State Dept Talks Turkey--Turkey Talks Back

Once again, the US State Department went for the obvious and missed the reality. 58% of the voting Turks (a 77.5% turnout) have approved "reforms" to the Turkish basic law. The reforms appear to establish a more democratic form of government. The referendum weakens the military influence on the government and makes the military accountable to the Turkish civilian courts.

What could be wrong with that? Plenty.

Those who don't follow events in Turkey (and most of the Middle East, for that matter) wouldn't realize just how subtly these changes will actually damage the form of secular government set up by Ataturk. Another secular pin on the bowling alley of Islam has just fallen. And our State Department is charged with knowing these things. As usual for the Obama/Clinton State Department, they either knew and are complicit, or are so ignorant as to have gotten it all wrong.

Here's the memorandum from the State Department: "We hope that through these reforms, it will further enhance Turkey's democratic processes and human rights protection. This was a choice for the Turkish people, and there was a very strong, decisive vote to move towards greater civilian oversight of these democratic institutions." The memorandum from Iranian officials sounded almost identical. What does Iran know that our geniuses at State don't?

The Obama administration excels at the glorification of form over substance, and this time they behaved no differently. Perhaps they were so overcome by the words of the referendum that they didn't notice that it was a further victory in the advancement of Islamic rule. Prime Minister Erdogan and his Justice and Development Party (AKP) have successfully pulled the wool over the eyes of the United States--but not Iran's, apparently.

The first purpose of the referendum was to pull that wool over the eyes of the Europeans who are considering bringing Middle Eastern Turkey into the European Union. Having the Islamic tail wagging the Dutch and Belgian dogs isn't enough for the Euro-suicides, they have to bring in a country that is already Islamic, and not truly in Europe at all.

Take government power away from the military. That's a clearly desirable goal in a democracy, if it serves democratic goals. But this referendum does not, and Europe doesn't get it either. The reforms put the military under the power of the civilian judiciary (something even dumb Obamists wouldn't try). But wait--there's more. While reducing the political power of the military which has stood in the way of a religious takeover of the nation, it also grants the Turkish parliament the power of deciding who sits on the Supreme Board of Prosecutors and Judges. Therefore, not only is the judiciary no longer independent from the legislature, but in addition the politically-controlled judiciary has been given power over the military at the same time.

So what, you ask? Well, Erdogan's party is an Islamic party. They aren't just taking power away from the military (the obvious) but are also quickly destroying the secular form of government set up by Ataturk (the subtle). The former government which eschewed religious control and promoted good relations with the United States and Israel is gone, and in its place is a government in disagreement with the United States and openly hostile to Israel. The referendum may make the Euro-weenies happy, but in fact it almost guarantees that Erdogan and the AKP will write a new constitution which turns Turkey into another Islamic "republic."

Erdogan himself has long had it in for the military/secular government. That government put him in prison for subversive activities in 1998 for his participation in the nefarious antidemocratic shenanigans of the Islamist Welfare Party. That party was praised by the murderous Muslim Brotherhood for being "a moderate Islamist group." That should tell you just how radical Erdogan's friends and allies are. He and Turkish president Gul met openly in 2009 with the Iranian-sponsored militia leader Moqtada al-Sadr. Remember Iraq? Al Sadr has American and Iraqi murders to his credit. Like the Ground Zero mosque imam, Erdogan refuses to call Hamas a terrorist organization.

Try this one on for size. Erdogan is closely tied to the Foundation for Human Rights and Freedom and Humanitarian Relief ("IHH," for short). The IHH is responsible for the ambush of Israeli soldiers when they sent a ship to run the blockade on Gaza. The IHH is too much even for the French, who have identified the IHH as "having as its goal the overthrow of the democratic, secular, and constitutional order present in Turkey and replacing it with an Islamic state founded on the Shariah." The French counter-terrorism wing has arrested IHH officials and members for planning jihadist attacks in Afghanistan, Bosnia and Chechnya. The AKP and the IHH share many members in common.

There is still hope. The new constitution can't be written before the 2011 Turkish general elections. The powerful secular opposition party, the CHP, has a powerful and popular leader in Kemal Kilicdaroglu. A poll taken before the referendum showed Kilicdaroglu virtually tied with the AKP and Erdogan. Unfortunately, that has probably changed with the passage of the referendum and the inexplicable support of the US State Department, but Erdogan's lead is still not insurmountable. In addition recent government actions and support for Hezbollah and Hamas are highly unpopular.

At the same time, Iran is donating $12 million to the AKP and $25 million to the IHH. If Iran, the IHH and Erdogan are successful, thanks in part to official American administration help, the AKP will pack the courts with Islamists which will then put on show trials of secular military officers and leaders who have opposed the Islamization of Turkey. The apparent but phony "reforms" will fly out the window, and sharia will come in through the front door when the AKP, Erdogan and their Iranian friends rewrite the Turkish constitution.

At that point the only question that remains will be whether or not Europe will still consider Turkey for European Union membership. Considering Europe's fecklessness in relation to Islam within its own territories, and its growing distrust of Obama foreign policy, they might just decide that an Islamic republic wouldn't be such a bad thing to have along for the ride.