TURKEY BECOMING A TURKEY – AT 9:48 A.M. ET:  Members of Congress are starting to speak out about the tragic turn that Turkey is taking...moving from American ally and moderate state, to supporter of Hamas and Muslim extremism.  From the Washington Times:

For years, Turkey has held a special place on Capitol Hill as a NATO ally and Muslim country maintaining close economic and military ties to the Jewish state. Turkey has acted as a go-between in Israel-Arab dialogue. But that relationship started to sour several years ago, and now some in Congress are taking a second, more critical look at Turkey.

"I urge you to condemn Turkey's support of IHH which has been known to maintain ties to terrorist organizations such as Hamas and Al Qaeda," Rep. Frank Pallone Jr., New Jersey Democrat, wrote in a letter to President Obama. "I also ask that you condemn Turkey's reaction to the incident involving the flotilla. Rather than engaging in an open dialogue, Turkey has chosen to recall their ambassador from Israel and disrupt diplomatic relations. … Turkey has chosen to ignore the facts and force its own view of events through threat. We can not allow these same old tactics to prevent us from taking the right position."

Since taking power in 2002, Ankara's Justice and Development Party (AKP) has developed closer ties to Iran and Hamas, a U.S.-designated terrorist organization that controls Gaza.

One GOP congressman, now running for governor of Michigan, nails it exactly:

Rep. Peter Hoekstra of Michigan, the top Republican on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, said there is "growing concern" about Turkey in Congress. He blamed, in part, Mr. Obama's foreign policy of reaching out to Iran and criticizing Israel, while one of his top advisers, John Brennan, talks of "moderate elements" inside Iran-supported Lebanese Hezbollah, also a U.S.-designated terrorist organization.

"Obama over the last 18 months has sent a clear signal to people in the Middle East that it's OK to reach out to these organizations, Hamas, Hezbollah," Mr. Hoekstra told The Washington Times.

"People like Turkey, they can go basically wherever they want. … This administration, they've totally moved away from any leadership role in the Middle East and everybody now is a free agent doing what they think is best," he said.

COMMENT:  Another great foreign-policy triumph for the Obama administration.  Even Turkey is drifting away.  You can count the foreign-policy successes of Barack Obama on the fingers of one ear.

Turkey, of course, is also a member of NATO.  Ankara's behavior creates an unprecedented crisis for the Atlantic alliance.  This is the first time a member nation has begun moving toward what most rational Europeans and Americans would consider the enemy camp.  Question:  How long can Turkey do this and still remain within NATO?  No one knows the answer, but many Europeans have a hostility toward Turkey already, part of it based on culture and ethnicity, and I wouldn't be shocked if Turkey were expelled from NATO within five years, assuming its current course is intensified.

June 14, 2010