Archive for February 8, 2012
Video: Author Douglas Murray Rails against those who Refuse to deal with Iran
0British conservative author Douglas Murray recently gave a speech in front of both colleagues and opponents about why the threat of Iran is real and must be dealt with. It’s a good one from start to finish:
Small Island Flashpoint in the Mediterranean?
0Daniel Pipes has written an extremely interesting piece about a little island that sits about one mile off the southern coast of Turkey. Its name is Kastelorizo and though its proximity to Turkey is much closer than Greece, the latter country is the one that currently controls Kastelorizo. As Pipes points out, it’s not necessarily the land itself that is so strategic but the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) it creates when and if Greece asserts its authority relative to that zone:
Were Athens to claim its full EEZ, Kastelorizo’s presence would make its EEZ contiguous with the EEZ of Cyprus, a factor with great import now, at a moment of massive off-shore gas and oil discoveries. Kastelorizo with an EEZ benefits the emerging Greece-Cyprus-Israel alliance by making it possible to transport either Cypriot and Israeli natural gas (via pipeline) or electricity (via cable) to Western Europe without Turkish permission. This has taken on special urgency since Nov. 4, when Turkey’s minister for energy, Taner Yıldız, announced that his government would not permit Israeli natural gas to transit Turkish territory; Ankara will likely also ban Cypriot exports.Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his ruling AKP party colleagues accept Greek control of Kastelorizo and its six nautical miles of territorial waters, but not more and certainly not its full EEZ rights. Indeed, in their eyes, Greek assertion of an EEZ constitutes a casus belli. By neutering Kastelorizo, Ankara can lay claim to large economic area in the Mediterranean and block cooperation among its adversaries. This is why the island could become a flashpoint.
In essence, if Turkey chooses to flex its muscle, it could re-define the EEZ’s, which would essentially have the same effect as a naval blockade between Cyprus and Greece. Considering Greece’s economic situation, the last thing it needs is to have commerce with Cyprus and Israel choked off.
Be sure to read it all, replete with maps.
Why is Obama Cozying up with Turkish Islamists?
0One of the countries that has benefited greatly from the Obama administration’s Middle Eastern policies is Turkey. The Muslim Brotherhood seeks a return to the Ottoman Empire, which was based in what is now modern day Turkey. The AK Party that is now running Turkey is interested in the same thing, though it still plays its hand quite close to the vest. The fall of Mubarak in Egypt benefited the Brotherhood; by extension, it benefits the AK Party in Turkey. The fall of Gadhafi in Libya benefited the Brotherhood; by extension, it benefits the AK Party in Turkey. Ditto in Tunisia. I could go on but you get the point. The Obama administration stood down in Egypt and helped put Gadhafi down in Libya.
As a sheer matter of course, Turkey must be pleased with these outcomes, which might help explain this disturbingly cozy relationship between Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Barack Obama.
Via CNS News:
A visit by Turkey’s foreign minister this week for high-level talks in Washington draws fresh attention onto the deepening relationship between the Obama administration and Turkey’s Islamist-leaning government at a time of rising criticism over its increasingly authoritarian policies.
Two weeks ago, President Obama in an interview listed Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan among five world leaders with whom he has been able to forge “friendships and the bonds of trust.” (The others were the leaders of Britain, Germany, India and South Korea.)
Last fall, the administration selected Turkey as the most suitable co-chair for its flagship new Global Counterterrorism Forum (GCTF) initiative. Around the same time, news reports said Obama had spoken with Erdogan by phone last year more often than he had with any other leader apart from British Prime Minister David Cameron.
The choice of Turkey as GCTF co-chair raised eyebrows because Erdogan has embraced Hamas – designated a foreign terrorist organization – and as an active member of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) is supportive of the bloc’s position that “armed struggle against foreign occupation … shall not be considered a terrorist crime.”
It would seem that Erdogan and Turkey are being elevated diplomatically and I expect this to continue.
The Obama administration also seems to be siding with Erdogan over the issue of Syria; both leaders are sending signals that Bashar al-Assad should step down. This would help the Brotherhood’s presence in Syria.
Meanwhile, Russia and Iran are showing support for the Assad regime. As long as the fighting in Syria continues to escalate, the tensions between Iran and Turkey will as well.
It’s time to ask why Turkey supports Intervening in Syria
0Note that Russia is standing by Syria’s Assad and Turkey is denouncing him. Remember, Turkey supports the rise of the Muslim Brotherhood. When the Islamist government that controls Turkey supports the overthrow of a dictator, it’s time to question motives.
I wrote about whether or not the West should support Assad’s removal. The main reason it should not, has to do with the goals of Turkey along with goals of the Muslim Brotherhood. Yes, Assad is responsible for the violent crackdown in that country but look no further than Libya and Egypt; the regimes that fell have already been replaced by something much worse.
Syria is different than the North African countries, which are primarily Sunni. Syria, like Iraq, is being eyed by both the Shiite-controlled Iran as well as the Sunni/Sufi-controlled Turkey.
Though Verum Serum doesn’t seem to fully understand these dynamics (they identify Turkey as the reasonable party here), they deserve a h/t for the video:
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