The party of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan won a resounding victory yesterday and substantially increased its share of the vote from its victory five years ago. But what does it mean in the long run? There are the EU accession talks and the status of Cyprus to consider. There are simmering tensions on the Turkey-Iraq border and the possibility of a Turkish military incursion into Iraqi Kurdistan can not be ruled out. The military still lurks in the background as a possible threat should Mr. Erdogan take steps to move away for the Turkey's cherished, by some at least, secularism. Time will tell of course but the prospects of military action against Iraq does greatly concern me and, I suspect, many others as well.
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