TURKEY LOST TO THE WEST: THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS SCOOPS INSTAPUNDIT AND RCW BY MONTHS

• UPDATED: POWER LINE DAYS AFTER US TOO; WE ARE THE EFFIN BEST!

• REALLY. WE LINK TO MORE EMERGING STORIES F-I-R-S-T - BEFORE ANYONE ELSE DOES.

INSTAPUNDIT:

HOW TURKEY was lost to the West. “Once the apotheosis of a pro-Western, dependable Muslim democracy, this week Turkey officially left the Western alliance and became a full member of the Iranian axis.”

Posted at 8:40 am by Glenn Reynolds

GLICK/RCW:

TURKEY'S BREAK with the West; its decisive rupture with Israel and its opposition to the US in Iraq and Iran was predictable. Militant Islam of the AKP variety has been enjoying growing popularity and support throughout Turkey for many years. The endemic corruption of Turkey's traditional secular leaders increased the Islamists' popularity. Given this domestic Turkish reality, it is possible that Erdogan and his fellow Islamists' rise to power was simply a matter of time.

... The Bush administration ignored the warnings of secular Turkish leaders in the country's media, military and diplomatic corps that Erdogan was a wolf in sheep's clothing. Rather than pay attention to his past attempts to undermine Turkey's secular, pro-Western character and treat him with a modicum of suspicion, after the AKP electoral victory in 2002 the Bush administration upheld the AKP and Erdogan as paragons of Islamist moderation and proof positive that the US and the West have no problem with political Islam. Erdogan's softly peddled but remorselessly consolidated Islamism was embraced by senior American officials intent on reducing democracy to a synonym for elections rather than acknowledging that democracy is only meaningful as a system of laws and practices that engender liberal egalitarianism.

In a very real sense, the Bush administration's willingness to be taken in by Erdogan paved the way for its decision in 2005 to pressure Israel to allow Hamas to participate in the Palestinian elections and to coerce Egypt into allowing the Muslim Brotherhood to participate in its parliamentary poll.

...Turkey is lost and we'd better make our peace with this devastating fact. But if we learn its lessons, we can craft policies that check the dangers that Turkey projects and prepare for the day when Turkey may decide that it wishes to return to the Western fold.

TAB - 3 DAYS AGO:

TALKING TURKEY: IT'S TIME WE ACCEPTED THE TRUTH ABOUT TURKEY AND KICKED THEM OUT OF NATO

TURKEY IS BECOMING AN ADVERSARY OF IRAQ'S AND AN ALLY OF SYRIA (MORE HERE) - WHILE MOVING AWAY FROM NATO AND ISRAEL.
THE MAIN PROBLEM WITH TURKEY IS THAT IT'S NOW RUN BY ISLAMISTS.

NOT ONLY SHOULD WE OPPOSE TURKEY'S ENTRANCE TO THE EU, WE SHOULD KICK TURKEY OUT OF NATO.

TAB 4 DAYS AGO:

TURKEY-ISRAEL SPLIT WORSENS; TURKEY-SYRIAN ALLIANCE GROWS

TURKEY - WHICH RENEGED ON HELPING THE USA JUST BEFORE THE IRAQ WAR - IS DRIFTING FURTHER AWAY FROM THE WEST AND TOWARDS THE UMMAH:

Less than a week after Turkey informed Israel that it was unwelcome in the Anatolian Eagle military exercise, 10 Turkish ministers are scheduled to travel to Syria on Tuesday to take part in a meeting of the newly formed Turkey-Syria High Level Strategic Cooperation Council.

TURKEY IS AS GOOD AN ALLY AS PAKISTAN - AND THAT'S NOT SAYING MUCH.

I WOULDN'T TRUST EITHER AS FAR AS I COULD THROW A PIANO.

TAB 5 MONTHS AGO:

MOOKIE WENT TO TURKEY AND MET WITH GUL AND ERDOGAN!

FP:

We haven't heard much lately from Moqtada al-Sadr, the erstwhile leader of the Sadrist movement and the Jaysh al-Mahdi who is reportedly living in Iran. Sadr has not been officially been seen in public since June of 2007, and last appeared on the media in al-Jazeera interview in May 2008. So it is a bit of a surprise to see him suddenly appear in Turkey for two days of talks. What's he up to?

According to Turkish reports, Sadr met with Prime Minister Erdogan and President Abdullah Gul, along with other Turkish officials.

THIS IS A BAD DEVELOPMENT:

• MOOKIE'S HIGH STATUS ON THIS VISIT IS TROUBLE FOR IRAQ'S FUTURE.

  • AND THE FACT THAT ERDOGAN ROLLED OUT THE RED CARPET PROVES THAT HE AND HIS AKP ARE A REAL ISLAMIST MOVEMENT AND NOT TO BE TRUSTED:

• TURKEY SHOULD BE EXPELLED FROM NATO AND KEPT OUT OF THE EU.

TAB 6 MOTNHS AGO:

MORE PROOF TURKEY IS DRIFTING INTO THE AXIS OF EVIL: HOLDS JOINT MILITARY OPERATIONS WITH SYRIA

DAILY STAR/AP:

The Turkish military said it launched a joint drill with Syrian soldiers on their shared border Monday in order to improve security. Israel, an ally of Turkey and a longtime foe of Syria, expressed concern.

TURKEY IS NOT ONLY GRADUALLY BECOMING MORE ISLAMICIZED, IT'S BECOMING ANOTHER PAKISTAN.

THIS IS BAD FOR NATO, ISRAEL, THE EU AND THE USA.

IT SENDS A NASTY MESSAGE TO LEBANON, TOO.

THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS HAS FOLLOWED TURKEY'S SPLIT FROM THE WEST FROM THE START, AND WAS OUT IN FROM ON THE ANALYSIS AND COMMENTARY.

BEFORE ANYONE ELSE - ANYWHERE.

REGULAR READERS KNOW THE HAPPENS ALL; THE TIME.

SPREAD THE WORD.