Catastrophic failure: Paralyzed Turkey crawls amid chaos as Erdogan regime falters
Tuesday 19/May/2020 - 04:35 PM
Indiana Khaled
Chaos has been a dominant feature of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s regime in Turkey, especially with the widespread outbreak of the corona virus in the country, which prompted Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu to submit his resignation after Erdogan suddenly issued a decision imposing a 48-hour quarantine on citizens just two hours before taking effect, which triggered a wave of panic and calls to buy goods. But Erdogan rejected Soylu’s resignation, the Turkish presidency announced on Sunday, April 12.
Rejected resignation
In his resignation statement, Soylu asked for the country’s forgiveness and said he never to intended harm, adding that he has been loyal to the president his whole life.
Commenting on the chaotic scenes that occurred after the sudden curfew was announced on Friday, April 10, Soylu said that the closure was based on the president’s instructions and was implemented "in good faith."
On Friday evening, the Turkish authorities announced a complete 48-hour curfew throughout the country just two hours before it took effect, prompted Turks to rush to buy essentials, with crowds failing to respect the rules of social distance.
Almost 57,000 people have been infected with the corona virus in Turkey, and another 1,200 have died, according to the latest figures from the Ministry of Health.
On Sunday evening, April 12, Erdogan rejected Soylu’s resignation, saying in a statement, "The resignation of the Interior Minister has not been accepted, and he will continue to do his job."
Complete collapse and total failure
Saudi political analyst Khaled al-Zaatar said that the interior minister’s resignation offer will not be the last, but will be followed by the minister of health, especially in light of the state of collapse in the security and health systems, which have paralyzed Erdogan's government, making it unable to absorb the huge numbers of corona cases.
In a series of tweets, Zaatar noted that the corona pandemic has completely disrupted the Turkish government, as it become unstable once all its sectors failed, including security, health and food stocks, making it unable to withstand the pressure from the street and the increasing cases of infection.
He pointed out that the Turkish street is in a state of anger, as a quarter million citizens violated the curfew rules, reflecting the chaos that has struck the Turkish street and the state of popular discontent over government decisions – a result of the lack of confidence in Erdogan's policies.
Erdogan has failed to build a sound country capable of withstanding challenges and the emergence of the corona virus has revealed Turkey’s state of decay brought about by Erdogan's focus on foreign adventures, Zaatar pointed out, adding that the Justice and Development Party (AKP) can no longer continue to weather the escalating anger towards Erdogan's policies that will lead Turkey into a abyss.
Failed regime
Turkish affairs researcher Mohamed Rabei el-Daihy told the Reference that Soylu’s resignation signifies the failure of Erdogan's security and health systems, noting that the increase in the number of those infected with the corona virus is clear evidence of the failure of the Turkish regime to manage the health system and the pandemic.
Daihy pointed out that Erdogan had always boasted about his country’s health system since the beginning of the corona crisis, while now he cannot control the spread of the virus, instead taking a decision to impose a complete curfew for 48 hours and exposing the Turkish people to infection when they flocked to the supermarkets to buy goods.
Erdogan has carried out systematic liquidation operations within the health sector in recent years, which has resulted in more than 21,000 doctors and nurses being separated from their jobs, Daihy noted. He added that the Turkish regime has also released criminals and murderers from prisons while keeping political prisoners locked up.
Daihy stated that the decision to impose a 48-hour curfew is illogical, which raises questions about Erdogan distracting public opinion at home and abroad to cover up what he is doing in Libya and Syria.
