An Erdogan Referendum Victory Would be a Defeat for NATO

This is Frank Gaffney with the Secure Freedom Minute.

A referendum in Turkey on Sunday may formalize the transformation of that nation from an important pro-Western, albeit Muslim, democracy into a hostile, Sharia-supremacist dictatorship.

The truth is that, since the Islamist who is currently Turkey’s president – Recep Tayyip Erdogan – came to power, the country has become ever less reliable as a Free World ally. Over the years, Erdogan has inexorably mutated his country’s constitution and aligned it, to varying degrees, with such enemies of freedom as Saddam Hussein, Iran, the Islamic State, al Qaeda, the Muslim Brotherhood, China and Russia.

If Erdogan wins – or steals – a majority of votes in Sunday’s referendum, the NATO alliance will not remove Turkey as a member; it has no means of formally doing so. But unless and until that happens, it will be including in its huddles an anti-democratic adversary playing for the other team.

This is Frank Gaffney.