In the recent film "Valley of the Wolves: Iraq," a Turkish James Bond figure makes much use of his license to kill, dispatching U.S. soldiers with ease and cool usually associated with 007's effortless slaughtering of gangs of KGB agents. Sinister Israelis are blasted as well, their trade being in the stealing of organs from Iraqi babies, provided to them by an obliging U.S. military when it is not too busy machine-gunning wedding parties. Grotesque as all this might seem, it has been the most popular Turkish movie in years, breaking all box office records within days of release.

By Jon Gorvett

by Ersin Kalaycioglu

Politicians and journalists in the United States have been pointing to the eroding image of the US and emerging anti-Americanism in Turkey, which threaten to undermine relations between the two NATO allies. US authorities have started to pressure the Turkish government to cope with rising xenophobia in Turkey, or otherwise risk losing the financial and political support of the US.

In fact, since 1995 Turkish voters have sharply shifted their allegiances from the center of the left-right ideological spectrum to the right. Chauvinism, Islamism, and xenophobia have increased in Turkey ever since. Consequently the champion of Islamism, the Welfare Party, and its offshoot Justice and Development Party (AKP), ascended to power through popular elections. Meanwhile, US governments did their best to promote the idea of a "Turkish model of moderate Islam". So it is bewildering to observe the US government develop a concern over xenophobia and Islamism in Turkey now.

One obvious reason seems to be the recalcitrance of the Turkish Grand National Assembly (TGNA) to go along with US policy toward Iraq. It is a well-known fact in Turkey that the Turkish government was the first to alert the US against Saddam Hussein's ill intentions in 1989. Turkey immediately imposed an embargo on Iraq upon its invasion of Kuwait in 1990, causing the economy of eastern Turkey, which had experienced a boom in the Iran-Iraq War of the1980s, to experience a sudden downturn.

Peter W. Galbraith

"There is no such place", the Turkish intelligence officer told my son earlier this month. He was going through our luggage at the Turkish end of the Habur bridge that separates Turkey from northern Iraq, and had found a chess set, with the place of origin, "Kurdistan" carved into it. After initially insisting we return the set to Iraq, he loaned Andrew a screwdriver to gouge out the offending word.

Fifty meters away from the Turkish intelligence post, at the other end of the bridge, is a sign that reads "welcome to Kurdistan of Iraq". The operative question is how long the "of Iraq' will be there. The Iraqi flag does not fly at the border crossing or anywhere else in Iraqi Kurdistan (a pre-1991 version of the flag does fly on a few public buildings in the part of Kurdistan controlled by the PUK). The Kurdistan flag, a green-white-red tricolor and with a bright yellow sun, is ubiquitous. The Kurdistan government--not the authorities in Baghdad--controls the Habur crossing. There are no central government offices in Kurdistan and the Kurdistan government does not allow the Iraqi army to send its forces into the region.

And, should there be any doubt about where all this is heading, the people of Kurdistan voted in an advisory referendum on Iraq's election day on whether Kurdistan should remain part of Iraq or be independent. Two million people voted (almost the same number as in the regular ballot) and 97 percent chose independence.

by Ersin Kalaycioglu

President George W. Bush's first four years made a big impact on the Middle East. The war and invasion of Iraq by the US-led "coalition of the willing" changed the political geography of the region. For many decades, the Kirkuk-Yumurtalik pipeline has been a major oil transport route. The Euphrates and Tigris rivers originate fully or partially in Turkey and constitute the major source of water supply for both Syria and Iraq. Consequently, the affairs of Iraq and Syria influence Turkey, and vice versa. Now, long-time allies Turkey and the United States have become neighbors. Iraqi developments have provided business opportunities--jobs for Turkish companies and workers--yet risks and hazards as well. Indeed, those who ventured south from Turkey to earn a living met with hostility; some were abducted, others lost their lives.

Since the end of the Iraq war of 2003, the Bush administration has been committed to a policy of establishing political democracy in Iraq. Now, through popular elections due for January 30, 2005, a new Iraqi government with democratic credentials is to emerge. The US-led forces have moved to mop up armed resistance and establish political calm prior to the elections. If all goes according to plan, a popularly elected, legitimate democratic government will emerge to rule the country some time in the distant future. However, the road to the long-term objective of Iraqi democratic self-government seems to be full of uncertainties and perils.

by Eberhard Rhein

What will Turkish EU membership mean for the Middle East and Islam? The spontaneous answer to this query is: "Nothing, or not much". Turkey will become an EU member country at the earliest by 2015; and then Turkey's impact on EU foreign policy decisions will be limited. It will just have one voice among 30 countries, some of which, like France, the UK and Germany, have a long-standing role in the Middle East.

But let us take a closer look.

It appears very likely that, at their meeting on December 17, European heads of government will decide to open formal negotiations with Turkey with a view to membership. These negotiations will last for several years. Whatever their final outcome, they will bring Turkey closer to the European mainstream. Turkey will adopt European regulations and practices in many sensitive policy areas, from home and justice affairs to economic and social policy. It will demonstrate that democracy, the rule of law and personal freedom are perfectly compatible with Islam.

by Soner Cagaptay

On October 6, the European Union issued its much anticipated report evaluating Turkey's accession prospects. The report said that Ankara satisfies the union's membership rules sufficiently to begin accession talks. However, the report also suggested a special track for talks with Turkey, one with no promise of membership. This sets Turkey apart from all other candidate countries for which accession talks have been close ended.

Most Europeans would not find this attitude troublesome. After all, common wisdom is that the EU does not need Ankara. Turkey is undesirable because it is large and Muslim. Nothing could be more short-sighted: Europe needs Turkey precisely for these reasons. With its young, secular-minded population, the Turkish democracy offers a solution to Europe's twin dilemmas, an aging population and a restless immigrant community of mostly Arab, radical Muslims whose numbers are growing exponentially. For its own sake, the EU needs to bring Ankara into the union.