The information in this article comes from two sources, the New York Post and Power Line. Turkey has been leaning toward radical Islam for a while. In 2003, the country refused to allow American troops access to their country in order to invade Iraq from the north. Last week, they refused to let Israel participate in the NATO exercise "Anatolian Eagle", which is a regularly scheduled military exercise along the Turkish border. Because Israel was not allowed to participate, American withdrew and the exercise was cancelled. This is not really a change of direction, but a leap forward in a direction that does not mean good things for western countries.
The article in the New York Post points out what happened after the NATO exercise was cancelled:
"A day later, Turkish and Syrian officials disclosed that their armies had just concluded their own joint military exercise. The same day, the two countries went even further, signing a strategic cooperation pact."
Part of this is related to the fact that Turkey has been kept out of the European Union. You really can't blame the country for looking for an alternative group that would accept it. Turkish society is becoming more economically comfortable and there is a desire to get along with its neighbors. In drawing closer to its Arab and Muslim neighbors, Turkey has aired a new drama series on TV which depicts Israeli soldiers as cold-blooded killers who enjoy shooting at defenseless Palestinian children. This sort of television is one of many reasons that the Jews and the Arabs have a difficult time making peace with each other!
Power Line points out:
"As for the Obama administration, since entering office in January it has abandoned US support for democracy activists throughout the world, in favor of a policy of pure appeasement of US adversaries at the expense of US allies. In keeping with this policy, President Barack Obama paid a preening visit to Ankara where he effectively endorsed the Islamization of Turkish foreign policy that has moved the NATO member into the arms of Teheran's mullahs. Taken together, the actions of the Bush and Obama White Houses have demoralized Westernized Turks, who now believe that their country is doomed to descend into the depths of Islamist extremism."
Unfortunately, since the Obama Administration took office, the number of people in the world willing to take a stand for democratic government has decreased drastically. I hope that by the end of President Obama's term America will have some credibility left both as an ally and a supporter of democracy.
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