Rick Perry: Turkey Run By Islamic Terrorists, Should Be Kicked Out Of NATO
It isn’t often when a Presidential primary debate causes an international incident, but Rick Perry managed to do it last night when he asserted that Turkey was now ruled by “Islamic terrorists” and that it should be kicked out of NATO:
BAIR: Governor Perry, since the Islamist-oriented party took over in Turkey, the murder rate of women has increased 1,400 percent there. Press freedom has declined to the level of Russia. The prime minister of Turkey has embraced Hamas and Turkey has threatened military force against both Israel and Cypress. Given Turkey’s turn, do you believe Turkey still belongs in NATO?
PERRY: Well, obviously when you have a country that is being ruled by, what many would perceive to be Islamic terrorists, when you start seeing that type of activity against their own citizens, then yes. Not only is it time for us to have a conversation about whether or not they belong to be in NATO, but it’s time for the United States, when we look at their foreign aid, to go to zero with it.
And you go to zero with foreign aid for all of those countries. And it doesn’t make any difference who they are. You go to zero with that foreign aid and then you have the conversation about, do they have America’s best interest in mind? And when you have countries like Turkey that are moving far away from the country that I lived in back in the 1970’s as a pilot in the United States Air Force that was our ally, that worked with us, but today we don’t see that. Our — our — our president, has a foreign policy that makes our allies very nervous and emboldens our enemies. And we have to have a president of the United States that clearly sends the message, whether it’s to Israel, our friend and there should be no space between the United States and Israel, period.
PERRY: And we need to send a powerful message to countries like Iran, and Syria and Turkey that the United States is serious and that we’re going to have to be dealt with.
Not surprisingly, this didn’t go over very well in Turkey itself:
Turkey’s foreign ministry condemned Texas Gov. Rick Perry Tuesday for saying that Turkey was a “country that is being ruled by what many would perceive to be Islamic terrorists.”
Perry made the statement during a spirited debated between Republican presidential candidates in South Carolina Monday night.
Most of Turkey was fast asleep during the live broadcast, and Turkish newspapers had already gone to print by the time Perry declared that Turkey had moved “far away from the country I lived in back in the 1970s United States Air Force. That was our ally that worked with us, but today we don’t see that.”
The Texas governor also argued that it was time for Washington to cut foreign aid to Ankara.
A spokesman for Turkey’s foreign ministry fired back Tuesday, accusing Perry of making “baseless and improper claims.”
In a statement e-mailed to CNN, Selcuk Unal said presidential candidates should “be more informed about the world and be more careful their statements.”
“The unfortunate views of Perry are not shared in any case by Republican party supporters, considering the weak support he has received in public polls and primary elections,” Unal concluded.
Top Turkish government officials were unavailable for comment Tuesday, with many of them in Northern Cyprus for the funeral of veteran Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktas, but the country’s largely-tabloid press wasted no time in responding to the comments on websites early Tuesday morning.
“The debate that the Republican candidate Rick Perry attended on American Fox TV turned into a scandal that contained very ugly statements about Turkey,” announced TRT state television.
“Rick Perry: what an idiot,” tweeted Mustafa Akyol, a columnist with the English-language Hurriyet Daily news. The Hurriyet newspaper also posted a video on its website of Perry drawing a blank in the middle of a prior debate, forgetting in mid-sentence which was the third of three government departments he would cut if elected president.
Perhaps this is why the Perry campaign quickly began trying to backpedal on Perry’s comments after the debate
Victoria Coates, foreign policy advisor to Perry, further explained the governor’s remarks, saying that some view the leaders of Turkey as Islamic terrorists due to their support of Hamas and the flotilla against Israel.
“The governor was responding to the questioners references to violence against women and to association with Hamas, I think both of which are things that many people do associate as he said with Islamic terrorists,” Coates told reporters in the spin room. “He was referring to those things, and while he would welcome the opportunity to work with Turkey on regional issues like Syria or Iraq, this kind of behavior on the part of that country is disturbing and I think we should concerned about it.”
Asked if the leaders of Turkey have performed any actions which place them in the category of Islamic terrorists, Coates responded: What he said was that many people associate that kind of behavior with that of Islamic terrorists. I think also their support for the flotilla against Israel this fall. It’s deeply concerning, and I think it’s something any future American president needs to be aware of.”
It’s certainly true that Turkey’s new government has raised some concerns in the West to the extent it has drifted away from the traditional secularism of the Turkish State, but to suggest that the country is ruled by terrorists is the kind of simplistic idiocy one expects from someone who gets their news from Rush Limbaugh and World Net Daily, not someone running for President of the United States. Moreover, Perry’s comment completely overlooks the extent to which Ankara has been working with the United States on important regional issues:
Analysts said Mr. Perry’s musings were all the more curious since Washington and Ankara’s alliance has been bolstered in recent months by Turkey’s strong backing of pro-democracy movements during Arab Spring uprisings.
“Ankara and Washington are now walking in lockstep… The essence of the new relationship is one where Turkey is more empowered, and more crucial to the U.S. because of its leverage,” said Atilla Yesilada, of Istanbul Analytics, an Istanbul-based political risk consultancy.
Turkish and U.S. diplomats say they cannot remember a time when cooperation between Ankara and Washington was closer, citing that President Barack Obama called Turkey’s prime minister more than any other leader except Britain’s prime minister in 2011.
What analysts call an increasing symmetry of Washington and Ankara’s policies has formed after a period of significant strain in 2009-2010, when Turkey moved closer to Iran and tensions with Israel were at boiling point over the killing of seven Turkish nationals by Israeli commandos on the Gaza-bound Mavi Marmara flotilla.
In a crucial shift, Turkey agreed last fall to host a North Atlantic Treaty Organization missile-defense system, which was designed by the U.S. to contain Iran.
I guess they left that out of Perry’s debate preparation. There’s one other thing they forgot to tell him, Turkey doesn’t get any foreign aid from the United States:
As for foreign aid, Turkey is a wealthy country that already gets virtually no foreign aid from the United States. The State Department this year made a request for about $5 million, which was earmarked for peace-keeping and security operations — not what one could consider traditional “foreign aid.”
Facts are stubborn things, Governor.
Kind of interesting that a country that is allegedly ran by Islamic terrorists has legalized prostitution.
“It’s certainly true that Turkey’s new government has raised some concerns in the West to the extent it has drifted away from the traditional secularism of the Turkish State, but to suggest that the country is ruled by terrorists is the kind of simplistic idiocy one expects from someone who gets their news from Rush Limbaugh and World Net Daily, not someone running for President of the United States.”
In other words, he was talking to the average Republican primary voter.
Rick Perry: Herman Cain 2.0.
I’m just curious … what percentage of this “question” is true?
Victoria Coates, foreign policy advisor to Perry, “The governor was responding to the questioners references to violence against women…”
From the Texas Council on Family Violence…
“The number of women murdered (in Texas) increased, from 111 in 2009 to 142 in 2010.
This may be attributed to several factors, including increased reporting by law
enforcement or simply an increase in homicides for this year.”
http://www.tcfv.org/
You’ve got a few things wrong (and a url to your wordpress administration New Post page) in your post.
First your reliance on the WSJ essay about how the US and Turkey have the best ever relationship in history. That we are in lockstep. That’s pure Obama administration drivel and Turkish pride. If Turkey’s our best buddy, we are in serious trouble. Turkey has consistently gone against our interests in the region. Their support for the pro-Muslim Brotherhood (not pro-democracy) Arab Spring is not a great thing for America. I refer you to the Fareed Zakaria interview with Turkish PM Erdogan last year for a look at the utter disdain he holds for the US and Israel.
Second, you declare we give Turkey NO foreign aid, and then quote a source saying we give them a little. No means none, not $5 million.
Perry may have spoken simplistically, immoderately, but he is not altogether wrong.
@Prudence:
First, I’ll go with actual experts on the region over the Rick Perry any day.
Second, the $5,000,000 is, as noted, security related and does not fall under the definition of foreign aid. You do recall that Turkey is a member of NATO right?
Perry is absolutely correct, Turkey is a terrorist islamic state and should be kicked out of Nato as soon as possible!
Doug, they are Republicans.
@Xirn:
See?
Turkey’s governing party is islamic, Turkey has a history of heping hamas, islamic terrorism in Russia, and even talibans under the table. Turkey refused helping Americans during the Iraqi invasion. It is a shame for Nato to keep it as a member. Cold war is over, it is time for Turkey to get out. Thank you Perry for your courage.
@Prudence:
Yes, because the WS-freaking-J is well known for it’s use as a liberal mouthpiece and supporter of Islamic terror states. Also, to further back up Doug, that source only says the State Dept _requested_ $5M. Regardless of what “flavor” of money that counts as, it’s still got to be approved, and there’s no kind of guarantee of that happening.
Turkey is Islam-majority, but secularly governed – they’re very interested in being part of the “western world” and gaining the sort of social/quality-of-life benefits Europe has, but we can use them as a bellwether and sounding board into the Arab world, making contacts through them we never could directly. Basically, we need them more than they need us right now.
@Xirn:
And who got that one right?
@Xirn:
Oh, how DARE they? A war started on false premises and poorly planned from start to finish. Undoubtedly all Turkey’s fault!
As registered republican and from middle east region, it is shameful to hear Perry’s comment on Turkey. It is clear indication that he knows nothing about region and Turkey. He has no sense of knowledge (5th grade) and understanding of international relation of US. US’s crime reports (internationally and national) are much more than Turkey’s crime report. Look at US cities, how many women were killed/tortured everyday/every hour, how many children are being raped by Americans? If you wonder look at Texas’s crime report and talk later..
Hope ignorant can not make it and will not make us ashamed before world. Republican’s need real American who is knowledgeable, understanding, smart and well educated.
@Prudence:
So democracy is only valid if the candidates you prefer are the winners? We have no right to tell the Egyptians who their leaders must be.
@OzarkHillbilly:
OzarkHillbilly, Do you really believe Turkey did not help US because Turkey thought is was a mistake to invade Iraq?? if so then you are dead wrong. Except for the Kurds and Armenians, majority of people in Turkey are anti-American, anti-west, fully loaded with islamic fanatism.
Perry is a joke.Does he know how many women are being abused,raped and killed in his state yearly?Does he allow them too?Hey ricky just sit down and relax man you can never be anything more than what you are now.
@xirn You’ve clearly never stepped foot inside Turkey, have you? Your comments belong on Pam Geller’s website.
It is so unfortunate that Republican Party has such a narrow minded candidate. I thought G.W. was bad, this man beats him by a mile. Texas should do better than this.
@mattm: msttm, I was born there and I have nothing against islam as a faith, sağol
Bloody right;-)