Animal Sacrifices Maim 1,400 in Turkey- AP, and Some Serious Musings on Turkey

The attached article (Animal Sacrifices Maim 1,400 in Turkey--Associated Press) is meant to be a "lighter side" article for the New Years (akin to a "Darwin Awards" entry), and not to offend our several Muslim readers. Where is Ataturk when these hapless people clearly need him! Thanks Joel.

On a more serious note, Turkey's "accession" ( a morally-loaded phrase) to the EU continues to have problems, ostensibly because of Cyprus, and has created common cause among rightist nationalists and religious zealots. Not a good thing if one believes (as do I) that it is critical to maintain a relatively moderate, modernized and/or Westernized Turkey, which today is slowly backsliding towards a more traditional Islamic society. The Europeans are demographically and culturally in a tough bind (see my prior posting, Thursday, October 12, 2006, "Across Europe, Worries on Islam Spread to Center"), but alienating Turkey and empowering its Islamists will not do any good for anyone.