The Foreign Service Journal, January 2008

tum 20 years later, when the U.S. overthrow of Saddam Hussein rein- vigorated Iraqi Kurds. Since the uprising’s start, nearly 40,000 lives have been lost. Though Erdogan reiterated on Nov. 24 that Turkey reserved the right to send troops into northern Iraq if it were deemed necessary, he also re-emphasized the need for diplomatic and political measures against the PKK, according to an Agence France-Presse dispatch from Ankara. At a meeting of his Justice and Development Party, he appealed for expanding the rights of the Kurdish community to erode support for separatism. “Let’s maintain pluralistic demo- cracy and strengthen the climate of freedoms in order to secure the ultimate result in the struggle against terrorism,” Erdogan said. “Let’s look together for ways of winning over the people instead of alienating them.” The prime minister also renewed an appeal to Turkey’s main Kurdish political movement, the Democratic Society Party, which holds 20 seats in the 550-member parliament, to sever its ties with the PKK. Ankara’s handling of the Kurdish issue is a central factor in the country’s bid to join the European Union, now in the second year of negotiation. A recent E.U. Commis- sion report says limits on free speech are undermining Turkey’s chances of becoming a full member of the organization, and calls on the country to reform its judiciary, fight corrup- tion and strip the military of its political powers if it expects to gain membership ( www.voanews.com/ english/2007-11-22-voa18.cfm ). There is some concern that the rise of opposition to Turkish membership in Europe and fatigue in Ankara could doom this strategically impor- tant initiative. Turkey is not simply a bridge between East and West. Though it is the poorest and most controversial recent application to membership in the E.U., it has the biggest and most diversified economy, the deepest- rooted secular democracy and the most powerful army of all 57 countries in the Organization of the Islamic Conference. As such, it is an important model of a democratic Islamic nation. In less than a decade, Turkey has mastered runaway inflation, produc- ed a coherent, single-party govern- ment and witnessed strong economic growth and rising levels of foreign investment. Europeans are keenly aware that pipelines through Turkey could help relieve their energy dependence on Russia. Moreover, Turkey has contributed strongly to Western peacekeeping missions in Afghanistan, Congo and Kosovo, and sought closer involve- ment with the European Security and Defence Policy. In 2004, the country came forward on Cyprus, as well: in a referendum, two-thirds of Turkish Cypriots approved the U.N. plan to reunite the island (which, however, was later rejected by Greek Cypriots). For background resources and to follow this pivotal nation and the challenges it faces, go to the Web sites for the Brookings Institution Web site ( www.brookings.edu/events/2007/ 1011turkey.aspx ); the Council on Foreign Relations ( www.cfr.org/ region/358/turkey.html ); the Center for Strategic and International Studies ( www.csis.org/component/ option,com_csis_progj/task,view/i d,1115/ ); and the International Crisis Group ( www.crisisgroup. org/home/index.cfm?id=5013&l= 1 ), as well as the Open Society Institute’s EurasiaNet ( www.eurasia net.org/resource/turkey/ind ex.shtml ). — Susan Brady Maitra, Senior Editor C Y B E R N O T E S 14 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / J A N U A R Y 2 0 0 8 50 Years Ago... I sometimes think that as a nation we become preoccupied with the machinery of defense as an end in itself — or at least we have succeeded in giving that impression to too much of the world out- side... With a strong, modern defense, we can move on to the real job of organizing the peace. — Adlai E. Stevenson, “The New America” FSJ , January 1958.