Our guest blogger is Krittika Lalwaney, who recently visited Syrian refugee camps in Turkey

Syrian refugees in Turkey, Lebanon, and Jordan are a forgotten piece of the ongoing Syrian revolution. The refugees are not only fleeing the bloodshed, they are active revolutionaries aiding regime opponents and bridging the communication gap between pro-democracy activists inside Syria and the international community. The roughly 10,000 Syrians living in tents inside Turkey have spent the past 10 months urging friends and family inside to continue to demonstrate and plan escape routes for defectors. I visited two refugee camps in Antakya, Turkey in January where I spoke to Syrian refugees and members of the Free Syria Army to understand their roles in strengthening the Syrian opposition.

Inside the refugee camps, only 500 meters from the Syrian border, families were glued to television news reports from Al-Arabiya and Al-Jazeera. Laptops with wireless internet connections were on Skype where refugees connect with friends and families inside Syria. Refugees will often inquire about access to staples because in many cities such as Homs, the regime has cut off water, electricity and food supplies. Syrians in these camps organize and infiltrate the border to deliver food packages, medical supplies and water. The porous borders serve as a vital communication channel for the refugee community and play an imperative role in keeping the opposition alive.

One Syrian refugee I interviewed said he keeps track of the number of dissidents killed, detained or missing through underground networks and then relays that information to international media outlets. Refugees are central to coordinating protests in Syria; and Army defectors in these camps provide military intelligence to soldiers in the Free Syria Army.

The refugees are also faced with everyday challenges living in Turkey. The Hatay province in Antakya, Turkey at one time used to be a part of Syria and consists of a large Alawite community. Turkish Alawites have enjoyed a strong relationship with the Assad regime and many have benefited from sending their children to Syrian universities. Thus, the recent influx of Syrian dissidents has caused problems with the host community. Refugees have to be wary as many Turkish Alawites are suspected of spying for the regime. One refugee told me that a group of men severely beat him after he spoke openly against Assad and in favor of the revolution.

There are also concerns about the living conditions in the camps. Turkey has not developed a long-term strategy for hosting them. Consequently, their children have no access to public schools and there is no potential for legitimate employment. And harsh weather has wreaked havoc. Syrians living inside Turkey are in desperate need of winter clothes, blankets, new tents, and shoes to cope with winter weather. As the violence in Syria persists, more refugees have been crossing over to Turkey in need of basic essentials. Furthermore, access to health care is limited in the refugee camps where there is only one health tent for 3,000 people. The health unit is not equipped to treat severe wounds or infections.

The refugees continue to aid the opposition but it’s unclear, given worsening living conditions and security fears, how long their efforts will remain effective.

Tens of thousands took to the streets of Istanbul to protest a court decision not to widen the investigation into the murder of a Turkish-Armenian journalist five years ago. The court assigned guilt to several nationalists deemed responsible for the killing of Hrant Dink, but decided the prosecution did not present enough evidence that there was an illegal organization behind the murder. The investigation shied away from exploring the suspected role of some nationalist police and military officials.

Dink, the editor of a Turkish-Armenian newspaper, wrote critically about Turkey’s treatment of its Armenian ethnic minority, and particularly about the killing of more than 1 million Armenians by the Ottoman army in 1915 which he and others considered genocide, a term that is hotly contested. The advocacy group Committee to Protect Journalists’ (CPJ) research demonstrated widespread nationalist threats leading up to Dink’s murder on the front steps of his paper.

The protests were the largest in Turkey in years. Some held aloft signs in Turkish and Armenian that said, “We are all Hrant. We are all Armenian.” Here’s a photo of an Istanbul neighborhood from the Turkish newspaper Hürriyet:

The Paris-based journalism advocacy group Reporters Without Borders said the decision was “absolutely scandalous.” Nina Ognianova, CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia Program Coordinator, said:

Justice for our colleague Hrant Dink will not be achieved until the commissioners of his slaying five years ago are tried and punished to the full extent of the law. We stand in solidarity with Dink’s family, colleagues, and friends in calling for a thorough and transparent investigation into the suspected involvement of military and security service officials in this brutal crime.

Turkish president Abdullah Gül and other members of the ruling AK Party expressed disappointment with the ruling: “The conclusion of this case in transparency and fairness in line with our legislation is an important test for us,” Gül reportedly said. Some, however, doubted the sincerity of the nationalist government.

Returning from a congressional trip to France, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates, Deputy House Whip Rep. Peter Welch (D-VT) is bringing back two clear messages from the U.S.’s Gulf allies. In an interview with the Bennington Banner, Welch emphasized that they support strong sanctions “to try and change Iranian behavior” and there is “broad apprehension in those countries about military action” and serious questions about whether a military strike could stop Iran’s alleged nuclear weapons program.

Appearing on Fox News this afternoon, Welch pushed back against hawkish calls for military action against Iran:

I’d say three things. First, there’s widespread concern … that Iran is dangerous, that them having a nuclear weapon is extremely dangerous. … Two, there’s strong support for sanctions. But three, there’s great reservation and caution about when it comes to the question of using military force, with some apprehension about what that would unleash in the Middle East.

Welch went on to lay out a number of the regionally destabilizing steps that could follow an attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities:

If you’re Qatar, where you’re fifty miles across the Strait of Hormuz, they feel they will be on the receiving end of any retaliatory response. Turkey, is very concerned about the loss of access to natural gas that heats their homes in the winter. The UAE, which is a strong U.S. ally, … fears what would happen to it with a response and what happens to the sea lanes and their ability to export oil.

Watch it:

Welch, who is a supporter of the Obama administration’s efforts to built a multilateral sanctions regime against Iran, expressed his concern that congressional efforts to tighten sanctions and push for the “military option” are unhelpful. “Frankly, I don’ think Congress is in a situation to micromanage. It turns into a political debate and one -upmanship,” he said.

Indeed Welch is not alone in identifying the potential dangers of a military strike on Iran’s nuclear program. Former Israeli intelligence chief Meir Dagan referred to an Israeli attack on Iran as “the stupidest thing I have ever heard” and, last week, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta called on Israel to “work together” with the international community, adding to his comments back in November that an attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities would only briefly delay the country’s nuclear program.

Yesterday on CNN, GOP presidential candidate Rick Perry refused to back down from his previous debate comments that Turkey is being run by “Islamic terrorists.” “Did you misspeak?” CNN host Wolf Blitzer asked Perry, “Are you ready to revise your comments?” “Not at all,” the Texas governor replied. Perry justified his stance, saying that the Turkish government “allow[s] for honor killings”:

PERRY: I said that if they are treating their citizens that way, that they approach that terminology. I mean, when you allow for honor killings, Wolf — I mean, I hope you’re not defending honor killings as an appropriate act in any country, much less a country that we send foreign aid to. And we do send foreign aid to that country. I think some $4 billion. That’s not just a drop in the bucket.

BLITZER: Four billion dollars in this fiscal year? Is that what you’re saying?

PERRY: No, $4 billion in the last few years, and I think $7 billion on the military side of things. But the fact is, if we send any money to a country — Wolf, let me ask you, are you sitting here and defending the act of honor killing?

Watch the clip:

No, of course Blitzer isn’t defending honor killings and neither is the Turkish government. The Christian Science Monitor reported last year that Turkey has indeed seen a sharp increase in so-called “honor” killings — a term that “refers to a family member or members killing a relative, usually a girl or young woman, whose behavior is judged to have tarnished the family honor.” But the Turkish government isn’t “allowing” this to happen. While some have argued that the government has not done enough to combat the problem, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan called it “a longstanding bleeding wound of the society.”

And Perry said that Turkey has received around $11 billion in aid “in the last few years.” In fact, the U.S. has granted nearly $21 million in military and security assistance to Turkey since 2009, making Perry’s $11 billion claim wildly off the mark. And as a recent Congressional Research Service report noted, Turkey has received approximately $14 billion since 1948, not in the last few years as Perry claimed.

But Perry’s overall point is that, as he said on Monday, Turkey should be kicked out of NATO and the U.S. should reevaluate its relationship with the Muslim majority Eurasian democracy. But the aforementioned CRS report suggests that this probably isn’t a good idea:

Arguably, Turkey is a more significant ally for the United States at present than during the Cold War. With several challenges to U.S. national security emanating from the greater Middle East, the United States has already shown that it seeks to use Turkey’s geographic location for its advantage, and it is likely that future U.S. regional interests will dictate a similar U.S. outlook.

“We absolutely and fundamentally disagree with [Perry's] assertion,” State Department spokesman Mark Toner said yesterday, adding, “Rest assured that we believe that Turkey is a stalwart ally.”

Texas Gov. and fledgling GOP presidential candidate Rick Perry made the most stunning pronouncement of last night’s South Carolina Republican primary debate: Asked if Turkey should be kicked out of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), Perry said, “Obviously when you have a country that is being ruled by what many would perceive to be Islamic terrorists, when you start seeing that type of activity against their own citizens, then, yes.” Perry went on to group the NATO ally — meaning that if someone attacks Turkey, the U.S. must respond — together with U.S. adversaries. He referred to “countries like Iran, and Syria and Turkey.”

The media both in the U.S. and Turkey reacted with incredulity. “You couldn’t make this stuff up,” wrote the New Yorker’s John Cassidy. A Turkish columnist called Perry an “idiot.” CNN’s fact-checking operation said Perry’s claim that Turkey is run by “Islamic terrorists” was “false.”

But the most geo-strategically significant fallout from Perry’s comments may have come from Turkey itself. Turkey’s foreign ministry released a statement on Perry’s remarks, reported the AP:

Turkey joined NATO while the governor was still 2-years old. It is a member that has made important contributions to the trans-Atlantic alliance‘s conflict-full history. It is among countries that are at the front lines in the fight against terrorism. [...]

Figures who are candidates for positions that require responsibility, such as the U.S. presidency, should be more knowledgeable about the world and exert more care with their statement.

The foreign ministry also took a dig at Perry’s low polling numbers in the primary race, citing them as a repudiation of his views on Turkey among Americans.

Here are a few — of many — items demonstrating, contra Islamophobic hyperventilation, neoconservative proclamations, and the opinions of some House Democrats, Turkey’s commitment to the alliance with NATO and the U.S.:

Turkish troops fight alongside U.S. troops in Afghanistan, running reconstruction projects and training Afghan forces.

Turkey bankrolled the U.S.- and NATO-backed rebel forces that ousted Muammar Gaddafi from power in Libya.

Turkey agreed recently to host a U.S. missile defense radar installation, drawing the ire of Iran.

Turkey works the levers of diplomacy tirelessly to avert a military confrontation between the West and Iran over the latter’s nuclear program, recently extracting a statement from Iranian officials that the issue can be resolved through diplomacy.

Perry’s camp later walked back his statement, adding that the governor “would welcome the opportunity to work with Turkey on regional issues like Syria or Iraq.” But, judging from the Turkish foreign ministry’s statement, that sort of cooperation with a future Perry administration may already be off the table.

During tonight’s GOP presidential debate in South Carolina, Fox News’s Bret Baier asked a question that seemed to give credence to the right wing’s anti-Turkey campaign. “Since the Islamist-oriented party took over in Turkey,” Baier said, the murder rate of women has increased, press freedom has declined, and the country has “embraced Hamas” and threatened military action against Israel.

Baier then asked Gov. Rick Perry (R-TX) if “Turkey still belongs in NATO.” “Obviously when you have a country that is being ruled by what many would perceive to be Islamic terrorists, when you start seeing that type of activity against their own citizens, then, yes,” Perry replied. Watch the clip:

In fact, Turkey is an important strategic partner of the United States. As White House national security aide Tony Blinken said a couple of months ago:

Turkey has been a longstanding ally to the United States through NATO. We have worked together closely throughout the decade in [many] theaters of conflict. We have Turkish soldiers in Afghanistan standing side-by-side with our troops. We have Turkish cooperation in Iraq. Turkey has taken a strong stand against the Asad government in Syria, and the Prime Minister has called on Asad to step down. Turkey is implementing Arab League sanctions. It played a very significant role in Libya in terms of supporting forces for progress there. And we’re seeing similar things in Egypt. So in many, many areas, as well by the way, as trade and economic ties, which have I think have increased twofold since President Obama has been in office. So in many, many areas we’re working very, very closely with Turkey.

A bipartisan group of senators sent a letter to President Obama in September asking him to “mount a diplomatic offensive” against Turkey in the aftermath of souring Israeli-Turkish relations last summer. Now House Democrats are throwing their weight behind the anti-Turkey campaign. A round-up of weekly news from Americans for Peace Now highlights two Democratic-led efforts to re-evaluate the U.S. relationship with Turkey, long since a close U.S. ally and partner in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

The first is a letter from seven congressional Democrats to Obama calling for an “an urgent review of our relations with Turkey”:

It is our hope that an intensified and frank dialogue with Turkey can convince Ankara to deescalate some of its rhetoric and roll-back its increasingly destabilizing policies. However, if that cannot be achieved, we look forward to working with your Administration to review the changed environment and develop an approach which better suits the situation.

Spearheaded by Rep. Eliot Engel (D-NY) and signed by Democratic Reps. Howard Berman (CA), Nita Lowey (NY), Shelley Berkley (NV), Brad Sherman (CA), Steve Israel (NY), and Adam Schiff (CA), the letter — in language reminiscent of Islamophobic attempts to portray Turkey as in the U.S.’s “enemy camp” — decries Turkish “confrontation with our closest friends and allies.”

Following up on the letter, Engel and Berkeley introduced legislation that would block a proposed $111 million sale of helicopters and support equipment to Turkey. A release from Engel’s office helpfully explains that during a 15-day notification period, Congress can try to pass legislation blocking arms sales. “The resolution introduced by Berkley and Engel would prohibit this sale,” the release said.

The lawmakers justified the block with the same rhetoric as the letter. “The U.S. should be busy raising these very serious concerns with Turkey, rather than selling arms to them,” they said in the release.

After a hyperventilating neoconservative proclaimed last week that Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was an “enemy” of the U.S., Foreign Policy’s Dan Drezner pointed out that Turkey bankrolled the U.S.-supported Libyan revolution and is “now creating an enclave for the Free Syrian Army.” He didn’t mention that Turkey also recently agreed to host a radar for a U.S. missile defense system designed as a bulwark against Iran (which criticized the move). Drezner went on:

Erdogan has clearly made life difficult for another ally — Israel. On the other hand, lots of America’s allies make life difficult for other American allies (see: Gibraltar).

Turkey’s relations with Israel went south after unheeded Turkish complaints about the Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip, and collapsed completely after nine Turks and an American were killed by Israeli forces on a humanitarian flotilla to the besieged Palestinian territory.

“If other countries disagree with Israel,” asks Drezner to conclude his post, “does that mean… that they no longer qualify as either friend or ally? Are there any other of America’s friends that fall into this super-special status? I really want to know.”

With deteriorating relations between Turkey and Israel, some of Israel’s staunchest backers in the U.S. have seized on the diplomatic crisis to push for the U.S. to abandon its partnership with Turkey — including kicking the strategically-located Eurasian country out of the NATO alliance. The campaign, spearheaded by neoconservatives, ramped up this week with attacks demonizing Turkey from several Islamophobic commentators. Over the past few weeks, these Islamophobes have been accusing Turkey of trying to create an Islamist empire, one that would put Turkey at odds with the West and make it an enemy of the U.S.

On Tuesday, Daniel Pipes of the Middle East Forum wrote that he “see(s) a rogue Turkey as the region’s greatest threat”:

A second republic headed by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his Islamist colleagues of the AK Party (AKP) began that day. The military safely under their control, AKP ideologues now enjoy can pursue their ambitions to create an Islamic order.

Investigative Project chief Steven Emerson wrote yesterday:

The struggle against Israel is one facet of the Muslim nation’s new Islamist foreign policy under the leadership of Erdoğan and his AKP party. Turkey has distanced itself from membership in the European Union, a former goal of the nation, in order to pursue better ties with terror-supporting nations like Syria and Iran.

Also Thursday, Atlas Shrugs blogger Pam Geller wrote:

Turkey has reverted (no pun intended), and dreams Ottoman domination and Islamic imperialism.

On Robert Spencer’s Jihad Watch blog, Joseph Zaalishvili wrote Wednesday:

After Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan openly began the Islamization of Turkey, the jihadists found fertile ground there. Turkey appeared ambitious to become the leader of Islam in the region.

Earlier this month, Center for Security Policy (CSP) head Frank Gaffney wrote about the “increasingly overtly hostile posture towards Israel being taken by Turkey under its Islamist prime minister, Recep Erdogan.” His colleague at CSP, Caroline Glick, wrote in the Jerusalem Post:

[W]e need to recognize that what we are experiencing now is the beginning, not the end, of Turkey’s slide into the enemy camp. Erdogan is openly taking steps to transform Turkey into an Islamic state along the lines of Iran.

Erdoğan is not actually an Islamist, as demonstrated by his call last week for Egypt to become a secular state, drawing warnings from Egypt’s actual Islamists, the Muslim Brotherhood, for Erdoğan to butt out.

And while Turkey has indeed tried to end regional strife and avoid conflagration through diplomacy, its partnership with the U.S. and NATO are clearly valuable to Erdoğan’s government. Just this month, Turkey agreed to host a NATO radar system, part of a missile defense system designed to guard against Iranian weapons advances (the move drew criticism from Iran).

That this network of Islamophobes are all taking the same line should come as no surprise. As detailed in CAP’s “Fear, Inc.” report about America’s Islamophobia industry, they come from a small cadre of so-called “experts” and “scholars” who form organizations that fuel Islamophobia in the U.S.