Down in the valley...
The Valley Of The Wolves
3/4

Is this 2006 Anti-USA movie in revenge
for the 1978 anti-Turkish film 'Midnight Express'?
Many on one side think so, many on the other side hope so.
And they aren't all from the list of 'usual suspects'...

Thanks to:
Kurtlar Vadısı (Valley of the Wolves)
movie promotional website at:
www.valleyofthewolvesiraq.com

Freedom of Speech gets a fiendish French Twist

TIME Magazine caves to 'True Believers' 3/3

The God-Awful State of
Turkish-American Relations
Continued...

I keep the ball in the air a little longer, in this continuation of the Williams-Masters 'friendly' from last week.
j & p: Re: Attempts of the Turkish State to enforce opinions...
ummm. Is this a Turkish-only foible? Didn't you just get done mentioning "the recent Supreme Court fad for removing the Constitution from daily life." Isn't that a high-profile example of using the power of the State to enforce opinions?...
Still...I grant you...The Article 301 Turkishness Law of 2005 is dumb. I agree. But it's similar to having the [dumb] Turkish Death Penalty Law on the books after 1961 and never using it. (Which is, however, still better than having a Death Penalty Law on the books, and using the hell out of it -- as does one country in particular with which we are both familiar.)
The Turkish Death Penalty Law, if you remember, sanctioned Menderes's execution in 1961 -- but, though it remained on the books afterwards, it was never used again. And... Ecevit caused it to be formally repealed finally, in 2001-2 (or thereabouts).
The 'Turkishness Law' is in the same category. It's there to deter those who are deterred by such things. But every time someone is charged with it these days (eg. Pamuk, Shafak), the charge is dropped before the trial starts. It's clownish, but what country doesn't exhibit clownish behavior sometimes?
And anyway, what's the big deal? Article 301's days are obviously numbered -- Turks are embarrassed by it too. So it'll get the boot very soon after this month's election...unless, of course, outsiders keep making an issue of it and, thereby, cause Turks to take notice of yet another foreign attempt to bully Turkey. In which case, it will stay right where it is...
(BTW, if someone gave US State and Federal Law Books a close look, I'll bet they'd find some American laws that would make the unenforced 'Turkishness Law' look downright 'Pollyanna-ish'.)
The Obnoxious EU Demands
I've got a list, if I can still dig it out, of the EU's 'negotiating demands' on Turkey before she can become a member of the 'old boys club'. 'Repeal of Article 301', an arguably reasonable demand, is on the list. But the whole list is so long and so obnoxious, that it's almost funny. The EU might as well tell Turks to stop being Turkish.
And the anti-Turkish member-states know exactly which buttons to push, to insure Turkish intransigence that will kill ascension talks. For example... something like an EU insistence that, 'Turkey submit to an Independent Kurdistan that includes Hakkari and Diyarbakır'...that would do the trick nicely. Turkey would walk from accession talks and the door wouldn't hit her ass on the way out...
In fact, I welcome such European arrogance, hope it finally becomes unbearable to Turks -- so that Turkey itself stops tilting at harmful unreachable windmills, sheds that european goal, and spends its energies being the bridge between East and West -- a crucial role that only Turkey can creditably play -- and which would 'pay her handsomely' in much better and in many more ways than anything the EU has on offer.
Re: Armenia... Many people I have talked to say, "Why don't the Turks just say it happened but is was the Ottomans who did it. We're sorry, but it happened before the Turkish Republic even existed."
That's a tired old saw...
The answer is:
A) As many Turks were killed by Armenian nationalists (as Armenians by Turks) in those dark days (as McCarthy documents in "Death and Exile"). But, are Armenian Activists ready to say "Yes, large numbers of Turks were massacred too but it was our wicked and murderously insane grandfathers and great-grandfathers who did it. We're sorry, but it happened almost 100 years ago." Is it any wonder that Turks have no intention of making such a statement about their own grandfathers and great-grandfathers -- without a reciprocal statement by the Armenian side?
And B), Armenian Lobbyists won't even sit at a table of 'Wise Men' to discuss the matter. Why not? Because they know that any show of compromise or mutual culpability on their part is not in their "best interests." If Turkey could be forced to accept 'sole blame' by the simple weight of Armenian Activist pressure, then the Armenian Lobbyists could open up a Pandora's Box of reparation demands (as they did so successfully in the case of the Time Magazine debacle)...
Add also to the mix that Armenian terrorist factions (like ASALA) murdered more than 40 Turkish diplomats (and 80 other innocents who were in the wrong place at the wrong time) in relatively recent history (the 1970s-80s). And you start to get an idea why Turks don't accept sole blame for what happened in 1915 -- without it being seen in context with the whole picture, including what happened before and after that year.
For example, if one hears them mentioned at all, those murdering acts of the 70s-80s are rarely called 'genocide' -- by Westerners. Turks don't like the one-sided view that Westerners seem, for the most part, to always take.

Question: Why is Turkey being singled-out in the western press and parliaments for condemnation regarding Article 301 and 'genocide'? Answer: Because she's an easy target for western newsmen (and women) and politicians who want to appear attractive to their (mostly non-Turkish) constituency.
But Western caution is advised. If Turkey is constantly buffeted by the West and only 'feels good' when turning east, then she'll turn further. Once she's fully turned, it will take a herculean effort to woo her back West again. It might not even be possible to return her to the Western-fold -- because her new Eastern Partners will surely dig their heels in, up to their knees, trying to stop the reunion...

Next: Glenn and I go down the homestretch...
Back: The God-Awful State of Turkish-American Relations 2/4

Down in the valley...The Valley Of The Wolves3/4

Down in the valley...
The Valley Of The Wolves
3/4