IS TURKEY ALIGNING WITH IRAN?

On March 4th, the U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs voted 23-22 on a resolution that would declare what the Ottoman Turks perpetrated against the Armenians as "genocide" in 1915. Despite the very close vote, as well as it being extremely unlikely the resolution will make it to the Floor for an actual House vote, Turkey's ambassador to the United States was recalled back to his country in a statement of anger.

Now CNS News is reporting that as Turkey withdraws diplomatically from the United States, it seems to be gravitating toward Iran.

As the Obama administration scrambles to contain the diplomatic fallout with Turkey over the “Armenian genocide” resolution in the U.S. Congress, Turkey’s tilt towards Iran continues largely unnoticed.

Turkey’s “formerly Islamist” president, Abdullah Gul, in a weekend telephone conversation with his Iranian counterpart called for a deepening of bilateral relations and voiced support for Iran in international forums. Turkey is non-permanent member of the U.N. Security Council, the most important international body to have Iran on its current agenda.

As CNS News points out with quotation marks, the term "former Islamist" is a bit enigmatic. It should be fairly obvious that the word "former" is being used deceptively by Gul. Aside from its military - which is already having severe pressure applied to it in the form of the recent arrests of many of its leaders - Turkey's government is Islamist already. If the military falls under the command of Islamist forces, Turkey is likely lost entirely to Islamic political leadership and will cease being an ally of the west altogether. Yes, the implication is huge but the reality must be faced sooner rather than later.

More from CNS:

Iran’s Fars news agency said Gul told President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad “that the two countries would defend each other’s positions at international forums, and emphasized the importance of tightening the relations between them and of consulting on regional and security matters.”

So we're to believe that Turkey had no pre-disposition to align with Iran before a House committee vote that was as narrow as it could possibly be? This indignation is manufactured, in my view. It is either an excuse to more overtly align with Iran or they are calling the bluff of the United States. Recent indicators are that it may be a little of both:

....under Erdogan and his Justice and Development Party (AKP) ally, Gul, Turkey’s policies regarding Iran are increasingly at odds with those of Washington. Turkish and Iranian leaders have paid reciprocal visits and Erdogan has referred to Ahmadinejad as his “friend.”

Another Islamist leader in Turkey is its Prime Minister, Tayyip Erdogan. He, like President Gul, have strong Islamist pasts and should not be trusted by the west. Calling Ahmadinejad a "friend" should actually be one's first clue.

Here is the entire CNS story.

More posted here.