Rick Perry Draws Ire From Turkey After Saying Country Ruled By 'Islamic Terrorists'

ANKARA, Turkey -- United States Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry has drawn Turkey's ire after the Texas Gov. said the country was ruled by Islamic terrorists.

Turkey's Foreign Ministry released a statement Tuesday saying Perry's comments were "baseless and inappropriate" and the U.S. should not waste its time with candidates "who do not even know their allies."

In a debate ahead of the South Carolina primaries, Perry said Turkey was ruled by "what many would perceive to be Islamic terrorists," questioned the country's NATO membership and said it should not receive U.S. aid.

Turkey defended its contribution to NATO in the statement, and said it has been at the forefront of the fight against terrorism.

Mustafa Akyol, a columnist with the English-language Hurriyet Daily news, tweeted, "Rick Perry: what an idiot."

It says Perry's low standings in polls were proof the GOP does not endorse his opinions.

UPDATE: The State Department responded to Perry's claim Tuesday. "We absolutely and fundamentally disagree with that assertion," said spokesman Mark Toner, according to NBC News. "It [Turkey] continues to play a very positive and constructive role in the region. And it is often cited as an example of a so-called Islamic democracy in action."

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Comments

[datenutloaf]

12:29 PM on 03/11/2012

dinglePerry------

Apparently no one cares enough aobut him to intervene on his behalf..........

[BcemXAHA]

06:31 PM on 01/30/2012

So wait, how was Perry wrong?

The slaughter of the Kurds and years of discrimination against them.

How about what they did to the Armenians?

[Mehmet M]

10:53 PM on 02/10/2012

Turkey is not slaughtering Kurds, we have had Kurdish presidents and actors heck in Turkey a person of Kurdish ethnicity has more rights then the average Turk. Here is a challenge for ya name me another country in Europe that allows political parties based on ethnic grounds and would those political parties get away with threatening the nation???

What we have with the Armenians is a historical dispite, Turkey's position is clear on this in which they admit that people on both sides was killed in the closing days of the Ottoman Empire which had been reduced to a near lawless state nor did it even have enough manpower to defend itself properly against the myriad of enemy nations.

The border between Turkey and Armenia today remains mostly closed of due to Armenia's invasion and partition of Azerbaijan in the early post Soviet Union period.

[byronic]

06:36 PM on 01/21/2012

Who cares? Stuffed turkeys are the only kind that Texans know anything about.

[aquarius021793]

05:28 PM on 01/18/2012

Perry is no longer relevant. He will be the next one to drop out after being overspent by mitt/newt. Who will also fail to achieve anything. They have all said ridiculous things, hopefully people are smart enough to realize none of these guys running are men, and none of them have any intelligence outside of how to make the most money for themselves. Anyways, good luck republicans, looks like a good year for you...

[G2G]

05:09 PM on 01/18/2012

Perry starts an international crisis by simply opening his mouth as the Governor of Texas.

Now, Turkey and Texas (poll favors Romney) don't support him...if he doesn't dropout soon...

He'll need political asylum in...'hmmm'

Is the Space Shuttle still running?

[bencileyin]

03:09 PM on 01/18/2012

I wish they stop calling Turkey an "Islamic democracy". It is a secular democracy. The rule of law is not based on Quran. The state does not have Islam as its official religion. Granted, the current government is a lot more religiously oriented than the past ones, but the state is still a secular one. When I compare Turkey to US, I actually find US less secular. (The bills do not have "In God we trust" written on them, can any presidential candidate even challenge that here?) I knew Perry was a fool, but still find his comment absurdly stupid.

[pomeria]

05:35 PM on 01/18/2012

The U.S. is refered to as a Democracy. We are "a democracy in a republic; a sovereign nation of many sovereign states". Therefore, I think that actually makes us a republic.

[bdaved]

02:28 PM on 01/18/2012

Well, the French love Jerry Lewis. Maybe Rick Perry will find his France out there somewhere.

[USA-TURKIYE]

12:24 PM on 01/18/2012

He kind of sounds like a US version of Ahmedinejad.

[Jahli]

12:50 PM on 01/18/2012

Or the GOP version of Alfred E. Newman

[Ted Glass]

12:10 PM on 01/18/2012

The Republican Party, the party of assured National Security.

[den1953]

11:34 AM on 01/18/2012

I thought Texas was only big enough to hold one village idiot, apparently i was wrong!

[Jahli]

12:45 PM on 01/18/2012

Texas, run by anti-USA terrorists

[Mehmet M]

10:54 PM on 02/10/2012

Fox News is also detrimental to the USA and has a negative education factor to Americans

[picval]

11:34 AM on 01/18/2012

Wow! Our friends and enemies must just be rolling their eyes! They way the Republican clowns talk they will start WW3 right after they take office. Better wake up independent voters, the choice is clear! 4 more Years!

[Mehmet M]

10:55 PM on 02/10/2012

He is unaware or pretends to be unaware of just deeply Turkey and USA are bound to each other.

[den1953]

11:33 AM on 01/18/2012

Just when you think Perry is totally stupid he comes back to redeem his self as a idiot!

[Thirdstone]

11:05 AM on 01/18/2012

He must have really small feet to be able to get both of them in his mouth at once.

[Jahli]

12:46 PM on 01/18/2012

You know what they say about foot size.

[bdaved]

02:19 PM on 01/18/2012

Especially considering where his head is.

[Curtis Jones]

10:36 AM on 01/18/2012

Once again, on one of his "really good days", Rick Perry has shown himself to be is an embarrassment to the United States and on one of his "bad days" he has proved himself to be an embarrassment to the world.

[Jahli]

12:47 PM on 01/18/2012

Which means all of the people that voted and love Bush want him as the GOP candidate... gomers

[spkninglsh]

10:27 AM on 01/18/2012

Perry: 'I didn't really mean it Turkey, I was just pandering to my base'