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Politics is the art of the possible

Reader comment on item: Futile Israeli Efforts to Win Ankara Back

Submitted by Mozere (United Kingdom), Feb 19, 2013 at 07:22

Erdogan is the best politician and orator that the Turkish political scene produced since Inonu in 1960s. He is a realist not a dreamer even though he has his dreams. Note his backtracking in the case of Libya where he went from being an opponent of NATO to its active collaborator within a week.

He knows politics is the art of the possible,he realises he must be friendly with the west the source of its finance and most important market for the Turkish economy whose expansion is a must for the wealth of Turkey ,hence the continuing support of the voters.A hostile Turkey would be economically vulnerable unlike Iran with its oil income.

A lot of Turks advocate joining the Shanghai five,but this is problematic due to many reasons,most important ones being;

a) Russia will not want a strong Turkey as this will undermine Russian influence in central Asia and more importantly in the Caucusus and Azerbaijan.Russia would only admit Turkey if it is willing to be a client state and defer unconditionally to Russian designs in the Caucusus.

b) being in Shanghai five will mean being friendly with Iran and concede leadership in the ME to shia Iran and going against the Saudi Arabia and the gulf states,hardly the acts of a would be champion of sunni Arabs

c) in any future conflict in Cyprus and its gas fields(if any gas to be found), Russia will stand behind the Greeks ,not only as Orthodox Christian brothers,also as beneficiaries of Greek Cypriot money laundering ,and a possible Russian naval base.

d) Russians will back the Armenian Republic as a means of manipulating Azerbeijan and Turkey.

Turkey will need western technology to defend itself in a dangerous part of the world.Turkey is in no position to create its own high tech in the near future as its woeful education system is geared to produce,in the words of Mr E.,a religious generation and not a free thinking generation able to analyse and question.After school hours children are encouraged to spend hours in Quran courses rather than developing sporting and scientific skills,hence the shocking shortage of internationally renown sportspeople and scientists from a not poor nation of 75 million.

In conclusion Turkey and the West are bound by common interests to be somewhat reluctant allies.The West gains by thwarting the Russian and Iranian threats to its interests in the region.

Submitting....

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".

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Reader comments (24) on this item

Title Commenter Date Thread
We dare you to [95 words]Nazim CairoMar 1, 2013 17:57203953
ı agree [109 words]havasMar 2, 2013 01:47203953
1Turkish chest Beating [44 words]Robert WFeb 24, 2013 15:28203826
Israel never had a friendly relationship with this Turkish regime [135 words]Herbert GrossmanFeb 20, 2013 18:48203724
1Enemy? Trade is booming between Israel and Turkey [52 words]
w/response from Daniel Pipes
Can OzFeb 19, 2013 18:31203659
hostile to turkey ?? [27 words]roger spleenFeb 20, 2013 06:07203659
appeasement hysteria [45 words]BenFeb 23, 2013 16:45203659
3When will they ever learn...WILL they ever learn? [112 words]NuritGFeb 19, 2013 16:48203658
Israel Not Doing Anything The US Has Not Already Done [113 words]M. ToveyFeb 19, 2013 12:52203655
3Very enlightening and disappointing article i could say. [290 words]
w/response from Daniel Pipes
AlexandrosFeb 19, 2013 11:41203653
1me and three other guys [160 words]mythFeb 19, 2013 10:55203652
2There Should Be An Apology For Marmara - But Not What You Think! [43 words]
w/response from Daniel Pipes
Ron AnderFeb 19, 2013 09:53203651
2DOESN'T ISRAEL REALIZE WHEN A COUNTRY SPITS IN ITS FACE? [155 words]Ilene RichmanFeb 19, 2013 09:16203649
Relations with Turkey [53 words]Leonard MarkowitzFeb 19, 2013 08:20203644
1... analysis :) [36 words]JoshFeb 19, 2013 07:41203642
1Politics is the art of the possible [397 words]MozereFeb 19, 2013 07:22203641
3A bit misleading again [526 words]AlexandrosFeb 19, 2013 21:07203641
11Israeli-Turkish relationships VS Israeli alliance with Greece , Romania , Bulgaria and Cyprus!!! [173 words]Gregoris GregoriouFeb 19, 2013 02:45203634
2factional differences in Israel partly explain the stupidity [313 words]EliyahuFeb 20, 2013 08:48203634
8The explanation is America's secret agenda, not Israel . [559 words]IanusFeb 20, 2013 16:13203634
Turkey has always been the most brutal murdering country of all time! [14 words]BobMar 18, 2013 13:46203634
2Turkish AWACS. [120 words]Steven LFeb 19, 2013 00:54203631
Futile Israeli Efforts to Win Ankara Back [112 words]Judith DaviesFeb 19, 2013 00:04203629
a death wish? [37 words]RitaFeb 18, 2013 23:04203626

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Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".

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