A few days ago, I mentioned complaints from Turkish acquaintances about what they perceived as signs of growing anti-Turkish sentiment coming from their old allies in US policy circles. Today, reader DG sends along a Chicago Tribune article about the current Turkish best-seller. Its topic? A fictional war between the US and Turkey:

The book describes a surprise U.S. attack on its longtime ally and fellow NATO member touched off by a clash between American and Turkish troops in northern Iraq.

Staggered by the simultaneous bombing of Ankara and Istanbul, Turkey turns to the European Union and Russia for help.

The novel, "Metal Storm" or "Metal Firtina," has proved popular even among senior Turkish government officials and has sparked its own war of words between the two countries, striking a nerve at a time when relations are strained over real events.

The Turkish novel imagining the US attacking Turkey comes as Turkish groups are fuming about the fact that two popular American TV series, 24 and West Wing, feature plotlines this season envisioning Turkish terrorists melting down US nuclear plants and women beheaded in Turkey for immodest behavior, respectively. Given that Turkey is overwhelmingly the most socially liberal and progressive of countries in the Muslim world, what is happening here? Are the show's writers just ignorant, or what?

Posted by Laura at February 20, 2005 06:55 PM