Israel Matzav: How to flood Europe with terrorists

How to flood Europe with terrorists

This ought to give pause to those of you who live in or travel in or through Europe. I guess that includes me, since most of my trips to Boston involve a change of planes in Europe.

Gates of Vienna reports on a Turkish espionage operation in which the Turkish secret service broke into German government offices in Berlin seeking to steal German passports and travel documents. The idea is to enable Turks to travel to Germany and from there to other European countries via the EU's open border policies among its members.

To date, Turkey is not known as a country that harbors a lot of terrorists, however.... In September, Turkey and Syria signed a pact to end the visa requirement for people traveling between their two countries, and just last month Turkey and Lebanon lifted their visa requirements as well.

Although it appears likely that Turkey will not be admitted to the EU, the theft of EU country travel documents would be an alternative means of allowing persons to cross from Turkey into the EU.

On top of that, just last week Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan urged Turks living in Germany not to integrate, and on Wednesday he called for Turks living in Germany to be granted dual citizenship.

Turkey has always viewed itself as a bridge between Europe and the Middle East. Unfortunately, the steps it's taking now are likely to facilitate terrorists crossing that bridge into Europe.

And from there to the United States by way of all the countries whose citizens are not required to have visas to enter the US?

What could go wrong?

The picture at the top is Turkish demonstrators burning an Israeli flag in October 2009.

Don't forget to read the whole thing.

Israel Matzav: How to flood Europe with terrorists