Can't agree more

Submitted by Pavel (United States), Jun 10, 2005 at 10:14

From my visit to Turkey four years ago I brought the same impression as Mr. Werner - an average urban Turk is not a devout Muslim, but quintessentially a devout merchant. A back country is entirely different story, it's, well, "backward", which everywhere in the Muslim world means - islamist. I don't see Turkish establishment, army and urban population accepting rule of sharia without a fight, and from my observation - Turks are fearless worriers. I would not be surprised one day to watch CNN reports from the battlegrounds of Turkish civil war. I just do not see Turkish educated class fleeing the country or giving away their freedom. USA should give much more support to the Turkish opposition, and stop supporting Erdogan and his government.

---

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".