(Wall Street Journal) Steven J. Rosen - Last year, Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan defended Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, indicted by the International Criminal Court for killing half a million Sudanese Christians and non-Arab Muslims. In March 2010, he denied that Turks ever killed Armenian civilians. He said the Turkish military garrison stationed in Cyprus since 1974 is "not an occupier" but "[ensures] the peace." On tens of thousands of Kurds killed by Turkish security forces from 1984 to 1999, he says nothing. Could it be that there is something more to Erdogan's rage against Israel? Turkish elections, 13 months away, hold the answer. Backing for Erdogan's party has fallen to 29%, the lowest level since it won power in 2002 and far below the 47% it scored in July 2007. So Erdogan decided to play the Israel card. In the 2009 Pew Global Attitudes survey, 73% of Turks rated their opinions of Jews as "negative." Meanwhile, 68% of Turks rated their opinions of Christians as "negative." A 2010 BBC poll found negative views of the U.S. among 70% of Turks.
2010-06-10 08:42:45Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive