West-Muslim Relations since 9/11

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An excerpt from the interview:

PIPES: Turkey no longer claims to be bridge between East and West, Turkey no longer is a bridge between East and West. Turkey's profoundly changed from where it was ten years ago. In a key election that took place November, 2002 due to the oddities of the Turkish electoral requirements, an Islamist party got 1/3 of the vote and 2/3s of the parliamentary seats. It's still in power; it looks to be in power for a long time to come.

It has sponsored vast changes in Turkey that have led to changes in foreign policy, changes in domestic policy. I believe that Turkey is the long-term greatest threat to the West in the Middle East. Not Iran. Iran I see as being just fine, once we can get through the present problems of nuclear buildup and terrorism and so forth. The Iranians are ready to modernize. The Turks, to my astonishment, as I never would have expected this a decade ago, have become the leaders of the Islamist movement; are ever more dangerous to us. Turkey is no longer the bridge, it is now the problem.

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