But within hours, Gov. Perry's critics were left with more than a little egg on their faces as the foreign minister of Iran, the world's leading terrorist state, arrived in Turkey for a visit aimed at furthering strengthening the already-friendly relations between the two countries. Iranian Foreign Minister Ali-Akbar Salehi announced in Ankara that trade between his terrorist regime and Turkey, which had been just $5-billion annually in the past, hit $15-billion in 2010 and will reach $30 billion by 2015. Salehi, by the way, has met his Turkish counterpart, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, no less than eleven times in the past twelve months. How is that "positive and constructive"?
The truth about Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his government is that they have become experts at playing both sides of the fence--making "moderate" noises when Western ears are listening, while collaborating with Islamic terrorists and terrorist regimes whenever they can get away with it.
Thus while the United States has been struggling to find ways to stop Iran's nuclear development, Erdogan has been defending the Iranians. During his visit to Tehran, the terror capitol of the world, in October 2009, he denounced Western sanctions against Iran as "arrogant." He declared that anyone who criticizes Iran's nukes should first give up their own nuclear arms. "We shared this opinion with our Iranian friends, our brothers," Erdogan told reporters. Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmedinejad reciprocated by praising Erdogan for his "clear stance against" Israel.
In December 2010, Erdogan traveled to Libya --Moammar Gaddafi's Libya-- to receive the "Al-Gaddafi International Prize for Human Rights." Erdogan was not the least bit embarrassed to accept such an award from one of the world's worst human rights abusers and terror-sponsors. He told reporters that relations between Turkey and Libya were "growing," and that there was "much Turkish investment" in Gadaffi's Libya. Three months later, the U.S. was leading the NATO assault on Turkey's Libyan friends.
Turkey's support for the Hamas terrorists has been consistent, passionate, and unequivocal. The Turkish government sponsored the May 2010 flotilla that was intercepted while attempting to bring prohibited materials to the Hamas regime in Gaza. Erdogasn's claim that the flotilla participants were peaceful civil rights activists crumbled as the whole world watched the chilling YouTube video of the Islamic extremists on board trying to beat an Israeli soldier to death with baseball bats. Other Israeli soldiers were stabbed and nearly drowned. Erdogan said it was the Israeli soldiers who were "terrorizing" the Muslim baseball players.
The Turks attempted to send a second flotilla to Gaza last year, but were thwarted by the intervention of the Israel Law Center (Shurat HaDin). Flotilla organizers complained that the Center's lawsuits and warning letters caused insurance companies to withdraw coverage of the ships, and resulted in Greek government inspections that found the boats to be unseaworthy and improperly registered.
Just as Rick Perry said.