I disagree

Submitted by Solkhar (Morocco), May 3, 2009 at 11:18

The Turkish PM made it very clear that his objections ot the former Danish PM's appointment to be NATO SG was the existence and continued broadcasting of a Kurdish television/radio station. That station supports the PKK which in turn is recognised by most western nations, including Denmark as a terrorst organisation. The issue of the cartoons was resolved a long time before.

Mr Pipes, your assumption that because the Turkish Prime Minister expouses his overt belief in Islam as a threat and his wife wears a hijab is sad and not a justification for declaring the administration as fundamentalist. Turkey has suffered with enforced secularism on a majority conservative religous nation for too long and if the western nations allow for the continued scare-mongering against basic Islamic belief, then the outside fundamentalists will be more successful in their infiltrations into that nation. Turkey needs support, collaboration and engagement, not baseless isolationism that would only make the matter worse.

As for NATO, the cold-war is over and the organisation needs to close down and reform based on the realities of this day. An EU alliance or a Mediteranian alliance based on mutual and realistic goals is more important, links with the US and Canada into this zone is for my part questionable and should only remain perhaps in bilateral military strategies. Turkey is not a member of the EU but an important and strong influence in the region, a nation also on the Mediteranian as well as the black sea.

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