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The Trouble with Turkey

(National Review) Michael Rubin - American officials can no longer say that America's relationship with Turkey bolsters national security. Just one year ago, the Turkish air force held secret war games with its Chinese counterparts without first informing the Pentagon. Erdogan has also deferred final approval of a new NATO anti-missile warning system. Meanwhile, Hakan Fidan, Turkey's new intelligence chief, makes little secret of his preference for Tehran over Washington. Moreover, Erdogan's anti-Israel incitement has propelled Turkey to a leadership role within the Islamic bloc at the expense of the Middle East peace process. Turkey's break from the West was the result of a deliberate and steady strategy initiated by Erdogan upon assuming the reins of government. In hindsight, Erdogan's true agenda should have been clear. As Istanbul's mayor, Erdogan declared in 1994, "I am a servant of sharia (Islamic law)." The following year he described himself as "the imam of Istanbul." No sooner had Erdogan's AKP party taken office than statistics provided by Turkey's central bank showed an influx of more than $4 billion into Turkey. A retired Turkish budget official attributed that figure to funds brought into Turkey off-books from Saudi Arabia and the Persian Gulf emirates. By 2006, Turkish economists estimated that this infusion of Islamist cash into the Turkish economy could be between $6 billion and $12 billion. Some Turkish intelligence officials privately suggest that Qatar is currently the source of most subsidies for the AKP and its projects. Turkey has changed irreversibly and has become a danger and a liability to the U.S. As Erdogan has consolidated control of the media, his government has fed Turks a steady diet of anti-Americanism and religious incitement. As Erdogan approaches the end of his first decade of rule, the question for American and European policymakers should not be whether Turkey should join the EU, but whether it even belongs in NATO. The writer is a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute.
2011-10-14 00:00:00
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