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.

TURKEY IS LOST YET NO REAL LOSS

Caroline Glick writes about how Turkey is going downhill in their backtrack to Islamofascism, and even reminds of something very dumb the Bush government once did:

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.

It isn't that Turkey's behavior changed fundamentally in recent days. There is nothing new in its massive hostility towards Israel and its effusive solicitousness towards the likes of Syria and Hamas. Since the Islamist AKP party first won control over the Turkish government in the 2002 elections, led by AKP chairman Recip Tayyip Erdogan, the Turks have incrementally and inexorably moved the formerly pro-Western Muslim democracy into the radical Islamist camp populated by the likes of Iran, Syria, Hizbullah, al Qaida and Hamas. What made Turkey's behavior this week different from its behavior in recent months and years is that its attacks were concentrated, unequivocal and undeniable for everyone outside of Israel's scandalously imbecilic and flagellant media.

Until this week, both Israel and the US were quick to make excuses for Ankara. When in 2003 the AKP-dominated Turkish parliament prohibited US forces from invading Iraq through Kurdistan, the US blamed itself. Rather than get angry at Turkey, the Bush administration argued that its senior officials had played the diplomatic game poorly.

That's right, don't forget one of the Bush administration's poorer steps there.

Initially, this week Israel sought to continue its policy of making excuses for Turkish aggression against it. On Sunday, after Turkey disinvited the IAF from the Anatolian Eagle joint air exercise with Turkey, and NATO, senior officials like Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon and Opposition leader Tzipi Livni tried to make light of the incident claiming that Turkey remains Israel's strategic ally.

But Turkey wasted no time in making fools of them. On Monday eleven Turkish government ministers descended on Syria to sign a pile of cooperation agreements with Iran's Arab lackey. The Foreign Ministry didn't even have a chance to write apologetic talking points explaining that brazen move before Syria announced it was entering a military alliance with Turkey and would be holding a joint military exercise with the Turkish military. Speechless in the wake of Turkey's move to hold military maneuvers with its enemy just two days after it cancelled joint training with Israel, Jerusalem could think of no mitigating explanation for the move.

Tuesday was characterized by escalating verbal assaults on the Jewish state. First Erdogan renewed his libelous allegations that Israel deliberately killed children in Gaza. Then he called on Turks to learn how to make money like Jews do.

Erdogan's anti-Israel and anti-Semitic blows were followed Tuesday evening by Turkey's government-controlled TRT1 television network's launch of a new prime-time series portraying IDF forces as baby and little girl killers who force Palestinian women to deliver stillborn babies at roadblocks and line up groups of Palestinians against walls to execute them by firing squad.

Yep, that was one of the most vomit inducing stunts they could pull. The Jerusalem Post tells that no Israelis want to fly to Turkey now with the way things are going:

With a new wave of anti-Israel sentiment in Turkey, and a furious response in Israel, the once-booming tourism trade between the countries is already feeling the effects.

"I can't sell a Turkish Air ticket going via Istanbul," Mark Feldman, CEO of Zion Tours, told The Jerusalem Post on Thursday. Istanbul is a common stop-over point on the way to many other destinations.

"Nobody, but nobody, wishes to fly there... packages are very cheap, the airline is a good airline... [but] people are voting with their feet," Feldman said.

Relations with Turkey have recently been strained, due to Turkey's withdrawal from an international military exercise involving Israel, a series of verbal assaults from Turkish leaders, and the premiere of a new television series portraying IDF soldiers as murderers. The first episode of the series aired in Turkey on Tuesday evening and depicted IDF soldiers in the West Bank killing a baby and a young girl, and lining up Palestinians to be shot before a firing squad.

According to Feldman, "This [tourism decline] is getting intensified, and the television series will accelerate it. I expect this [Israeli tourist] boycott and this anger to last throughout the fall and winter."

Maybe even longer than that. But if I were him, I'd rather not rely on countries like Turkey to sell tickets for tourism. This is what happens when no serious attempt is made to make clear to a country with a horrific past like Turkey's that they must own up for their past evils and crimes and abandon all ideologies that could one day lead back to more of the same. That's why their backtrack is no real surprise, and come to think of it, their loss is yet no real loss. If they're going to boomerang to such mostrosities, it's hard for me to feel sorry to "lose" their alliance.

And if Jews in Turkey are afraid that the TV propaganda they launched will boost anti-semitic violence, which is quite likely to happen, that's exactly why they should start packing. No need to remain in a country that's backtracking to Islamofascism.

And Armenia's government made a serious mistake in accepting the deal to open wider relations with Turkey without their agreement to recognize the Armenian Holocaust in WW1, something I get the feeling much of the Armenian public is angry about, with good reason. I won't be surprised if it falls apart sooner or later, and if Turkey starts spewing similar racism against Armenians as well on their government controlled TV.

TURKEY: NON-JUDEO-CHRISTIAN; NON-WESTERN; NON-EUROPEAN AND NOT A GOOD ALLY

The Dem anti-Armenian Genocide Resolution was a bad idea.

It was hatched by the traitorous Dems to hurt Bush and our allies in the Iraq War.

But in ridiculing the traitorous Dems for this little bit of treachery we should keep in mind that Turkey has been a lousy ally - one we should get tougher with, if not abandon.

The Turks prevented us from using our airbases there for troops deployments before the Iraq War, and this was a huge blow to our war plans and war efforts. NYTIMES:

Turkish Parliament Refuses to Accept G.I.'s in Blow to Bush
By Dexter Filkins
New York Times

Saturday 01 March 2003

ANKARA, Turkey, March 1 - The Turkish Parliament today dealt a major setback to the Bush administration's plans for a northern front against Iraq, narrowly rejecting a measure that would have allowed thousands of American combat troops to use the country as a base for an attack.

That was done by newly elected Erdogan and Gul - the same islamists calling the shots today.

Many analysts say this move by Turkey helped create or strengthen the insurgency because we couldn't smash the enemy between the anvil and the hammer. The troops coming from Turkey were going to be the hammer, but Turkey vetoed that and the hammer was never brought down on the enemy as a result.

And since then they've continued to be very uncooperative - and they've been messing with the Kurds. The Kurds have been better allies than the Turks - we should reward our good allies and chastise our bad ones.

There are now reports that Turkey is aligning itself with IRAN in order to defeat the PKK. This is bad for us and our allies in Iraq.

The Turks have been no better than Putin - which is to say they have not been good allies at all.

On top of these un-allylike moves on their part, they have continuously demonstrated a few hallmarks of islamism: thin-skin and hypocrisy.

Why do the Turks care what resolutions get passed in Congress!? BECAUSE THEY ARE MUSLIMS - and Muslims are generally intolerant and use they have repeatedly and publicly used violence and the threats of violence to foster dhimmitude. Muslims don't want to let non-Muslims draw pictures of Mohammed, or call genocide genocide. Well, I say "EFF YOU; WE WILL CALL A SPADE A SPADE." When we cannot speak the truth to our allies then they are not allies.

That's why I think we should (a) move our bases and relocate them to friendlier European nations like Bulgaria - where we have a burgeoning base in Bezmer. And we can new build bases in Iraq and in Central Asia.

We shouldn't keep troops in Germany or Turkey - it's so WW3/Cold War/yesterday.

And we should (b) make sure that Turkey doesn't get into the EU. I agree woith Sarkozy: Turkey doesn't belong in the EU because they are not IN Europe and not OF Europe.

And we should (c) throw them out of NATO.

In a war between Kurds and Turks we should be able to side with the Kurds, but NATO prevents that by tying our hands to the member state.

So we should throw Turkey out.

WW4 is a war in defense of the West. Turkey has chosen NOT to be a good ally of the West. We should treat them that way.

BOTTOM-LINE: I liked Bush most when he told the world that you are either with us or against us.

Turkey has shown that since 2003 - and the ascent of Erdogan and Gul and the islamicists - that they are NOT with us.

It's time to jettison them.

NOTE: Musharraf has been a much better ally than Turkey; he's actually deployed troops and jets in WW4 and killed thousands of the enemy. If Turkey wants the perks of NATO membership - and membership in the West, then Turkey has to be at least as good an ally as Pakistan. That's NOT asking too much.

FOR THE WEST'S MUTUAL SAFETY AND SECURITY: TURKEY NO LONGER BELONGS IN NATO

SEE CAPTION:

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates, left, talks to his Turkish counterpart, Vecdi Gonul, at NATO headquarters in Brussels one day after the U.N. vote on Iranian sanctions, which Turkey opposed. (Carolyn Kaster / Pool Photo / June 10, 2010)

ALLOWING TURKEY TO REMAIN IN NATO IS INSANE:

TURKEY IS PRIVY TO THE ALLIANCE'S PLANS AND CAN - AND PROBABLY DOES - SHARE THEM WITH IRAN AND SYRIA AND HAMAS AND HIZBALLAH --- WHICH MEANS AL QAEDA HAS THEM,TOO.

KEEPING TURKEY ION NATO IS INSANE. IT'S LIKE CALLING ISLAM A "RELIGION OF PEACE" - IT'S NUTTY AND A FAILING STRATEGY.

ANOTHER THING IS NUTS:

WHILE AT THE NATO MEETINGS, GATES ARGUED THAT TURKEY'S SHIFT TOWARD THE AXIS OF EVIL WAS EUROPE'S FAULT!!!!

AFP:

US Defense Secretary Robert Gates said on Friday he was "disappointed" that Turkey voted against imposing UN sanctions on Iran, but acknowledged allies sometimes disagree.

"I was disappointed by the Turkey vote on the Iranian sanctions," Gates told a news conference after a meeting of NATO defence ministers, including Turkey's representative.

"That said, Turkey is a decades long ally of the US and a member of NATO. Turkey continues to play a critical part in the alliance," he said.

Gates said Washington had "strong" defence ties with Ankara as well as military bases on Turkish territory.

"Allies don't always agree on things. But I think we move forward from here, and we'll just do that," he said.

Turkey, along with Brazil, voted against fresh sanctions against Iran, which the UN Security Council adopted on Wednesday.

Ankara argued that Tehran should be given a chance to carry out a nuclear fuel swap deal, brokered by Turkey and Brazil last month.

Gates on Wednesday blasted the European Union over its treatment of Turkey, saying the EU's reluctant stance towards possible Turkish membership was a factor behind Ankara's perceived foreign policy shift away from the West.

BLAMING EUROPE FOR TURKEY'S MOVE EAST IS INSANE!

IT'S LIKE BLAMING THE BATTERED WIFE FOR THE BATTERING HER HUBBY DOLES OUT ON HER FACE!

• TURKEY IS RUN BY THE AKP - A SELF-DESCRIBED ISLAMIST PARTY.

• SIDING WITH IRAN IS WHAT ISLAMISTS DO.

• IT'S NOT A REACTION TO ANYTHING WE DO; IT'S WHAT ISLAMISTS DO: SIDE WITH EACH OTHER AGAINST INFIDELS!

GATES HAS BEEN TRULY AWFUL. AND YET: HE'S THE BEST THING ABOUT THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION!

UGH!

Turkey's occupation in northern Cyprus does pose a danger to Israel as much as to the Cypriots

Shay Gal wrote about how Turkey's occupation of northern Cyprus is as much Israel's problem as it is for the Cyprian citizens themselves, in ways similar to Hamas in Gaza:

Cyprus recently marked the 51st anniversary of Turkey's 1974 invasion - a lasting trauma for Greek Cypriots. For decades, Israel treated this conflict as a distant Greek-Turkish issue, but must now clearly acknowledge: Northern Cyprus is not just a Greek-Cypriot problem - it is also an Israeli one. In practical terms, Northern Cyprus functions as an international no-man's land, enabling Turkey and terrorist groups like Hamas and Iran's Quds Force unrestricted operational freedom.

Since the invasion, which killed thousands and displaced hundreds of thousands, Turkey's presence has quietly transformed. The area is now a forward base for Turkey's military, hosting sophisticated weapons systems, cyber surveillance, and signals intelligence (SIGINT) infrastructure capable of intercepting both military and civilian Israeli communication, alongside covert terrorist facilities supported by Ankara. According to leaked intelligence documents, senior Turkish officials characterized Northern Cyprus as an ideal location "where anything can be done without interference by police or judicial oversight".

Turkey can deploy armed drones from Lefkoniko airfield - converted from an abandoned airport into a drone base amid regional gas disputes - far more rapidly than from its mainland bases. Since May 2021, Turkey officially stationed armed Bayraktar TB2 drones there, and more advanced Akinci UAVs were publicly showcased at a military parade in July 2024. These UAVs can rapidly target Israeli gas rigs, naval vessels, and strategic sites. In addition, Turkey's advanced ATMACA anti-ship missiles, with a range exceeding 200 km, could directly threaten Israeli maritime assets, including its critical natural gas platforms. Moreover, Turkey's new Typhoon ballistic missile is capable of precisely hitting targets up to 560 kilometers away. According to Western intelligence, missile bases in Kyrenia and Famagusta are already prepared for their deployment, posing Turkey's first direct ballistic threat to Israel, with the capability of striking Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, and Haifa Bay.

That strongly hints Turkey's just as willing to declare violent war against Israel sooner or later, much like Iran. And for all we know, Turkish forces quite likely built underground tunnels and headquarters on the nothern end they occupy, and that too can be very dangerous. Why, who knows how many similar locations like that were built in secrecy in mainland Europe, and even in the USA and Canada?

I have to take issue with one part here though:

It is not Israel's role or desire to liberate Northern Cyprus. However, if the threat from the area reaches a critical threshold, Israel's strategic posture must shift. Israel, in coordination with Greece and Cyprus, must prepare a contingency operation for liberating the island's north. Such an operation would neutralize Turkish reinforcement capabilities from the mainland, eliminate air-defense systems in Northern Cyprus, destroy intelligence and command centers, and finally remove Turkish forces, restoring internationally recognized Cypriot sovereignty.

Oh for heaven's sake. That's ludicrous to imply Israel shouldn't play a part in seeking to free Northern Cyprus from the jihadist poison still lurking there. By Gal's logic there, Israel shouldn't have taken part in WW2, nor come to defense of Druze/Christian inhabitants in Syria. Let's be clear. While security forces in Cyprus obviously shouldn't ignore this, that doesn't mean Israel shouldn't be ready to act upon such an issue either. Islamic jihadism is everyone's concern, and the situation's only gotten worse everywhere, including in Europe. If we fail to act on behalf of innocent non-Jews, we're failing every innocent European during WW2. And failure to act only fuels antisemitic accusations that Jews "don't care" about anyone but themselves. We can't afford such possibilities, no matter what. So, Israel should help Cyprus put a stop to the Turkish monster at the north end of the island, and not just to protect Israel itself. Even non-Jews are in danger of Turkey's own atrocities.

Update: Middle East Forum, interestingly, says that Turkey's grip on the northern area is deteriorating, and we should not reinforce it. Absolutely correct, and all must be done to get Turkey's overlords off the island.

TURKEY GETS NASTY AGAINST FRANCE

It's because of the bill they want to draft making it an offense to deny Turkey's genocide of the Armenians during the last years of the Islamic Ottoman empire. So now, Turkey's Erdogan is rearing his ugly head:

ISTANBUL - Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan told France on Saturday to study its own history rather than Turkey's in a warning against the French parliament passing a law making it illegal to deny the mass killing of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire was genocide.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy, a major critic of Turkey's flagging bid to join the European Union, told Turkey in October that unless it recognized the 1915 killings as genocide, France would consider making denial a crime.

Erdogan has already sent Sarkozy a letter warning political and economic relations would suffer grave consequences if the bill was passed into law and he reiterated the message at a news conference on Saturday.

"Those who want to see genocide should turn round and look at their own dirty, bloody history," Erdogan said after talks with Libyan National Transitional Council chairman, Mustafa Abdel Jalil.

The draft law, put forward by a deputy from Sarkozy's party, is due to go before parliament next Thursday and proposes a one-year prison sentence and 45,000 euro ($58,500) fine for denying the killings constitute genocide.

"If the French National Assembly wants to take an interest in history let it take the trouble of illuminating what happened in Africa, in Rwanda and Algeria," Erdogan said in his first operation since recovering from surgery.

"Let it go and research how many people French soldiers killed in Algeria, how they killed them and what inhumane methods they used."

Oh really, Erdogan? Just how many of those "people" you speak of were really jihadists? I suggest you be more honest about what happened in that otherwise vicious region, which isn't doing much better even after France and other western nations left.

France is Turkey's fifth-biggest export market and sixth-biggest country from which it imports goods and services.

Armenia, backed by many historians and parliaments, says some 1.5 million Christian Armenians were killed in what is now eastern Turkey during World War One in a deliberate policy of genocide ordered by the Ottoman government.

Ankara denies the killings constitute genocide and says many Muslim Turks and Kurds were also put to death as Russian troops invaded eastern Anatolia, often aided by Armenian militias.

As is typical of such sickos, they deny their wrongdoing and act as though the Armenians and Russian soldiers weren't fighting back to stop the genocide the Ottomans caused in that time. A true disgrace that Erdogan and his minions are.

The French Foreign Ministry has stressed the draft law was not a government initiative.

Erdogan said in his letter common sense should prevail over political calculations, a hint the draft law was aimed at securing the support of 500,000 French voters of Armenian descent in elections due in five months time.

Turkey and Armenia signed a peace accord in 2009, agreeing to set up a commission of international experts to examine the events of 1915, restore diplomatic ties and open their border to trade, but neither side has ratified the deal.

Turkey has increasingly flexed its rising economic and political muscle on the world stage and in the Middle East as its economy continues to show strong growth while western Europe suffers a financial crisis.

Well don't worry, those fortunes - assuming the info is accurate - will soon turn to asphalt as sharia comes into effect in Turkey down the road. As the news here signals, the accord hasn't exactly worked out, and will probably fall apart later.

France would do well to let go of any exportation they make for Turkey. To my knowledge, Renault might have a few vehicles built there. They'd do well to cease production of any cars and trucks in Turkey, and see if they can build (and sell) them in America/Canada instead. Turkey, under monsters like Erdogan, is not worth the bother any longer.

JUST AS I PREDICTED: ISLAMIST TURKEY GETTING READY TO EXPLOIT FLOTILLA

REUTERS:

Turkey, Israel's strongest Muslim friend in the region, summoned Israel's ambassador and said it would recall its own.

"This action, totally contrary to the principles of international law, is inhumane state terrorism. Nobody should think we will keep quiet in the face of this," Erdogan told reporters from Chile, where he was cutting short an official visit to Latin America to deal with the crisis.

NYTIMES:

The Israeli commando raid Monday on an aid flotilla, which left at least nine people dead, has dragged relations between Israel and Turkey to a new low, political experts here say, threatening to derail diplomatic relations between two close American allies.

Turkey, a NATO member, has long been Israel’s closest friend in the Muslim world, with $3 billion in trade and strong ties between the countries’ militaries and governments. But relations began to deteriorate during Israel’s war in Gaza, when Turkey’s prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, publicly sparred with Israel’s president, Shimon Peres, at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

Monday’s raid prompted street protests in Turkey and a strong official reaction, with Ankara recalling its ambassador from Israel, summoning Israel’s ambassador and canceling planned joint military exercises. That was enough to raise alarms among analysts here, who said it could seriously jeopardize already battered diplomatic relations between the countries.

“This will be perceived as a kind of declaration of war on Turkey,” said Cengiz Candar, a columnist for Radikal, a Turkish daily. “Political dialogue will cease. It’s not possible to contain the deterioration in relations anymore.”

REPEAT: “This will be perceived as a kind of declaration of war on Turkey,”

REPEAT: “This will be perceived as a kind of declaration of war on Turkey,”

THIS WAS THE WHOLE POINT - AS I PREDICTED LAST WEEK.

AND OBAMA WAS PART OF THE PLOT.

MORE FROM THE NYTIMES:

Asli Aydintasbas, a columnist at the Turkish Daily Milliyet, argues that the episode was a dramatic failure in diplomacy, for both the United States and Turkey. The new foreign policy pursued by Turkey’s government has given it a confidence that sometimes results in overreaching. For example, Turkey believed it could change Israeli policies towards Gaza.

“This was a disaster waiting to happen,” said Ms. Aydintasbas. “Both Turkish and American officials could have stopped the boats from moving forward. It’s clear they didn’t try hard enough.”

DIDN'T TRY HARD ENOUGH?!?

THAT IS O SO SO SOOOOOOOOOO FUHREEEKIN' NAIVE.

THE FLOTILLA AND THE INEVITABLE IDF RESPONSE AND THE PREDICTABLE EXPLOITATION OF THAT RESPONSE BY THE ISLAMISTS AND THE LEFT AND THE MSM AND THE "INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY" (BOLSTERED BY OBAMA) WAS THE PLAN (A PLAN PROBABLY HATCHED UP BY AYERS AND CODE PINK AND OBAMA), NOT THE FAILURE OF PLANNING!

IOW: NOT A BUG, A FEATURE:

• BOTH ERDOGAN AND OBAMA WANT ISRAEL DESTROYED.

• THE FLOTILLA WAS TIMED TO COME A WEEK AFTER THE NPT AGREEMENT ISOLATING ISRAEL AND THE DAY BEFORE A VISIT TO DC BY BIBI.

• NEITHER THE TIMING OF THE NPT DEAL OR BIBI'S INVITE COULD BE DONE WITHOUT THE USA'S AGREEMENT - MEANING OBAMA WAS EXPLICITLY INVOLVED.

I THINK ERDOGAN WILL ORDER THE PURGED TURKISH MILITARY TO ACCOMPANY ANOTHER TURKISH "AID" SHIP TO GAZA AND THEN ENGAGE THE IDF AT SEA, AND THEN INVOKE NATO'S ARTICLE 5. I PREDICTED THIS ON 5/26/10.

EITHER NATO JOINS ATTACKING ISRAEL OR NATO IS DESTROYED. DESTROYING NATO HELPS RUSSIA AND THE TALIBAN AND AL QAEDA.

STAY TUNED...

(MORE ON ANTI-WEST ANTI-NATO ISLAMIST TURKEY HERE.)

NOW, ISLAMIST TURKEY MOVES CLOSER TO RUSSIA!

A WEEK AFTER BANNING ISRAEL FROM NATO MANEUVERS, AND SIGNING A MILITARY TREATY WITH SYRIAN, TURKEY HAS MADE A DEAL WITH RUSSIA:

Russia to conduct geological exploration in Turkey’s Black Sea

Turkey has decided to allow geological exploration in its Black Sea economic zone as part of the South Stream project, Russia’s Itar-Tass news agency claimed on Tuesday.

According to the agency’s report, President Abdullah Gül had a telephone conversation with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Monday. “In accordance with the earlier understandings reached at the top and high levels, the Turkish government has made all the necessary decisions to issue permissions for geological exploration in Turkey’s exclusive economic zone in the Black Sea for the sake of the South Stream gas pipeline project,” Gül was reported as saying to Medvedev. In response to Gül, Medvedev reportedly said the decision will facilitate the further strengthening of the strategic relations between Russia and Turkey.

MORE HERE: Ankara moves toward ‘privileged partnership’ with Moscow

Turkey, which has already announced its intention to hold a joint cabinet meeting with Russia similar to those recently held with Iraq and Syria, hopes to hold such a meeting with its Black Sea neighbor in early December.

“We have proposed a similar step [to the joint cabinet meetings with Syria and Iraq] with Russia, but there is nothing being implemented at the moment,” Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said last week before departing for a visit to Iraq, during which he and the nine ministers accompanying him held a joint cabinet meeting with the Iraqi government. Erdoğan and his Iraqi counterpart, Nouri al-Maliki, co-chaired the meeting of the Turkish-Iraqi High-Level Strategic Cooperation Council.

Earlier last week, a ministerial-level meeting of the Turkish-Syrian High-Level Strategic Cooperation Council was held in the Syrian city of Aleppo and the Turkish city of Gaziantep. At the time, Erdoğan said an agreement to initiate a similar mechanism with Russia was signed when Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin visited Ankara in August, when Turkey and Russia signed about 20 agreements on cooperation in a number of areas, including, most notably, energy. “We will put into force a similar mechanism with Russia.”

The timing of the meeting planned to be held with Russia has been found particularly interesting as it comes just before a December summit of the European Council. Observers suggest that the planned meeting with Russia is a message to European Union members who offer a “privileged partnership” to Turkey instead of full EU membership. Turkey will show how a privileged partnership is constituted through the meeting with Russia, the same observers argue. Turkey firmly rejects any option that falls short of full EU membership.

(TAB'S PREVIOUS POSTS ON TURKEY HERE.)

• OBAMA IS APPEASING PUTIN AS PUTIN EXPANDS RUSSIAN HEGEMONY.

• AND TURKEY IS DRIFTING TOWRD THE RUSSO-IRANIAN AXIS.

• THIS ISN'T SMART DIPLOMACY - UNLESS YOU THINK CEDING TO PUTIN IS SMART.

• OBAMA IS EITHER THE DUMMEST PRESIDENT EVER OR HE WANTS THE WEST TO LOSE.

• HIS SUPPORTERS TELL US HE'S VERY SMART.

• SO I GUESS OBAMA MUST WANT THE WEST TO LOSE.

TURKS STILL BATTLING THE AKP'S ASSAULT ON SECULARISM AND ON THE PRO-SECULARISM ARMED FORCES

• IN TURKEY - LIKE IN EGYPT DURING THE TIME OF MUBARAK - THE MILITARY HAD LONG BEEN THE PROTECTOR OF THE SECULAR STATE.

• THAT'S WHY THE THE RULING PARTY - THE AKP, AN ISLAMIST PARTY LED BY THE PM ERDOGAN - HAS BEEN ATTACKING THE INDEPENDENCE OF THE MILITARY --- A STORY WE'VE BEEN FOLLOWING SINCE 2008.

• THE AKP ALLEGED THE PRO-SECULAR MILITARY WAS PLANNING A COUP TO PROTECT TURKEY FROM ANY FURTHER ISLAMIZATION, (A COUP THEY NAMED THE ERGENEKON AFFAIR - ERGENEKON MEANS "SLEDGEHAMMER").

• THE TRIALS FOR THE ARRESTED MEMBERS OF THE ALLEGED COUP ARE STARTING, AND TURKS WHO WANT TURKEY TO REMAIN SECULAR --- AS ATTATURK, THE FOUNDER OF TURKEY, TURKEY'S WASHINGTON HAD WANTED --- ARE BEGINNING TO FIGHT BACK.

WE LEARN TODAY - VIA GLENN - THAT MANY TURKS, (PERHAPS INSPIRED BY THE RECENT WAVE OF UNREST) ARE BEGINNING TO TAKE TO THE STREETS AND DEMONSTRATE:

Thousands of Turks, including the wives of defendants charged with trying to topple the government, marched to the tomb of the founder of modern Turkey on Saturday to protest at the arrests of army officers.

More than 150 active and retired military officers are in jail during hearings in the so-called Sledgehammer trial, at which prosecutors say they planned to overthrow in 2003 Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan's ruling AK Party, which traces its roots to a banned movement.

The military leadership denies any coup plots.

Some 3,000 people gathered in a heavy rain at Anitkabir, the sprawling tomb of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, a former officer who led Turkey to independence after World War I, founded the secular republic in 1923 and served as its first president.

They carried flags and shouted "Turkey is secular and will stay secular" and "The army and the people are hand in hand."

MORE HERE:

The military is Turkey's self-proclaimed protector of secularism in a country that is 99.9 percent Muslim. Generals have toppled three governments since 1960 and pressured a fourth, Turkey's first Islamist-led, to quit in 1997.

EVEN MORE HERE:

Noting that they want a fair trial, Sevil Örnek also called on senior commanders to show their support for the detained officers.

“We are the spouses of those who were judged in the name of Balyoz and unjustly arrested. We want support for our demand that the hearings should be broadcast live,” said Rengin Gürdeniz, wife of Rear Adm. Cem Gürdeniz of the Turkish Naval Force.

“We are not against trials but we are against arrests being done without recognition of the laws,” she said.

A prosecutor ordered the detentions of 163 retired and serving officers last week, including top former generals such as former Air Force Cmdr. İbrahim Fırtına and former 1st Army Cmdr. Çetin Doğan, as part of the ongoing Sledgehammer case. The detentions have created uneasiness in the military, whose head, Chief of General Staff Gen. Işık Koşaner, recently passed along the force’s concerns to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

Sledgehammer is the code name for an alleged military coup plot against the leading Justice and Development Party, or AKP, drafted in 2003.

AND THERE ARE SIGNS THAT THE AKP RULING PARTY THINKS THERE IS A REAL POSSIBILITY THESE ANTI-DE-SECULARIZATION MOVEMENT IS CATCHING ON: THEY'RE ARRESTING JOURNALISTS ATTEMPTING TO COVER THE STORY:

Turkey: Three journalists jailed in connection with Ergenekon investigation

An Istanbul court on Friday ordered three online journalists detained on charges of “inciting hatred and hostility through the media,” membership of a “terrorist organisation” and obtaining and publishing confidential state documents. They are facing possible sentences of more than 20 years in jail, Paris-based press freedom group Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) has reported

They are Soner Yalçin, the owner of the Oda TV news website, Baris Pehlivan, the site’s editor, and Baris Terkoglu, one of its reporters. They were arrested when counter-terrorism police raided the website’s Istanbul headquarters on the orders of prosecutor Zekeriya Öz on February 14.

The “terrorist organisation” referred to in the charges is Ergenekon, an alleged secret network of senior army officers, academics, businessmen and others who have been on trial since October 2008 on charges of plotting to use terrorist methods to overthrow Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government. Öz is the prosecutor in charge of the Ergenekon investigation.

The homes of the three journalists were also searched on February 14. A fourth Oda TV journalist, Ayhan Bozkurt, was arrested at the same time, but was released Thursday.

The searches and arrests were carried out after Oda TV questioned some of the judicial procedures use in the Ergenekon investigation and trial.

THIS IS A GOOD SIGN, IN A WAY; WHEN THE TYRANTS START TO ARREST JOURNALISTS, THEN YOU KNOW THEY THINK THEY'RE IN TROUBLE!

THESE DEMONSTRATIONS AND THE AKP'S TYRANNICAL REPRISALS MAY FURTHER IGNITE A REBELLION. (I HOPE SO!)

YOU KNOW, AT BEST, ALL WE CAN HOPE FOR IN EGYPT IS A PRE-AKP TURKISH DEMOCRACY.

BUT EVEN TURKEY - WITHOUT A STRONG PRO-SECULAR/NON-DEMOCRATIC MILITARY - COULDN'T MAINTAIN IT'S COMMITMENT TO EITHER DEMOCRACY, PLURALISM, OR SECULARISM;

THEREFORE, THE EGYPTIAN MILITARY IS BETWEEN A ROCK AND A HARD PLACE:

• IF THE EGYPTIAN MILITARY ALLOWS FURTHER DEMOCRATIZATION IT MIGHT LEAD TO FURTHER ISLAMIZATION,

• AND THAT WOULD LEAD TO A MILITARY THAT IS SUBJUGATED TO MULLAHS,

• SOMETHING THE MILITARY MIGHT NOT WANT AND MIGHT FIGHT AGAINST,

• AS TURKEY'S MILITARY DID REPEATEDLY BETWEEN 1960 AND 1997.

THE SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE IS A PREREQUISITE FOR A PLURALISTIC DEMOCRACY.

• WITHOUT SECULARISM THERE CAN BE NO DEMOCRACY.

• IT'S AS BASIC AS FULL HUMAN RIGHTS FOR EVERYONE --- INCLUDING WOMEN.

• ON BOTH COUNTS - SECULARISM AND ANTI-MISOGYNISM - THE MUSLIM WORLD FAILS MISERABLY, AND THIS IS WHY THEY ARE SO UNCIVILIZED AND UNDEMOCRATIC.

WHY ARE MOST MUSLIMS SO INTENT ON HAVING AN ISLAMIC STATE WITH SHARIA, A STATE WHICH IS TYRANNICAL AND MISOGYNISTIC?

IT'S THE ISLAM, STUPID!

ON THE FIRST DAY OF HER TRIP TO TURKEY, COURAGEOUS MERKEL TELLS ERDOGAN THAT TURKEY IS UNSUITABLE FOR EU MEMBERSHIP

BBC:

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has repeated her belief that Turkey is not suitable for full EU membership, on the first day of an official Turkish visit.

Turkey should not view her offer of a "privileged partnership" - rather than full membership - negatively, she said.

Turkey, which began negotiations to become a member in 2005, has dismissed that offer as an insult.

There were also disagreements over Iran, Cyprus and educating Turkish children in Germany in Turkish.

Germany is Turkey's biggest trading partner, its biggest foreign investor, its biggest source of tourist revenue, and nearly three million Turks live in Germany.

Brava Angela! MORE:

Turkey's sometimes fraught relationship with the European Union will not be helped by this visit.

On Iran, Mrs Merkel wants Turkish support for international sanctions, which Mr Erdogan argues are counter-productive and hypocritical.

Turkey has recently strengthened its relations with Iran and opposes the tougher sanctions threatened by Western governments.

MAYBE IF TURKEY BEHAVED LIKE A DEPENDABLE ALLY OF EUROPE AND THE WEST THINGS MIGHT BE DIFFERENT VIS A VIS THEIR ASPIRATION TO JOIN THE EU.

BUT THE AKP'S ISLAMIST CORE DOESN'T REALLY PERMIT THEM TO FAVOR CHRISTIAN EUROPEANS OVER THEIR FELLOW MUSLIMS.

WHICH IS WHY - WHILE FIGHTING WW4, WHICH IS A WAR AGAINST GLOBAL JIHADISM - IT'S INSANE TO KEEP TURKEY IN NATO.

TURKEY SHOULD NO MORE BE IN NATO THAN THE EU.

COULD TURKEY BE SECRETLY ALLIED WITH ISIS?

Turkey is avoiding conflict with ISIS even as the USA is willing to fight them:

When the United States asked Turkey to join a coalition to fight the Islamic State, Turkey answered with a resounding no, citing concern over the lives of 49 hostages the hardline group took in June from Turkey’s consulate in northern Iraq.

But on Sunday the hostages were mysteriously freed, unharmed, after over three months in captivity -- and Ankara has not changed its stance on joining the U.S.-led coalition, despite their homecoming. As the United States, along with allies that include several Arab countries, strikes parts of Syria for the first time, Turkey is shying away from concrete action against the Islamic State, prompting rumors as well as concern among lawmakers, experts and even relatives of the released hostages.

“Here is the test for Turkey,” Steven Cook of the Council on Foreign Relations tweeted on Sunday. “With the hostages freed, will Ankara be an active/overt member of the anti-ISIS coalition?”

The release of the hostages, all but three of whom are Turks, was met with relief and joy. The hostages included several young children, the Turkish consul general, and three Iraqis who worked at the consulate. Family members of the hostages were terrified they might meet the same grim fate as other hostages who have been murdered by the Islamic State. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his government have refused to explain how the hostage release was negotiated, and released hostages were instructed not to speak to press.

“This is a diplomatic success,” Erdogan said at a press conference on Sunday. “The result of a political bargain.”

Rumors now abound about how Turkey secured the hostages’ release and their safe passage home. Some critics have wondered whether the hostage release was related to Turkey's refusal to join the anti-ISIS alliance, or if the hardline group received something in return for the hostages. Hurriyet Daily News reported that a Syrian rebel group coordinating with Turkey released 50 members of the Islamic State back to the group as part of an exchange for the hostages.

Does this suggest Turkey's in cahoots with IS? We can't rule it out. Something is definitely fishy about the release of these particular hostages alright.

ANOTHER SIGN THAT KEMALISM AND A SECULAR TURKEY ARE DYING: ADMIRAL OF THE TURKISH NAVY ARRESTED

SYDNEY MORNING HERALD:

'Excuse us, admiral, but we must arrest you now." With these words, Turkey this year crossed a threshold into a new era. Since General Mustafa Kemal Ataturk founded modern Turkey in 1923, the military considered itself the untouchable guardian of the secular state.

But with the polite intrusion of the police upon the breakfast of the revered former commander-in-chief of the navy, Ozden Ornek, on February 22, that became history: "The untouchables have been touched!" declared the daily newspaper Zaman.

Turkey has the biggest military of any NATO country other than the US. In defence of the secular principles established by Ataturk, it staged four coups since 1960.

On news Ornek and other officers had been arrested on charges of plotting a coup, top military leaders called a hasty meeting. Instead of overthrowing the government, they produced a statement. "The days when the army would stage a coup are gone," the army chief-of-staff, General Ilker Basbug, later confirmed.

Is this the welcome arrival of liberal democracy in a key pivot country between east and west, and an encouraging sign for democracy in a Muslim-majority country? Or is it troubling that Turkey is discarding Ataturk's vision and turning unstoppably into an Islamic republic?

IT'S THE LATTER.

ONE REASON FOR ISLAM'S ASCENDANCY IS DEMOGRAPHIC: SECULAR TURKS AREN'T HAVING KIDS, BUT THE ISLAMIST TURKS IN THE BOONIES ARE - AND THEY'RE TAKING OVER.

STEYN:

... in the 80-year history of modern Turkey, the population has increased from 14 million in 1923 to some 70 million today. The vast majority of that demographic surge comes from Anatolian Turkey - ie, eastern, Asian, traditional, Islamic Turkey, which never accepted Ataturk's reforms and whose sons and daughters have spilled out of their rural hinterland and populated the cities. Rumelian Turkey - ie, western, European, secular, Kemalist Turkey - is in steep demographic decline. In every election, there will be fewer Kemalists.

Many of us English-speakers use the phrase "young Turks" without pondering the origin of the expression: The original "young Turks" were the youthful activists agitating for reform in the last decades of the Ottoman Empire. The phrase itself recognizes a connection between political energy and demography. As yesterday confirmed, today's young Turks are Islamist. The Kemalists are old Turks.

TURKEY - A SUPPORTER OF HAMAS AND HIZBALLAH AND SYRIA AND IRAN - SHOULD BE THROWN OUT OF NATO.

AND HAVE NO SPECIAL STATUS - LET ALONE MEMBERSHIP - IN THE EU.

THEY MUST PAY THE PRICE FOR THEIR DECISION TO ALLY THEMSELVES WITH IRAN AND THE ISLAMISTS.

IF WE DON'T MAKE THEM PAY A PRICE, THEN MORE ISLAMIC NATIONS ON THE CUSP WILL SWING IN THE SAME DIRECTION.

PROOF TURKEY IS PART OF THE AXIS OF EVIL: ERDOGAN WANTS TO VISIT GAZA, AND SEND THE TURKISH NAVY TO ACCOMPANY THE NEXT FLOTILLA

HOT AIR:

Ynet

The next provocation: Turkish PM wants to visit Gaza

The newspaper said that “as part of the open conflict between Turkey and Israel following the massacre against the ‘freedom sail’ to Gaza and the protest sparked in the world, Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan is considering going to Gaza himself in order to break the blockade imposed on the Strip.”…

According to the report, Erdogan told the American administration he was planning to ask his navy to escort another aid flotilla,

IT'S NO ACCIDENT THIS COMES RIGHT AFTER TURKEY CAME TO IRAN'S RESCUE.

TURKEY IS HELPING HAMAS AND HIZBALLAH AND IRAN.

BY HELPING IRAN, TURKEY IS UNDERMINING THE EU, NATO AND ISRAEL AND THE USA.

IT'S NO COINCIDENCE THAT ERDOGAN'S TURKEY DENIED THE USA USE OF TURKEY DURING THE IRAQ WEAR INVASION.

NOW, BY THREATENING TO SEND THE TURKISH NAVY TO ACCOMPANY THE NEXT FLOTILLA, ERDOGAN IS THREATENING ISRAEL WITH NOT ONLY A WAR WITH TURKEY, BUT ONE WITH NATO IF TURKISH NAVY ENGAGES THE IDF AND THEN INVOKES NATO'S ARTICLE 5.

(I BELIEVE THIS HAS BEEN TURKLEY'S AND IRAN'S STRATEGY FROM THE START AND HAVE POSTED THIS FOR WEEKS.)

IT'S IMPOSSIBLE NOT TO CONCLUDE THAT TURKEY UNDER ERDOGAN IS PART OF THE JIHADIST AXIS; THEREFORE:

• TURKEY SHOULD BE EXPELLED FROM NATO AT ONCE.
• KEEPING THEM IN NATO MEANS OUR ENEMIES ARE PRIVY TO OUR DEFENSES.
• IT'S INSANE TO KEEP TURKEY IN NATO.
• AND DANGEROUS.
• IT MAKES US LESS SAFE.

MORE PROOF TURKEY IS NO LONGER AN ALLY OR PART OF THE WEST: THEY RECALL THEIR AMBASSADOR TO THE USA

Turkey Pulls Envoy After U.S. Vote on "Genocide" Label

A U.S. congressional panel voted on Thursday to label as "genocide" the World War One-era massacre of Armenians by Turkish forces, prompting Turkey to recall its ambassador from Washington.

The House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee voted 23-22 to approve the non-binding resolution, which calls on President Barack Obama to ensure U.S. policy formally refers to the killings as genocide.

The action cleared the way for the measure to be considered by the full House but it was unclear whether it would actually come to a vote there. The Obama administration and Turkey had pressed lawmakers to drop the matter.

The vote triggered an immediate condemnation from Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, who recalled Turkey's ambassador to Washington for consultations. Erdogan said he worried the measure would harm Turkish-U.S. ties and efforts by Muslim Turkey and Christian Armenia to end a century of hostility.

The vote put Obama in a tight spot between his desire to maintain good relations with Turkey, a Muslim but secular democracy that plays a vital role for U.S. interests from Iran to Afghanistan to the Middle East.

THE MUSLIM TURKS MURDERED 1.5 MILLION CHRISTIAN ARMENIANS: IT WAS JIHAD BY ANOTHER NAME.

THE CONGRESSIONAL RESOLUTION MERELY RECOGNIZES THE TRUTH; THAT'S NOT ACCEPTABLE TO THE ISLAMIST PARTY DOMINATING TURKISH SOCIETY TODAY.

THIS SCHISM IS MERELY AN INDICATION OF HOW FAR TURKEY HAS SLID BACK UNDER ISLAMISM.

THEY ARE NO LONGER WESTERN - AS ATATURK HAD ENVISIONED TURKEY AD AS HE HAD TRANSFORMED THEM.

TURKEY IS NOW AN ISLAMIST STATE MORE IN IRAN'S CAMP THAN OURS OR THE WEST'S.

WE SHOULDN'T TRUST THEM AS MILITARY OR DIPLOMAITC ALLIES --- LEAST OF ALL NOW AS WE BATTLE GLOBAL JIHAD AND THE IRANIAN THREAT.

AS WE'VE POSTED NUMEROUS TIMES BEFORE: TURKEY SHOULD BE THROWN OUT OF NATO.

SECULARIST LAW-SUIT AGAINST TURKEY'S RULING ISLAMIST PARTY MOVES FORWARD

Ever sinceTurkey's Islamist party took power in 2002 Turkey had been a weak ally - at best.

They wouldn't allow us to use their country to enter Iraq, and forced us to change our strategy just weeks before the war. These changes made the post-war period worse than it would have been.

They are now refusing to send COMBAT troops to Afghanistan; (they have non-combat troops patrolling in some pacified cities). GEE: Thanks again you ungrateful scumb*gs.

Some deeply secularist Turks don't like it, and they're trying to get the courts to do something about it.

Analysis from The Kuwait Times:

Turkey faces a lengthy period of political uncertainty that could undermine its economy and European Union entry bid after prosecutors launched a case to shut down the ruling AK Party for alleged Islamist activities. But many analysts predict the centre-right, pro-business AK Party will survive the legal challenge, which they characterise as the last stand of an unaccountable and discredited conservative secular elite out of step with modern Turkey.

There will be a period of uncertainty, but it is 90 percent certain the AK Party government will survive this," said William Hale, author of books on Turkish politics and now teaching at Istanbul's Sabanci University. "The problem is it could all take as much as two years, though my impression is the court will act much more quickly in this particular case, perhaps within three to five months.

A top prosecutor asked the Constitutional Court on Friday to close the AK Party and ban Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan and some 70 other party officials from politics for five years on the grounds that they are trying to build an Islamic state. NATO member Turkey is overwhemingly Muslim but has a secular system. Its secularist elite, including the judges and army generals, has long accused the AK Party of plotting to erode the separation of state and religion, a claim the government denies.

Erdogan, Turkey's most popular politician by far, has branded the lawsuit an attack on democracy and vowed to fight. Prosecutors have been weighing an indictment against the AK Party for years, analysts say, but parliament's recent decision to ease a ban on women students wearing the Muslim headscarf in universities gave them the crucial ammunition to act.

LOCAL ANALYSIS:

2008 was supposed to be a year of reform and progress. So far things have not exactly gone as planned as Turkey enters another period of volcanic activity with the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) and Turkey's radical secularists square up for yet another battle.

For the second time in a decade the chief prosecutor of the Supreme Court of Appeals filed a closure case against a ruling party. The first time was against the Islamist Welfare Party (RP), again brought on charges of acting against the secularism principle of the Turkish Republic and lasted seven months, resulting with the Constitutional Court closing down the party. Now it is the turn of the AK Party. This is the latest twist in an ongoing story to remove the party from power and cast its most influential members into political exile for as long as possible. They were unable to do this in 2007 during the turbulent days of Abdullah Gül's presidential nomination. Paradoxically, their underhand behavior and manipulation of the judicial system helped Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan enhance his popularity and win a second term in office. Now those very same people who claim to be working in the best interests of the nation are having a second bite at the apple.

The prosecutor, who argues that the AK Party has become "the focal point of anti-secular activities," has compiled a 162-page indictment listing alleged infringements of Turkey's strict constitutional separation of religion and the state under AK Party rule. Although I am opposed to some of the activities carried out by certain circles of the AK Party (and have witnessed them first hand) -- e.g., support for the implementation of a ban on alcohol in public spaces, distributing copies of the Quran and preferential treatment given to women wearing a headscarf at some municipalities, there are still clearly no grounds for the closure of the party, which would be a clear strike against democracy. So in that respect one could say that the chief prospector himself is "the focal-point of anti-democratic activities."

• I THINK IT WOULD BE NICE IF THE SUIT WOULD WIN, AND THE AK SHUT DOWN.
• OR ELSE TURKEY WILL SLIDE INTO ISLAMICIST RULE LIKE SAUDI ARABIA.
• BUT IT IS LIKELY THAT THE SUIT WILL FAIL AND TURKEY BECOME LESS WESTERN.
• LIKE EUROPE IS.

WHO IS A BETTER ALLY TO THE USA, TURKEY OR ISRAEL?

ISRAEL.

Here's some more proof: Turkey is threatening to invade Iraq - because of attacks from the PKK:

Turkey will launch military action against Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq despite frantic appeals for restraint from America and Nato, its Prime Minister has told The Times.

Speaking hours before the PKK, the Kurdish Workers’ Party, killed at least 17 more Turkish soldiers yesterday, Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that Turkey had urged the US and Iraqi governments repeatedly to expel the separatists but they had done nothing. Turkey’s patience was running out and the country had every right to defend itself, he said. “Whatever is necessary will be done,” he declared in an interview. “We don’t have to get permission from anybody.”

Mr Erdogan, who begins a two-day visit to Britain today, also offered a bleak assessment of relations between the US and Turkey, a country of huge strategic importance to Washington. He said that a “serious wave of anti-Americanism” was sweeping Turkey, called America’s war in Iraq a failure, and served warning that if the US Congress approved a Bill accusing the Ottoman Turks of genocide against Armenians during the First World War, the US “might lose a very important friend”.

MEANWHILE: For nearly two decades, Israel has absorbed attack after attack and given Arabs more and more - earning nothing but... more attacks. The only thing which has reduced attacks and made Israel safer is the wall.

Israel is such a good ally that she even acceded the US request not retaliate when Saddam launched dozens of SCUDS into Israel during the Gulf War.

With ACTIONS like these Israel proves it is an extraordinary ally - lobby or not.

TAKE THAT MEARSHIEMER!

Bottom-line: We should have jettisoned Turkey as a key ally when they failed to give us approval to use Turkey to invade Saddam's Iraq from the north. That happened a few months into Erdogan's reign and it foretold EVERYTHING. We should start redeploying all or assets out of Turkey so that the next president isn't held hostage by these budding islamists.

OBAMA HAJJ TO TURKEY: OBAMA TO MAKE TURKEY THE FIRST MUSLIM COUNTRY HE VISITS

BBC: Obama trip to Turkey within weeks

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara on 7 March 2009

The visit is seen as a good chance to repair ties between two old allies

President Barack Obama will visit Turkey "in a month or so", US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said on a visit to Ankara.

She met Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the first visit by a member of the new US administration to Turkey ...

Mr Obama is due to head for Europe next month to attend the G20 summit in London on 2 April.

... Our correspondent says Turkey is expected to try to ensure President Obama does not refer to the mass killing of Armenians in 1915 as genocide, in his speech on the anniversary of the forced deportations next month.

• TURKEY IS A PISS-POOR ALLY: THEY REFUSED TO LET US USE TURKEY AS A BASE OF OPERATIONS FOR THE INVASION OF IRAQ AND THIS SEVERELY EFFECTED THE OUTCOME.

• TURKEY IS RUN BY THE AKP - AND ISLAMIST PARTY GRADUALLY TURNING THE SECULAR TURKEY INTO AN ISLAMIC STATE.

• WE SHOULD BE PRESSURING THEM TO REVERSE COURSE AND NOT BE KOWTOWING TO THEM.

TURKEY'S LOOMING CONSTITUTIONAL CRISIS

THE NYTIMES TODAY:

Turkey Court Takes Politically Explosive Case

Turkey’s highest court said Monday it had decided to take a case on closing Turkey’s governing party and banning its top political leaders, moving the country closer to a final confrontation between religious and secular Turks over who will rule Turkey.

Alifeyyaz Paksut, deputy chairman of the court, known as the Constitutional Court, said its justices had voted unanimously to hear the case, which was filed by Turkey’s top prosecutor on March 14.

The case calls for the closure of the Justice and Development Party, and the banning from politics of 71 party members, including Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erodgan and his ally, President Abdullah Gul, from politics.

Turkey has shut down other parties in the past. In 1998, it banned the Welfare Party, an openly Islamist group that claimed Mr. Erdogan and Mr. Gul as members, and has also banned Kurdish parties. But Mr. Erdogan’s current party maintains that it is secular, having moved away from its earlier involvement with political Islam.

The court’s acceptance of the case significantly increases the chances that the party, which was elected to power in 2002 and remains highly popular, could be closed.

Erdogan and his islamicist comrades screwed us big-time just before the Iraq War - they failed to give us permission to invade Iraq from the north. And Iran ships weapons to Hizballah via Turkey.Turkey had been a good ally until he and his islamicist comrades took over. MANY Turks see this and want it to stop; they fear what may become of turkey if Erdogan keeps doing what he's been doing - like making the hijab legal.

• MY PREVIOUS POSTS ON THIS MATTER HERE AND HERE.

• I HOPE THE COURT DOES THE RIGHT THING: CLOSES DOWN THE PARTY.

TURKISH FM MAKES A REVEALING FREUDIAN SLIP: CALLS FLOTILLA RAID "TURKEY'S 9/11"

TURKEY'S FM CALLED THE FLOTILLA RAID "TURKEY'S 9/11".

FORGET THE RIDICULOUS HYPERBOLE.

WHAT'S TELLING ABOUT THIS IS HOW IT RELATES TO WHAT I'VE SAID FOR WEEKS IS TURKEY'S STRATEGY AND THEIR MOTIVATION FOR TAKING PART IN FLOTILLA.

• AFTER 9/11 THE USA INVOKED NATO'S ARTICLE 5 - FORCING NATO TO PARTICIPATE IN THE AFGHAN WAR, WHERE THEY ARE FIGHTING THE ENEMY TO THIS DAY.

• BY COMPARING THE FLOTILLA RAID TO 9/11 THE TURKISH FM, HAS REVEALED THAT TURKEY INTENDS ON INVOKING ARTICLE 5 AND EITHER FORCING NATO TO ATTACK ISRAEL OR IN EFFECT DISBAND.

AND ANOTHER THING NO ONE ELSE HAS SAID:

IF WE HAD A TRULY PRO-ISRAEL AND A PRO-WEST ADMINISTRATION - WHICH WANTED TO DEFEAT THE ISLAMIST ENEMY - THEN THIS FLOTILLA COULD BE MADE TO BACKFIRE ON THE TURKS:

• THIS FLOTILLA PROVES THAT THE ISLAMIST GOVERNMENT OF TURKEY - ERDOGAN AND GUL AND THEIR AKP - IS ACTUALLY COOPERATING WITH IHH - WHICH IS AN ORGANIZATION ALLIED TO AL QAEDA.

• THIS MAKES TURKEY ALLIED TO AL QAEDA.

• AND ... THIS MEANS WE CAN FORCE NATO TO ATTACK TURKEY.

I THINK THERE SHOULD BE AN INTERNATIONAL INVESTIGATION OF THE TURKISH GOVERNMENT TO SEE IF THEY ARE COOPERATING WITH AL QAEDA.

I THINK THEY ARE - JUST LIKE THEIR ALLY IRAN.

• WHICH MEANS WE SHOULD KICK TURKEY OUT OF NATO
• AND HAVE SANCTIONS AGAINST THEM -
• AND STOP RUSSIA FROM BUILDING TURKEY NUCLEAR REACTORS; (RIGHT NOW THEY PLAN ON BUILDING THE TURKS SEVERAL).

TOO BAD FOR THE FREE WORLD OBAMA IS EITHER AN APPEASER OF ISLAMISM OR A CRYPTO-MUSLIM.

TURKEY BOMBS IRAQ - AGAIN, AND AGAIN THERE'S NO OUTCRY OR CONDEMNATION

THE STRAITS TIMES:

TURKISH troops and Kurdish militants clashed in southeast Turkey on Saturday in an escalation of violence which killed 11 soldiers and 12 rebels.

The battle at Semdinli in Hakkari province, near the border with Iraq, re-kindled the conflict in the region and prompted the armed forces to hit Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) targets inside northern Iraq.

The PKK militants touched off the fighting with an attack on an army border unit. Nine soldiers were killed and 14 wounded in the attack, the General Staff said on its website. Two other soldiers were killed by a land mine.

'Reinforcements were sent to the region and throughout the night support was provided to the conflict zone by attack helicopters and artillery. Separately, the Air Force struck targets identified in the northern region of Iraq,' it said.

The general staff gave the PKK death toll as 12. PKK fighters were not available to comment.

Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said: 'Our fight will continue until the terrorist organisation has been annihilated.'

IF BIBI SAID THIS ABOUT THE TERRORISTS TRYING TO TOPPLE ISRAEL, THEN TURKEY AND THE LEFT WOULD BE PROTESTING.

BUT THE LEFT IS SILENT WHEN TURKEY DOES IT.

MORE:

IRISH INDEPENDENT:

Turkish warplanes launched air raids at suspected Kurdish rebel positions in northern Iraq yesterday after a rebel attack on a military outpost in Turkey touched off clashes in which nine soldiers and 12 rebel fighters died, Turkey's military and reports have said.

Two other soldiers were also reported killed in a land mine explosion while chasing the rebels, raising the overall death toll in yesterday's violence to 23.

Special forces were immediately sent to reinforce the border area where the clashes occurred. At least 14 other soldiers were wounded in the fighting.

Kurdish rebels have dramatically stepped up attacks in Turkey in recent months, threatening a government attempt to end one of the world's longest guerrilla wars.

MSNBC:

Turkey's state-run news agency says Kurdish rebels have killed one Turkish soldier in an attack on a military outpost in eastern Turkey. The attack has raised the number of Turkish soldiers killed by the rebels to 12 in two days.

WHY ARE ISRAELIS ATTACKED FOR DOING WHAT TURKEY IS ALSO DOING?

BY DEFINITION: IT'S ANTISEMITISM.