Talking Turkey

Americas public call for Turkish entry into the European Union may backfireBY CHOOSING to end his grand tour of Europe in Ankara and Istanbul this week, Barack Obama fulfilled his pledge to visit a Muslim country during his first 100 days in office. He took the opportunity of his address to the Turkish parliament to reaffirm that America was not at war with Islam (see article). But his visit was also testimony to Turkeys strategic importance for the West as a whole. That reflects partly geography, partly geopolitics. As Mr Obama pointed out, Turkey is a natural bridge between Europe and the Middle East. Its potential as an energy transit corridor to Europe was again made obvious during Januarys gas dispute between Russia and Ukraine. Turkey has the chance to play a pivotal role in the troubled Caucasus region, especially if its current efforts to repair relations with Armenia succeed. Militarily, Turkey has NATOs biggest army after Americas, and hosts a large American airbase at Incirlik. Recently its prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has also engaged robustly in Middle Eastern diplomacy, mediating between Syria and Israel, talking to Iran and keeping a beady eye on the aspirations for self-rule of the Kurds of northern Iraq. ...