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| The Grand Turk |
| Turkey's Erdogan sez "Flotilla raid was cause for war." |
| 2011-09-13 |
| Posted by:Besoeker |
| #16 If this is Islamic face, it's a lot of face to lose. |
| Posted by: Rhodesiafever 2011-09-13 19:26 |
| #15 Turkey should be trying to convince their Kurdish citizens to move into Syria, change the name to Kurdistan, and call it a day. |
| Posted by: rjschwarz 2011-09-13 15:21 |
| #14 Israel is a convenient whipping boy for diverting attention from your own domestic and neighborhood issues. The arabs have been using it for years, but it is getting threadbare. IMHO, Since Erdogan is not going to get Turkey into the EU, he is going for king of the hill of the Islamic world. The Israelis will not get into a pi$$ing contest with him. They will hope that he will quietly go away eventually, and they will play their cards close to their chest, being ready for Erdogan's mischief, but not publicly warning him. |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2011-09-13 13:43 |
| #13 he's ordered Turkey's US-supplied F-16's Radars altered (IFF system) so that Israel's jets are now able to be identified as "foes" |
| Posted by: Frank G 2011-09-13 13:38 |
| #12 Probably the best thing for all concerned right now is for Erdogan to get caught up in a stupendously embarrassing political scandal. These are fairly easy to manufacture, by a competent intelligence agency, and are the cat's pajamas in defusing dangerous situations. Get a couple of his more stridently pious Islamist ministers, and put some Roofies (Rohypnol) in their hummus. Then bring in the photographers and the rest of the orgy participants. Ordinarily, you would blackmail them into getting Erdogan to STFU, but this is a rush job, so they would be tabloid bait, probably in Britain. They might even do a little Photoshop so that it *might* be Erdogan himself in one of the pictures, in the background. Not too clear, but clear enough. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2011-09-13 13:03 |
| #11 Turkey is playing a very dangerous game, as is WTF ever Egypt is. |
| Posted by: newc 2011-09-13 12:42 |
| #10 I think Garth may be right. Erdogan is trapped in one hell of a political case of cognitive dissonance. His ally and neighbor Syria is becoming more and more toxic to his citizens and the members of his governing coalition, but he *can't* address his people's concerns with the butchery going on in his southern border. Therefore, he needs to change the subject. It's easier to play bargain-bin Gamal Nasser & make faces at the happily-distant Jews than continue to be indecisive and helpless about the ugliness to his south. The IHH people are apparently also involved in the agitation against the Syrian Ba'ath and their crackdown - what better way to divert them than to revive the flotilla theatre? This gambit only works if the Jewish military is clued-in to the game and doesn't let it get out of control. I'm not up on the current state of the rolling Turkish military purges - how intact is the admiralty? |
| Posted by: Mitch H. 2011-09-13 11:52 |
| #9 Erdogan should pick on somebody his own size, like Achmadinnerjacket. |
| Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 2011-09-13 11:46 |
| #8 And you just know that the Israelis have to be cocked and locked, ready to take out all the neighbors in a spasm of mutual destruction on short notice. Not a comfortable situation, for the sane. |
| Posted by: Guillibaldo Hatrack1304 2011-09-13 11:44 |
| #7 Erdogan is badly embarrassed by the Syrian situation and several attacks against Turkish soldiers by the PKK. Combine this with his Islamist proclivity and it creates this head exploding type rhetoric. It will be interesting to hear the reaction of Egyptians to this guy. Turks are not loved by Egyptians for a number of reasons. |
| Posted by: Lord Garth 2011-09-13 11:17 |
| #6 Our hope now is that the Arab Spring does not turn into a harsh winter. It'd be a shame if anything were to happen to your Muslim Democracy fantasy. |
| Posted by: DepotGuy 2011-09-13 11:01 |
| #5 Israel needs to have a friendly meeting with the Greeks and Kurds. Just buy them lunch, nothing big, but the message should be clear to the Turks. |
| Posted by: rjschwarz 2011-09-13 10:22 |
| #4 Yippy says Turkish Navy ships will escort the next flotilla. THAT would be "cause for war" |
| Posted by: Frank G 2011-09-13 09:40 |
| #3 IMO this bozo is going farther & farther round the bend. Are we looking at Turkey going to war with someone (other than their own Kurds)soon? 1) Syrian Kurds if not Syria itself 2) Greece over Cypress 3) Iraq over the Kurds 4) Israel He is sounding more and more like a man with a screw loose and a desire to prove something. |
| Posted by: AlanC 2011-09-13 09:24 |
| #2 I figure the FLOTILLA was cause for war... |
| Posted by: Glenmore 2011-09-13 06:00 |
| #1 Is this guy ever gonna shut the fuck up. |
| Posted by: Durnham Freebody 2011-09-13 05:05 |