Of all the reasons given in Bret Stephens article in The Wall Street Journal (“What Is Happening to Turkey? May 11.2010) for current events in that country, no mention is made of the single most important determinant of human social behavior: people’s socio-political character structure (see section on socio-political characterology in my book The Emotional Plague: The Root of All Evil). The political center in Turkey is somewhere to the right of center and the socio-political character structure of most Turkish people belongs on the right and is conservative in varying degrees.
In contrast, the political center in America has, especially since the Obama election, shifted to the far left. To most Turks who do not have first hand knowledge of the current situation in this country, America appears to be dominated by and driven by the far left. This view of America makes most Turks anxious and uncomfortable with America and her ally, Israel (America’s favorability rating among Turks is at around 14%) and they prefer to gravitate toward other Moslem “brothers” on the far Right such as Syria.
Without giving serious consideration to the characterological factors driving human behavior, all attempts at arriving at a complete understanding of socio-politics, such as the current deterioration in the relationship between America and the Turkish people, must remain speculative.
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Neither Left Nor Right
The Emotional Plague
Charles Konia, M.D. 
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