The secular Turkey that Kemal Ataturk created out of the ruins of the Ottoman Empire has vanished. In its place is a new Turkey that reflects the moderate Islamism embodied in Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP)….The AKP’s Islamic identity means that Turkey’s foreign policy will be increasingly nationalist, as the country becomes as willing to align with the Islamic world as with the U.S. and Europe. Under the AKP, Turkey will no longer be the reliable NATO ally it once was. ~Bloomberg

Via Scoblete

This editorial misses a few things. Turkish secularism has not vanished from the scene. Turkey’s foreign policy is increasingly nationalist because the Turkish government is increasingly responsive to popular opinion, and Turkish public opinion has become more nationalist over the last decade. One of the reasons for this upsurge in nationalist sentiment is the dismissive attitude that the U.S. and other allies have shown towards Turkish interests for at least the last eight years. The AKP’s Islamist roots are part of its popularity, but they are hardly the whole story. It’s easy to imagine how any ruling party in Turkey today would be charting a more independent, nationalist foreign policy. Turkish foreign policy is also more assertive and independent of the U.S., and therefore less “reliable” (meaning less obedient), because Turkey has become more economically prosperous and more confident in pursuing its own interests.

Turkey is more democratic and wealthier than it used to be, which is what numerous U.S. administrations have desired to see, and now many Americans find that they don’t like the result. Evidently, some would prefer it if Turkey were as poor and dominated by its “deep state” as it once was. To say that Turkey will no longer be the “reliable NATO ally” it once was skips past the reality that many other NATO governments are finding it difficult to be “reliable” when this entails supporting U.S. or western European-led wars that have nothing to do with allied defense. Half the problem the U.S. has with Turkey is that many Americans seem unable to accept that many of our Cold War alliances will have to change if they are to have any value in the future. Assuming for the sake of argument that the Turkish government is overreacting to Israel’s refusal to issue an apology, what good would it do any of the parties involved for the U.S. to revise its policy towards Turkey?