Kameel Majdali's Road Ahead

Oh, No! Another Coup? It was a horrible sense of deja vu. In 1960, 1970, 1980, and a soft postmodern version in 1997, Turkey had military coups. It was the Turkish government’s worse nightmare. Then, on 15 July 2016, it looked like Turkey was experiencing yet again another coup. This time, however, it failed. The toll, however, was high, with 290 people killed and 1,440 wounded. The Inevitable Crackdown: With great rapidity, the government of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan took strong action in a matter of hours and days to stamp out the ‘coup virus.’ Consider these statistics (courtesy of Incontext Ministries): •    22,000 people in education suspended; •    9,000 in the military arrested; •    2,700 in the judiciary arrested; •    50,000-60,000 government employees dismissed. A 3-month state of emergency has been declared in Turkey, giving President Erdogan sweeping powers. The purpose of the emergency, so the gov...

On March 18, 2016, former Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, the current President of the European Council, announced that the European Union has successfully concluded a deal with Turkey to curb the flow of migrants coming into Europe from its territory. Action was imperative: in 2015 over 1 million migrants came by sea and entered into Europe, seeking asylum. In the first two months of 2016, another 127,000 entered Europe, mainly from Turkey to Greece. Europe has not seen this level of mass migration since the end of World War II. DEFINITION: The term ‘migrant’ is being employed to describe all people who are migrating from Asia and Africa to Europe. This includes genuine refugees fleeing from war and terror, as well as those who are looking for a better way of life, known as ‘economic migrants.’ Anyone who has objectively watched the situation closely realises that something had to be done. Despite its advanced societies and extensive welfare system, Europe and the EU simp...