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Sunday, January 9, 2011

Turkey - where to now?

Cultural differences may be used to excuse the dynamic of authoritarianism but the democratic deficit is a concomitant characteristic of fascism. When it is of benefit to society to discard autocracy, economic momentum propels humanity onto a new stage of growth. Societies that fail, do so because the political institutions fail.  Fascism means many things but is generally characterized by total indifference to the rights of others; whether it is one group or society in general.

According to the global edition of the New York Times of 16th July 2010 “The Turkish charity that led the flotilla involved in a deadly Israeli raid has strong connections with Turkey’s political elite.  The IHH (‘Humanitarian Relief Organisation’) has been instrumental in shoring up support for fundamentalism and has support within the government of Islamic Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan”.

The issue is no longer whether Turkey can straddle East and West or whether Turkey can serve as a bridge between Islamic and Western Civilizations, but how long before Turkey betrays Israel yet again and to an extent that renders the rupture irrevocable?  Governments, whether democratic or otherwise are easily able to justify controlling the movement of ships in or out of their territory. In fact control of borders is a principle measure of a nation’s sovereignty.  To fail to control movement into and out of its territory is a failure of government control. But the mission to Gaza clearly served the Islamic agenda of the IHH and the geopolitical strategy of Turkey’s Islamic government.

As the International Herald Tribune stated “many of the 21 people listed as board members on the IHH web site have or had close links to the AKP ….Jean-Louis Bruguiere, a leading French expert on terrorism and former magistrate said in an interview that the group had used its status as a charity in the 1990’s to provide logistical support to terrorist groups, including al Qaeda, and to facilitate jihad in Bosnia, Afghanistan and Chechnya.”  The publicity around the IHH was ultimately unhelpful to its global agenda.  Not long after the flotilla drew attention to its resurgence, it was banned in Germany.

Cultural Imperialism or as sometimes referred, cultural colonialism, is not specifically Islamic in character but it is surprising that we ignore it while uniquely condemning American cultural exports.  If America (and its 'Zionist proxy') are cultural colonizers it is Islam that is at fault for not providing its people with the proof that their way is better. 

We are not responsible for Islam’s extremism.

The West views Turkey as a dividing line between the Christian West and Muslim East, a democracy that is stable, tolerant and economically vibrant.  But the posture is a lie.  Turkey is in NATO but can it be trusted?

Europe is not yet comfortable in its own denationalized skin. The Left and their Liberal allies talk about the death of the nation state and its horrible jingoism but fanatically support their football teams and national sporting prowess as if they were anything but a theoretical release from blind passion and militant and fanatic devotion.

Multiculturalism has failed in every country except perhaps the United States of America because in Europe we have failed to demand equal rights for our own citizens when confronting minority cultural colonialism within our own borders. Our multicultural credentials are non-existent because having thrown money and rights at our immigrant populations we have with-held the demand for reciprocal rights for ourselves.  The assumption of right by superior culture is endemic to far too many immigrants in our fantasy post-colonial liberal society. We have failed to spell out precisely what we expect of our newest subjects as a prerequisite for gaining entry to our national club.

If we are not yet comfortable in our denationalized skin then Turkish accession to the European super-state is unlikely to ever occur and that is to the good because there is no way that Turkey is itself comfortable with losing its primitive prejudice, desire for conquest and fantasies of gory glory.

Perhaps the most frightening aspect of Turkeys bid for full membership of Europe would be the power to influence European foreign policy and the protection both legal and diplomatic it would enjoy for its own hateful policies. With its anti-democratic fascist credentials it would undermine the legal basis of freedom at the heart and soul of the Western experiment.

But Turkish opposition to Israel is so fundamental it could create a crisis within NATO. An attack by Turkey on Israel would necessitate an Israeli response to which technically NATO would have to come to its NATO allies assistance. In one worse case scenario Israeli cities could be bombed by American and British bombers. Turkish regional interests could encourage this result and therefore are a real threat to the survival of NATO.

Theological hatred must inevitably metastasize. It can never remain benign. It may take a year, a decade or a generation but its essential message is intolerance and therefore it must have its blood sacrifice.

Trust between Israel and Turkey will perhaps never be re-established. Even when the day arrives for Palestine to stand shoulder to shoulder next to Israel as an independent state the facade of mutual strategic interest is at an end. It was too easily demolished to be rebuilt without fundamental changes to Turkish culture and that is unlikely to occur in the 21st century.

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