Epstein Secrets

ian point of view, this is a crisis. From a national-interest point of view, it is an opportunity to undermine enemies of the United States in both Damascus and Tehran. But President Obama has treated the bloody turmoil, first and foremost, as an opportunity to strengthen the idea that America should su

Turkey is of course famous for being a secular Muslim country--an identity that goes back to early twentieth-century Turkish leader Mustafa Kemal Ataturk's forceful campaign to westernize the country after the disintegration of the Ottoman Empire. But the campaign was less successful than it seemed.

, whose regime has reportedly killed more than 1,100 opponents since March, Turkey and Syria have established close relations. In 2009, Ankara and Damascus signed a strategic cooperation agreement, conducted joint military exercises, and launched military industrial cooperation. They also introduced vi

of 178 countries)—only just ahead of Ethiopia (139th) and Russia (140th). The AKP's Islamist-based politics is gradually leading Turkey away from Ataturk's legacy of secular democracy toward religious-based authoritarianism, which should be a major concern for the U.S. and Europe. Foreign Policy and

ian point of view, this is a crisis. From a national-interest point of view, it is an opportunity to undermine enemies of the United States in both Damascus and E FTA_R 1 _02207 1 4 3 EFTA02722354 Tehran. But President Obama has treated the bloody turmoil, first and foremost, as an opportunity to str

the disintegration of the Ottoman Empire. But the campaign was less successful than it seemed. Though the cosmopolitan elites who ran Turkey after Ataturk were largely secular, out in the villages traditional religious practice persisted. And over the past few decades there has been a huge migration o