Turkey among worst

Editorial

While the flotilla and its Canadian supporters contribute to maintaining a free flow of arms to terrorists, the government of Turkey, which played a supporting role in last year’s deadly debacle, is falling back on a reliable bogeyman in the days leading up to national elections on the weekend.

Supporters of Turkey’s governing party are expressing outrage at the Economist magazine for urging voters in that country to support the opposition in Sunday’s vote. What is perhaps more curious than anything else is that Turkish leaders view the English- language British magazine, superb as many feel it to be, as a factor in Turkish elections.

Well, the Economist’s editorial is probably less significant as an endorsement than it is a convenient deflection. Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan’s AK Party is headed, according to polling, for a third term. But the Brit newsmagazine’s support for the secular opposition to Erdogan’s Islamist party was evidently too tempting an opportunity to pass up.

“The international media, because they are backed by Israel, wouldn’t be happy with the continuation of the AK Party government,” Erdogan told Turkey’s state-run media.

This statement, in addition to everything else Erdogan has done and said in relation to Israel, confirms his place among the worst conspiratorial figures in power today.

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