The spetsnaz are Russia’s elite special forces, undertaking high-risk missions that lay the groundwork to enable the country’s regular soldiers to dominate the battlefield. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey is playing a similar role for the “authoritarian international”. His post-coup purges are part of a tradition of despots cracking down on enemies — real or imagined, it makes no odds — to consolidate their rule. Yet there is one crucial difference: Turkey belongs to Nato and to the Council of Europe human rights body, and is an aspiring member of the EU. Mr Erdogan’s actions are thus an open challenge to western principles.
“阿爾法小組”(spetsnaz)是俄羅斯精英特種部隊，負責執行高風險任務，為該國常規部隊控制戰場局勢打下基礎。土耳其總統雷杰普?塔伊普?埃爾多安(Recep Tayyip Erdogan)正在為“威權主義國際”(authoritarian international)扮演類似的角色。他在政變后發起的清洗正符合獨裁者打擊敵人（真實的還是臆想的都無所謂）以鞏固自身統治的傳統。但一個關鍵的不同在于：土耳其是北約(Nato)和歐洲委員會(Council of Europe)成員，而且在積極申請加入歐盟(EU)。因此，埃爾多安的所作所為是對西方原則的公開挑戰。