Turkey is no American Ally

[Steve781]

The US and Israel have never signed any official treaty alliance nor does the US have any bases in Israel. The main reason for this is that alliances are mainly motivated by the defence of borders against external threats. Israel refuses to officially define where its borders are.

 

[-SINAN-]

We need to do similar lobbying activities against Israel.

Spread "Institute of Strategic thinking" articles everywhere.

http://www.sde.org.tr/en/authordetail/israels-aggression-and-the-condition-of-the-islamic-world/3815
http://www.sde.org.tr/en/authordetail/what-matters-is-israel-and-the-rest-is-a-detail/3809
http://www.sde.org.tr/en/authordetail/from-antisemitism-to-erdoganphobia/3758

 

[SQ8]

We get it already Solomon, you've made it clear to us for the 6849th time. That anyone who doesn't play along the Zionist agenda is an uncivilized barbarian and anti-American.

Unfortunately this is the main reason why if the OP comes up with good suggestions at times, they sound hollow and dishonest.

 

[Gufi]

Spread "Institute of Strategic thinking" articles everywhere.

make threads here and let us discuss them

 

[Steve781]

The west has always kept Turkey at bay. You need to read about the world before you start posting


it is unclear why Turkey does not rebuke the west more

Erdogan loves to lash out at people. If it's not Israel and the US it's Egypt or the EU or Armenia, even China. The man just has no concept of diplomacy. He wants to act the international strongman in order to improve his popularity at home.

 

[Gufi]

Erdogan loves to lash out at people. If it's not Israel and the US it's Egypt or the EU or Armenia. The man just has no concept of diplomacy. He wants to act the international strongman in order to improve his popularity at home.

you have the nerve to talk about lashing out when your president approved torture? What moral ground do you have when your presidents actions have been responsible for innocent deaths where at times acceptance was found but no apology? Learn to punish sadists and not give them government jobs before you preach to others
the international strongman how easy you forget the actions of your own

 

[Oublious]

Turkey is no American Ally
by Efraim Inbar
BESA Center Perspectives
January 4, 2015

Originally published under the title, "America's Unacknowledged Problem."

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has gone increasingly rogue since the AKP's rise to power.

Turkey is officially a NATO ally, and President Barrack Obama has called the current President of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a friend. But Erdogan-led Turkey does not behave as an ally or a friend of the US. This is not a new development.

Erdogan and his Islamist party, the AKP, have ruled Turkey since 2002. Erdogan's Turkey has gradually distanced itself from the West, adopting domestic and foreign policies fueled by Ottoman and Islamist impulses.

Turkey has been on the road to an authoritarian regime for several years. Infringements on human rights have gradually increased. In truth, Turkey has never had a political system with checks and balances able to constrain attempts to consolidate power around one politician. In recent years, Erdogan has weakened further the few constitutional constraints against the 'Putinization' of the Turkish political system.

Foci of power, such as the bureaucracy, the banking system, industrial associations and trade unions have been mostly coopted by the AKP.​

The longer Erdogan rules, the more power hungry he seems. His authoritarian personality becomes clearer every day. The press is hardly free. Erdogan arrests even Islamist journalists that are critical of his policies. His party has infiltrated the judicial system and the police. Foci of power, such as the bureaucracy, the banking system, industrial associations and trade unions have been mostly coopted by the AKP. Opposition political parties are largely discredited. The military, once active in politics as the defender of the Kemalist secular tradition, has been successfully sidelined.

From a realpolitik perspective, the domestic political developments, deplorable as they may be in Turkey, could be ignored by the democratic West as long as Ankara continues to be a useful ally. Unfortunately, Turkey no longer qualifies as a trusted ally.

The most recent examples of nefarious Turkish behavior are its support of ISIS and Hamas. Turkey is playing a double game on the issue of the Islamic State. It pretends to cooperate with the US policy in the attempt to contain radical Islam, but actually Turkey supports ISIS. It allows volunteers passage through Turkish territory to join ISIS in Iraq. ISIS receives logistical support via Turkey, and sends its wounded militants for treatment there. Turkish military forces stood idly by the besieged city of Kobani, just across the Turkish border, while the Islamists killed Kurdish fighters. Finally, Turkey denies the American air force access to Turkish bases; forcing the US to use far away bases when attacking ISIS targets.

Turkey is also openly supporting another radical Islamist organization – Hamas. Despite the fact that the West regards Hamas a terrorist organization, Ankara regularly hosts Hamas representatives that meet the highest Turkish dignitaries. Hamas, an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood, has a rabid anti-American position. Moreover, Salah al-Aruri, a senior Hamas operative, operates out of Istanbul. Recently, the Turkish branch of Hamas was involved in a series of attempts to carry out terrorist attacks against Israel, and in orchestrating a coup against the current leadership of the Palestinian Authority.

Such behavior should not surprise policy makers in Washington. In 2003, Ankara denied the request from Washington to open its territory so that the US military could attack Saddam Hussein's forces from two separate fronts.

AKP-ruled Ankara also defied American preferences on Syria, a country allied with radical Iran and on the American list of states supporting terrorism. In January 2004, Bashar Assad became the first Syrian president ever to visit Turkey. In April 2009, the two states conducted their first ever joint military exercise. No other NATO member had such close relations with the authoritarian regime in Damascus, which has been closely allied with Iran for several decades.

Turkey further deviated from the Western consensus in 2008 by hosting Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir twice. Bashir, who was charged with war crimes and genocide in Darfur, presided over an Islamist regime.

Turkey has consistently defied advice from Washington to tone down its anti-Israel statements and mend relations with an important American ally.​

Turkey even welcomed the president of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, for a visit in August 2008. No Western country has issued such an invitation to the Iranian leader. Additionally, Erdogan congratulated Ahmadinejad immediately after his re-election in June 2009. When it comes to Iran's nuclear threat, Ankara, unlike its NATO allies, has refused to adopt the U.S. stance on harsher sanctions, fearing in part the economic consequences of such steps. In June 2010, Turkey voted at the UN Security Council against a US-sponsored resolution meant to impose a new round of sanctions on Iran.

Turkey also has consistently defied advice from Washington to tone down its anti-Israel statements and mend relations with an important American ally. All American efforts in this direction have failed.

There is also a clear divergence between the US and Turkey on important global issues such as Russia and China. For example, the US. wanted to send ships into the Black Sea via the Bosphorus Straits during the Georgia war in August 2008. Turkey flatly denied several such requests on the pretext that the military vessels were too large. Moreover, Turkey proposed the creation of a regional security framework involving Turkey, Russia, Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan, that left out a NATO role. More blatantly, Turkey has failed to participate in the Western economic sanctions imposed on Russia during the recent Ukraine crisis.

Dissonance exists also with regards to China. While the US fears the rise of China, Turkey sees this country as a potential economic partner and not as a problem. It held military exercises with China. Ankara even considered purchasing anti-aircraft systems from Beijing, an incredibly brazen position for a NATO member!

It is not clear why Washington puts up with such Turkish behavior. The Obama administration seems to be unable to call a spade a spade. It refuses to acknowledge that Turkey is a Trojan horse in NATO, and that Ankara undermines American interests in the Middle East and elsewhere.

Efraim Inbar, director of the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies, is a professor of political studies at Bar-Ilan University, and a Shillman/Ginsburg fellow at the Middle East Forum.​

You can sent american soldiers if you want it. Or you can go your self to fight. Or israel can sent soldiers to fight, ther are many jews who want to fight.

 

[Steve781]

you have the nerve to talk about lashing out when your president approved torture? What moral ground do you have when your presidents actions have been responsible for innocent deaths where at times acceptance was found but no apology? Learn to punish sadists and not give them government jobs before you preach to others
the international strongman how easy you forget the actions of your own

I don't have a president you idiot. Nor have I approved torture.

 

[Solomon2]

Annnnddd the new year opens with a record ratio of Jew-baiting to on-topic posts! Proof that Erdo has successfully employed antisemitism as a blinder and displacement for Turks who are getting screwed by the AKP, yes?

 

[Gufi]

I don't have a president you idiot. Nor have I approved torture.

you are british a part of the american operation
fine have it your way british links
But yesterday’s revelation by The Independent that MI5 was passed intelligence that had allegedly been tortured out of former Guantanamo inmate Moazzam Begg by his American interrogators – and the acknowledgement by former security minister Lord West that UK agents may have been present during waterboarding – expose the truth about British complicity in torture.

The nature of our special relationship with America has meant our spies and politicians have not only had to turn a blind eye to the unlawful interrogation practices carried out by our closest ally, but may have also played a supporting role.

British agents did not actually hold the waterboards but it appears they may have benefited from the fruits of that torture. Almost every British terror suspect who fell into the hands of the CIA in the past 13 years has ended up claiming he was brutally tortured.
extract from
Complicity in torture: the case against the United Kingdom - UK Politics - UK - The Independent

 

[Steve781]

you are british a part of the american operation
fine have it your way british links
But yesterday’s revelation by The Independent that MI5 was passed intelligence that had allegedly been tortured out of former Guantanamo inmate Moazzam Begg by his American interrogators – and the acknowledgement by former security minister Lord West that UK agents may have been present during waterboarding – expose the truth about British complicity in torture.

The nature of our special relationship with America has meant our spies and politicians have not only had to turn a blind eye to the unlawful interrogation practices carried out by our closest ally, but may have also played a supporting role.

British agents did not actually hold the waterboards but it appears they may have benefited from the fruits of that torture. Almost every British terror suspect who fell into the hands of the CIA in the past 13 years has ended up claiming he was brutally tortured.
extract from
Complicity in torture: the case against the United Kingdom - UK Politics - UK - The Independent

Pakistan assisted the US too. As did Turkey and even hostile countries like Syria and Iran. Also how do you think the ISI treats terror suspects? Do they get a free bucket of KFC?

 

[Quasar]

Jew-baiting??? who? where? when? how? dude you are realy sick and opsessed with jewishness

 

[Gufi]

Pakistan assisted the US too. As did Turkey and even Syria. Also how do you think the ISI treats terror suspects? Do they get a free bucket of KFC?

they do not go around judging others with a holier then thou attitude either
you stand for human rights do you not? where do your human rights go when you torture others ? you sanction other countries for less than what you participated in?

 

[damm1t]

As I said before, I'm not against people to explain their thoughts, I'm against the propaganda machines. This persons are propaganda machines, you can see them in all political or military forum portals. Was a surprise for me that we also have them in this forum. You cant discuss with them, also I dont want to discuss about the right sides of the killing of innocent people. Sorry but my tolerance has its limits.

a friendly advise, people do propaganda everywhere be it internet, TV, billboards. you had to get used to it by now. if you think that they say something wrong you should leave your tolerance aside.. no one will be banned for their nationality. if it's not you, who will deal with them?

Annnnddd the new year opens with a record ratio of Jew-baiting to on-topic posts! Proof that Erdo has successfully employed antisemitism as a blinder and displacement for Turks who are getting screwed by the AKP, yes?

dude, seriously... try to love erdogan and things will change.. in our country we have a different concept of politic... "Hmm israelis/americans/europeans don't like erdogan so he should be on right way, vote erdogan" ... you should do the opposite, praise him everywhere

 

[SvenSvensonov]

The US and Israel have never signed any official treaty alliance nor does the US have any bases in Israel. The main reason for this is that alliances are mainly motivated by the defence of borders against external threats. Israel refuses to officially define where its borders are.

Technically the US does have one base in Israel, but it has a limited US presence.

Dimona Radar Facility - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Dimona Radar Facility is owned and manned by US personal, 120 to be more accurate, and provides only second-hand intelligence to Israel. The US has AN/TPY-2 (the THAAD radar) currently stationed there. A small technicality.

This isn't a major overseas base with aircraft, missiles, US troops waiting for a war to sprout up, it's a radar station, and important radar station, but still just that. It's a very, very limited presence.