THE military coup in Turkey got the world`s attention and was revered by proponents of democracy across the globe.

Some heaved a sighs of relief also in Pakistan where, according to some media hawks, democracy was in the doldrums.

Overwhelmed with the failed attempt, a few Turkish politicians even gathered courage to put an eternal rock on a cave spewing military overtakes.

Irfan Husain in his article `The Turkish model` (Oct 15) has objectively compared the status of civil-military relations in Turkey with that of Pakistan. In fact, Pakistani politics and military have little in common, albeit both have shared low rankings in World Press Freedom Index.

It is, in fact, a taunt to politicians that Turkish masses sided with a progressive pro-Islamic government against a liberal, rather Westernised military. In Pakistan, mutatis mutandis, the situation is vice versa.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan`s performance on the economic front has been what our leader could only dream. So, politicians and the so-called democratic leaders, instead of blowing their own trumpets, need to focus on the social and economic misery of the people to avoid a Turkey-like situation.

Kamran Ashmf Islamabad