It is truly sad what is happening in Turkey. The country that we had hailed as a model of a secular Muslim country is being caught up in the wave of Islamic fanaticism that is sweeping the Middle East and other neighboring areas. This is largely due to their Islamist leader, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who is becoming more and more autocratic. Now here comes a charge from one of his associates that can only be described as anti-Semitic in nature and brings back memories of the Russian-manufactured forgery, "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion", which described a supposed meeting of Jewish leaders in a European hotel room whose intention it was to take over the world..
http://www.algemeiner.com/2013/06/18/erdogan-associate-blames-american-jewish-lobby-for-turkey-protests/
As one who has visited the country twice and both times made the obligatory visit to Mustafa Kemal Ataturk's mausoleum in Ankara, I can testify to the high regard the Turks held their national hero, who secularized the nation after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire. The protests in the past days indicate that many Turks are resisting Erdogan's efforts to restore Islamic dominance. The Turks like their raki and their Efes Pilson (one of the world's great beers), and apparently, they don't like Erdogan's autocratic ways.
But in spite of Erdogan's economic successes, he is taking his country down a dangerous path. He used the deaths of eight Turkish sailor/thugs aboard the Mavi Marmara off the coast of Gaza to all but ruin his country's relationship with Israel.
As for Turkey's relationship with Europe, which is important for many reasons including the presence of millions of Turks in Europe, I used to ask Turks I met why the country kept trying to join the EU when the latter kept imposing new conditions on their membership. Not now. As things are going in Turkey, the last thing the EU needs now is a country that may be heading in the direction of Islamic rule (not that the EU is worth saving).
I have contacted the Elders and they assure me that they haven't written their Protocols yet. So whatever Turkey has is an forgery and not to be believed.
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