The PKK has recently increased its attacks inside Turkey, including suicide bombings, killing more than eighty people since the beginning of 2007. Most of these attacks involve improvised explosive devices (IEDs) similar to those being used against U.S. troops in Iraq.

On May 20, thousands of secular Turks demonstrated in the Black Sea port city of Samsun against the governing Justice and Development Party (AKP), which has an Islamist pedigree.

Turkey matters, because the US is looking at the Atlanticist view. Yes, Turkey is overwhelmingly Muslim, but it is a thriving, secular democracy with a free market economy. It is in the interests of both the US and the EU to anchor Turkey in a western institution, and that happens to be the EU, which is at Turkey's doorstep.

In the post September 11 world, as a secular democracy deeply entrenched in Western institutions, Turkey emerged as a pivotal country in debunking the argument of a clash of civilizations.

« 1 »