German/Turkish Axis

Israpundit ^ | Sept 17/11 | Ted Belman

[tedbel]

Of course you know that Germany and the Ottoman Empire were allies in WWI. With their defeat they were both cut down to size and in the case of the latter, Turkey was all that was left.

But did you know that Germany’s historic Middle East policy had always given primacy to German relations to Turkey.

Yet these relations are dicey due to the backlash in the EU to accepting Turkey for membership and the current debate in Germany regarding immigration. Paul Williams writing in Family Security Matters on 22 September 2010 reports

"Our country is going to carry on changing, and integration is also a task for the society taking up the task of dealing with immigrants,” Ms. Merkel told the daily newspaper. "For years we've been deceiving ourselves about this. Mosques, for example, are going to be a more prominent part of our cities than they were before.”

Germany, with a population of 4-5 million Muslims, has been divided in recent weeks by a debate over remarks by the Bundesbank's Thilo Sarrazin, who argued Turkish and Arab immigrants were failing to integrate and were swamping Germany with a higher birth rate.

In Dec 2010, Financial Times published, Turkey and Germany: a close relationship differed in the number of Muslims in Germany.

[ken21]

you watch, and germany will go

fascist again

along with their

persian and arab buds.

[kearnyirish2]

As part of their modernization (under Ataturk), the Turk adopted the German alphabet (with umlauts, etc.); before that their alphabet was like an Arabic script. They were allies in WWI, due as much to British & Russian ambitions as anything else (much of the Balkans was slowly being taken from them by Russian-allied Serbs).

[Bean Counter]

You would think the Turks would have learned since the Ottoman Empire went down in flames for backing Kaiser Wilhelm during WWI.

And the Ottomans had a multi-generational relationship with the German Krupp Empire, who armed the Ottomans to the teeth in order to use them as a testing ground for some of the latest technology from der Kannon Konig and his family.

[Hiddigeigei]

I thought Blandoatmeal’s comment was more interesting than the article.

[Levante]

Yes, they will.

[ReformationFan]

I figure mutual dislike of Russia(the old “my enemy’s enemy is my friend” adage had a lot to do with this.

[nakutny]

Germany and Russia are collaborating for mutual assurance of energy from Russia and technology from Germany.