Coups, like wars, signify limits with beginnings and ends. Just keep quiet In the past, when a Turkish general announced a coup, he also promised to hold elections and return the army to its barracks after a designated period. Now the military's role is more insidious, and it is more likely to become a permanent presence in Turkish politics. It was not deep in a conspiratorial sense but deep in the sense that it was firmly grounded. It also recommended democracy in places where a middle-class economy was already highly developed and further growth required more freedom, as in the Pacific Rim.
Turkey is a case in point.
Here democracy is officially proclaimed, but the reality is more complex and the West has held its tongue. Whereas power in the United States is divided among the president, Congress and the Supreme Court, in Turkey it is divided between generals and politicians. Inc. Robert Kaplan , the author, is a senior fellow at the New America Foundation . Inc. All rights reserved.