My View

My view

This my view is about Turkey. In recent times Turkey has been asserting a new and worrying confidence on the International stage, Turkey has been cavorting with Iran and Syria, condemning Israel and America and lecturing the EU.

For such a long time Turkey has been a close friend and ally of the west, helping us in the fight against Communism, helping us take stock after the cold war and helping us at the start of the war on terrorism. Turkey also hosts vital military bases and other military installations that the west needs.

Yet a serious of events including regular condemnation of Israel, regular support of Iran and cancelling military exercises with Israel may suggest that Turkey is gravitating away from the west. This could have major implications for the way the west and Israel conducts themselves in the Middle East and central Asia. Turkey is able to provide political, diplomatic and material support in the Middle East and central Asia to the detriment of western interests.

We should be very careful in our head long rush to remove the Turkish Generals form the Turkish political scene. They have acted in the past as the guardians of the Ataturk ideal and they have prevented Turkey becoming Islamist. Yet we seem very sure that removing these guardians of Turkish politics and civil society is a good thing. Yet no one has proposed another form of safe guarding Turkey from its rush to Islamism, a problem that Ataturk seen and a problem that is slowly manifesting itself right now.

Our interest is a Turkey that is pro-western, our interest is a Turkey that is not Islamist and our interest is a Turkey that is safe prosperous and willing to promote the west in the middle east and central Asia. Yet we in the west seem hell bent on removing the one set of guardians, the Generals, that ensure our and Turkish inertest are best served.