Taking Turkey seriously
Thursday, July 1, 2010 at 12:03AM 
FT column by Philip Stephens.
The conventional narrative says Turkey has traded in western democracy for Islamism.
Stephens sees it a bit more subtly:
In any event, the message I took from policymakers and business leaders at a recent conference in Istanbul convened by Chatham House was far more subtle than the present discourse in the west. Far from turning its back on Europe, the government hopes that the country’s rising regional influence will strengthen its claim for admission.
It is not often these days that you hear anyone praise the EU. Turkish politicians are the exception. The Union, one of Mr Erdogan’s ministers told the conference, had been a “greatest peace project in the history of mankind”. Securing Turkey’s membership remained a “national and a strategic” objective.
In sum, no breach with West, but a rational attempt to boost Turkey's negotiating hand.
Reader Comments (1)
Dr.:
What do you surmise is the purpose of all these rumors of war against Iran? SOCOM massing with Mossad in Azeri moutains, secret IAF flights into Saudi, the Sauds themselves giving permission for overflights, Syria getting advanced AA radar, US carrier groups in the Indian Ocean (doesn't one always arrive before the other can leave?), etc. Is this a psy-op by Iran or against Iran? That rumor about an Israeli air base in Tabuk makes no sense - 100 miles is a rounding error for an F-15I with in-flight refueling on a range of 2670 miles, or an F-16I with an action radius of 1250 and a tanker on the CAP. Who's pulling whose leg here, and why?