Turkey recognizes Libya rebels

Turkey is standing solidly on the US' side regarding Libya.

It is time for Col. Moammar Gadhafi to leave Libya, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu said Sunday in Benghazi, declaring the rebel National Council “a legitimate representative of the Libyan people.”

“Turkey will do everything it can to help realize the legitimate demands of the Libyan people,” Davutoğlu told a joint press conference with Ali Isawi, deputy leader of Libya’s National Transitional Council executive board in Benghazi, the rebel’s main stronghold in eastern Libya.

These rebels have not demonstrated in any objective way that they have as much or more popular support than the Tripoli government, but if Turkey considers them legitimate, then Turkey considers them legitimate.

Turkey is an interesting country because Erdogan is a towering political figure over the country right now, but he is transitioning the country away from a pro-American non-accountable rule and does not have any challenges for political power from the anti-American side of the spectrum.

That leaves a wide field for Erdogan to align more closely with the United States than he could if there was effective criticism from both directions, as long as he remains independent enough that he can claim to be different from the previous rulers. His successor will not have that luxury but while Erdogan has it, he can use it to make trades with the US on policy.

I'd rather see a perfectly functioning democracy which would force all leaders to hew very closely to the median Turkish voter, but I'm patient and appreciative of the fact that Erdogan is an alternative to the US/Zionist colonial structure of Egypt (for now), Saudi Arabia, UAE, Jordan, Kuwait and others that I'm satisfied waiting for the end of Erdogan's political career or for anti-American political groupings to emerge that are independent of Erdogan's AKP before we see an even more representative government in Turkey.

So far I don't see any reason to think Turkey will not naturally move in that direction.