CSP: Turkey's new leaders plot overthrow of secular system

[falcon]

CSP: Turkey's new leaders plot overthrow of secular system

SPECIAL TO WORLD TRIBUNE.COM Tuesday, June 27, 2006 WASHINGTON — Allies of U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld have accused Turkey of moving toward Islamic fundamentalism.
Analysts at a Washington, D.C. think tank said the government of Prime Minister Recep Erdogan plans to overthrow Turkey's secular regime. They said Erdogan's Justice and Development Party, or AKP, was pursuing a secret agenda for an Islamic takeover.


"The objective for Erdogan and the AKP is to destroy the secular republic and replace it with an Islamist order," said Alex Alexiev, a senior fellow at the Washington-based Center for Security Policy.
The center has been regarded as close to the Defense Department, particularly Rumsfeld. Several members of the center are former Pentagon officials angered by Turkey's refusal to help the United States establish a northern military front against Iraqi President Saddam Hussein in 2003.
In a conference at the Hudson Institute on June 23, Alexiev said the Erdogan government has sought to weaken the military, regarded as the last secular bastion in Turkey. He said Erdogan was using the European Union accession process as a means to eliminate military opposition to fundamentalism.
"Turkey's military is a special type of institution, and not an average military in Western democracies," Alexiev said. "Because of the country's history and traditions, the military sees itself as the guarantor of secular order. So they are seen as the main obstacle to an Islamist takeover."
Frank Gaffney, director of the center, said Erdogan's government has moved Turkey's foreign policy away from the West and toward the Middle East. Gaffney said Turkey was becoming a totalitarian state.
"Many in Europe and some in the United States believe that political Islam is exhibiting its most benign characteristics in Turkey and that it should be supported," Gaffney said. "But evidence shows the Erdogan movement is not benign but creeping Islamofascism."


http://www.worldtribune.com/worldtri...073611111.html


What happerns when they became a full member on NATO and turn to Islamofascism?
falcon

[falcon]

Gaffney said Turkey was becoming a totalitarian state.

How do we deal with them when they become a totalitarian state?

Turkey okays nuclear accord with U.S.

SPECIAL TO WORLD TRIBUNE.COM
Tuesday, July 11, 2006

ANKARA — Turkey has approved a nuclear power agreement with the United States.

Officials said the government of Prime Minister Recep Erdogan has endorsed a civilian nuclear accord with the United States. They said the accord was signed with Washington in 2000 but delayed for years.

The government announced the ratification of the nuclear accord in Turkey's Official Gazette on July 9, Middle East Newsline reported. The Gazette said the United States would provide nuclear power to Turkey under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

Ankara has approved plans to build three nuclear power plants by 2015. Last week, International Atomic Energy Agency director-general Mohammed El Baradei visited Turkey and discussed safeguards for such a program.

Turkey has also become active in U.S.-led non-proliferation efforts. In June 2005, Turkey signed an agreement to participate in the Proliferation Security Initiative, designed to block such countries as Iran, North Korea and Syria from acquiring nuclear weapons and missiles.

In May 2006, Turkey hosted a PSI naval exercise in the eastern Mediterranean. Officials said the exercise sought to test the ability of the United States and its allies to block missile and nuclear technology from reaching Iran.

www.worldtribune.com/worldtribune/06/front2453928.3375.html