Turkey Struggles At Home And Abroad After A Failed Coup

With guest host Sacha Pfeiffer.

Does Turkey still belong in NATO? We check in – post-failed-coup – on a difficult ally.

The failed military coup in Turkey has led to a government crackdown that’s purged more than 60,000 people from their jobs – judges, police, academics, reporters, military members. The Turkish president says he’s simply protecting his country, but US officials say that’s no way for a democracy to react. Meanwhile, Turkey claims a Turk living in exile in Pennsylvania orchestrated the coup and wants him extradited. It all makes for messy international politics. This hour On Point: the growing strain between the US and Turkey. --Sacha Pfeiffer

Emre Parker, Istanbul correspondent for The Wall Street Journal. (@wsjemre)

Aykan Erdemir, senior fellow at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies. Former Member of the Turkish Parliament. (@aykan_erdemir)

Ellen Laipson, distinguished fellow and president emeritus of the Stimson Center. Formerly vice chair of the U.S. National Intelligence Council and member of the U.S. State Department's policy planning staff.

Ilnur Cevik, chief advisor to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and columnist for the English-language Turkish newspaper, the Daily Sabah. (@ilnurcevik)

The New York Times: Erdogan Seizes Failed Coup in Turkey as a Chance to Supplant Ataturk -- "The coup attempt, and how it was defeated by crowds of Erdogan supporters and even some secularists who flooded the streets to stand up to the soldiers, has already been referred to as Turkey’s second war of independence. The first one, led by Ataturk, followed the collapse of the Ottoman Empire at the end of World War I and was at the center of constructing a Turkish identity centered on secular and nationalist principles."

Reuters: Turkey's Erdogan stages mass rally in show of strength after coup attempt — "President Tayyip Erdogan told a rally of more than one million people on Sunday that July's failed coup would be a milestone in building a stronger Turkey, defying Western criticism of mass purges and vowing to destroy those behind the putsch."

The Economist: Most Turks believe a secretive Muslim sect was behind the failed coup — "With public outrage whipped up by relentless television coverage of the coup’s violence against civilians, Mr Erdogan now has a mandate to weed out the cemaat from public life. Yet the purge he has unleashed does not confine itself to Gulenist bureaucrats: many who merely sympathised with the movement, as well as academics, schoolteachers and others with tenuous links (or none at all), are being rolled up."

POLITICO Europe: Juncker dismisses calls to halt Turkey membership talks -- "European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker warned Thursday that it would be counterproductive to halt EU membership talks with Turkey. Austrian Chancellor Christian Kern had said the negotiations were 'diplomatic fiction.'"