It takes a lot more than people losing jobs to make it "Night of the Long Knives"...

Sure, you mean like academics and journalists jailed without a trial? Torture?

The real "Night of the Long Knives" was death, not jail or even torture.

Well, historical events should be compared within their context. 90 years after in a country still in NATO, one can not kill the other easily. But arresting and expecting them to die in jail or commit suicide should be equal to Night of long knives.

Yes, it could come to that. I fear that it will. But at this time, the comparison is inappropriate.

Yes and I admitted it probably wasn't the best historical comparison. But given that that less than five years ago this country was being touted as a model for democracy, religious moderation and pluralism for the region, I don't that it's that it's entirely inappropriate.

You mean, the abrupt change rather than the actual details of the event? Yes, I guess I can see that...

Yes.

It's tempting to make parallels with 1930s Germany, but that was just such a unique situation. These are usually "all unhappy families are different" situations.

I totally agree and I didn't mean in the literal sense but rather in the sense of its immediacy and fervor. It probably wasn't the best historical comparison.

I think the parallel is pretty close to the Reichstags fire - apparently it is (still) disputed if it were orchestrated by the nazis themselves or not - either way it opened the door to dictatorship. Much as there's been no credible evidence about the who or why of the coup -- it's clear it's being used as an excuse to tighten the iron grip.

If you believe that the coup was staged then yes.

Either way. Even if the Reichstags fire was indeed the work of a single man - and not orchestrated - the Nazi party used it for what it was worth. Similarly with this coup; if it wasn't staged, it still seems clear that Edrogan is using it for what it's worth in order to usher in/cement his dictator powers?

It's pretty clear that Erdogan has been moved closer to being - metaphorically - a "mob boss" than what we consider an "elected official" in the US ( assume a sort of spectrum between those). Your thinking changes when you deal with the possibility of assassination. Guys like Putin can't simply resign; they'll probably be hunted down and killed if they leave power. They're riding the tiger.

The general pattern in the Arab Spring has been to assassinate people like Q'daffi - who remind me more of the heads of crime families than political leaders. But here I sit in the US, where we can afford to have ... separation of concern for those roles. And to an extent, the meritocratic myth even in the US is just that - a myth. It's not like we don't have a presidential pretender running on the idea that it doesn't really work.

I can't imagine a modern politician actively embracing Sharia for any reason other than simply wanting to stay in power.

Indeed. I completely agree.