Turkey’s democracy hangs by a thread – will Europe act?

I’d love to have the kind of problems that Westerners see as “threats to freedom”, said Mustafa Akyol in Hürriyet (Istanbul). Conservatives complain of the “nanny state”; liberals of growing inequality. In my country, the dangers are far more real. Since the coup attempt in July, President Erdogan and his Justice and Development Party (AKP) have “waged war” on “enemies within”, and that includes anyone expressing the slightest criticism. The latest to be arrested are the chief editor and several columnists of the venerable daily Cumhuriyet: prosecutors say its articles constitute “support for terrorist organisations” – by which they mean Kurdish militants and the Gülenists (the movement led by Turkish preacher Fethullah Gülen, who is blamed for instigating the putsch). These days, it seems, any journalist can be accused of “thought crimes”.

Founded in 1924, Cumhuriyet embodies the values of Atatürk’s secular republic like no other media group, said Yalçın Dogan on the website T24 (Istanbul). Centre-left, and fiercely protective of democracy, it’s the first to get shut down whenever there’s a coup. More of Cumhuriyet’s journalists have been murdered than any other paper’s – yet, miraculously, it’s still standing. But for how much longer, asked Ralf Fücks in Die Welt (Berlin). In the “blink of an eye”, Turkey has switched from democracy to authoritarian rule. Since July, 170 media outlets have been closed, and at least 120 journalists arrested. Last week, 10,000 teachers and other civil servants were sacked, adding to the 100,000 already dismissed or suspended. A professor of forensic medicine was sacked, and his pension revoked, just for signing a petition calling for talks with the Kurds. Less reported outside Turkey is the “ruthless” army crackdown in mainly Kurdish southeastern areas. Some 1,500 houses have been demolished in the city of Diyarbakir, where soldiers earlier this year fired heavy artillery at districts taken over by “rebellious teenagers”. In total, up to 400,000 Kurds have been displaced and left homeless.

Germany is a top destination for Turks fleeing into exile, said Seda Serdar in Deutsche Welle (Berlin). Academics, journalists and diplomats suspected of Gülenist sympathies seek refuge there. Yet German politicians – anxious not to jeopardise the deal they negotiated with Erdogan to stop Syrian refugees migrating to Europe – are being slow to condemn his behaviour. They should think again. He’s now agitating to bring back the death penalty: many Europeans see that as the point of no return. Merkel and other EU leaders must take a stand if they don’t want to see democracy in Turkey disappear altogether.