants and that Turkey would will continue military operations there and in northern Syria "until the last terrorist is eliminated."

On Wednesday, the Turkish military carried out another air raid on the PKK, killing six fighters in the Zap region of northern Iraq, the country's armed forces said. It was the latest in the Turkish government's decades-long fight against the PKK, a Kurdish separatist group that has carried out attacks in Turkey.

The Tuesday airstrikes caused a rift with the US, which sent forces to the strike site Wednesday, a US official said.

"We are very concerned, deeply concerned, that Turkey conducted airstrikes earlier today in northern Syria as well as northern Iraq without proper coordination either with the United States or the broader global coalition to defeat ISIS," US State Department spokesman Mark Toner said.

"We have expressed those concerns to the government of Turkey directly," he said.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said that the US and Russia were informed two hours before the raid. "We informed the US, one of our allies, that we would carry out an air operation in this region soon and requested that they withdraw their armies to 20-30 kilometers south out of our border," he said through state media Anadolu.

The information was also shared with Russia and the coalition's air coordination center in Qatar, Cavusoglu said.

But a spokesman for Operation Inherent Resolve said Turkish airstrikes were conducted without proper coordination with coalition forces. There was less than an hour's notice before the strikes and coalition forces were within six miles of the strike, Colonel John Dorrian said in Baghdad, Iraq.

"We believe that's inadequate," he said. "That's not enough time."

Russia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs also criticized Turkey, issuing a statement that said, "We consider such actions unacceptable and contradictory to the basic principles" of intergovernmental relations. The statement added Moscow "is very concerned about these actions. The Kurdish forces are fighting 'terrorist' organizations, namely ISIS."

Turkey detained 1,009 people in raids in 72 cities across the country, Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said in a televised statement Wednesday, adding that some of them were from the country's police force.

The detainees were connected to Fethullah Gulen, the reclusive cleric accused by Turkey of being behind the coup attempt, he said.

"It is an important step for Turkish republic," Soylu said, describing those detained as "secret imams."

Turkey accuses Gulen of orchestrating the failed coup attempt.

Authorities have detained more than 47,000 people in the country since then in what Europe has slammed as an autocratic clampdown on civil freedoms.

The new round of detentions come as European leaders on Wednesday discuss relations with Turkey.

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe on Tuesday placed Turkey back on a human rights watch list, claiming the referendum was conducted on an "uneven playing field" and that Erdogan had ruled undemocratically through decrees following the attempted coup.

Erdogan dismissed the decision as "entirely political," and in an earlier interview with CNN, he denied accusations that he had become a dictator.

He also responded with a threat to drop his country's bid to join the European Union.

Talks over Turkey's application to join the union have continued for more than five decades and have gone nowhere. "Why should we wait any longer? We are talking about 54 years," Erdogan said in an interview with the Reuters news agency.

"In Europe, things have become very serious in terms of the extent of Islamophobia. The EU is closing its doors on Turkey, and Turkey is not closing its doors on anybody."

Turkey has welcomed more Syrian refugees than any other country in the world, with around 3 million now living there. It also has agreed to a people-swap deal to keep a large number of refugees from leaving its shores for EU countries, which it has used as a bargaining chip to try and win visa-free travel to the EU for its citizens.

The Turkish President said he wasn't against a referendum on dropping the EU bid, pointing to the British vote last year to leave the union as a positive decision for the country's future.

"They have peace of mind, they are walking towards a new future," Erdogan said.

The President has already shown he has lost interest in the EU, suggesting his country may reintroduce the death penalty, which would automatically disqualify the country from membership.

But Erdogan does not appear to want Turkey to be solely inward-looking. As he shuns the West, he is finding new allies north and east.

Turkey is a co-broker with Russia and Iran in ceasefire talks in the Syrian conflict.

CNN's Ryan Browne, Elise Labott and Elizabeth Roberts contributed to this report.

More here:
Erdogan shuns West with Syria strikes and more mass detentions - CNN

Forbes

Turkey's Erdogan Plays Dictator in Constitutional Fight: Divides Nation as Popularity Wanes Forbes Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan secured near dictatorial powers in the recent constitutional referendum. Yet all is not well for the would-be sultan. He predicted that he'd win 60 percent or more of the vote, but barely broke 51 percent after ... Turkey: In Winning Referendum, Erdoan Loses CitiesEurasiaNet Turkey's President Erdogan Shows Signs of Becoming the Next PutinFlagpole Magazine Peering Into Turkey's Future After The 'Yes' Vote For President ErdoganFrontera News The Globe and Mail -Telegraph.co.uk -Newsweek all 352 news articles »

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Turkey's Erdogan Plays Dictator in Constitutional Fight: Divides Nation as Popularity Wanes - Forbes

Turkish authorities arrested more than 800 people accused of trying to overthrow President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in one the biggest operations since a failed coup attempt last year.

Dozens of police officers were among those detained for alleged links with US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen.

Detention orders had been issued for 1,000 people, of which 803 had been detained, security sources said, in operations carried out across all 81 of Turkeys provinces.

Those detained would be taken to the capital Ankara, the sources added.

After the abortive coup in July, authorities arrested 40,000 people and sacked or suspended 120,000 others from a wide range of professions including soldiers, police, teachers and public servants, over alleged links with terrorist groups.

The latest arrests come 10 days after a tightly contested referendum approved the expansion of President Tayyip Erdogans powers, according to preliminary results.

The referendum bitterly divided Turkey. Mr Erdogan argues that strengthening the presidency will avert instability associated with coalition governments at a time when Turkey also faces security threats from Islamist and Kurdish militants.

Continue reading here:
Turkey arrests more than 800 as Erdogan launches fresh clampdown - Evening Standard

External Affairs Erdogans referendum victory confirms that the AKP tried to disguise its Islamist identity under the banner of conservative democracy all along.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Credit: Reuters

The Arab Spring shook some societies to the core, precipitating their disintegration. But it was the rise of ISIS, and the ease with which it spread through Syria and Iraq, that truly laid bare the incoherence of the existing states in the Middle East. However, one can get a glimpse of this new Middle East, a chaotic one, from what President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the Justice and Development Party (AKP) intend to do in Turkey.

Erdogans victory in a referendum on April 16marks a new era for Turkey and the Middle East. Turkey will slide into an illiberal constitutionalism, which will allow Erdogan to appoint ministers, senior government officials and half the members of the countryshighest judicial body. He will also be able to issue decrees and declare emergencies. According to Erdogan and his supporters, this Ottoman-style political system will bring stability and economic welfare to a country divided by a failedcoup in 2016 that left more than 200 people dead and 100,000 imprisoned. For his opponents either pro-Kemalist, pro-Kurdish or simply secular democrats this has a bad taste of dictatorship, with rights being repressed and freedoms being curbed, while the president receives powers to govern until 2029 with few checks and balances. However, if we look back, we can see that the guiding idea behind Erdogans winner-takes-all strategy has been multiple attempts to advance a sultanate form of constitutionalism thatrelies on Islamic principles.

What came to be known as Turkish post-Islamism after Erdogans victory in 2003, was actually the outcome of a long political confrontation between the secularists and Islamists in Turkey. The forceful dissolution of traditional religious orders during the 1920s when the republic was established led many Islamist groups to organise as underground religious communities. Despite this resurgence of radical Islamist movements by 1990s, the authoritarian conditions that strengthened radical Islamists in the late 1970s in Iran were absent in Turkey. Turkeys Islamists failed to mobilise a broad coalition against the secular regime thathad restricted public expressions of Islam. The failure was partly due to the diversity of Muslim responses to Turkish secularist modernisation.

In the pluralistic and competitive Turkish political environment, Islamists often favoured centre-right parties until the electoral victory of Necmettin Erbakans Welfare Party (RP) in 1995. In 1995 national parliamentary elections, the RP took 22% of the votes and in 1996, it formed a coalition government with the centre-right True Path Party. Erbakan became the prime minister. The RP originates from the National Outlook Movement, which constituted the Islamic political identity in Turkey on the basis of an opposition to the West and the Westernisation process. The political discourse of the RP was anti-liberal, anti-EU and to some extent anti-capitalist. Once in power, it tried to deviate from traditional Turkish foreign policy and tried to improve the relations with the Muslim world. The Turkish military the fierce keeper of Kemalisms secular-nationalist flame saw the RP as a sign of Islamist ascendancy. In 1997, the military launched what was later called a post-modern coup, manipulating the courts and the parliamentary process to suspend Erbakans government. The RP was formally banned by the constitutional court in 1998.

In the meantime, the party activists had already established the Virtue Party in accordance with the National Outlook tradition in 1997, foreseeing the courts decision. However, the military-bureaucratic establishment was also hostile towards the Virtue Party and the Supreme Court filed a claim to ban the party. These developments led to an intense internal debate within the National Outlook Movement about the movements future political strategy and agenda.

A growing philosophical and political rift emerged between traditionalists centred on Erbakan and his chief lieutenant Recai Kutan, and modernists/reformists led by Erdogan and Abdullah Gul. The reformists argued that the party had to rethink its approach to the fundamental issues of democracy, human rights and relations with the West. After the Virtue Party was formally shut down by the constitutional court in 2001, the movement also formally split. The reformists founded the Justice and Development Party (AKP) in 2001 and the traditionalists, the Felicity Party. In the November 2002 national elections, the AKP gained a huge majority of the seats in the parliament and came to power, while the Felicity Party won only 2.5 % of the vote, short of the 10% needed for parliamentary representation. The AKP sustained its power by its success in the local elections and the national elections since 2003.

The literature on the ideology, character and the social base of the AKP has been growing, revealing its Islamist-conservative character. However, according to some analysts the AKPadopts a new Islamism under the guise of conservative democracy which is different from the Islamism of the National Outlook Movement. This new political vantage carries it towards the centre-right of Turkish politics, embodied by the Democrat Party, Justice Party and Motherland Party. The adoption of neo-liberal economic policies (which is a very radical departure from National Outlooks state-dominated planned economy) makes the party economically neo-liberal, but culturally and socially a conservative party.

Just after its establishment, the AKP advanced a new political identity for the party, called conservative democracy. Not only the term was new to Turkish politics, but it also sounded somewhat like an oxymoron. The notion of conservative democracy has been contested ever since. However, there was a point in this expression which became clearer as time passed. It was argued in Turkish media circles that the AKP tries to disguise its Islamist identity under the banner of conservative democracy.

Today, this suspicion has proved true. We need to ask what is left of the liberal values of human rights and civil liberties proclaimed by the AKP in 2003. Time will tell if Erdogan will be able to govern with authoritarian measures, renewing violence with Kurdish militants, sending troops into Syria and straining relationships with Europe.

Ramin Jahanbegloo is the director of the Mahatma Gandhi Centre for Peace at Jindal Global University.

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Erdogan's Referendum Victory Has Left Turkey With an Uncertain Future - The Wire