It is a turbulent time for the people of Turkey, to understate the obvious. This past weekend, a faction of the military attempted to overthrow President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who leads the ruling Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi in the Turkish government (abbrieviated as the AKP, translated as the Justice and Development Party, analogous to our own Republican Party, with all that includes). Although President Erdogan has presided over an economically healthy Turkey, he is widely criticized for his imperialistic attitude towards the Kurds in the southeast of Turkey and his attempts to de-secularize the constitutional principles of Turkish politics. He has built up the country's military to disturbing numbers, having one of the largest standing armed forces in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and remains a polarizing figure as he combats ISIS while simultaneously aligning more towards Russia's stance on the Assad regime in Syria. For many of you who may be unfamiliar with Turkish politics and geopolitical foreign policy, the recent coup attempt may seem overwhelming and shocking. If you would follow me down the rabbit hole, I will attempt to explain to the best of my ability what I have learned in the past 72 hours about the autocratic rule of Erdogan, the coup, and the recent crackdown on those who failed to supplant his administration.

The Guardian does an excellent job of painting a picture of the recent tensions that surrounded the coup attempt, but we must address three aspects of Turkish politics in order to shed some light on what the future holds for the citizens of Turkey - Erdogan's increasing religious authoritarian rule, the Turkish Armed Forces, and as I've mentioned before, the leading revolutionary party of the Kurds, the PKK, as well as their sister people's army in Syria, the YPG.

TeleSUR reports that many conservative Turks believe a former ally of the Erodgan administration and current political refugee Fetullah Gulen (who currently resides in Pennslyvania) has links to the coup attempt, but evidence of this is scant Gulen's falling out with Erdogan came about as a result of corruption investigations against Turkish officials in the Erdogan administration, and Erdogan declared Gulen an enemy of the Turkish state for leading these investigations. However, Gulen is an interfaith-promoting Muslim preacher and is an unlikely source of terrorist activity. What seems to be the reality of Turkish tension is a losing battle between secularists and religious fundamentalism - Erdogan's strict policies lead many to believe that he and his administration are intent on theocratizing Turkey. The wave of imprisoned officials and others known to be political enemies of the Erdogan government suggest a "purging" that is suspiciously convenient considering the timing of this coup. Talks are underway to reintroduce capital punishment, and the Armed Forces are now entirely loyal to the Turkish government, contrary to their original purpose. This brings us to the armed forces themselves, who do not answer to Erdogan as their commander-in-chief, as ours do to President Barack Obama.

In the Turkish understanding of the military, the armed forces are a state-built power that is solely loyal to the people of Turkey and the constitution that governs that people. One of the provisions in the Turkish constitution endows the military with the power to remove the elected government from power. The high command asks for a formal resignation from the president, and if they do not comply, the military has an obligation to the people of Turkey to step in and prevent subversion of Turkish democracy by force. This was not what occurred this past weekend. As noted by the blog linked above, the commanders who instigated this coup were not in alignment with the high command who is loyal to Erdogan. Although they had a constitutional provision allowing them to remove Erdogan, the lack of support from their superiors ensured this coup attempt was all but dead on arrival. Unlike the 1954 Guatemalan coup of the Arbenz government, Turkish coups have a precedent of intent to restore, not sabotage, democracy.

Finally we come to the Kurds. Why mention these people? We must note that in the wake of authoritarian oppression under Erdogan, the public will more easily allow escalation of military activity aimed at Kurdish resistance fighters who are currently in Syria and southeastern Turkey involved in counterterrorist activity against ISIS. The US has traditionally seen Turkey as an ally against ISIS, but does not agree with its stance on keeping Assad in power in Syria, while also condemning the PKK and their sisters in the YPG as terrorist organizations. Leftists and journalists of the opposition believe that Erdogan is also using the coup attempt, who may have even staged it himself, as an excuse to ramp up anti-secularist legislation and mobilize his supporters (who tends towards conservative, older, less educated, and devoutly Sunni Muslim) against populist dissent as well as rally support against the PKK on the international level.

Regardless of whether or not the Erdogan administration is responsible for the coup attempt, it is clear that Turkey is flirting dangerously close with a bizarre copulation of fascism and Islamic fundamentalism. For women, for Kurds, for the educated, for the secular, for anyone who is not a Sunni Muslim Turk, this recent failed coup signals disturbing news indeed.