WHO DO YOU WALK WITH?

Welcome, friends.

I started this post with “Good Morning,” but a more appropriate beginning is “Unprecedented Morning.” As we speak, Senate confirmation hearings are ongoing for Jeff Sessions, without doubt the most inappropriate person ever proposed as Attorney General. But I don’t want to talk about Jeff Sessions. I want to talk about Turkey. Turkey, the country. This week, as Republicans have pushed for parallel and overlapping Cabinet confirmation hearings in order to reduce news coverage and outpace and dilute opposition, all I can think about is Turkey.

Turkish news, not unsurprisingly, got lost in the heat of our election news this past year, so allow me to give a brief summary. Since 1923, Turkey has been a secular, parliamentary democracy, with universal suffrage and separation of powers between branches of government. In plain language, their governmental structure is a lot like ours. The Turkish president, Tayyip Erdogan, was a semi-pro soccer player before he got into politics, and was once jailed for inciting racial intolerance. His conservative political party, the AKP, is perceived as authoritarian, and critics say it opposes the continuation of a secular state. His government has been particularly unpopular among women and young people, not least for a statement telling women that they should not laugh in public.

Oddly, to our eyes. the Turkish Constitution gives the military the role of defending the Turkish Constitution internally. On 15 July of 2016, members of the military staged a (failed) coup against President Erdogan, putatively in their role as defenders of the Constitution and a secular state. The coup failed, and President Erdoğan immediately warned his opponents that "they will pay a heavy price for this." A state of emergency was imposed, allowing detention of anyone without charge for up to 60 days. The New York Times predicted the president would "become more vengeful and obsessed with control than ever, exploiting the crisis not just to punish mutinous soldiers but to further quash whatever dissent is left in Turkey," Within 5 days, Erdogan arrested or suspended over 45,000 military officials, police officers, judges, governors and civil servants including 2,700 judges, 15,000 teachers, and every university dean in the country, and 163 generals and admirals (45% of the military's total). As of this writing, 41,000 remain under arrest and at least 120,000 public workers have been suspended from their jobs on suspicion of being linked to the failed coup, and hundreds of media outlets, associations, and businesses have been shut down over alleged ties to terror organizations.

The arrests continue. Yesterday, January 9th, the boss of a cafeteria said he would refuse to serve tea to Erdogan. He was promptly detained by police and, if convicted, could face four years in prison for insulting the president. Today, the country is the world’s leading jailer of journalists, surpassing even China. Last week, on Jan 4, Turkey’s Parliament voted to extend the State of Emergency by yet another 3 months.

On Jan 7, just 3 days ago, another 6,000 people were fired from their jobs, including judges, teachers, and police officers. Critics have claimed that the crackdown goes well beyond the suspected coup plotters and targets anyone who has dared show opposition to President Erdogan.

This happened in 5 days in a secular, democratic country. It’s been 6 months and conditions have only gotten worse. So as our own country moves, in unprecedented swift attack, to install as head of our justice system a man who does not believe that we are all equal under the law, that black people are less, that grabbing the genitals of unconsenting women is not assault, I’m afraid. Because we all need to be equal under the law.

As we install a climate denier as the head of our EPA, I’m afraid. Because climate impacts are the single largest threat to our homes, to our livelihoods, and to national security. And we need to lead the way to solutions, not hide from the truth.

As we install a woman as head of our Department of Education who clearly doesn’t believe in the value of public education, I’m terrified: because it’s only educated citizens who have the information needed to resist.

And as we install as our Secretary of State a man who has deep financial ties to Russia and who did business with Iran, Syria and Sudan while those countries were under U.S. sanctions as state sponsors of terrorism, I am absolutely terrified. Because as the renowned author Esmeralda Santiago wrote, “Tell me who you walk with and I’ll tell you who you are.” Rex Tillerson, who may shortly lead our foreign policy, has been walking with some very scary states.

Friends. Turkey is on my mind. And I am scared. Will you walk with me?

*Photo credit: LA Times