Turkey's Radical Fringe Returns to View

[Khephra]

ISTANBUL, Turkey -- It's the sort of scene that rattles Turkey's Western-looking establishment: angry demonstrators raising fists for Islam and waving posters supporting Chechen separatists, the Iraq insurgency and hard-line Palestinian factions such as Hamas.

"Islamic resistance will win!" chanted nearly 400 protesters, including women wearing green headbands with Quranic verses -- similar to those worn by suicide bombers in farewell videos.

Radical cries from the fringe -- like these in Istanbul last weekend -- are driving concerns that the Muslim nation's push toward Europe may stir momentum in the opposite direction. Ahead of a key European Union vote Friday, pro-Islamic political groups appear ready to seek gains if Ankara's bid to join the EU falters and more extremist elements could use the East-West split as fresh ground for recruits in a country still stunned by bombings last year linked to al-Qaida.

"Turkey is like a firewall between radical Islam and the West," said Dogu Ergil, a political science professor at Ankara University. "The consequences if the firewall comes down are scary."

http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/world/wire/sns-ap-turkey-islamic-militants,0,122369.story?coll=sns-ap-world-headlines

[acmavm]

1. What does anyone expect when we keep bombing the shit out of

Iraqi cities? Cities that we've had under control how many times? And when the stories come out about having to kill dogs and cats because they're feeding on dead bodies. And about bodies stacked up in a ware house rotting. Theats of disease. No electricity. The theft of eight billion dollars of reconstruction money. Think that this isn't going to infect the ENTIRE Middle East?

bush* is an idiot and he's being manipulated by sick, dangerous thugs.

Oh yes, I almost forgot about the Kurds and their demand for an autonomous area in Iraq. That's really got to rankle the Turkish government. They have a serious Kurd problem themselves. Oh well, not like this wasn't pointed out before Shock and Awe.