Support Turkish Seculars and Kurds

Submitted by Dave (United States), Oct 17, 2015 at 08:56

Turkey is a strategically important country which has shown great progress in the past in developing into a modern, democratic and progressive country. That trajectory is now in serious jeopardy thanks to the megalomaniac Erdogan and his push to impose Sharia and autocracy, to drag Turkey back into a sort of Iran-like dark ages. What to do?

First, Turkey's possible revocation as a NATO member must be put on the table. It's simply outrageous that Western lives should be sacrificed to defend a country that has allied itself with such groups as Hamas and ISIS (despite the howls of protest, that is true). Internally, the Turkish governement is killing civil liberties and the opposition, literally. An attack against Turkey cannot be considered an attack against the US or other NATO members.

Second, the secular and Kurdish opposition in Turkey needs to be publically and firmly supported. Just as the Sunnis and Shiites support their proxies in place like Syria, the Turkish Kurds need all means of support, including arms. The CIA should be helping Turkish dissidents in every way possible, and the US must openly declare its support for the secular opposition in Turkey.

Yes, Turkey is on the precipice, and if things continue in this way tomorrow, it will take a step forward!

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".