News for today's 2018

CHINA and ISRAEL, Enter the Dragon

7:03 AM Tukiyooo 0

<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGpvgCfeo-We_AcxkhYI_8pSlFE9IC-DvqUu6aiXTq4_6SSkXJJvKPCiiT_eiWC1ZlGSZBMM_neP0bybWUFgi7g8_VSvg1d5H0rADMTS1YowXIqnfPMUqut4eFsfLnA1waBEDcyFLtCObu/s1600/image10.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="301" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGpvgCfeo-We_AcxkhYI_8pSlFE9IC-DvqUu6aiXTq4_6SSkXJJvKPCiiT_eiWC1ZlGSZBMM_neP0bybWUFgi7g8_VSvg1d5H0rADMTS1YowXIqnfPMUqut4eFsfLnA1waBEDcyFLtCObu/s400/image10.png" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /><br /><span style="color: blue; font-size: x-large;"><b>DRAGON OF THE NEGEV</b></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span lang="ES-AR" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: ES-AR; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">By M K Bhadrakumar, via AsiaTimes </span><span lang="ES-AR" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: ES-AR; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFP6MU70IO2q31c7e2IZg9Pwyp2yKdqcBJsZ-OWcVsALkyPX5Cv50l9MGx_ENmkwlZdGuE7kxLfKZKUHk8waKvpiE9KJHEQtNqLe95x-ZgtIW7jMavtwWWcHYv9S7ll6Q7RJwiINSItjTm/s1600/israelmap.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFP6MU70IO2q31c7e2IZg9Pwyp2yKdqcBJsZ-OWcVsALkyPX5Cv50l9MGx_ENmkwlZdGuE7kxLfKZKUHk8waKvpiE9KJHEQtNqLe95x-ZgtIW7jMavtwWWcHYv9S7ll6Q7RJwiINSItjTm/s400/israelmap.jpg" width="296" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The soon to be built new CHINESE railway link snaking its way through the rocky and dusty mountains of the Negev desert, leading from the north of the resort city of Eilat in the GULF OF AQUABA towards the Mediterranean are clear indicators how strong CHINAS geopolitical interests have shifted towards the oil rich MIDDLE EAST by strengthening their ties with ISRAEL as part of a strategic partnership and when at the same time the USA are shifting their political priorities towards the SOUTH CHINA SEA and ASIA PACIFIC. The geopolitical implications of this shift in strategy are indeed profound.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><br />Amid the cacophony of the war drums beating in the PERSIAN GULF and in the LEVANT, it almost went unnoticed that the exchange of greetings between Beijing and Tel Aviv in recent past marked the 20th anniversary of diplomatic ties between the two countries and went far beyond <span> </span>the calls of mere protocol. <br /><br /><b style="color: red;">DIPLOMACY FOR ALL SEASONS</b> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><br />ISRAELI Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his country and CHINA make a "successful combination" and he could visualize a "dramatic expansion" of the ties. "I think we've barely scratched the surface of ISRAELI-CHINESE relations", he said at a celebration in Tel Aviv. <br /><br />In his message of greetings for the anniversary, President Hu Jintao said CHINA "attaches great importance to advancing SINO-ISRAELI ties and is ready to make joint efforts with ISRAEL". In turn, Premier Wen Jiabao noted that CHINA and ISRAEL have "huge potential and broad prospects for cooperation" and Beijing is "ready to continue to expand and deepen" the ties and raise them to "a new high". <br /><br />Speaking at the function in Tel Aviv, Netanyahu pointedly invited Beijing to work with ISRAEL to "address the challenges of securing MIDDLE EAST peace". And CHINA'S ambassador to ISRAEL Gao Yanping, who was present, responded: </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The further development of CHINA-ISRAEL relations is not only beneficial to both countries and the two peoples, but are also very much conducive to regional stability, world peace and global prosperity. <br /><br />Facing the ongoing transformation and adjustment in the region [read Arab Spring] and in the world, CHINA-ISRAEL relationship is now at a new historical point. We should continue to work together, grow together and succeed together in the years to come.</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">These are heady, brave thoughts for a region where angels fear to tread. But the maturity of CHINA-ISRAEL ties today is such that even as Gao was speaking at Tel Aviv, her counterpart in the United Nations in New York, ambassador Li Baodong, was taking note of the "stalemate" in the Middle East peace process and reiterating CHINA'S strong support for a Palestinian state as part of a two-state solution, restoring the "lawful right" of Palestinian people. <br /><br />Li said, "CHINA supports the establishment of an independent Palestinian state that enjoys full sovereignty, with East Jerusalem as its capital and based on the 1967 border. CHINA supports Palestine's membership in the United Nations." Li went on to roundly condemn the ISRAELI government's recent decision giving approval for plans of expansion of new settlements. He said: </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">CHINA is always against ISRAEL'S establishment of Jewish settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory including East Jerusalem. We urge ISRAEL to cease the settlement construction immediately, by prudent in action and work actively in collaboration with the efforts of the international community to promote peace, and create conditions for the resumption of PALESTINIAN-ISRAELI peace negotiation.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;">Li seemed unperturbed by the warm sentiments being mutually expressed between the CHINESE and the ISRAELI leaderships the very same day that he spoke. <br /><br />CHINA'S MIDDLE EAST diplomacy is adroitly advancing three parallel tracks engaging IRAN, GCC states and ISRAEL. This may seem improbable against the backdrop of the rise of IRAN and the concomitant hostility it arouses in ISRAEL and the GCC states. But Beijing sees no contradiction here, and is striving to make the three tracks even complement each other. Conceivably, one day they well might. <br /><br />The great beauty is that all three Middle Eastern camps - IRAN, the GCC and ISRAEL - equally want the best of relationships with CHINA and are manifestly vying with each other for the dragon's prime time. This is going to pose an unsolvable riddle for other outside powers aspiring for influence in the region, be it the WEST or TURKEY and RUSSIA. <br /><br />Netanyahu said, "I appreciate CHINA'S need to ensure a regular supply of sources of energy in order to continue its impressive growth. I believe it is possible to replace IRANIAN oil." He still hopes to wean CHINA away from IRANIAN oil, although Beijing has no intentions to erode its economic relationship with IRAN. CHINA-IRAN trade is booming at US$45 billion - as compared to $8 billion CHINA-ISRAEL trade. <br /><br /><b style="color: red;">'JUNCTION BETWEEN CONTINENTS'</b> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;"><br />Nonetheless, ISRAEL is making an offer out of the massive oil and gas reserves in the Levant Basin province in the eastern Mediterranean. The area, encompassing approximately 32,000 square miles, covers onshore and offshore territory including the Gaza Strip, ISRAEL, LEBANON, SYRIA and CYPRUS. The US Geological Survey estimated in 2010 that the area holds a mean of 1.7 billion barrels of recoverable oil and a mean of 122 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of recoverable gas. <br /><br />The earlier estimation was that these reserves would ensure Israel's energy security, but more recent assessment in the light of new findings of reserves is that they are far greater than required to meet ISRAEL'S needs. <br /><br />Huge infrastructure development is on the cards including liquefaction facilities to be set up on ISRAEL'S coast and transportation routes leading to viable markets for ISRAEL'S energy export. These alluring vistas of cooperation explain Netanyahu's confidence that ISRAEL'S bilateral trade with CHINA can be easily doubled in the very near future. (CHINA already figures as ISRAEL'S third important trading partner after the US and EUROPEAN UNION.) <br /><br />Israeli Transport Minister Yisrael Katz visited Beijing and he has been quoted recently as saying, "The professional capability of the CHINESE companies in the construction of railway systems and transportation networks is among the best in the world." <br /><br />The Israeli Transport Ministry has underscored that ISRAEL would prefer CHINESE state-owned companies to undertake the construction of a so-called "Med-Red" railway through the NEGEV DESERT'S ZIN VALLEY connecting ISRAEL'S MEDITERRANEAN and RED SEA coast cities of Haifa and Eilat. <br /><br />Swiftly following up on Katz's discussions in Beijing, CHINA began working on a joint proposal with ISRAEL for the Eilat link. CHINESE and ISRAELI companies may jointly execute the project and, conceivably, CHINA may invest in the project. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;">RED SEA AND MEDITERRANEAN GAS TRANSFER LINK ENHANCES CHINA'S EXPORT TO SOUTHERN EUROPE AND THE BALKANS </span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: red;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: red;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqfoVdD8f8vagBt-cOEnGJgG4_2VbZYvP3K2K6hYlJ7_3FL8daJOB9pVlHFhx4T-6V5GGt847V3r3TVUEkS43zDfE3CjSInONxNc9jW2e6Xq3D3Mc4y5HvnQ4tMzT093T2RH2zXyLbEkqU/s1600/Israel-China-Med-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="234" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqfoVdD8f8vagBt-cOEnGJgG4_2VbZYvP3K2K6hYlJ7_3FL8daJOB9pVlHFhx4T-6V5GGt847V3r3TVUEkS43zDfE3CjSInONxNc9jW2e6Xq3D3Mc4y5HvnQ4tMzT093T2RH2zXyLbEkqU/s320/Israel-China-Med-1.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></b></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;">Now, the two biggest Israeli gas finds - Leviathan and Tamar - lie off 130 and 80 kilometers from the port city of Haifa. While Leviathan is estimated to hold reserves of 16 tcf of gas, Tamar's reserves amount to at least 8.4 tcf. (Recently, two more gas fields - Sarah and Mira - were discovered off the port city of Hadera further south of Haifa.) </span><br /><b>The proposed rail-cum-road links would facilitate transfer of liquefied natural gas from ISRAEL'S Mediterranean coast to the Red Sea coast from where they can be shipped across the Indian Ocean to CHINA. Again, the communication link would enhance the scope for CHINA'S exports to central and southern EUROPE and the BALKANS. <br /></b><br />The relationship between CHINA and ISRAEL has been complex. It has had its ups and downs. But the ISRAELI Foreign Ministry is justified in claiming in a statement last week that the two countries are presently "enjoying a flowering of relations in recent years". </span> <span style="font-size: large;"><br /><br />Indeed, 2011 has been a good year. The commander of the Chinese navy Admiral Wu Shengli visited ISRAEL, which was followed by the visit by the chief of the People's Liberation Army general staff department General Chen Bingde. This was the first visit by a CHINESE military chief to ISRAEL. </span><span style="font-size: large;"><br /><br />In between, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak visited CHINA, which was also the first of its kind. Later on the two countries concluded an economic cooperation agreement. To quote Netanyahu, "The bilateral ties are important to us; therefore, we are committed to expanding them quickly in a variety of fields. To this end, I have issued a sweeping directive to approve any invitation to visit CHINA." </span><span style="font-size: large;"><br /><br />Clearly, ISRAEL and CHINA are poised to enter a profound and highly strategic engagement. Netanyahu told a cabinet meeting that he intended to develop the proposed rail and road networks joining Eilat to northern ISRAEL as a "junction between continents". He went on to flag CHINA'S interest in the project. </span><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span> <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;">Beijing would have already sized up the immense strategic potential of an audacious transportation route across the Negev bypassing Egypt's congested Suez Canal, which would connect Asia with Europe. It almost seems Washington has lost the plot. <br /></span> <br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" /></b></span></div>

CHINA and ISRAEL, Enter the Dragon

DRAGON OF THE NEGEV By M K Bhadrakumar, via AsiaTimes The soon to be built new CHINESE railway link snaking its way through the rocky and d...

HOW THE IRAN NUCLEAR STANDOFF LOOKS FROM A TURKISH POINT OF VIEW

8:34 AM Tukiyooo 0

<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGRQFdSuFZsyYZ4j4rKQwXzq5mYD5EMtT8n_b9B1sQpiPSB_ugFvTQmWFVXKYQWVR0q33VnrRRf6S7ckhd3YmO_tT-xNUNHC4krZgGlNt3VBKHDkjSyNt2eWCb2o1Z9o6XnwlcGSy8_Z9k/s1600/i_5EIlCj10YY.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="230" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGRQFdSuFZsyYZ4j4rKQwXzq5mYD5EMtT8n_b9B1sQpiPSB_ugFvTQmWFVXKYQWVR0q33VnrRRf6S7ckhd3YmO_tT-xNUNHC4krZgGlNt3VBKHDkjSyNt2eWCb2o1Z9o6XnwlcGSy8_Z9k/s400/i_5EIlCj10YY.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: red; line-height: normal; text-align: center;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></b><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"> </span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: red; line-height: normal; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b style="color: red;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">MASTER IN DOUBLE EGGED SWORD POLITICS </span></b></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>via Bloomberg</i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>by Soli Ozel</i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">For two neighbors who don’t trust each other and for centuries were engaged in fierce strategic and religious competition, it is remarkable that SUNNI TURKEY and SHIITE IRAN haven’t gone to war over their border since 1639. As TURKISH leaders walk a diplomatic tightrope over U.S.-led efforts to pressure IRAN into abandoning a suspected nuclear-weapons program, their overriding priority is to keep it that way. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Relations between the two former imperial powers became particularly strained after the 1979 IRANIAN Revolution, which pitted a radical theocratic model of government against the fiercely secular one that TURKEY embraced under Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. TURKS complained frequently of IRANIAN perfidy and subversive activities they alleged IRAN was pursuing inside TURKEY, including occasional support for the separatist KURDISTAN Workers’ Party, or PKK. And yet, TURKEY remained strictly neutral during the 1980-1988 IRAN IRAQ war and the two neighbors continued to cooperate when necessary. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">So when, in 2010, some commentators and legislators in Washington began accusing TURKEY of abandoning its North Atlantic Treaty Organization allies and “turning east” to join an ideologically driven “axis” with the Islamic Republic of IRAN, TURKS were dumbfounded. They saw the AMERICAN analysis as a facile, historical take on their positions vis-a-vis IRAN’S nuclear program, as well as on their efforts to build bridges with SYRIA and Hamas. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: red; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">DOUBLE TROUBLE </span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7u_XzqwdZK0aHCq-IYjycLLq5OjXeCf7CRn-rxIv0jVJyTTjPH_6MDoXVi2v0j_Hfowt0tUWzkQsyRg0ED6PX7-eRC3qB-5bFPNAGN0xnLSDUHlf6CuSw-AqqY3WKRlnci7UUWlupSWDC/s1600/i3Hjh5JoMF3M.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="279" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7u_XzqwdZK0aHCq-IYjycLLq5OjXeCf7CRn-rxIv0jVJyTTjPH_6MDoXVi2v0j_Hfowt0tUWzkQsyRg0ED6PX7-eRC3qB-5bFPNAGN0xnLSDUHlf6CuSw-AqqY3WKRlnci7UUWlupSWDC/s320/i3Hjh5JoMF3M.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Two events in quick succession triggered the debate in Washington. On May 31, 2010, ISRAELI commandos boarded a TURKISH ship as it sought to break through ISRAEL’S naval blockade of Gaza. In the fight that followed, eight TURKS and a TURKISH-AMERICAN were shot dead, triggering a bitter rupture in relations between AMERICA’S two closest allies in the region. Then, on June 9, TURKEY voted against the U.S. in the United Nations Security Council, on a resolution that imposed further sanctions against IRAN over its nuclear program. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The Gaza flotilla incident though was not the real reason for the rift between TURKEY and ISRAEL. The true cause was and still is the gas findings in the Eastern Mediterranean sea and subsequent corporation between Cyprus, Israel and Greece, threatening Turkey’s ambitions of becoming a key energy player in the region. One should also not be deluded by so called deteriorating relations between TURKEY and ISRAEL, for on the economic front the two countries are anything but enemies. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">To some AMERICANS, TURKEY seemed to be picking IRAN’S side in its long-running struggle against the U.S. and ISRAEL. TURKS, for their part, also felt betrayed. It was TURKS, rather than ISRAELIS, after all, who died on board the Mavi Marmara aid ship. And TURKEY voted against sanctions in the Security Council, because TURKISH and BRAZILIAN diplomats had only a few weeks earlier succeeded -- in line with a letter from U.S. President - in persuading IRAN to accept a nuclear swap deal that was designed to help restart talks on the broader IRANIAN nuclear program. TURKS believed they had scored a breakthrough. Their allies didn’t agree. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">There followed a torrent of frenzied articles, in the U.S. and elsewhere, questioning TURKEY’S strategic loyalties. Observers, unhappy with TURKEY’S increasingly assertive and autonomous foreign policies, alleged that the country was turning its back on the West. Events seemed to bear out their long-held suspicion that TURKEY’S ruling Justice and Development Party, which has Islamist roots, remains ideologically committed to an anti-WESTERN agenda. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">That TURKISH Prime Minister Erdogan called IRANIAN President Ahmadinejad “a friend,” and dismissed worries about IRAN’S nuclear program as “hearsay,” provided material on which to build the case. But the approach betrays a stupefying lack of interest in analyzing the underlying rationale of TURKISH foreign policy on Iran, as well as a tendency to dismiss the national interests of regional powers. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: red; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">INCREASING TRADE </span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Trade between the two neighbors rose to $16 billion in 2011 from $1 billion in 2000, most of it reflecting rising oil-and-gas imports by TURKEY. IRAN generally provides 30 percent of TURKEY’S oil supply and a third of its total natural-gas imports, saving <b>TURKEY from almost total dependence on Russia</b>. More than 70,000 TURKISH trucks go through IRAN to take goods to and from CENTRAL ASIAN republics each year. Both sides often cooperated in their fights against KURDISH separatists. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">With such interests at stake, TURKEY objected to the imposition of harsher sanctions against IRAN. To protect valuable commercial ties, TURKISH negotiators worked tirelessly to keep diplomatic options open. But to the discomfort of its Western allies, TURKEY also consistently raised the issue of ISRAEL’S undeclared nuclear arsenal, insisting that the debate over IRAN’S program should be conducted with a view to a nuclear-free MIDDLE EAST. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikh4L8MaJMaDjytQPCG2dY8HNtvtcUv0rj0VB0oTXTNTALMpxEMjugkIJlhzWCdt1c2SnTnI7M-nCeaik2TG1snbyafKkJRhWb1cmwBrNfYOg7BeihIQuXsHetqTjFbxZH8-3C_LqiZpu2/s1600/iLuBBR3UH61k.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="279" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikh4L8MaJMaDjytQPCG2dY8HNtvtcUv0rj0VB0oTXTNTALMpxEMjugkIJlhzWCdt1c2SnTnI7M-nCeaik2TG1snbyafKkJRhWb1cmwBrNfYOg7BeihIQuXsHetqTjFbxZH8-3C_LqiZpu2/s320/iLuBBR3UH61k.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">TURKEY has no interest in having a nuclear-armed IRAN as its neighbor. It is cognizant that this would trigger a race to acquire nuclear weapons by IRAN’S foes in the Arab world. Nuclear arms, plus increasingly sophisticated missile systems, would also tilt the balance of power between two neighbors of similar size in favor of IRAN. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Yet TURKEY has even less enthusiasm for war, waged by either ISRAEL or the U.S. It believes a diplomatic solution to the nuclear standoff can still be found, if the IRANIANS are given a return ticket to the international system and a normalization of relations with the U.S. On the other hand, the TURKISH authorities increasingly are worried about the fragmented nature of the IRANIAN regime and the growing clout of the Revolutionary Guard Corps. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The preference for a diplomatic solution to the IRAN nuclear dispute continues, even after a sharpening of the age- old competition between IRAN and TURKEY following the Arab revolts and the U.S. withdrawal from IRAQ. These developments have triggered a rapprochement with officials in Washington and have exposed talk of a “shift of axis” for the fallacy that it is. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: red; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"> </span><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"> </span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: red; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">COMPETITION OVER IRAQ </span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">U.S. withdrawal has allowed IRAN to firm its grip on IRAQ, and tensions between SUNNIS and SHIITES are rising. IRAN is a natural patron of IRAQ’S SHIITE majority, and despite efforts to stay above the sectarian fray, TURKEY is seen as siding with IRAQ’S SUNNI leaders. Partly as a consequence of this trend, relations between TURKEY and the SHIITE-dominated government in Baghdad have deteriorated considerably and TURKISH influence in non-KURDISH areas of IRAQ has declined. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">But the most important area of competition between the IRANIAN and TURKISH capitals is SYRIA. In the course of the last nine years, TURKEY made a substantial political investment in building relations with the SYRIAN regime -- partly with an eye to luring President Bashar al-Assad away from IRAN. SYRIA is a big prize in the regional contest for hegemony. That investment was incinerated, however, when Erdogan failed to persuade Assad to respond to protesters and open up SYRIA’S political system. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Forced to choose, the TURKISH government sided with the mainly SUNNI SYRIAN opposition, whose largest organization, the SYRIAN National Council, has since set up its headquarters in Istanbul. A commander of the Free Syrian Army is among the refugees who live in camps in TURKEY. IRAN, by contrast, unequivocally supports the Assad regime, which comes predominantly from the Alawite sect, and has been harshly critical of TURKEY’S position. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">As they wrestle with each other in IRAQ and SYRIA, the TURKISH and IRANIAN foreign ministers shuttle back and forth between their capitals, declaring eternal friendship. In a similar pas de deux, TURKEY continues to play a role in attempting to mediate the nuclear impasse, while IRAN still appears to need its neighbor’s good offices in rekindling negotiations with WESTERN powers. As time goes by, that dance is getting harder to sustain. </span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div>

HOW THE IRAN NUCLEAR STANDOFF LOOKS FROM A TURKISH POINT OF VIEW

MASTER IN DOUBLE EGGED SWORD POLITICS via Bloomberg by Soli Ozel For two neighbors who don’t trust each other and for centuries were eng...

Tales of Hollywood: The Wild Ride of Preston Sturges

6:00 AM Tukiyooo 0

<div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYchoHo42rMPSkQTvjQKu_O4ry017QPfLgRavxZmfG_JOTb6JBh92sAL0gm32cDvr6F-KEdv3xyCmyzzdo0_0z-FoaM3c3VpzwfOu_Oi3_ysApLZtcOZAZofHhMFtlvfwJD5JIywreYcn4/s1600/sturges.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="270" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYchoHo42rMPSkQTvjQKu_O4ry017QPfLgRavxZmfG_JOTb6JBh92sAL0gm32cDvr6F-KEdv3xyCmyzzdo0_0z-FoaM3c3VpzwfOu_Oi3_ysApLZtcOZAZofHhMFtlvfwJD5JIywreYcn4/s400/sturges.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-size: small;">Turner Classic Movies began its salute to Star of the Month <a href="http://www.tcm.com/this-month/article/480406%7C0/Joel-McCrea-Wednesdays-in-May.html" style="color: blue;">Joel McCrea</a> on Wednesday, May 2, with two of his most enjoyable films - and two of the best films from writer/director Preston Sturges: <i>Sullivan's Travels </i>and <i>The Palm Beach Story</i>. Sturges was one of Hollywood's brightest lights during the early '40s, writing and directing in quick succession a unique and inspired string of spirited satires: <i>The Great McGinty </i>(1940) for which he won the first Oscar awarded for Best Original Screenplay, <i>Christmas in July </i>(1940), <i>The Lady Eve </i>(1941), <i>Sullivan's Travels </i>(1941), <i>The Palm Beach Story</i> (1942), <i>The Miracle of Morgan's Creek</i> (1944) and <i>Hail the Conquering Hero </i>(1944). His last great gem, the dark, deft <i>Unfaithfully Yours </i>(1948), was made during his fall from grace and was for years overlooked. The world of Preston Sturges was the definition of a "cockeyed caravan"* - onscreen and off<i>...</i></span><br /><br /><a name='more'></a><br /><div style="color: black; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>~ </i></span></div><div style="color: black; text-align: left;"><br /><span style="font-size: small;">Born in Chicago in 1898 and shuttled back and forth between the U.S. and Europe as a child by his capricious mother, Sturges served in the Army Air Service toward the end of World War I before making his way to New York in the 1920s. He eventually penned one of Broadway's biggest hits, <i>Strictly Dishonorable</i>, in 1929. The film version, adapted by <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0499628/" style="color: blue;">Gladys Lehman</a>, was released by Universal in 1931. In his memoirs, Sturges recalled his arrival in the dream capital the following year:</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><i>In Hollywood I started at the bottom: a bum by the name of Sturgeon who had once written a hit called </i>Strictly Something-or-Other<i>. Carl Laemmle of Universal offered me a contract, with unilateral options exercisable by the studio, to join his team as a writer. My wife had decamped, my fortune was depleted, and even though I was living on coffee and moonlight, my costs of living continued to cost...</i></span><br /><br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxl4IWlGU2THSwOKaT2rdp3hHGjQktOV3kOnv3u8FsCUjoyLCZlWHEI5z9TWP3Wj6yptt3zexzq3O1opLEiL-7GsrE534RUplCKCueaMWpd7F0vLz4uGe7LajHFFLbKoFsrfiQ5ZhgpJPx/s1600/easy+living.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxl4IWlGU2THSwOKaT2rdp3hHGjQktOV3kOnv3u8FsCUjoyLCZlWHEI5z9TWP3Wj6yptt3zexzq3O1opLEiL-7GsrE534RUplCKCueaMWpd7F0vLz4uGe7LajHFFLbKoFsrfiQ5ZhgpJPx/s320/easy+living.jpg" width="211" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Easy Living </i>1937</td></tr></tbody></table>Sturges spent his early screenwriting years working in a variety of genres on many films, including <i>The Power and the Glory </i>(1933), <i>The Invisible Man </i>(1933), <i>Twentieth Century </i>(1934), <i>Imitation of Life </i>(1934) and <i>Diamond Jim</i> (1935). He made his name with an adapted screenplay for <i>Easy Living </i>(1937) and an original screenplay for <i>Remember the Night</i> (1940). But he always had multiple irons in the fire and while he grew and prospered as a Hollywood screenwriter, he also invested his time and money in other interests. An inveterate inventor, he launched the Sturges Engineering Company in Los Angeles in 1935, initially building and selling internal combustion machines. In 1936 he helped finance and became a partner in Snyder's Caf<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">é, a trendy nightspot on Sunset Blvd. (later a location for Wolfgang Puck's Spago). Sturges took great pleasure in playing host at Snyder's and spent most evenings there welcoming guests, buying drinks and singing with cronies around the piano. Neither Sturges nor his partner, Ted Snyder, had a head for business and by the time it closed two years later, the </span></span>Caf<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">é was deeply in debt. But Sturges enjoyed the role of restaurateur and had already hatched a plan to open a place of his own.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">By the late '30s he was working for Paramount Pictures, where his reputation would soon be made. After the studio renewed his contract at the end of 1937, Sturges spent 1938 toiling over scripts, meeting and marrying his third wife, Louise, and negotiating the purchase of a restaurant site. The coming years would be the most productive of his frenetic life...</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">One night in 1939 Sturges invited Paramount production chief <a href="http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=11705188" style="color: blue;">Bill LeBaron</a> over for dinner and showed him a script he'd been working on for six years. He offered LeBaron a deal. If Paramount would allow Sturges to direct the picture, he would sell the script to the studio for $1. A check in the more generous amount of $10 was cut in August and the picture to be known as <i>The Great McGinty</i> went into production in December. It opened to sensational business the following summer. This advancement from writer to writer/director was precedent-setting and paved the way for every future writer/director from Billy Wilder to Francis Coppola and Woody Allen to the Coen Brothers (the title of their <i>O Brother, Where Art Thou?</i> was appropriated from <i>Sullivan's Travels</i>) and beyond.</span></span><br /><br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisJUa9e_x7eteVzTksOSmbwUo_A6Cluz-JmkQrq2ttyPSQdviKl9xc-MtgZh3T7C7pESOpxhQK1bYajyg67-m-t_lOwrLQc3xxl2ef9YbiUkjS2_IHWD4W5Q7HS8rutP5K2gZgZJ-cURL0/s1600/lady+eve+set.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="278" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisJUa9e_x7eteVzTksOSmbwUo_A6Cluz-JmkQrq2ttyPSQdviKl9xc-MtgZh3T7C7pESOpxhQK1bYajyg67-m-t_lOwrLQc3xxl2ef9YbiUkjS2_IHWD4W5Q7HS8rutP5K2gZgZJ-cURL0/s320/lady+eve+set.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fonda, Sturges, Stanwyck on the set, <i>The Lady Eve</i></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: right;"></div><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">The Mitchell Leisen-directed film of Sturges' screenplay for <i>Remember the Night</i> opened in January 1940 breaking significant box office records, but Sturges was now committed to writing <i>and </i>directing movies. That year he went to work on his next two films, <i>Christmas in July </i>(1940) and <i>The Lady Eve</i> (1941). At the end of the year he signed another contract with Paramount and got the good news that his wife was expecting their first (and his first) child.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Sturges was also deeply engrossed in his new restaurant. When the lease on Snyder's expired in December 1938, he moved furniture, </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">fixtures and equipment to the three-level building he'd purchased at 8225 Sunset Blvd. and began construction on the restaurant/nightclub he would christen The Players. Sturges supervised every facet of the project, from menu planning to designing uniforms, selecting paint and overseeing carpentry. The Players opened quietly in the summer of 1940. It was much larger and, with music and dancing, far more expensive to operate than Snyder's, but Sturges had high hopes.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">By the time his son was born in 1941, <i>The Lady Eve</i> was on its way to becoming one of the biggest hits in the history of Paramount, Sturges had two more films in the works and The Players had gained popularity as one of the "smartest places" in Hollywood. According to his wife, Louise, the lure of The Players for Sturges was that it allowed him to "be Grand Pasha after hours - that was the main attraction..." He relished the role of genial supper club proprietor and being at the center of a convivial crowd, dining, drinking and carrying on into the wee hours.</span></span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhibGHY_xrg2GxH6FXcXTkw5mfE2s0wMfA-cfy-6_3RGh0jBubebj7xBjYc2sWW_-5IMKizo6ArzOn5rEx4HYiipBA1zmXV5BEYfMCeQdGKdVZQ2pX45tVtIchO0cKSaGPdqUdOSMiTDhR5/s1600/Players+and+Chateau.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="246" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhibGHY_xrg2GxH6FXcXTkw5mfE2s0wMfA-cfy-6_3RGh0jBubebj7xBjYc2sWW_-5IMKizo6ArzOn5rEx4HYiipBA1zmXV5BEYfMCeQdGKdVZQ2pX45tVtIchO0cKSaGPdqUdOSMiTDhR5/s400/Players+and+Chateau.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Players (foreground), Chateau Marmont (right)</td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: left;"></div><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">The location of The Players, at the top of the Sunset Strip, was ideal for Sturges's purpose, providing a place for movie industry pals to unwind - with him. The fabled <a href="http://www.chateaumarmont.com/insidechateau.php" style="color: blue;">Chateau Marmont</a> was perched on the side of the hill directly behind The Players, with only a small lane separating the two. Across Sunset Blvd. was the famed <a href="http://www.martinturnbull.com/?page%20id=125" style="color: blue;">Garden of Allah</a>, the former mansion of silent screen star Alla Nazimova that had been converted into an exotic hotel/apartment complex. Together, the three formed a kind of "Golden Age of Hollywood Triangle" into which many film colony luminaries disappeared.</span></span><br /><br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqeMfPnoOza4IwuBmhHyE_Gp-Kbkv-Az_RlOvXx9J9Z-JWMGiMYK_j4Ak6Gq36mrzou9ulMxqSbDczU8fxIM9MPgDwnBiAFsQrY1Yv7ohK5TT79ysJL__O1rKpbPFuSJ-fiPxcMLCzmI0n/s1600/Marmont+from+the+hills.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqeMfPnoOza4IwuBmhHyE_Gp-Kbkv-Az_RlOvXx9J9Z-JWMGiMYK_j4Ak6Gq36mrzou9ulMxqSbDczU8fxIM9MPgDwnBiAFsQrY1Yv7ohK5TT79ysJL__O1rKpbPFuSJ-fiPxcMLCzmI0n/s320/Marmont+from+the+hills.jpg" width="213" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chateau Marmont</td></tr></tbody></table>Chateau Marmont, today a Los Angeles historical/cultural landmark, began life in 1929 as an upscale apartment building. It's fortunes fell with the stock market a few months later and in 1931 the building was sold and turned into a suites hotel. The new owner was Albert E. Smith, co-founder of American Vitagraph (purchased by Warner Bros. in 1925). Smith and his wife furnished the Chateau with pieces found at local estate sales and auctions, giving the hotel what is known as "the Marmont look." Over the years, the Chateau developed a reputation for its discretion in providing guests with maximum privacy. In 1939, Columbia Pictures president Harry Cohn famously advised rising stars William Holden and Glenn Ford, "If you must get in trouble, do it at Chateau Marmont." The Chateau's long history is filled with rumors and legends, among them: Clark Gable and Jean Harlow rendezvoused there, F. Scott Fitzgerald lived and wrote there, Vivien Leigh was a guest following her split with Laurence Olivier and covered the walls of her suite with pictures of him, script readings for <i>Rebel Without a Cause</i> were held in one of the hotel bungalows, Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward met there...and on and on.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: right;"></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnT-nd8Qm-noVxykCwft3BBLWTqBe-SBC1g3PK-VXYze2v7AdMI1avNwqGtq84jK5z_tWIOLiEEJt3gikN-KDsiBe4k60pCVlO8MUN7-u2zmU2NP7J1ADe3JELbbxKbLoWZIGmSmqFKmtY/s1600/garden+of+allah.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="192" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnT-nd8Qm-noVxykCwft3BBLWTqBe-SBC1g3PK-VXYze2v7AdMI1avNwqGtq84jK5z_tWIOLiEEJt3gikN-KDsiBe4k60pCVlO8MUN7-u2zmU2NP7J1ADe3JELbbxKbLoWZIGmSmqFKmtY/s320/garden+of+allah.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Garden of Allah, Sunset Blvd., Hollywood</td></tr></tbody></table><a href="http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/person/139371%7C11173/Nazimova/" style="color: blue;">Alla Nazimova</a> built a grand manor (dubbed The Garden of Alla) at 8152 Sunset Blvd. in 1919 when she was an extravagantly well-paid star of the silent screen. In the mid-'20s, as her career faded, she decided to develop the property into a hotel. 25 two-story villas were constructed on the grounds of the 3 1/2 acres surrounding her mansion and in January 1927 The Garden of Allah opened for business. It was an immediate success and was often, like Chateau Marmont, the first place Hollywood's new arrivals called home. The Garden of Allah also boasted a colorful history: Humphrey Bogart lived there first with his third wife Mayo Methot and later with fourth wife Lauren Bacall, Marlene Dietrich had a habit of swimming naked in the pool, Charles Laughton came home for lunch while filming <i>The Hunchback of Notre Dame</i> and stood in the pool careful to keep his face, in full Quasimodo makeup, out of the water. When in Hollywood, Dorothy Parker, Robert Benchley and other members of New York's Algonquin "roundtable" lived and partied hard at The Garden of Allah...<br /><br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO9ypVffder4rBbvj0RcAIgkEVRAmnnDVPM0T47gShLO5COaiMPmTzqlWMQGjFzN4EdqYiryjBNH1qT2dXOioMUNRtOqWNqjud8XcdLPncxSgm6hn_Qaj-ijGK7y0-QJTxYzw_sKI7mHeG/s1600/Lubitsch+with+Sturges+at+The+Players.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO9ypVffder4rBbvj0RcAIgkEVRAmnnDVPM0T47gShLO5COaiMPmTzqlWMQGjFzN4EdqYiryjBNH1qT2dXOioMUNRtOqWNqjud8XcdLPncxSgm6hn_Qaj-ijGK7y0-QJTxYzw_sKI7mHeG/s200/Lubitsch+with+Sturges+at+The+Players.JPG" width="165" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sturges and Lubitsch at The Players</td></tr></tbody></table>There was never a shortage of famous names and faces in attendance at The Players. Many, like Orson Welles, Humphrey Bogart, Howard Hughes, F. Scott Fitzgerald, William Faulkner and the Algonquin set were either staying up the hill at the Chateau or down the street at The Garden of Allah. Good friends of Sturges like William Wyler, Ernst Lubitsch, Barbara Stanwyck and Joel McCrea stopped in - as did friends of friends like Lana Turner (who came to celebrate her birthday as the guest of Howard Hughes). A visiting tourist of the time captured the allure of The Players with a <a href="http://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/preston-sturges-players-restaurant-hollywood-1945" style="color: blue;">postcard</a> she sent home on which she gushed about dining at "the glamour spot of Hollywood" and sighting both Miriam Hopkins and Boris Karloff while eating "the best raspberry shortcake I ever had."<br /><br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFMTo-mfdx-hJ2tCRx2ughJZjWcV2JkZxYu72RwI3NacWg5KjO6ZgLVZoHTfnIqm5ksn6_P7C8jNipmb7tW2mUJESO42LvfSAGKqkAPYTliz2X5EaZ3M05kBpkOIbWSQF_eUpDnOllUBKQ/s1600/Bergman+and+Rossellini+at+The+Players+Club+in+the+40s.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="233" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFMTo-mfdx-hJ2tCRx2ughJZjWcV2JkZxYu72RwI3NacWg5KjO6ZgLVZoHTfnIqm5ksn6_P7C8jNipmb7tW2mUJESO42LvfSAGKqkAPYTliz2X5EaZ3M05kBpkOIbWSQF_eUpDnOllUBKQ/s320/Bergman+and+Rossellini+at+The+Players+Club+in+the+40s.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ingrid Bergman and Roberto Rossellini (far right) at The Players</td></tr></tbody></table>A good part of the enormous income Sturges earned at Paramount was lavished on The Players. The original redesign and reconstruction of the building had been expensive, but out-of-control operating costs along with constant renovations and additions prevented The Players from ever breaking even. In fact, it was such a drain on his finances that Barbara Stanwyck warned Sturges, "That goddamned greasy spoon is ruining you!"  The Players reached its zenith during the war years, with restaurants operating on all three levels and a barbershop on the mezzanine. A dinner theater/dance floor featuring a hydraulic revolving stage was installed and eventually even a hamburger stand was added. And there was the long-standing rumor that Sturges had gone to the trouble of building a tunnel beneath  Marmont Lane connecting The Players to the Chateau so celebrities could  slip away discreetly - for clandestine affairs or simply to avoid  the press and/or the police.<br /><br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6urxE33ixkBkSGYSABzoUV-oJKpcvfSZdwm7q4HCa2JlCXeN9vzDvyYmgwDbqqptyetyGEevM4Uo1FM2NNNzjgzSXgjqOQDvamUwwOqFM7QacmFtSD8PBw3wWUq0ktxUFITIsihp1wL_L/s1600/Hail+the+Conquering+Hero.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="248" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6urxE33ixkBkSGYSABzoUV-oJKpcvfSZdwm7q4HCa2JlCXeN9vzDvyYmgwDbqqptyetyGEevM4Uo1FM2NNNzjgzSXgjqOQDvamUwwOqFM7QacmFtSD8PBw3wWUq0ktxUFITIsihp1wL_L/s320/Hail+the+Conquering+Hero.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Filming <i>Hail the Conquering Hero</i>, a smash hit of 1944</td></tr></tbody></table>Paramount Pictures ended its increasingly contentious relationship with Preston Sturges as 1943 came to a close.  Two of his most successful films, <i>The Miracle of Morgan's Creek </i>and <i>Hail the Conquering Hero</i>, were yet to be released but the studio had concluded that its brilliant but headstrong writer/director was more trouble than he was worth. Sturges optimistically and against all advice went on to form California Pictures with Howard Hughes. Following the collapse of that disastrous partnership, Sturges wrote and directed the last of his great films, <i>Unfaithfully Yours</i>, in 1948 for Darryl F. Zanuck at Twentieth Century Fox; it was unsuccessful. Sturges later looked back on his years in the movie business with some irony:<br /><br /><i>The only amazing thing about my career in Hollywood is that I ever had one at all.</i><br /><br />Edwin Gillette, assistant to Sturges from 1937 - 1942, recalled that his boss loved to "play around" and "be the great raconteur,  but he had to work to get the money to enjoy himself." With or  without the money, Sturges was a profligate spender. His engineering company was sold after the war with proceeds going to the IRS. He was able to hold onto The Players until 1953 when the government put a lien on its income, auctioned off its contents and finally sold it to cover taxes and debts. Sturges lived six more years and died just before his 61st birthday while working on his memoirs at the Algonquin Hotel in New York. Coincidentally, two months earlier The Garden of Allah in Hollywood had been demolished.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5aX4-K0-CVE73aw8WaNuC3S4oqaXHQnofULawkH5PY2__Ls_9B5A3puq7ZBF_e-iW8oOW9IJxOvw59f2LWrZWGzBEwLx5D_dBYoXsq-Rz_6vWVm7LJsFnvrmjHSxxKj2KXP9KWsLpYCEw/s1600/sullivans-travels1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="283" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5aX4-K0-CVE73aw8WaNuC3S4oqaXHQnofULawkH5PY2__Ls_9B5A3puq7ZBF_e-iW8oOW9IJxOvw59f2LWrZWGzBEwLx5D_dBYoXsq-Rz_6vWVm7LJsFnvrmjHSxxKj2KXP9KWsLpYCEw/s320/sullivans-travels1.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Joel McCrea and Veronica Lake in <i>Sullivan's Travels</i></td></tr></tbody></table><br />But the site that housed The Players lived on, going through several incarnations in the decades that followed. Beginning in 1953 it was Imperial Gardens, a huge Japanese restaurant with reflecting pools on the upper floors, popular with musicians and actors. Next, in 1989, it re-emerged as The Roxbury, a trendy and notorious nightclub where patrons included Tom Cruise, Prince and Eddie Murphy. In 1997 it changed hands again and became Miyagi, a restaurant/nightclub with 7 sushi bars, 5 regular bars, a Zen garden, a waterfall, a dance floor, pool tables and more. In April 2012, it opened as <a href="http://la.eater.com/archives/2012/05/04/just_in_time_for_cinco_de_mayo_the_first_complete_look_inside_pink_taco_on_sunset.php#4fa41aa785216d4408030be9" style="color: blue;">Pink Taco</a>, part of a Mexican restaurant chain owned by 30-year-old Harry Morton, son of Hard Rock Cafe chain founder Peter Morton and grandson of Arnie Morton, founder of the Morton's restaurant chain.<br /><br /><div style="color: black;">During the renovation of the property, restaurateur Morton managed to dig deep enough to find not only the revolving stage beneath Sturges' dance floor, but also the entrance to The Players' "legendary VIP tryst tunnel" to Chateau Marmont - apparently sealed off by the city long ago. According to Morton, he dug through layer upon layer of debris, "But when I stripped it all down, incredible things came to light."</div><div style="color: black;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC3OJRcp2uIlwsZYSQzwJ1FmG1OWz3-VTs2FFMnPoNxIojDPPg5riZYh1wDCRB9ODKr4yKoBb6cc-_C3VGfRb9rpQfFEFlqUEC6nONPHtZpSiYX777v0GuCVbwqnuc1yRd85X5g5LxOJyn/s1600/Sturges+in+front+of+The+Players.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC3OJRcp2uIlwsZYSQzwJ1FmG1OWz3-VTs2FFMnPoNxIojDPPg5riZYh1wDCRB9ODKr4yKoBb6cc-_C3VGfRb9rpQfFEFlqUEC6nONPHtZpSiYX777v0GuCVbwqnuc1yRd85X5g5LxOJyn/s320/Sturges+in+front+of+The+Players.JPG" width="224" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Preston Sturges in front of The Players</td></tr></tbody></table><div style="color: #990000;"><br /></div><div style="color: #990000; text-align: center;"><span style="color: black;">~ </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="color: #990000;"><br /></div><div style="color: #990000; text-align: left;">* "There's a lot to be said for making people laugh. Did you know that that's all some people have? It isn't much, but it's better than nothing in this cockeyed caravan." - John L. "Sully" Sullivan (Joel McCrea), <i>Sullivan's Travels</i></div></div><br /><u>Sources</u>: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Preston-Sturges-His-Life-Words/dp/0671747274" style="color: blue;"><i>Preston Sturges on Preston Sturges</i></a>, Simon & Schuster (1990), <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Madcap-The-Life-Preston-Sturges/dp/051707219X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1336890052&sr=1-1" style="color: blue;"><i>Madcap</i></a> by Donald Spoto, Little, Brown & Co. (1990), <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Romantic-Comedy-Hollywood-Lubitsch-Sturges/dp/0306808323/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1336890124&sr=1-1" style="color: blue;"><i>Romantic Comedy in Hollywood from Lubitsch to Sturges</i></a> by James Harvey, Alfred A. Knopf (1987)<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiipcBKfnXbBvR4Vyj-YSmfWfjwMDLOHvCCw8qTXRc8241G2G6N8HSLqn73N_W8ZVlIda7tcCU3Z7KimK9UGZ4qA6MnVdoNRaF_Nnw2rA5aCIk8MHIFIJwfc8ATKRJEPdprKOathAB9pHUz/s1600/Eve+Ends.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="230" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiipcBKfnXbBvR4Vyj-YSmfWfjwMDLOHvCCw8qTXRc8241G2G6N8HSLqn73N_W8ZVlIda7tcCU3Z7KimK9UGZ4qA6MnVdoNRaF_Nnw2rA5aCIk8MHIFIJwfc8ATKRJEPdprKOathAB9pHUz/s320/Eve+Ends.JPG" width="320" /></a></div></div></div></div>

Tales of Hollywood: The Wild Ride of Preston Sturges

Turner Classic Movies began its salute to Star of the Month Joel McCrea on Wednesday, May 2, with two of his most enjoyable films - and two...

TURKEY’S “CHESS GAME”

5:48 PM Tukiyooo 0

<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSC0H1mX-GolHa9aT0-H66Ug6k2vVq0Om7kD-0AR2L6uX-GFf-KdoyfDWzMvPfJZNNHHW14kSAn2oDHdxiY7Mlevs_yZEnPnn-iMYxraXnJKzyMr4EjPVXlmucwxre27x_RW8P31gijx0Y/s1600/infohighway.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="215" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSC0H1mX-GolHa9aT0-H66Ug6k2vVq0Om7kD-0AR2L6uX-GFf-KdoyfDWzMvPfJZNNHHW14kSAn2oDHdxiY7Mlevs_yZEnPnn-iMYxraXnJKzyMr4EjPVXlmucwxre27x_RW8P31gijx0Y/s400/infohighway.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: red; line-height: normal; text-align: center;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 20pt;"></span></b><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"> </span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: red; line-height: normal; text-align: center;"><br /><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">EXPLAINING TURKEYS NUCLEAR POLICIES </span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">By Richard Weitz</span></i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></i><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Despite its challenging neighborhood, TURKEY has an exemplary nuclear nonproliferation record. Several favorable factors have allowed TURKEY to abstain from developing its own nuclear weapons and make strong declarations in favor of nuclear nonproliferation. Having physical access to the U.S.-NATO nuclear weapons has been a form of compensation for TURKEY’S not developing its own national nuclear arsenal. Even so, while TURKEY can boast a largely successful nuclear nonproliferation record, certain plausible developments could still undermine it and force a reluctant Ankara to seek its own nuclear arsenal.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: red; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">BACKGROUND</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">During the Cold War, the TURKISH government relied on its membership in the multilateral NATO alliance and, more importantly, its bilateral alliance with the UNITED STATES to ensure its security against the Warsaw Pact. Neither the collapse of the bloc, nor the wars involving neighboring IRAQ, which under Saddam Hussein sought nuclear weapons and used chemical ones, nor IRAN’S nuclear ambiguous ambitions has prompted TURKEY to pursue nuclear weapons.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">TURKEY’S nonproliferation bona fides were highlighted by the March 26-27 Nuclear Security Summit in Seoul. TURKEY’S delegation reported progress in adopting international treaties against nuclear terrorism, supporting UN and IAEA efforts in these areas, holding training courses for its customs and nuclear workers on nuclear security issues, participating in anti-nuclear smuggling initiatives, shipping dangerous highly enriched uranium in spent reactor fuel to the UNITED STATES for more secure storage, and upgrading the safety and security regulations for its emerging civilian nuclear energy program, especially the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant project.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Although the focus of the summit was on keeping dangerous nuclear materials out of the hands of terrorists, the delegates naturally focused on the nuclear proliferation problems presented by NORTH KOREA and IRAN. Much of the bilateral meeting between U.S. President Barack Obama and TURKISH Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan apparently focused on the IRANIAN nuclear issue. “I believe there is a window of time to resolve this question diplomatically, but that window is closing,” Obama said after that meeting.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), which assumed office in 2002, has at times deviated from Washington’s preferred policy regarding IRAN, though its approach has corresponded to the mainstream international view regarding IRAN’S nuclear activities. The AKP leadership accepts IRAN’S right to pursue all nuclear activities providing they have exclusively peaceful purposes as verified by appropriate international monitoring. Unlike Western diplomats, AKP leaders profess to accept IRANIAN denials that they are seeking nuclear weapons.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">In the absence of convincing evidence to the contrary, TURKISH officials oppose the imposition of economic and other sanctions against IRAN by the UN Security Council or by individual countries. These sanctions can severely harm IRAN’S neighbors and key economic partners, like TURKEY. TURKISH officials want to prevent other countries, such as ISRAEL, from employing — or threatening to employ — force against IRAN to attack its nuclear facilities. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">TURKISH officials consider the “dual-track” approach adopted by the Council and other countries toward IRAN — combining offers of cooperation with threats of attack and sanctions — counterproductive. Instead, they argue that the best way to prevent IRAN from seeking nuclear weapons is to address the underlying sources of insecurity that might induce Tehran to seek them. Rather than rely on threats and sanctions, they want to offer IRAN security pledges in return for reciprocal IRANIAN guarantees that Tehran will not use its nuclear activities for military purposes.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">TURKISH leaders have sought to mediate the nuclear dispute between Tehran and the West. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">In 2010, TURKEY worked with BRAZIL to achieve a confidence-building exchange of enriched uranium between the parties. After the West rejected that proposal, TURKEY adopted a lower profile regarding IRAN. But the recent intensification of Western sanctions to encompass IRAN’S energy exports has galvanized TURKEY, heavily dependent on IRANIAN natural gas, into action. TURKEY has renewed its diplomatic efforts and once again offered to host talks on its territory. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="color: #0033cc; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">See GEOPOLITICAL ANALYSIS AND MONITORING</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">:</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2011/12/energy-games-in-eastern-mediterranean.html"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2011/12/energy-games-in-eastern-mediterranean.html</span></span></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/02/geo-strategic-dynamics-in-eastern.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/02/geo-strategic-dynamics-in-eastern.html</a></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: red; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">IMPLICATIONS</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: red; line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Several favorable factors have allowed TURKEY to abstain from developing its own nuclear weapons and make strong declarations in favor of nuclear nonproliferation. These include its membership in NATO, its strong defense ties with the UNITED STATES, and its lack of a major nuclear energy program.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">TURKEY’S defense policy remains closely integrated in NATO. TURKEY’S security ties to the UNITED STATES offered a supplementary guarantee that became important whenever it looked like NATO’s EUROPEAN members were unwilling to wage war to defend TURKEY from its foreign adversaries. The UNITED STATES remains Ankara’s closest foreign defense partner and a major source of TURKISH military technology.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Problems arose during the two Western-led wars against IRAQ, which led Ankara to doubt the credibility of NATO and U.S. security commitments. Although the UNITED STATES did offer some protection, some EUROPEAN members of NATO proved reluctant to meet TURKISH requests to deploy air and missile defenses to protect TURKEY from IRAQI missile strikes.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Form Ankara’s perspective, the U.S. tactical nuclear weapons that have reportedly been stationed in TURKEY for decades under NATO’s nuclear-sharing arrangement help bind the U.S.-NATO security dimensions together. Having physical access to the U.S.-NATO nuclear weapons was a form of compensation for TURKEY’S not developing its own national nuclear arsenal.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">According to public sources, TURKEY has more U.S. nuclear weapons than any other alliance member outside the UNITED STATES. Of the 200 or so B-61 nuclear bombs still stationed in EUROPE, TURKEY hosts approximately 90 of them at Incirlik Air Base. Public opinion polls show that TURKISH citizens do not like hosting these weapons.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSXMYNkzPEXJfDJFqd0nwygIa7c2qU_k1ocUPPMAwo2acExct9ggc6mf1oEfcG5L6GzFuxXAgPc47PiUvm44vHZe5FdWJmiKddqG_uKKsze7M-VnWEODiMFzNd6hEc04TG_-zkQ8bpUz-e/s1600/Defense_Spending_by_Country_2010.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="323" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSXMYNkzPEXJfDJFqd0nwygIa7c2qU_k1ocUPPMAwo2acExct9ggc6mf1oEfcG5L6GzFuxXAgPc47PiUvm44vHZe5FdWJmiKddqG_uKKsze7M-VnWEODiMFzNd6hEc04TG_-zkQ8bpUz-e/s640/Defense_Spending_by_Country_2010.png" width="640" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Until recently, it was feared that TURKEY’S national security establishment would resist the possible removal of the U.S. nuclear weapons in TURKEY, either unilaterally or as part of an arms control deal with RUSSIA. But the AKP government has effectively tamed its generals and they would likely accept a decision of the government to remove them, perhaps as part of its initiative to create a nuclear-free zone in the greater MIDDLE EAST. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The TURKISH military does not appear to practice or otherwise plan to use these weapons under any scenario. They are a symbolic manifestation of TURKEY’S security links to Washington and Brussels that could be replaced by something else — perhaps integration within EU defense structures — should these ever develop into effective institutions — or, more plausibly, the emerging U.S.-NATO ballistic missile defense (BMD) architecture.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">TURKEY has made the controversial decision to host a U.S.BMD radar, again within the NATO context, in order to reinforce Ankara’s security ties with the West in the face of the more complex threat emerging from IRAN. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The decision was both presented and facilitated by the restructuring of the U.S. missile defense architecture in EUROPE by the Obama administration, which relocated the initial U.S. deployments out of EAST CENTRAL EUROPE and toward the BALKANS, BLACK SEA, and eastern MEDITERRANEAN regions. The new structure, with the interceptor missiles based in ROMANIA and on nearby U.S. warships, offers TURKEY greater BMD coverage as well as the opportunity, though unsought, to play a major role in that architecture.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="color: #0033cc; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">See GEOPOLITICAL ANALYSIS AND MONITORING</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">:</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2011/12/arms-build-up-in-middle-east.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2011/12/arms-build-up-in-middle-east.html</a></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2011/09/turkeys-middle-east-chess-game.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2011/09/turkeys-middle-east-chess-game.html</a></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Despite TURKISH lobbying not to identify IRAN as the main target of the NATO BMD network, IRANIAN leaders and media clearly consider the decision to host the radar in the face of IRANIAN and RUSSIAN opposition an unfriendly act. But the decision has proven useful in silencing Western critics of the AKP’s eastern orientation and has been overshadowed by the more serious differences between Ankara and Tehran regarding SYRIA. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The latent conflict for influence in IRAQ between IRAN and TURKEY, backed by Western governments, has reinforced Turkey’s security alignment with the West, with many U.S. officials now considering Ankara the most influential U.S. ally in the greater MIDDLE EAST.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: red; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">CONCLUSIONS</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">TURKEY’S government must be pleased by how the April 13-14 meeting in Istanbul on IRAN’S nuclear program turned out. Despite many obstacles, the IRANIAN negotiating team joined their international counterparts in Istanbul, discussed important issues such as uranium enrichment and sanctions, and agreed to launch a sustained negotiating process to resolve them.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Although no concrete changes in either side’s positions emerged from these talks, and TURKEY’S role in the future IRANIAN nuclear discussions looks set to decline as the negotiating venue moves elsewhere and the parties no longer require TURKEY as a mediator, the TURKISH government can be satisfied that they did not collapse in recriminations or, as some IRANIANS demanded, relocate elsewhere due to IRANIAN-TURKISH tensions over SYRIA. Even so, while TURKEY can boast a largely successful nuclear nonproliferation record, certain plausible developments could still undermine it and force a reluctant Ankara to seek its own nuclear arsenal.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The IRANIAN negotiations will now move to Baghdad. Wide differences separate the parties, but an agreement that would limit IRAN’S enrichment activities, make its nuclear program more transparent, and address uncertainties regarding IRAN’S past and future nuclear plans, in return for a suspension of some sanctions still seems the best outcome. TURKEY would certainly welcome a reduction in IRANIAN-related tensions, even if Ankara lacks the means to achieve such a benign outcome through its own exertions.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Several developments, however, could move the environment in a more adverse direction. Most obviously, unambiguous evidence could arise that IRAN is pursuing nuclear weapons, which would compel TURKEY to reassess its nuclear weapons policies.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">TURKEY’S plans to expand its domestic nuclear energy program would, for the first time, provide its government with the scientific, technical, and industrial foundations to pursue genuine nuclear weapons options, as IRAN’S own development of the capacity to make nuclear weapons has demonstrated to Ankara and others. But TURKEY’S leaders might still decide that, even if IRAN developed a small nuclear arsenal, they would be better off continuing to rely on NATO and Washington as well as TURKEY’S powerful conventional military, bolstered by national and multinational missile defenses, rather than pursue an independent TURKISH nuclear force as a means of deterring even a nuclear-armed Iran.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">However, the certainty of these Western security guarantees is also not immutable. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">TURKEY looks set to have a major confrontation with its EUROPEAN allies when CYPRUS assumes the rotating six-month EU presidency in July. And the unexpectedly close ties between the Erdoğan and Obama administrations, which are underpinned by the partnership that has been established between Secretary of state Hillary Clinton and Foreign minister Ahmet Davutoğlu would not invariably persist with a change in leadership in either or both capitals.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="color: #0033cc; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">See GEOPOLITICAL ANALYSIS AND MONITORING</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">:</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2011/06/does-turkey-really-need-eu.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2011/06/does-turkey-really-need-eu.html</a></span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/02/eastern-mediterranean-sea.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/02/eastern-mediterranean-sea.html</a></span><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>This article was first published in the Turkey Analyst, a biweekly publication of the Central Asia-Caucasus Institute & Silk Road Studies Program Joint Center. © Central Asia-Caucasus Institute & Silk Road Studies Program Joint Center, 2012.</i></span><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div>

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