Turkey in Turmoil

Really important things are taking place in Turkey; but you probably haven’t heard much about it.

Four years ago the “Justice and Development Party,” benefiting from Turkey’s bizarre election rules and a divided opposition, came to power with about one third of the vote. Since then it has followed a generally anti-Western, pro-Islamist agenda, and has used its power to brutally suppress dissent. [here]

Opposition to the government has been building over the past several months. This week it erupted in massive demonstrations.

Michael Rubin describes the current situation:

What is happening in Ankara is amazing. Crowds booed Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul—the ruling party's representative at the funeral—and police corridors had to protect the ruling AKP ministers from the crowds. Journalists are also saying people screamed "Murderer" at the Prime Minister. The crowd even booed former AKP politicians who had defected from the party in recent months. Tens of thousands of Turks are rallying spontaneously in favor of secularism and liberalism. Some Turkish journalists are beginning to describe the events of the last couple days as Turkey's 9/11. It has certainly been a wake-up call….

This is really important stuff. Turkey is an important ally and a major trading partner of Western states, the USA included. But it has gotten almost no play in the MSM.

Rubin notes:

[I]t seems that when Islamists threaten to make inroads, U.S. media is all over the story. But when liberals fight back, there is silence. This is not only true in Turkey, but extends to general media sympathy toward Islamism.

Even Turks are beginning to complain about the inattention of the US Media. The name of the game in protest these days is to attract the attention and the sympathy of the MSM. But, they seem to be interested only in anti-Western, anti-liberal protest.

Read him here and here.