Talk Turkey
Looming over the whole EU process is the question of what to do about NATO stalwart Turkey. Turkey is in many ways a schizophrenic country. The Turkish republic was founded in 1923 in reaction to the Ottoman Empire and defined itself in stark contrast to it. The early republicans associated the empire with everything that was archaic, religious and backward. They modeled the republic on modern, secular and progressive lines, similar to those they saw in Europe. It became the first secular Islamic state.
It remains a secular Muslim democracy with powerful military generals who ensure that Muslim fundamentalism is reigned in. This was self-evident again in May 2007, after the military backed by secularists derailed former Islamist Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul’s parliamentary campaign for president. More than a million pro-secular demonstrators took to the streets of Ankara, Istanbul, Izmir, Canakkale, Manisa and many others.
The military establishment had issued a public reminder that it was the ultimate defender of the secular Turkish state. The army has removed four civilian governments in 50 years in a country that hopes for European Union membership. Turkey has been trying to get into the European trade bloc since 1959, and has achieved a comprehensive association agreement with it.
Many European governments have never considered Turkey to be part of Europe. Why not? From the prospective of geopolitical location, Turkey occupies a central stage in the southern belt of Eurasia, at the intersection of Asia and Europe, the Black Sea and the Mediterranean Sea, and the Balkans, the Middle East and the Caucasus. This is the southern passage between West Asia and Eastern Europe. As a result, Turkey is an East and South European and West Asian country at the same time. Turks have fought and died with American and European soldiers in the Korean conflict and have been prepared to do so again if called upon. Turkey offered to send 10,000 troops for peacekeeping in Iraq but were turned down when the Kurds objected. They let the U.S. use their air bases for NATO-and U.N.-approved military campaigns. In Afghanistan it took over the command of the international peace keeping force in 2004.
It remains a secular Muslim democracy with powerful military generals who ensure that Muslim fundamentalism is reigned in. This was self-evident again in May 2007, after the military backed by secularists derailed former Islamist Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul’s parliamentary campaign for president. More than a million pro-secular demonstrators took to the streets of Ankara, Istanbul, Izmir, Canakkale, Manisa and many others.
The military establishment had issued a public reminder that it was the ultimate defender of the secular Turkish state. The army has removed four civilian governments in 50 years in a country that hopes for European Union membership. Turkey has been trying to get into the European trade bloc since 1959, and has achieved a comprehensive association agreement with it.
Many European governments have never considered Turkey to be part of Europe. Why not? From the prospective of geopolitical location, Turkey occupies a central stage in the southern belt of Eurasia, at the intersection of Asia and Europe, the Black Sea and the Mediterranean Sea, and the Balkans, the Middle East and the Caucasus. This is the southern passage between West Asia and Eastern Europe. As a result, Turkey is an East and South European and West Asian country at the same time. Turks have fought and died with American and European soldiers in the Korean conflict and have been prepared to do so again if called upon. Turkey offered to send 10,000 troops for peacekeeping in Iraq but were turned down when the Kurds objected. They let the U.S. use their air bases for NATO-and U.N.-approved military campaigns. In Afghanistan it took over the command of the international peace keeping force in 2004.
posted by Peter de Krassel's Custom Maid Politics at 7:55 PM
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