Turkey's Gradual Slide Towards Islam
With the US and others so preoccupied with Aghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, Iraq, India, Israel, one of NATO's important partners is sliding towards being a Islamic nation we don't want. Turkey has fallen under our own radar since it is a member of NATO and Europe. The West seems to think that this cannot change because of these reasons, yet, they know it already has.
In 2002, the AKP was elected and came to power. It is a mighty political party. It is also called, "The Islamist Justice and Development Party" that also has associated with it the ultra-conservative Fethullah Gulen Movement that have since gained much control and influence over the media and police.
Think Iran for a second.
Using legal means, the AKP has managed to silence the countries two leading media groups. Last week, more ominous moves, when dozens of high ranking military officers were simply arrested.
Think Iran for a second.
One of Turkey's media giant is Dogan, which was slapped with a 3.5 billion dollar fine because it delayed tax payment. The other giant, a liberal organization, its leader was arrested and sentenced to 12 yrs in jail for banking irregularities. Now, both media giants are careful what they report and print.
Up until recently, both the judiciary and military arms in Turkey's government have been able to checkmate the political arm, clearly pro Islamist. The Islamic news agencies in Turkey have been creating false fear and anti-military rhetoric for weeks, claiming that Turkey's secular military (pro-west) was planning a coup against the AKP. They reported the plan included that its own military would bomb mosques and other religious symbols. More so, since 2008, its own military has been a target of wiretapping from the AKP. It remains unclear what the secular military arm will do. Turkey is one of the region's strongest military force.
The AKP has also been deliberately going after the secular judiciary branch of government. Some of the secular prosecutors have been arrested by the AKP branch on trumped up charges when those prosecutors were investigating how the AKP has rasied funds for Chechen and Hamas terrorists. Many of the jurors being selected are now pro-AKP, which is reducing the secular fairness of many trials with regards to law and punishment. The AKP has also wiretapped 130 judges and prosecutors considered to be secular. Police, which the AKP control, have bugged over 70,000 people in 2009 in Turkey.
Think Iran for a second.
The AKP has been conducting a series of activities promoting the local population to steer towards the "Islamic" way, its code, its law and punishment. While Turkey's secular military and judiciary have been able to remain "secular", the question is for how much longer? The next elections are in 2011. The media is already fearful of reporting the facts and truth in fear of the AKP using legal measures to stop them. Thus, the next elections will be tainted and pro-Islamic.
As this slide continues, America will no longer have a reliable and staunch NATO member when time of need arrives. Turkey might vote not to have sanctions on Iran, might not allow US aircraft to use its airbases to resupply troops in Iraq and Afghanistan and generally opposed to most Western policies. Already, the US and Europe have not dealt with this impending situation-a kind of denial--as they remain hesitant to comment about the AKP and their activities in fear of anti-west feelings in becoming worse.
Think Iran for a second.
