‘Most Western Muslim....’
That make them so much better suited to be a positive influence in the Islamic world than a negative one in the Western orbit. Yep, It’s about Islam and Islam’s fundamental incompatibility with Western values.
When Islam emerges from the dark ages, perhaps there will be more to discuss. Until then, It’s all taqiya to me from a country that cannot even come clean on it’s treatment of Armenians in 1915.
Now you’re going into relativistic mush to make no point other than to your self. Your argument is like that of Jesse Jackson when he tries shake down money from a business. Are you Armenian? Are you like all those Serbs creeping around in this forum?
The Turks ever since Ataturk have been more Western than Eastern. They were never Arabs, and as Ottomans might have been violent and expansionistic in the past, but so were others at the time, and BTW the Turks were allied in WWI with the? Germans.
Turkey today is a borderline industrial state and they understand “economics.” They are about Dollars and Euro’s and while some morons run around in Turkey screaming some BS, they understand that their best interests lie with the West, Europe, NATO and the US. That is how they act. In 2002/03 they had a conflict of interest that was split between us and Europe because part of Europe (Germany/Belgium/France) more or less worked against us. EU membership is worth far more than some billions given to them in foreign aid and loans, so the Turks rationally took the German (Schroeder) led offer.
Today Turkey has its sights set on EU membership and our support of this is simply to our advantage since it helps our relations with the Turks who are of value to us as we are to them. Likewise, just like we are paying the price for invading Iraq (We break it, we fix it), those in Europe making big promises years past to screw with us should today be called out and pay their dues as well. – That simple
Here’s a reality check-
Schroeder is gone. Merkel and the reigning CDU/CSU isn’t so optimistic as Schroeder was in every speech he gave about Turkey and their future. The French have gone through some substantial changes politically and while Chirac made some negative statements he didn’t hold his buddy Schroeder back when making the offer to the Turks in 2002/03. The political climate in Germany has changed. You have more conservative, more nationally thinking governments in Germany and France. The perception of the Islamic threat is real. Schroeder all but declared the GWOT as a figment of George Bush’s imagination, as false pretense to go on a global crusade. He all but echoed Al Jazzier in his speeches reference Iraq, Iran and the GWOT! Most Germans don’t want to do anything or as little as possible, may that be reference Afghanistan, Lebanon, Iraq, or Iran, but..... the perception of the threat is real, and the admittance of 80 million Muslims into the EU does not sit well with the people, despite their denial of any problems years past. France today will flat out block Turkey from joining. The likelihood of Turkey entering the EU is slim to none.
However, that does not change the fact that us supporting Turkey will help our relations with them and they are strategically significant as well as a major arms purchasing nation for us. Turkey of course screwed us too when they reneged on their deal. Realize they had already agreed when they changed their mind because of the better offer. 4ID was originally planned to land in Turkey and was already unloading ships when they had to load everything back up and squeeze through the Suez on their trip to Kuwait.
Think of it this way. Turkey “gambled” and the payoff would have been huge. But their boys in the EU are gone, and in the end they lost BILLIONS in guaranteed US Dollars as well as influence in Iraq for a pipedream EU membership. The Germans offered them something they really don’t want to dish out today, but they should squirm a bit and enjoy the backfire politically as well as culturally when they reject 80 million Turks essentially for no other reason than their religion, Islam. The echo of this rejection will reverb through the entire Muslim world. The hesitation and political game playing today is amusing, but eventually Turkey will hear a big “Nein danke,” and if you think head scarfs were a big deal, think again. And guess where we stand on the issue?
Payback is a bitch.
-IMHO-