To: President Donald Trump, The United States House of Representatives, and The United States Senate
Praise @POTUS & @JohnKerry for Opposing Attempted Coup in Turkey
Just Foreign Policy
President Obama and Secretary of State Kerry did the right thing during the attempted coup in Turkey when they said: "all parties in Turkey should support the democratically-elected Government of Turkey."
Why is this important?
On July 15, there was an attempted military coup in Turkey. During the attempted coup, the White House put out a statement that said: "The President and Secretary [Kerry] agreed that all parties in Turkey should support the democratically-elected Government of Turkey." [1] Turkey's main opposition parties condemned the coup attempt. [2]
It's a crucial principle of a just foreign policy that when there is an attempted coup against a democratically-elected government, the United States should oppose the coup and support the authority of the democratically-elected government against the attempted coup, regardless of whether the democratically-elected government threatened by an attempted coup is a purported "U.S. ally" or purported "U.S. adversary," "pro-U.S." or "anti-U.S.," regardless of whether we like or dislike the democratically-elected government in question or its policies. The United States government has violated this principle many, many times in the past, but that's no excuse for violating it in the future. "Supporting democracy," if it's real and not merely a slogan to mask other agendas, is like opposing torture: if it's a principle, then it applies every time.
This principle is crucial for preventing coups, because when an attempted coup is unfolding, there is very likely to be some group of people demanding that we reserve judgment, that we not be "knee-jerk," that we wait and see whether the coup is "good" or "bad." This happened in Egypt in 2013 [3], in Honduras in 2009 [4], in Venezuela in 2002. In addition to being unprincipled, this demand that we reserve judgment on a coup can be very harmful because there is usually a narrow window to stop an attempted coup. By the time everyone who was demanding that we reserve judgment has to admit that in fact, this coup is a "bad coup" like all the others, it's usually too late to stop the coup, the coup has already been consolidated. This happened in Egypt in 2013 and in Honduras in 2009. Just as we rely on the Constitution and the War Powers Resolution to help us stop a rush to war "before all the facts are in," we rely on the principle that "coups are bad" to stop coups from being consolidated "before all the facts are in."
The attempted coup in Turkey was defeated. But this is a "teachable moment" - coups are bad, regardless of how we feel about the democratically-elected government that someone is trying to overthrow - and we should use this moment to nail this principle to the wall for all time. Thank President Obama and Secretary of State Kerry for standing up against the attempted coup in Turkey by signing our petition.
References:
1. https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2016/07/15/readout-presidents-call-secretary-john-kerry
2. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-07-15/turkish-premier-says-elements-of-army-attempt-to-seize-power
3. https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/jackson-diehl-egypts-misguided-coup/2013/07/04/64bd121c-e4b4-11e2-a11e-c2ea876a8f30_story.html
4. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-naiman/wikileaks-honduras-state_b_789282.html
It's a crucial principle of a just foreign policy that when there is an attempted coup against a democratically-elected government, the United States should oppose the coup and support the authority of the democratically-elected government against the attempted coup, regardless of whether the democratically-elected government threatened by an attempted coup is a purported "U.S. ally" or purported "U.S. adversary," "pro-U.S." or "anti-U.S.," regardless of whether we like or dislike the democratically-elected government in question or its policies. The United States government has violated this principle many, many times in the past, but that's no excuse for violating it in the future. "Supporting democracy," if it's real and not merely a slogan to mask other agendas, is like opposing torture: if it's a principle, then it applies every time.
This principle is crucial for preventing coups, because when an attempted coup is unfolding, there is very likely to be some group of people demanding that we reserve judgment, that we not be "knee-jerk," that we wait and see whether the coup is "good" or "bad." This happened in Egypt in 2013 [3], in Honduras in 2009 [4], in Venezuela in 2002. In addition to being unprincipled, this demand that we reserve judgment on a coup can be very harmful because there is usually a narrow window to stop an attempted coup. By the time everyone who was demanding that we reserve judgment has to admit that in fact, this coup is a "bad coup" like all the others, it's usually too late to stop the coup, the coup has already been consolidated. This happened in Egypt in 2013 and in Honduras in 2009. Just as we rely on the Constitution and the War Powers Resolution to help us stop a rush to war "before all the facts are in," we rely on the principle that "coups are bad" to stop coups from being consolidated "before all the facts are in."
The attempted coup in Turkey was defeated. But this is a "teachable moment" - coups are bad, regardless of how we feel about the democratically-elected government that someone is trying to overthrow - and we should use this moment to nail this principle to the wall for all time. Thank President Obama and Secretary of State Kerry for standing up against the attempted coup in Turkey by signing our petition.
References:
1. https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2016/07/15/readout-presidents-call-secretary-john-kerry
2. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-07-15/turkish-premier-says-elements-of-army-attempt-to-seize-power
3. https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/jackson-diehl-egypts-misguided-coup/2013/07/04/64bd121c-e4b4-11e2-a11e-c2ea876a8f30_story.html
4. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-naiman/wikileaks-honduras-state_b_789282.html