He hasn't gone away

I haven't blogged about Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for a while, mainly because I find reporting his antics boring and depressing, however this report of his recent visit to Turkey caught my eye:

"Ahmadinejad's visit produced little in terms of substantive policy; the signing of a multibillion-dollar natural gas pipeline deal was put off. But Ahmadinejad got something just as valuable: a chance to spin his own image, court popularity and bash the United States and Israel.... Departing from established practice of having visiting Muslim heads of state pray in a smaller mosque in Istanbul, the government allowed Ahmadinejad to pray in the Blue Mosque, Turkey's symbol of tolerant Ottoman Islam. With permission from Turkish authorities, he also allowed Iranian television to videotape him during the entire prayer, in violation of Islamic tradition, which requires quiet and intimate communion between God and the faithful. There was so much commotion around Ahmadinejad that the imam had to chide the congregants. Then, as he left the mosque, Ahmadinejad got out of his car to encourage a crowd of about 300 to chant, "Death to Israel! Death to America!""

He really is a little charmer, isn't he?

Anyone who thought that electing the AKP, under Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Abdullah Gül, into power in Turkey was a good and sensible idea may want to think again, and maybe should read my linked articles...