To what extent is current Turkish policy reinforcing those stereotype, I think it is to some extent but not in a very simplistic way. Like for instance the whole Flotilla incidence created a huge amount of popularity in Europe about Turkey because in Europe not depending in the countries but you tend to have a very public opinion which is really pro-Palestinian and the whole incident was really seen as kind of Israel attacking this kind of civil society that in Europe we tend to see as this very peaceful and nice and humanitarian people and in that sense.
I mean maybe some of the images of you know protest in Turkey especially people like [IB] people with like the Hamas banners and everything may have created some worries in some circles but I think overall the Flotilla incidence actually was quite a creating more popularity at the public opinion level in Europe. But it is true some of the statements that have been done by officials in Turley including prime minister that seems to not be completely balanced regarding like seems to be a little bit Islamist in the sense that it is more it less harsh on Muslims than it is on none Muslims might have negative impact and I think not only for Turkey your relation but for Turley itself it’s something that the government should be really [aware] of and need to be more cautious.
Moderator: Joshua any thoughts?
Joshua Walker: Yeah I was just going to add one thing before we turnover and get some good questions your last point about the perception versus reality that’s the crux of the mater. I mean I wonder when you look at a country like France during the cold war had a very different policy sometimes or a country like Germany its [IB] idea of kind of engaging the Soviets as opposed to opposing them. We never questioned their fundamental identity it was never that they were not Western or not European it was that they had a divergence of interest and they had different economic interest and different things, how can we overcome that. So to me as a policy maker it seems to be the questions that are being asked in terms of oh my gosh what’s happening, are they switching are they becoming Muslim or Islamist are distracting us from the real issues, what are the real interest in Turkey, what are the primary drivers when it comes Turkeys Iran policy for example? Well it’s very easy to look at; sanctions are bad for Turkey because the country that gets hurt the most besides Iran is Turkey.
So when you take the question and you make into an identity politic one which is absolutely I agree with you 100% it becomes about perception. Now how do you fight this. Because now the reality is that if I were to take bet am I more worried about Turkey becoming Islamic republic of Turkey like Iran or more like Venezuela and Russia, I’m much more scared about a Turkey that looks more like Russia or Venezuela. The prime minister and his behavior in recent days and the way in which he behaving among his party and the way he kind of we don’t know what’s going to happen next right, there could be a new constitution in which the presidency gets more power and then there is a situation where you have like a [IB] situation I mean that looks more likely to me than the Islamist Turkey.
Anybody who has been Turkey sees very clearly that Turks like their raki you’re not going to take their raki away that’s an alcoholic beverage. You’re not going to be able to convince people to become a certain version lf Islam, I mean Islam is a part of the culture in Turkey but the Turks version of what it means to be Muslim in terms of modernity and tradition is not interpreted in the same way that it is in Saudi Arabia or anywhere else this is a real democracy, with all the problems that it has, and a real democracy like Juliet is pointing to the problems are about populism and nationalism that to me scares me when it comes to Russia, because Russia has an elected government to and they have a more authoritarian [IB], to me that’s scarier. But when I hear in Washington and in Europe is actually worse about it, and I would ay the European experience of focusing on culture makes it a lot easier to scapegoat Turley as kind of the Muslim other as opposed to the US we kind of look at things from a historical point of view, [IB] okay well what can we do about this, what are the actual issues. So I mean I think your absolutely right that is the real issue so that’s why [IB].