Turkey: an Islamofanatic country

[HinduPatriot]

BBC News - Are regional issues splitting US and Turkey?

I used to have some respect for Turkey as a potential ally.

But Turkey's support of Iranian nuclear capability and its anti-Israel boat of terror has made us all conclude that Turkey is just another state full of Muslim fanatics and anti-civilisation sentiment.

My feeling is that the Turkish Muslims will soon enough have to be classified as yet another Muslim threat and we will have to deploy military tactics in the Turkish border areas to support Turkey's enemies.

We need to be supporting Greece, Armenia, the Kurds and Israel as they seek to defeat Turkey.

TURKEY IS NO LONGER AN ALLY, BUT JUST ANOTHER MUSLIM PROBLEM TO BE DEALT WITH.

 

[ekrem]

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rosZm1JPyMY[/ame]

Decade Forecast: 2010-2020

Iraq, Afghanistan and Iran will remain issues by 2020, but not defining issues in the region. Two other countries will be more important. Turkey is emerging as a self-confident regional leader, with a strong military and economy. We expect that trend to continue, and see Turkey emerging as the dominant regional power. The growth of Turkish power and influence in the next decade is one reason we feel confident in the decline of the U.S.-jihadist war and the transformation of the Iran issue. The dynamic in the region between the Mediterranean and Iran — and even in the Caucasus and Central Asia — will be redefined by Turkey’s re-emergence. Of course, Turkey will feel tremendous internal tensions during this process, as is the case for any emerging power. For Turkey, the relationship between the Ataturkian tradition and the Islamic tradition is the deep fault line. It could falsify this forecast by plunging the country into chaos. While that is possible, we feel that the crisis will be managed over the next decade, albeit with much pain and stress.

By 2020, Egypt will be changing from the type of country it has been since the 1970s — for the past generation it has lacked the capacity to influence developments beyond its borders. Like Turkey, Egypt is caught between secularism and Islam, and that tension could continue paralyzing it. However, as Turkey rises, Ankara will need a large source of cheap labor and markets for exports. The result will be a “coattails” effect for Egypt. With this synergetic fortification we expect not only an end to Egyptian quiescence, but increased friction between Egypt and all other regional players. In particular, Israel will be searching for the means to maintain its balance between the powerful Turkey and the re-emerging Egypt. This will shape all of its foreign — and domestic — policies.

Free Article for Non-Members | STRATFOR

Turkey as regional hegemon--2014:
Strategic implications for the United States

They have industrial and procurement plans aimed at strategic autonomy. Turkey will have a mature military force structure capable of rapid and sustained intervention in the region. Turkey’s economy will be stronger and its robust industrial base will be self-sufficient enough to compensate for western embargoes. The Turkish infrastructure will accommodate the shifting of military forces to distant borders and will permit the support of those forces. By 2014, it would only be a very short step for Turkey to become a regional hegemon.
To use an overworked phrase, “It’s not a question of if, it’s a question of when.”
There will be an increasing risk of unilateral Turkish military or economic interventions in an unstable region that is vital to American security interests.

Turkey as regional hegemon2014: strategic implications for the United States - Turkish Studies

 

[Sallow]

"Potential" ally? Turkey was instrumental in bring about the downfall of the Soviet Union.

It's unconscionable that anyone would suggest they are anything but an ally.

 

[ekrem]

January 2011 will be signed 4-nation free-trade zone with intra-visa-free travel.
- Jordan
- Lebanon
- Syria
- Turkey
The visa-free aspect has already been ratified. In Januaray will be Istanbul summit and the official launch of the free-trade zone.

This economic zone will be based on extensive cooperation in the fields of trade, energy, transportation and tourism. In order to take advantage of all possible areas of cooperation in these sectors and to come up with concrete projects as soon as possible, the ministers of these industries will meet twice a year. The first such meeting is set to take place in November. Then the foreign ministers of those countries will meet in Damascus in December in order to discuss the political aspects of cooperation. The prime ministers of Turkey, Syria, Jordan and Lebanon are also expected to have a summit in İstanbul in January and then continue with regular meetings at least biannually.

Cooperation among these four countries is intended to develop a long-term strategic partnership and to create a zone of the free movement of goods and persons among these countries. This cooperation aims to establish the Middle East's version of the European Union.

Ankara eyes stability in Lebanon through economy



Turkish FM:
"We have united the north (through our cooperation with Syria, Lebanon and Jordan), and we are going to launch cooperation with the Gulf countries next year."

Turkey to set up trade zone with Syria, Lebanon, Jordan - Hurriyet Daily News and Economic Review

 

[pinqy]

From the State Department International Religious Freedom Report 2009

Turkey
Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor
International Religious Freedom Report 2009

October 26, 2009

The Constitution provides for freedom of religion, and other laws and policies contributed to the generally free practice of religion; however, constitutional provisions regarding the integrity and existence of the secular state restrict these rights.

The Government generally respected religious freedom in practice. There was no change in the status of respect for religious freedom by the Government during the reporting period. The Government continued to impose limitations on Islamic and other religious groups and significant restrictions on Islamic religious expression in government offices and state-run institutions, including universities, for the stated reason of preserving the "secular state." Authorities continued their broad ban on wearing Islamic religious headscarves in government offices as well as public schools. The Government also continued to oppose "Islamic extremism." Religious minorities said they were effectively blocked from careers in state institutions because of their faith. Minority religious groups also faced difficulties in worshipping, registering with the Government, and training their followers. Although religious speech and persuasion is legal, some Muslims, Christians, and Baha'is faced some restrictions and occasional harassment for alleged proselytizing.

There were reports of societal abuses and discrimination based on religious affiliation, belief, or practice. Threats against non-Muslims created an atmosphere of pressure and diminished freedom for some non-Muslim communities. Many Christians, Baha'is, and heterodox Muslims faced societal suspicion and mistrust, and some elements of society continued to express anti-Semitic sentiments. Additionally, persons wishing to convert from Islam sometimes experienced social harassment and violence from relatives and neighbors.

The U.S. Government discusses religious freedom with the Government and state institutions as part of its overall policy to promote human rights. During the reporting period, embassy and consulate representatives met frequently with government officials and representatives of religious groups to discuss matters related to religious freedom, including legal reform aimed at lifting restrictions on religious minorities

Hardly an Islamic state or Muslim threat. They're definitely going for dominant regional country and they still remember the days of the Ottoman Empire, but barring a fundamentalist Islamic Revolution, Turkey is not threat for religious reasons.

 

[ekrem]

The Schengen Area
Schengen Area - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Prime Minister of Turkey is speaking of the 'Scham'gen Area in reference to the Schengen Area within the EU. "Scham" means in Turkish Damascus, and it was the administrative unit to rule these lands before 1918.
Turkish-Israeli tension on the axis of the ‘Damascus Province’ - Hurriyet Daily News and Economic Review



foreignpolicy.com

Turkish Dilemma
Once a reliable Western ally, Turkey is now going its own way in the Middle East. And nobody in Washington or Brussels knows what to do about it.

(...)
Americans tend to benignly neglect other countries until they become a problem. And until just the other day, Turkey was a fun tourist destination; now it's a problem.
(...)
Senior Obama administration officials have begun to worry that the West has "lost" Turkey; Defense Secretary Robert Gates recently fretted that Turkey is "moving eastward" and blamed the European Union for blocking Turkey's aspiration for membership
(...)
Over the course of the last decade, the country's diplomats seem to have taken a leaf from China, whose doctrine of "peaceful rise" dictated harmonious relations along its borders and a relatively low profile in global diplomacy. Turkey's policy of "zero problems toward neighbors" smoothed away conflict with Middle Eastern partners, including both Israel and Iran. Through a series of bilateral agreements, Turkey has established a visa-free zone, and it hopes to establish a free trade zone in much of the area once occupied by the Ottoman Empire -- without, as a Turkish diplomat pointed out to me, seeking to re-create Ottoman hegemony.
(...)
And Turkey, no longer content to reduce friction along its borders, dreams of bringing a new order to the Middle East. "[T]he world expects great things from Turkey," Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has written on this website.
He might be wrong there, but what's clear is that Turkey expects great things from itself.
(...)
Perhaps all emerging powers reach this inflection point, where nationalistic pride almost compels overreaching. (See under: Brazil.) But Turkey is the only emerging power located in the Middle East, a region where supreme global conflicts play themselves out. A peaceful rise in East Asia is no great feat, but try living next to Iraq and Iran without antagonizing somebody.
(...)
Paul Salem, director of the Carnegie Middle East Center, recently observed that (...) Turkey has a great story to tell: not the reconstitution of the Ottoman Empire, but the rise of a democratic, free market state in the Islamic world of the Middle East. Salem described Turkey as "the only country in the Middle East actually pointing toward the future." That is what is known as soft power.
(...)
This administration is prepared to take counsel from rising powers. (....)
"We're trying to give them their place in the sun," says the official with whom I spoke. But how can they accord Turkey its place in the sun without acceding to a view of the Middle East that Washington does not and will not accept? "When you come up with that," the official told me, "let me know."

Turkish Dilemma - By James Traub | Foreign Policy[/QUOTE]

 

[HinduPatriot]

The Turkish Boat of Terror directly threatened Israeli territorial integrity, which is why our heroic Israeli allies shot dead the terrorist bastards.

God Bless USA and Israel in the global war on Islamic Terrorism.

We need to give Greece bombs to defend herself from the Islamic Extremists in Turkey. We also need to sign a defense agreement with Kurds and immediately establish a Kurdistan on land currently occupied by Turkey.

 

[HinduPatriot]

Turkey is completely unreliable and we must no longer see fit to prop up this failing islamic state of terror.

 

[ekrem]

From the State Department International Religious Freedom Report 2009

Turkey
Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor
International Religious Freedom Report 2009

October 26, 2009

The Constitution provides for freedom of religion, and other laws and policies contributed to the generally free practice of religion; however, constitutional provisions regarding the integrity and existence of the secular state restrict these rights.

The Government generally respected religious freedom in practice. There was no change in the status of respect for religious freedom by the Government during the reporting period. The Government continued to impose limitations on Islamic and other religious groups and significant restrictions on Islamic religious expression in government offices and state-run institutions, including universities, for the stated reason of preserving the "secular state." Authorities continued their broad ban on wearing Islamic religious headscarves in government offices as well as public schools. The Government also continued to oppose "Islamic extremism." Religious minorities said they were effectively blocked from careers in state institutions because of their faith. Minority religious groups also faced difficulties in worshipping, registering with the Government, and training their followers. Although religious speech and persuasion is legal, some Muslims, Christians, and Baha'is faced some restrictions and occasional harassment for alleged proselytizing.

There were reports of societal abuses and discrimination based on religious affiliation, belief, or practice. Threats against non-Muslims created an atmosphere of pressure and diminished freedom for some non-Muslim communities. Many Christians, Baha'is, and heterodox Muslims faced societal suspicion and mistrust, and some elements of society continued to express anti-Semitic sentiments. Additionally, persons wishing to convert from Islam sometimes experienced social harassment and violence from relatives and neighbors.

The U.S. Government discusses religious freedom with the Government and state institutions as part of its overall policy to promote human rights. During the reporting period, embassy and consulate representatives met frequently with government officials and representatives of religious groups to discuss matters related to religious freedom, including legal reform aimed at lifting restrictions on religious minorities

Hardly an Islamic state or Muslim threat. They're definitely going for dominant regional country and they still remember the days of the Ottoman Empire, but barring a fundamentalist Islamic Revolution, Turkey is not threat for religious reasons.

Geopolitical Journey, Part 2: Borderlands | STRATFOR

Those who argue that the Turkish government is radically Islamist are simply wrong, for two reasons. First, Turkey is deeply divided, with the powerful heirs of the secular traditions of Kemal Ataturk on one side. They are too strong to have radical Islam imposed on them. Second, the Islamism of the Turkish government cannot possibly be compared to that of Saudi Arabia, for example. Islam comes in many hues, as does Christianity, and the Turkish version derives from Ottoman history. It is subtle, flexible and above all pragmatic. It derives from a history in which Turkish Islam was allied with Catholic Venice to dominate the Mediterranean. So Turkish Islam is not strong enough to impose itself on the secularists and too urbane to succumb to simplistic radicalism. It will do what it has to do, but helping al Qaeda is not on its agenda.

There is unfortunately Islam paranoia going on. We do not see anyone as our judge and we won't play ass-licking to avoid being stigmatiziced as Islamic fundamentalists or something other as that Hindu-Fake does.

 

[ekrem]

(...)

We need to give Greece bombs to defend herself from the Islamic Extremists in Turkey. We also need to sign a defense agreement with Kurds and immediately establish a Kurdistan on land currently occupied by Turkey.

Big mouth, bring it on.

 

[HinduPatriot]

Islamic Terrorism is the biggest threat that we currently face. We must be ruthless in dealing with it, and must support all those that wish to hunt it down and kill it.

Therefore Greece and Israel should get our full military backing for any future cleansing of the problem of Islamic terror in Turkey. We must also support the moderate Kurds in their quest for freedom from the Turks, who have a history of committing genocide (remember Armenia). Turks and Nazi Germany are the same morally.

God bless America.

 

[ekrem]

Islamic Terrorism is the biggest threat that we currently face. We must be ruthless in dealing with it, and must support all those that fight it.

Therefore Greece and Israel should get our full military backing for any future cleansing of the problem of Islamic terror in Turkey. We must also support the moderate Kurds in their quest for freedom from the Turks, who have a history of committing genocide (remember Armenia). Turks and Nazi Germany are the same morally.

What are you waiting for... till the Ganges actually becomes clean?
For that you can wait long.

 

[HinduPatriot]

USA, Israel, Greece, Armenia and the Kurds will unite against Turkey.

 

[ekrem]

USA, Israel, Greece, Armenia and the Kurds will unite against Turkey.

Good luck.

 

[ekrem]

Whose fake are you, the fake of hipeter or Marc39?

 

[HinduPatriot]

Learn to express yourself clealry, young Turk.

 

[jillian]

Turkey wouldn't be the first place on my hit parade if I needed to name "Islamofanatic" countries".

 

[jillian]

Turkey is completely unreliable and we must no longer see fit to prop up this failing islamic state of terror.

No. It's not completely reliable. And they have a spotty history (as I suspect the Armenians that are left would confirm). But they Re a good trading partner for Israel and have certain self-interest in rejecting the wahabbists.

But why the focus on Turkey when so many middle eastern countries are far worse? You have an agenda. What is it?

 

[pinqy]

Islamic Terrorism is the biggest threat that we currently face. .

Sure, but Turkey is not a source of Islamic Terrorism. The government clampls down very hard on that. Turkey's power plays and politics are secular.

 

[Mr.Fitnah]

Turkey is on the bubble .
It will slip into Islamic fundamentalism in about 30 years.