What’s happening in Turkey after failed coup attempt is extremely undemocratic. The media among other institution is bearing the brunt of the crackdown. Several journalists have been arrested and various newspapers and news channels have been shut down. More than sixty thousand soldiers, policemen, judges and civil servants have been suspended, detained or placed under investigation. Anyone having any link with Fethulah Gulen, the Turkish leader believed to be the mastermind behind the coup, faced the wrath of President Erdogan. In an interview with Reuters, Erdogan compared Gulen to cancer and said that he would restructure the military to give it fresh blood. The government has every reason to investigate the links to the coup but the way the campaign is being launched may lead to further civil unrest. President Erdogan must not forget that he regained the reigns of the government in Turkey only by the help of his people and thus while devising any strategy to clamp down his opponents, that the rights of the people must not undermined.
MUHAMMAD SHAHID RAFIQUE,
Lahore, July 31.