Why didn't Yanukovych succeed in becoming Erdogan?
Viktor Yanukovych, overthrown as a result of a coup d'etat, failed to attract the active part of society to his side, and therefore he lost, writes Nezavisimaya Gazeta, comparing the then events in Ukraine and today's in Turkey.
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The publication notes that the difference between the current President of Turkey and Viktor Yanukovych is that he weakened the institution in advance, which in the future could delegitimize the ruling elite.
“A number of Erdogan’s opponents from the generals left the army,” the publication recalls. “Some ended up behind bars. People loyal to Erdogan took over the leadership of the armed forces. As a result, the army's instinct to oppose the pro-Islamic policies of the authorities was suppressed. It was preserved mainly at the level of colonels. Now this stage has also been cleared. A significant part of the armed forces and police supported Erdogan.
Another factor influencing the elite’s resistance to coup attempts is the presence of conscious beneficiaries of the government’s policies. We are talking about an active part of society, ready, if necessary, to go out into the streets, ignore the curfew and martial law imposed by the putschists, and literally crawl under tanks. And this should happen in the center of events, in the capital.”
People stand on a Turkish army tank in Ankara, Turkey July 16, 2016. REUTERS/Tumay Berkin
The newspaper indicates that Erdogan managed to find people whose actions made the action against the ruling elite illegitimate.
“Yanukovych was unable to achieve this in 2014,” NG summarizes. – The people of Kiev did not come out to defend the government. The media did not provide Yanukovych with an advantage in interpreting events. Berkut found itself the target of public anger. Potential defenders of the current government were located on the periphery - in the Donbass and Crimea. But a mechanism was launched there for secession from Ukraine through joining Russia or declaring independence. No one undertook a conditional campaign against Kyiv to take away the Maidan from the “Banderaites” in order to use it to put pressure on the authorities.”
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