time to talk Turkey again (note to BushOK, the topic aint Thanksgiving)

[dead0man]

Actually, there is a rumor out there that Erdogan/Turkish military is doing this to distract people from his/their dickishness around Cyprus.  The Greeks and the Israelis have been growing closer while Turkey and Egypt have been doing the same.

[dead0man]

link

You must be logged in to read this quote.

[dead0man]

Has anybody been keeping tabs on who Turkey has "warned" in the last 6 months to a year?  Israel, Greece, Cyprus, Iran, Syria, the US, the EU...I'm sure I'm forgetting somebody.

[dead0man]

Yeah, the Greeks aren't getting any money....in fact, I think they are buying some hardware, I'll look for the cite.  This really is an obvious alliance, the flags use the same colors afterall.

aye, $155mil worth of bomb upgrades. link

You must be logged in to read this quote.

[dead0man]

I don't know man, the Cyprus drilling issue is coming to a head and soon.  Add in the Palestinian UN vote issue and you've got a lovely box of potential violence waiting to get kicked over.

[dead0man]

link

You must be logged in to read this quote.

[dead0man]

Second most important military force in NATA?  By far?  It's got the second most number of dudes and is probably number 1 when it comes to strategic placement, but I know I'd rather have the UK or Germany on my side. 

Plus Erdogan has removed many (most?) of the top generals in the Turkey military over the last few years and put his cronies in command, that's never good for a military.

Of course nobody wants to fight a war with Turkey, but if they keep pushing for it, I'm not going to be too concerned for their likely enemies.

[dead0man]

Not sure how I (we?) missed this.  google link, pick your poison

You must be logged in to read this quote.

link

[dead0man]

Anybody that thinks "my side" is pushing for war more than Turkey is either isn't paying attention, is lying in defense or is just willfully ignorant.  And I certainly wasn't insinuating that the UK or Germany would get involved in this (not sure how I'm supposed to interpret that last line).


As for the comparing of militaries, I'll just point out that vast majority of Turkish tanks were made in the US in the 1950s and 60s.   On the other hand, both Germany and the UK currently make their own, very well respected, main battle tank (and have forever).  To be fair to Turkey though, they do have some early 90s German tanks and have started making their own MBT....which they may have a few of by 2015.

But my point?  Number of tanks is one of the more worthless meassures of a modern military.

[dead0man]

Well, the same, really, applies to anyone who is saying that Turkey is pushing for war more than Israel, doesn't it?

Well as soon as Israel threatens a nation for drilling in their own territory I'll agree with you.  As soon as Israel threatens to use warships to force it's way through a legal blockade I'll agree with you.

You must be logged in to read this quote.

So warning and threatening EVERYBODY that isn't toeing the Turkey line is "pushing for peace" now?  Who knew?

[dead0man]

After snubbing Israel, Turkey to hold defense drills with Syria

You must be logged in to read this quote.

That was in 2009.  Which was three years after Turkey warmly greeted Hamas on it's first official state visit.  Turkey has been turning away from the west and towards Iran and company for a decade.  Sure, they've been more subtle about it than Pakistan, but they are sharing the same road..

[dead0man]

2009 is a long time ago.  

I was responding to BS's claim that Turkey was turning against the Israel and the west out of nowhere and only because of the (legal) Gaza blockade.  Which is obviously false to any one that is paying attention.

[dead0man]

But remember, the main thing here is, obviously, that

Turkey (and Erdogan for that matter) has a history of normal relations with Israel and of pushing for peace in the region. Now, why would Turkey so completely change its tone in a matter of months?

Which is clearly false.

[dead0man]

Well, I don't know what you would perceive to be 'normal' relations with Israel, but as far as non-US puppet governments in that area of the World are concerned, being on speaking terms with the Israeli government is as good as it gets. And Turkey certainly does not have much of a history of pushing for a military confrontation with Israel.

I guess that's the closest to an "I was wrong" anyone is ever going to get out of you.

[dead0man]

Do you still think Turkey just started turning away from Israel several months ago?

[dead0man]

Of course.  The actions by both sides during the flotilla crisis were actions that were destined to draw them apart.  If I was a conspiracy minded person I'd suggest it might be part of some larger "plan" by one side or both.

[dead0man]

link

You must be logged in to read this quote.