This Turkey thing has got me going

[KKKarl is an idiot]

Bush does not want Congress to pass a no-binding resolution saying Turkey committed genocide during World War I against the Armenians (1.5 million Armenians were killed) because he is afraid the Turks will attack the Kurds in Northern Iraq. What happened to Mr. "Bring it on" himself. What about the criticism leveled at the Iranian president for denying the holocaust?

So here's my scenario. What if Germany tomorrow denied the holocaust & said if the US government mentions it again they will attack England. Will El Fuhrer himself then call on Congress never to talk about it again.

We cannot continue to have allies like this. We keep shooting ourselves in the foot with these people.


Let the turks come after us Mr. President. For one time in your career as president stand up for truth not pandering.

[DesertFlower]

1. well supposedly turkey is our ally.

i guess georgie knows he's made so many enemies in the world that he had to hold on to the few allies that we have left. of course, our allies many times become our enemies of vice versa.

who knows what goes through bush's deranged mind?

[movonne]

5. I'm not sure that any of the ME is our friend...not even the saudi people..

maybe the ones running the country, but not the people...

[DesertFlower]

9. i have to agree with you.

of course, israel is, but i don't think you were referring to them.

[TomInTib]

2. 6 million jews? Genocide 1.5 million Algerians? Internal strife

You cannot have it both ways, Little Man.

I have never ceased to be amazed at the little bastard's selective head-in-sand stance.

[Traveling_Home]

3. Ottoman Empire not Turkey

The Turkish War of Independence (Turkish: Kurtuluş Savaşı or İstiklâl Harbi) refers to the political and military events following the defeat of the Ottoman Empire along with the Central Powers in World War I and subsequent Allied occupation of most of its territory; and the resistance to Allied terms by the Turkish National Movement centered in Anatolia, ultimately leading to the foundation of today's Republic of Turkey.

Following the surrender of the Empire, through the Treaty of Sèvres (August 1920), the Ottoman government in Istanbul was placed under control of Allied occupation forces led by the British. The Empire ceded all of its Balkan and Arab provinces to the Allies, and the eastern and southern parts of the Empire's core in Anatolia were occupied, acting on the decisions of the Paris Peace Conference (1919). In 1922, Greek forces captured Izmir and occupied western Anatolia. Prompted by the incapacity of the Istanbul government, the efforts of a nationalist resistance movement in central Anatolia culminated in the formation of a new National Assembly in Ankara, acting independent of the Ottoman government. The nation successfully mobilized its resources under the leadership of Mustafa Kemal Pasha (aka Kemal Ataturk), driving out the Greek, British, French and Italian occupation forces and effectively invalidating the Treaty of Sèvres. This result was internationally recognized through the Treaty of Lausanne in July 1923, leaving Anatolia and Eastern Thrace to form their own state. This was concluded by the declaration of the Republic of Turkey in October 1923, with Ankara as its capital.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkish_War_of_Independence

[Alcibiades]

7. Not sure that matters

Given that the modern Turkish state has always denied the Armenian holocaust as a matter of policy.

[Traveling_Home]

10. I'm not sure either but

a similar situation 'might' be denouncing Germany for the practices of the Nazis or blaming Russia for the evils of the Stalin's Soviet Union or blaming Castro's Cuba for the the acts of Batista or ......

[Alcibiades]

11. It wouldn't be similar

Because both the Castro regime and all parties in the FRG renounced the practices of the regimes they succeeded, whereas the Turkish state has practiced denial, and criminalized anyone who has dissented with the official history.

[aquart]

4. He's not "afraid" they will, he KNOWS they will.

Because they told him so. They told the entire world that they will not permit a united Kurdish state. It's not a possibility, it's a sure thing. If Iraq breaks up, Turkey will fight the Kurds. Iraq is breaking up. The Kurds know it, that's why they signed the oil deal. Which is a clear signal to Turkey, ain't it?

The Turks, of course, have been known throughout the centuries for their gentle mercy and tenderness.

And my 20 year old cousin is in Istanbul right now!

[PurityOfEssence]

6. Just take a look at a map, or as Mahan would have suggested: a globe

Didn't mean to be snotty there, but the map will tell you everything: from Junior's vantage point, we NEED Turkey to sustain our adventure in Iraq. We can't really ship everything through Jordan or Saudi Arabia that we can't or don't want to ship through that stranglehold of the Persian Gulf.

He doesn't give a damn about anything but money and imperial control for his small circle of economic aristocrats, and anything that doesn't help that along down the pike just isn't even going to cross his mind.

[Alcibiades]

8. Ding ding ding!

Since when has consistency mattered for Bush? He'll let Ankara do absolutely anything they want, so long as they "cooperate" on Iraq.