No we are not talking about bagging a bird for Thanksgiving, we are talking about culling Turkey from the NATO herd. So let’s talk Turkey. The Kurds are Turkey’s biggest problem, a thorn in their site poking away for more than a century. The Turkish War of Independence (1919–22), initiated by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk and his colleagues in Anatolia, resulted in the establishment of the modern Republic of Turkey in 1923. 

From Wikipedia: The country’s official language is Turkish, a Turkic language spoken natively by approximately 85 percent of the population. 70–75 percent of the population are ethnic Turks; the largest minority are the Kurds at roughly 20%, with the remainder consisting of Armenians, Greeks, Jews, Circassians, Arabs, Albanians, Bosniaks, Georgians, and others.

In the latter half of the 11th century, the Seljuk Turks began penetrating into medieval Armenia and the eastern regions ofAnatolia. In 1071, the Seljuks defeated the Byzantines at the Battle of Manzikert, starting the Turkification process in the area; the Turkish language and Islam were introduced to Armenia and Anatolia, gradually spreading throughout the region. Today there are more than 120,000 people of different Christian denominations, representing less than 0.2 percent of Turkey’s population. Islam is the dominant religion of Turkey with 99.8 percent of the population being registered as Muslim.

The slow transition from a predominantly Christian and Greek-speaking Anatolia to a predominantly Muslim and Turkish-speaking one was underway.^[58] Alongside the Turkification of the territory, the culturally Persianized Seljuks set the basis for a Turko-Persian principal culture in Anatolia, which their eventual successors, the Ottomans would take over.

The Kurds, a distinct ethnic group, are the largest non-Turkic ethnicity, around 18-25 percent of the population or between fifteen and twenty million. Kurds are concentrated in the east and southeast of the country, in what is also known asTurkish Kurdistan. Unlike the Turkish people, the Kurds speak an Indo-European language. There are Kurds living in all provinces of Turkey, but are primarily concentrated in the east and southeast of the country, the region of Kurdistan. Click here for more on the Kurds.

The Kurdish people are an ethnic group whose origins are in the Middle East. They are one of the largest ethnic groups in the world that do not have a state of their own. The region of Kurdistan, the original geographic region of the Kurdish people and the home to the majority of Kurds today, covers contemporary Turkey, Iran,Iraq, and Syria. This geo-cultural region means “Land of the Kurds”. Iraqi Kurdistan is an autonomous region in northern Iraq, covering 40,643 square kilometres (15,692 sq mi) and has a population of approximately 4 million people. Kurdish populations occupy the territory in and around the Zagros mountains. These arid unwelcoming mountains have been a geographic buffer to cultural and political dominance from neighboring empires. Persians, Arabs, and Ottomans were kept away, and a space was carved out to develop Kurdish culture, language, and identity.

In a nutshell the Kurdish people are an ethnic group whose origins are in the Middle East. They are one of the largest ethnic groups in the world that do not have a state of their own. The region of Kurdistan, the original geographic region of the Kurdish people and the home to the majority of Kurds today, covers contemporary Turkey, Iran,Iraq, and Syria. This geo-cultural region means “Land of the Kurds”. Iraqi Kurdistan is an autonomous region in northern Iraq, covering 40,643 square kilometres (15,692 sq mi) and has a population of approximately 4 million people. Kurdish populations occupy the territory in and around the Zagros mountains. These arid unwelcoming mountains have been a geographic buffer to cultural and political dominance from neighboring empires. Persians, Arabs, and Ottomans were kept away, and a space was carved out to develop Kurdish culture, language, and identity. Counting the Kurds in Turkey there are somewhere between twenty two to thirty million. As a comparison, the Baltic country of Lithuania has approximately three million.

Turkey became a member of NATO in 1949 to cement its ties with the United States. This provided them with a hedge against the Soviet Union. But today Turkey finds itself in a different position. With a almost 100% Muslim population Turkey does not always tow the NATO line. In fact Turkey has thumbed its nose at the Western Powers in their fight against radical Islam. Their president, the diminutive Erdogan is seeking authority to rule by fiat. This is undemocratic and will no play out well with the NATO countries. And of course Turkey is anti Israel, Erdogan is an anti-Israel. In the scheme of things it is time that Turkey get booted from NATO. The sooner the better; having a half friend is like having a no friend. NATO should cull Turkey from the herd before Turkey does more damage in our fight against ISIS, not to mention Turkey being violently against Kurdish separatists who deserve their own country. Erdogan is anti Kurd and will do any thing to stop them from breaking free from Turkish hegemony. If Turkey was not a member of NATO, the United States would arm the Kurds in their goal for independence. 

As had been said before, when the going gets tough it will be very difficult for NATO to depend on the Muslim orientated country of TURKEY.