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Turkey Shouldn’t Be In Europe, But They Didn’t Help Hizbullah

Israel’s relationship with Turkey, its closest ally in the region, has been put under severe strain by the Israeli army’s discovery that one route Iran used to resupply Hezbollah in Lebanon ran through Turkey into Syria. The intelligence, described by one Israeli official here as “irrefutable,” found that in the days prior to the August […]

Israel’s relationship with Turkey, its closest ally in the region, has been put under severe strain by the Israeli army’s discovery that one route Iran used to resupply Hezbollah in Lebanon ran through Turkey into Syria.

The intelligence, described by one Israeli official here as “irrefutable,” found that in the days prior to the August 14 cease-fire, a shipment of spare parts and components for mobile missile launchers was sent by truck through Turkey to Syria and then into northern Lebanon before being funneled down to front-line Hezbollah terrorists in southern Lebanon.

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The American diplomat said, “Nobody was aware of” shipments through Turkey “before the war started, not us or the Israelis. It may have been a reaction by Hezbollah to find a new route. The Israelis raised it directly with the Turks. By the time we were raising it with the Turks, they said they did not know about it and asked us to help shut this down.”

He added, “They told us that this was rough terrain. If they had known about it, they would not have let it happen. I think it would be a mistake to say they were allowing the shipments deliberately.” ~The New York Sun

That last bit should set at ease the minds of those who seem all too ready to jump on the anti-Turkey bandwagon.  Of course, there are plenty of reasons why Turkey should not join the EU, and there are plenty of reasons why we shouldn’t trust the “reformed” Islamist government of Erdogan, and it is possible that Turkey and Iran could come to some arrangement over cooperating against Kurdish rebels that would involve making back-door deals against Israel.  But the Turkish military–which is the institution that’s really in charge–has no interest in jeopardising the alliance with Israel.  The people offended by that alliance are the fine, democratically elected Islamists of AK.  Yet more proof, if we needed it, that ever greater democratisation and the creation of governments that really reflect the desires of the people in the Near East are likely nightmares waiting to happen.

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