After two days of terror and political violence, it’s time to talk Turkey
Instability in the region has worsened following failed military coup
NEW Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson is in for more sleepless nights after his baptism of fire this week.
After two days of terror and political violence Europe has been plunged into crisis.
The West has welcomed the failure of the military coup in Turkey but the instability in the region has worsened.
IS leaders, already revelling in the massacre in Nice, will be rubbing their hands in glee at the turmoil of our deeply- divided Nato ally.
Turkey plays a vital role as a bridge between the West and the maniacs in Syria.
But hardline President Recip Erdogan triggered the coup by pushing an Islamist agenda, threatening the country’s secular constitution and eroding the rule of law.
He has tried for years to stifle the social networks he ironically used to save himself on Friday night.
He has persecuted critical journalists.
And he has purged army officers he accused of undermining him.
He lets America use Turkey’s Incirlik air-base to attack IS but is accused of secretly aiding IS for years.
Accusations continue of unhindered smuggling of IS oil and weapons over the Turkish border.
Turkey also uses control of its hundreds of thousands of mostly-Syrian refugees waiting to head to
Europe as a blackmail tool to try to hurry along EU accession.
Remember, this is a country in discussions about joining the EU, with visa-free access to mainland
Europe already on the table.
The sooner we get out the better.
Lesson in fairness
HERE’S a shocking history lesson — today’s children could be the first generation in 50 years to see social mobility go into reverse.
Too often, low-ability kids from rich families are overtaking high-ability kids from poor ones and landing the top jobs because of the schools they attend.
Now we learn Theresa May wants to allow the return of grammar schools to increase the chances of bright kids from poorer backgrounds moving up the social ladder.
That gets ten out of ten from us.
Peddlers in poison
CHILDREN are buying dangerous gender-changing drugs from the internet, risking serious illness and irreversible sex-change.
It is simply not good enough to say that the poison-peddlers are out of the NHS’s control on the other side of the world.
The Government must introduce tighter restrictions to protect these vulnerable youngsters . . . and quick.