The Voice of Reason: Should Turkey Be Thrown Out of NATO?

Our strategic policy towards Turkey needs to be reevaluated. Since the Clinton Administration our government has pushed Europe to embrace the moderate Muslim state of Turkey. The question is whether Turkey is still moderate enough to be part of the West. Our policy has included berating Western Europe for not fast-tracking Turkish membership in the European Union (EU). However, after five years of ascension talks, Turkey is no closer to membership than when they started.

Although no nation that has ever begun membership discussions and not subsequently been offered EU membership, the people of Western Europe (especially German, which has perhaps 5 million Turks) are dead set against Turkey joining. The idea of free labor migration from Turkey is frightening.

Putting aside EU membership, it might be the right time to reconsider Turkey’s membership in NATO. In 2003 Turkey refused to allow coalition forces to use Turkey as a jumping-off spot for the invasion of Iraq. This was a shock from a fellow NATO member who housed US bases. Frankly, if America cannot use our forces in Turkey to project power, then why exactly are we there?

With the election of a more Islamic and less secular government under President Abdullah Gül, they have moved increasingly into an anti-US role. This change includes attacking US ally Israel. The “peace flotilla” is one example of this. A more immediate example is found in the fact that Turkey’s strategic planners have just defined Israel as a “central threat” to Turkey. Of course, before Turkey launched armed “peace activists” at Gaza, Israel sold armaments to Turkey and trained Turkish soldiers. In other words, as recently as earlier this year, Israel was helping Turkey’s military. Keep in mind, however, that the Turkish military is the bulwark for secularism in Turkey. Thus, the Israeli’s helping the Turkish military is an affront to the Islamists. Is anything not an affront to them?

When a recent NATO naval exercise was to include Israel, Turkey threw a fit and demanded Israel not be a part. When the entire event was canceled by America, Turkey still held war games, but invited China to observe.

In essence, we now have a NATO member who occupies another NATO member’s territory (half of Greek Cyprus) and threatens a member of NATO’s Mediterranean Dialogue program (Israel). At the same time, this member constrains American action in Iraq. How does Turkey’s NATO membership make sense?

via The Voice of Reason: Should Turkey Be Thrown Out of NATO?.