I forgot to include Turkey in my list of places that I want to visit that I posted a short while ago. Perhaps as a side trip to a visit to the Greek Isles. Istanbul, some of the ancient sites on the Aegean sea, and seeing some Turkish oil wrestling (no particular reason…) would be of interest to me.

Turkey has always fascinated me – both the ancient and modern versions. The amazing Byzantine and Ottoman heritage, straddling two continents and civilizations, the fact that they prove that a Muslim country can be democratic and (for the most part) keep religion out of government (which I think is a good thing for EVERY country, including the US and Canada!), their assistance to the Syrian freedom fighters (Syria, the region, and the world would be a better place with Assad and his regime of terror eliminated), and the large population of swarthy, mustachioed of men are all big pluses to me.

I’ve had a lot of Armenian friends in the past and I am aware that the Turkish massacre of Armenians around 1915 is one of the biggest blots on humanity’s record. However, I do not hold present day Turks accountable for what occurred 100 years ago – any more than I think it’s idiotic to hold present day Germans accountable for the Franco-Prussian War, WW I, WW II, and the Jewish Holocaust. The Kurd issue also troubles me but I can’t say that I understand all the issues involved in that – and the blame there is certainly shared by other nations as well.

Overall, I have a favorable impression of modern day Turkey. I’m surprised and glad to see so many visitors to this site from Turkey (you’re in the top 20 countries who visit this site).