and has been for decades. I've known several people who were stationed in Turkey on US military installations. Life is pretty grim for a conscript in the Turkish military - their officers can freely kill them without consequence for even slight infractions. Perhaps for that reason, they're very disciplined and tough troops.

Turkey has also been fighting against Islamic extremists and Kurds for a long time. One of my neighbors immigrated here from Turkey. He and his mother were visiting Turkey last year when the September 11th attacks took place. In the same week, there were several terrorists bombings of places like McDonald's that killed dozens of people. Turks know a great deal about terrorism from being on the receiving end of it. Not that their history is spotless (far from it, as in the Armenian genocide), but they are an ally and should be treated with respect.