Ah, Mr. Ambassador, But What about that Typo?

By Barry Rubin

On the Turkish embassy's official site in Washington there's a condolence note from the ambassador on September 11. It ends with this paragraph:

"As Turkey’s chief diplomatic representative to the United States, I see that, even today, Americans remain as profoundly shaken by the tragedy as they were nine years ago. Just the same, we in Turkey are still stunned and saddened by what happened on September 11, 2001. Along with our American friends, we cannot and will not forget the people killed or wounded. As a country that has lost thousands of citizens to terror, Turkey truly understands the American people’s grief.?"

How did that question mark get onto the end? Because, maybe, after the Islamist regime in Turkey today refused to help in the attack on Iraq; encouraged growing anti-Americanism; moved into an alliance with such anti-American forces as Hamas, Hizballah, Iran, and Syria; and then voted against the U.S. effort to increase sanctions against Tehran at the UN, the friendship of the Turkish government--albeit not of the Turkish people--very well might be questioned.

And now the Turkish government is helping Tehran fight the sanctions

Those paying attention see the regime suppressing press and other freedom

And here's a good study on contemporary Turkey by the Congressional Research Service