Reports Turkish troops have sealed off Incirlik US/NATO nuclear air base

News Corp Australia Network ^ | aug 1, 2016 | staff reporter

[Daffynition]

TURKISH citizens and police have ‘surrounded’ the Incirlik air base it operates with the United States — and where a large stockpile of NATO nuclear weapons is held — ahead of a visit by a senior US official tomorrow.

[Iscool]

Have the Turks made a side deal with Iran?

I think they made a side deal with Obama...

[Jean2]

That would not surprise me. The state department is good at that! These are the same idiots that didn’t see the Berlin wall coming down until the bricks started hitting them in the head.

[GOPJ]

I’m betting Iran has offered Turkey a ‘piece of the ME pie’ and that Obama and ‘team’ are being played for fools.

[mrsmith]

Here’s a recent overview of the project: http://www.pbs.org/newshour/making-sense/china-is-spending-nearly-1-trillion-to-rebuild-the-silk-road/
“Two weeks ago, a 32-container train from Wuyi, China arrived in Tehran, Iran.... $20 billion worth of infrastructure projects in Kazakhstan... Beijing has already launched a $46 billion infrastructure program in Pakistan”

What little recent news I could find on Chinese investment in Turkey:
http://atimes.com/2015/06/icbc-brings-chinese-money-to-turkey/
“The world’s largest bank in terms of market value and total assets, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), completed the purchase of a majority stake at Turkey’s Tekstilbank to become the first Chinese bank to launch operations in the Turkish market. ...China’s investment in Turkey is increasing fast. According to official Chinese data, Chinese foreign direct investment stock in Turkey totals$ 640 million...”
Turkey could expect similar investments as Pakistan has received when the project reaches them which should be in a very few years.

This immediate situation will no doubt be resolved by Western ‘baksheesh’, but the near future of the Middle East will revolve around China. The economics demand it.
Yes, of course Turkey will play both ends against each other.
China is better off financially than the West.

[nathanbedford]

I came across some anecdotal evidence last night which might be of some interest in this discussion. An American ex-pat has returned here (Germany) from a recent vacation in Turkey to describe the situation there as economically drastic.

He recounts that the tourist industry in Turkey is absolutely dead since the airport bombing and the interdiction of Russian tourists. Indeed the economic impact has been so severe that his resort hotel failed to provide meat with the dinners which were in the all-inclusive price simply because they had no money with which to buy it. Shopkeepers, he says, cannot afford to keep the lights on and only turn them on when they espy a European tourist.

If you look at the articles adjacent to the article you cite, you'll see that tourism is a huge part of the Turkish economy. Even without the recent belligerency with Russia, the Russians had for some time been compelled to cut back their travel because of the price of oil. If Russia is a giant gas station it needs $80 oil to pay off the apparatchiks who sustain the government and the whole system simply cannot operate with oil at around $40. There are some reports that the Turks are courting the Russians and attempting to establish a modus vivendi with them. Meanwhile, Turkey continues to sustain Hamas and play a double game.

This situation tends to support your contention that the Turks are looking to the Chinese for funds. But one notes that the amount of funds they are getting compared to what is available from the West means that they are foolish indeed if they are courting Chinese money at the cost of Western investments and tourism, military partnership and protection, ultimately, goodwill.

My reaction to all of this is to wonder whether this coup was generated as much by the economic disaster which has occurred in Turkey as by the secular army playing its traditional role in Turkey, as it had in Egypt? In other words, has the president administration driven the people to the point of economic desperation and was this the motivation for the cool rather than a secular desire to keep Turkey out of the thrall of the Islamicists?

[FreedomPoster]

They should have been gotten out under Dubya, after the Turks wouldn’t support us in the Iraq war. Another Bush failure.

[CTurk]

Your friend is mistaken. The Turkish economy does not depend on tourism. The income from tourism is a “nice to have” for the general economy. The local tradesmen have obviously been hit by the drop in tourists coming in but the rest of the country has not been effected. Economic factors have nothing to do with timing of the coup attempt.

[nathanbedford]

Another article which I referred to from the same source, Asia Times , does not agree with your conclusion:

A quick look at the country’s balance of payments clearly shows how much Turkish economy is dependent on tourism.

According to the Turkish Central Bank’s balance of payments data for 2015, there was a $47.8 billion deficit in the trade of goods, whereas the trade in services generated a surplus of $24.0 billion, with a massive 88.7% of this corresponding to the trade surplus created by the tourism industry.

At the same time, tourism is also one of the largest providers of livelihood in the economy. More than one million registered workers are employed by the industry, and to this figure one should add the large amounts of part-time employees, seasonal workers, and their dependents as well.

Turkish media reports that 1,300 hotels around the country have been put up for sale by their owners, who were already dealing with mounting debts, and now losing any hope for a way out of the situation, given the rapidly deteriorating conditions in the industry after the Russian sanctions and terrorist attacks.