Turkey: Guardian of The Southern Flank

THE Turks are the most warlike people in the Middle East. They fought the Crusaders to a standstill, swept through Europe to Vienna’s gates, battled the Russians 13 times in 400 years, and even whipped Winston Churchill when he ordered an attack on the Dardanelles in World War I. Six volunteers applied for every place in the original Turkish contingent for Korea. At the embarkation point the authorities had to surround the force with barbed wire, not to stop desertions but to keep outsiders from rushing in to join them. Thanks to U.S. military aid. the Turks now have Europe’s second-largest standing army (No. 1: Russia): 450,000 soldiers equipped with tanks and jet aircraft to button down the free world’s southern flank. A poor nation, Turkey devotes almost 40% of its budget to its defenses, and counts the money well spent, for the nation mortally hates and fears the “Moskofs.” Say the Turks: the only way a Moskof can get to Istanbul is by buying a ticket on the Orient Express.