History is complicated.
I thought had a fairly clear understanding of the history of modern Turkey. It's an incredibly impressive country that has had remarkable achievements since winning the Turkish War of Independence.
Originally slated to get the same treatment (or slightly worse) as Imperial Germany got in the Treaty of Versailles, a national movement against occupation and control rose up in Ankara in the aftermath of the defeat of the Ottoman Empire during World War I. Led by a one of the 20th century's top commander-statesmen, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, it became one of the most stable and prosperous republics in the Middle East.
I was ready to write a piece on the area and was double checking some of the recent history, economics, and finance here before writing a piece of history.
And then, I start realizing just how much more complicated this area is than I'd thought.
Turkey is a key hub and connection between the Middle East, Asia, and Europe.
All sorts of different opinions and forces have made this country, with political pressures from the left heavily backed by the Soviets at times being countered heavily by hard-right Islamists, and meanwhile, a civil service and democratic process looking to keep itself running as a stable republic without winding up with a single party theocracy or communist state, which various neighbors and people would have liked to see.
How did they manage it?
It's complicated.
It's all very complicated.
This region is complicated.
It's a wonderful society with a bunch of terrific achievements — and perhaps the most impressive is its ability to stay independent of all the pressures around it.
Look at the neighborhood Turkey is in — it's perhaps the scariest place to try to try to remain free of outside control or pressure. There's land borders with Iraq and Syria, both of which have been under civil war. There's a land border with Iran. There's a land border with Armenia, who they have a unique and poor set of relations with. There's a land border with Georgia.
To the northwest are the Balkans — not exactly the paragon of world stability.
(Year 1888: "If there is ever another war in Europe, it will come out of some damned silly thing in the Balkans." — Otto von Bismarck)
Meanwhile, across the Black Sea stand Russia and Ukraine; Turkey controls access to the Black Sea, which is one of the most key shipping and trading waterways for Russia. Russia and Turkey have good relations these days, but it's over these waterways that Stalin put pressure on the Turkish government for territorial demands and asked to station Soviet troops in Istanbul to guarantee they stayed open.
(The Turkish government refused this demand, having seen that allowing a "nominal presence Soviet troops to guarantee security and peace" lead to your government being overthrown rather quickly.)
Meanwhile, Turkey is a member of NATO and looks to have good trade and relations with America and Europe, while likewise not alienating its neighbors, many of whom are key distinctly unfriendly to the U.S. and Europe.
Exactly to the west of Turkey is Greece, currently an ally but a country that they had long-standing enmity with.
Smack dab in the middle of the Mediterranean is Cyprus, half held by Turkey (and not recognized internationally) and half part of the Republic of Cyprus. This happened when Turkey intervened to stop a coup to bring the island under Greek control some decades ago.
Going southwards along the Mediterranean Sea, across the water you've got Lebanon, Israel, Egypt, and Libya.
Tough neighborhood to navigate politics and diplomacy in.
The Turks are quite strong, smart, and proud people. There is a tradition of governance and long-term thinking, and the founder of the Turkish Republic — Mustafa Kemal Ataturk —was a hyper-pragmatist who adroitly recognized threats and realpolitik, and looked to build institutions that could withstand pressure, and alliances and diplomacy to keep Turkey independent and with good allies as the various geopolitical lines shifted over time.
But it's a pretty complicated place.
I'd like to write something on it at some point, but I have a lot more learning to do. But the more I learn, the more incredibly impressive the Turkish achievements become.