Oh, right, to feed GWB's cronies pockets with no-bid contracts and bribes.

Never mind.

And their opponents, the government of Turkey? They're actively anti-religious, and hold to an ideology of secularism far, far more rigid and extreme than the worst fantasies of reactionary Christianists in the US. Religious girls and women are not allowed to wear headscarves in schools, universities, or government jobs. The military has carried out three coups when a government has appeared to threaten secularism, and it wasn't illegal to do so. It was constitutionally mandated.

So, before you start talking out your ass, you might wanna do a wee bit of research, at least if you don't wanna sound like Dick Cheney.

i don't mean the PKK. this will spill over into the Peshmerga real quick.

someone (the Peshmerga) need to reign the PKK in right fucking now.

Just as a point of order, the Kurds are an excellent example of "secular but still shitty." They're horrifyingly xenophobic, racist, and sexist. They carry out nice secular honor killings in Kurdish Iraq and around the world. They're a culture of assholes.

Also? Their claim on Turkish Kurdistan? Very similar in its broad strokes to the Palestinian claims on Israel; the Kurds fought for the Allies during World War I and were implicitly promised their independence as payment -- only to be fucked over during the armistice process. They've been pissed off about it ever since. And, very much like the PLO, Kurdish communism was only ever a facade to get material support from the Soviet Union.

Jesus Christ, Fnarf, you are an asshole. Would you say the same thing about the Jewish Holocaust?

Turkey is a big bully country ("if you don't do what we like we will go to the Soviets, Saddam Hussein, Islamic Fundamentalists" pick an era and pick your threat.)

They will continue to commit atrocity after atrocity unless they are held accountable for the ones they have committed and are committing (Armenians, Greeks, Cyprus, the Kurds- pick an era and choose your mass killing)

Also, contrary to your post, there are plenty of Muslim countries in much better shape than Turkey- look in Asia for a start.
We do not need to be Turkey's friend.

I find you offensive and ignorant sir. Read a book before posting in the future please.

I, for one, would absolutely say the same thing -- if we were using it as a tool for judging the actions of the current German government.

As for the rest of your comment, all I can say is that I, for one, am an American. My country was built on the genocide -- in some cases through the intentional use of biological weapons -- of the Native Americans, the slavery of African Americans, and acquisition of territory through conquest and occupation of a large chunk of Northern Mexico. No foreign power has, as far as I'm aware, seen fit to hold my current government "accountable" for any of those things and yet, my government is the main player in all global dramas. Maybe we can afford to let Turkey out of the box.

We don't need to be anyone's friend. But the payoff for being Turkey's friend would be substantial.