This is all so damned depressing. I have fond memories of Istanbul, not as a tourist spot but as where I lived as a boy. Back then Americans maybe didn’t walk on water but is was close.
We have our own skeletons and serious corruption problems. Not yet like in the Middle East. But real impediment to having a dynamic strong nation.
Ataturk was smart. And ruthless.
He was not backward focused. He still has followers. They are better than the Islamists who want to live in a past that was never that good and certainly never like it is remembered.
He moved Turkey far forward of when he took over. But when he was gone? Where did the momentum go? He was very non conventional. In all aspects. And it was a mistake to try to question what he wanted.
Erdogan is the opposite image, like a negative. He wants to reside in a past that never actually existed. Sure prescription for a trainwreck.