[Wall Street Journal] Editorial - Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan was among the first to offer Ahmadinejad a congratulatory call after June's fraudulent elections and has called Iran's nuclear program "peaceful and humanitarian." Turkish relations with Syria have never been warmer: The two countries are even planning joint military exercises. What has happened to Turkey's foreign policy since Erdogan and his Islamist AKP party came to power in 2003 looks like a fundamental shift in Turkey's strategic priorities. As a secular Muslim state, Turkey has been a pillar of NATO and a bulwark against the political radicalism of its various neighbors. Now Erdogan may be gambling that Turkey's future lies at the head of the Muslim world, rather than at the tail of its Western counterpart.
2009-10-30 06:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive