I was wondering about the impact of the invasion into Iraq and you answered that. Unfortunately, neo-conservatism works against its own best interests at times.
I think the failure to gain EU membership is a big disappointment also. Once again, France working against the best interests of the West.
The real cause, as I read it here, is the relentless march of islamism.
Ataturk has been revered as the man who saved Turkey after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire. If his memory and philosophy can't stop radical Islam I don't know what can. I don't think the game is over in Turkey, however. Very powerful interests want to keep Turkey oriented to the West and out of the sinkhole of the Middle East.
All of colorado tanker's comments are pretty much what I recall. I followed the Turkish press at the time (English translations).
I recall numbers like 80 percent public opposition. Yet the new government (AKP) and Gul were inclined to approve our use of Turkey for the invasion.
They almost got the necessary stuff through the parliament.
Perhaps the main factor for the failure was the reported warning from France. If Turkey allowed the U.S. to use Turkey for the invasion they (France) would make sure that Turkey would never get into the E.U. Remember? Key French leaders had reasons for keeping Saddam in power.
Some of the public opposition dated back to the Gulf War and the reporting in the U.S. press about Turkish leaders "haggling" about an economic package -- a package I believe that was long-delayed from the time of the Gulf War. Turks believed that their economic problems stemmed from the problems caused Turkey by the Gulf War. As I recall, few if any European countries delivered on their Gulf War promises.