NATO BEGINNING TO CONSIDER WAKING UP REGARDING TURKEY'S PROVOCATIVE FOREIGN POLICY

NYT/GLOBAL:

NATO’s secretary general, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, expressed disquiet on Friday about tensions over natural gas exploration in the Mediterranean between a newly assertive Turkey and Cyprus, as well as Turkey’s strained relations with Israel, saying that they were both “a matter of concern.”

Mr. Rasmussen said he did not foresee the tension turning into conflict in the Mediterranean, and he praised Turkey as an indispensable member of NATO that could be “a bridge” between the West and the Arab countries now engaged in revolts.

“Obviously the tensions between Turkey and Israel are a matter of concern,” he said in an interview here. “It’s a bilateral issue, NATO is not going to interfere with that,” he added, “but it is the interest of the alliance to see these tensions eased, because Turkey is a key ally and Israel is a valuable partner for the alliance.”

IT'S NOT ENOUGH, BUT IT'S A START... I JUST HOPE IT'S NOT TOO LITTLE TOO LATE.