Who needs friends if you're looking to rebuild an empire

Submitted by trans-parere (Canada), Feb 1, 2012 at 03:30

Both the US and NATO countries stood by while Turkey annexed, raped and murdered the Christian Cypriots. I say stood by because the best NATO countries did was secure the demarcation of the Trurk's claim and ensure they had free reign to kill, corrupt, and destroy with in "their territory" that held a population made up of ~ 80% Greek Cypriots. Both US and NATO made that trade off for access to Turkey's bases during the dying days of the Cold War.

Today, Turkey is engaged with the worst elements in the middle-east and the US and NATO countries can only mutter idle threats and make it difficult for Turkey to enter the EU. If that. Since an increasingly bankrupt EU is looking hard at getting past any perception of "difficulty" with Turkey entering the EU.

Turkey is working to create it's own EU style economic union among middle-east Arab countries. All ex-Ottoman Empire holdings. This Turkish economic expansion includes material and financial support to Hezbollah and HAMAS. This is part of Mr Davutoglu's neo-Ottomanist world view, and desire of increasing Turkish influence from central Europe to the Persian Gulf.

While the EU has it's hands full working with the Balkan State's to develop some socio-economic stability for the region. Turkey is making their own end run on the Balkans seeking an independent economic model between the Balkans and Turkey.

"People in Britain may think this government is moderate and liberal, but they are not," said Ayse Ozek Karasu, the editor of Haberturk newspaper. "There are cities here now where it is hard to buy alcohol, and where women feel pressurised to wear the headscarf. I feel that they have a secret agenda, which is not to be in the EU, but to be leaders of the Islamic world." Haberturk Newspaper is located at Ciner Media Center in Taksim, Istanbul.

Was Perry right? No. "The West" never had won over Turkey and Turkey has always been an unreliable partner. Long before the rise of the AKP and Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to power. Whether that is referenced through Turkey's treatment of the Cypriots or the Kurdish people. Turkey continues it's brutal treatment towards those they owe a debt to. It's going on ninety years since the Armenian genocide and the Turkish can not bring themselves to acknowledge that crime. Bringing Turkey truly into the fold of democratic "Western" States has always been a case of wishful thinking on our part.

I believe the Turkish mind nourishes the embers of empire lost.

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