http://service.spiegel.de/cache/internatio...,343611,00.html

US President George W. Bush worked to improve US-Europe relations this week, but meanwhile, America's once-strong partnership with Turkey continues to erode. The Turkish population is more anti-American than ever and the Kurdish question in Iraq threatens to lead to an open break.



REUTERS
The Turkish army is worried about American plans for the Kurds in northern Iraq. Here, special forces teams perform in front of a picture of Ataturk, the founder of modern Turkey.
The piece could not have been more provocative. Just the headline of the article by Senior Editor Robert L. Pollack published last week in the Wall Street Journal was enough to make Turkey's blood boil: "The Sick Man of Europe -- Again." The article then went on to detail the collapse of the once-close relationship between the United States and Turkey.

The headline was chosen deliberately -- a play on the label given to the pre-World War I Ottoman Empire as it slid toward collapse. Pollack's point: Old leftist dogmatism and a new tendency toward Islamism have erupted into an intense anti-Americanism that may even exceed the amount of hate for America seen in Arab countries. "Most of the heritage of Ataturk (the liberal-minded founder of modern Turkey) is at risk of being lost," Pollack wrote. Turkey is becoming narrow-minded and paranoiac and "it has no friendship for the US and is not accepted by the European Union (EU)."......more