History repeats itself in Turkey

Patrick J. Buchanan has an eclectic, if misguided, take on current events, according to his March 15 op-ed, “Is Turkey lost to the West?” He obviously is no student of history.

Turkey is a sectarian state. Ataturk — Turkey’s own George Washington — said so.

Turkey’s current president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, is rather like our President Andrew Jackson. He also liked to make up his own rules.

I would suggest that Buchanan acquaint himself with the theory of Occam’s razor. In a situation as complicated as that of the Turkish-German-Dutch-European Union, the likeliest explanation is the simplest one.

President Erdogan is making a power grab. He sees himself as the new Ataturk, remaking Turkey into his own image.

To accomplish this, he must change Turkey’s constitution, as he is term-limited and must now step down. Like many a would-be dictator, he must take advantage of a crisis. Think back to Hitler and the Reichstag fire, Stalin and the sudden death of Lenin, FDR and World War II or Napoleon and the blood-lusting Jacobins.

As to Erdogan’s almost hysterical reaction to his propagandists being blocked, I interpret that as a sign of weakness. It seems to me he is clutching at the straws of overseas voters to win his power grab.

Of course, the rest of democratic Europe is alarmed. We need Turkey. Even their century-old rival, Russia, is seeking to coordinate a joint anti-terrorist campaign.

ISIS is a scary band of fanatics. They are the enemy. Buchanan should read his history. This has all happened before. Back then, they were called Assassins in the Middle East, Thugees in India, and Bashido in Japan.

This story was originally published March 18, 2017 at 11:00 AM with the headline "History repeats itself in Turkey."