I Like Turkey

I am not talking about the bird when I say I like Turkey. I like the country. Since I have never been there, it would probably be more accurate to say, I admire the Turkish people. 

I'm sure my admiration goes back to WWII and Korea. The Turks were our good and great allies. They were loyal to a fault, tough as old rhino hide, and fearsome fighters. Things seem to have gotten a little off politically in their country lately, as it has so many places on the globe. I fear for them. While they seem to be struggling with internal problems, a terrible threat is building on their border.

ISIS is growing in numbers, wealth, and territory. They are already referring to themselves as a caliphate. I have no doubt that they would like to include Turkey in their expansion, sooner rather than later. Turkey is a secular state with a predominantly Muslim population. The leaders of ISIS would find a secular state an abomination. And, I fear, that a segment of the Muslim population would quickly support a conservative sharia government.

Not being in government, I have no idea what is going on behind closed doors. All I can do is hope that Turkey is getting the support they need from the United States and other allies. I know it would help their cause having access to the newest and best weapons, first class intelligence, and maybe some special ops operators just to sweeten the pot.

I get a lot of readers from Turkey. I have no idea who they are, but I hope they are friends. You can't have too many of those. I think of them as friends anyway. So all that I can say is that I hope the future goes well for you. It is a dangerous world and you live in a dangerous neighborhood. Good luck. You will be in my prayers.