ANKARA
Commentary carried by USA Today on the recent Turkish coup attempt has been strongly criticized by an American historian.
On July 20, mass circulation newspaper USA Today shared commentary by Prof. Glenn Reynolds, headlined "Turkey's New Sultan", comparing post-coup measures taken by the Turkish government to 1930s-era Nazi Germany.
The article, which wrongly states the foundation year of the Republic of Turkey, claimed the mass suspension of civil servants suspected of having links to the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), resembles the Nazi era in Germany.
"The immediate question that should be asked is what might qualify a law professor to write on Turkish events," Adam McConnel, professor of history at Sabanci University, Istanbul, told Anadolu Agency.
"He can’t even spell the name of the leader he’s demonizing correctly, and gets the foundation year of the Turkish Republic wrong," he added.
McConnel said Reynolds has no relevant experience or knowledge that would qualify him to write on Turkish issues.
"Instead, he was called in for a hatchet job," he said. "The USA Today is not the paper of the US political classes, so they are not interested in addressing themselves to readers in a nuanced manner. Instead, the focus is on fear and the Islamic threat."
McConnel added that the piece was "a shockingly ignorant and amoral article that compares the current Turkish leadership to Nazi Germany".
The American historian said the entire article mentions Fetullah Gulen's name -- the U.S.-based preacher who the Turkish government says is the mastermind behind the failed coup attempt -- "not even a single time".
"The entire article treats last week’s events as if they happened in a historical and political vacuum, and makes only a couple of shaky statements about the Turkish Republic’s foundation," he added.
"The structure of the article contradicts itself internally as he spends the first half of the text lauding the Turkish military for protecting secularism (a fundamentally anti-democratic stance), and then bleats about how President Erdogan is supposedly ‘eradicating’ the ‘secular Turkish state’," the historian said.
McConnel said the article is the product of "both his ignorance and the incredibly superficial manner in which political conversations in U.S. society take place".
"The emphasis is on fear and attitude, not on facts. Referring to the Nazis is a basic tool used in reference to literally any topic that comes up for discussion. It reflects an inability to analyze or to think," he said.
McConnel also added that "whenever the Turkish Republic pops up in the news, U.S. papers such as the USA Today do not feel a need to turn to someone who has the qualifications necessary to comment on the topic".
"Instead, they call on the cadre of writers, find someone who can turn out the copy that they want, and then feed it to the readers," he said.
The deadly coup attempt began late on July 15 when rogue elements of the Turkish military tried to overthrow the country's democratically elected government.
The subsequent suspensions, detentions and arrests have been carried out against individuals who are linked to FETO.
Turkey's National Security Council, after a meeting on Wednesday, said it "once again reaffirmed its commitment to democracy, fundamental rights and freedoms, and the rule of law".
Turkey's government has repeatedly said the deadly coup attempt on July 15, which martyred at least 246 people and injured more than 2,100 others, was organized by followers Gulen.
