* Turkey, as we know, is a member of NATO. Has been since 1952. Its location and military wherewithal dictate as much. Its air force is formidable and its active military personnel is second only to the U.S. at 600,000.
But Turkey, as we also know, has long yearned to be admitted into the European Community. Obviously, it hasn’t happened. We were reminded recently why that won’t change.
At a Turkey-Greece soccer game in Istanbul, fans booed during the moment of silence for the Paris victims of ISIS. They then added to the desecration with an “Allahu Akbar” (“God is great” ) chant.
No, that doesn’t represent all–or even most–Turks, but it was the sort of symbolic reminder that assures Turkey is not a good EC fit.
* After 30 years, Jonathan Pollard, who was convicted of spying for Israel, has been released. Parole requirements preclude his leaving the U.S. without government permission for five years. Pollard has expressed his desire to renounce his American citizenship and move to Israel, where he’s seen by some as a hero.
His defenders contend his punishment was too severe for helping a close U.S. ally. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu celebrated his release. But there is an ironic bottom line: Imagine, being jailed as a traitor who engaged in massive espionage with an “ally.”