[a_Turk]

ping.

[Beck_isright]

And 95% of the Turks remember that George I screwed them and that Europe did also. Watch Turkey create a new sphere of power with the Central Asian republics of the old USSR. That would piss off the US, Russia and Arabs all in one fell swoop.

[DontMessWithMyCountry]

yes, the game, which seems to have impressed you so substantially, is known as playing one person (or entity) against the other, to get one's own way; devoid of team-spirit or loftier goals that exceed complete self-service. Their concern and compassion for the victims of that TYRANT's viciousness is UNDERwhelming. I would suggest that President Bush's 'ratings' have risen in support of the intervening in Iraq because AMERICANS DO CARE about the Iraqi people. We don't care if they're Kurds or not Kurds. We have a real 'issue' ignoring the Stalins of the world. Turkey is 'a turkey'.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

OFFICIAL BUMP(TOPIC)LIST

[Nogbad]

Ping

[ellery]

That's downright masterful. And any article that begins with "(a world leader) lashed out at the EU today..." automatically brings a smile to my face.

[marron]

Turkey... faced... the prospect of catastrophe for its economy, which has yet to recover from the first Gulf war.

Turkey faced economic catastrophe due to curtailed trade with Iraq, the closure of the border, the shutdown of the pipeline. We are going to open the border, re-establish trade, and re-activate the pipeline.

Hey, no charge. Happy to do it.

[Dog Gone]

This story doesn't leave me with a warm, fuzzy feeling. Erdogan obviously resents having to deal with the US, and if our efforts to help get Turkey into the EU had succeeded, he believes that he could have told us to shove it.

So much for thanks.

[xm177e2]

Put simply, we do not want the 21st century to be a century of war

Then getting rid of Saddam should be a top priority, he's likely to start a war somewhere down the line. Better to fight him at a time of our own choosing.