Patriot games.

• Author: Baran, Zeyno
• Position: Kurtlar Vadisi: Irak - Movie review

Burak Turna and Orkun Ucar, Metal Firtina (Metal Storm) (Istanbul: Timas Yayinlari, 2004), 302 pp., 6 YTL.

Kurtlar Vadisi: Irak (Valley of the Wolves: Iraq), 122 min., Pana Films, Istanbul, 2006.

DESPITE THE enormous advances of the Information Age, it is still far from simple to obtain a clear snapshot of popular sentiment in another country. While easily accessible, government statements and statistical reports are frequently designed for foreign consumption, and the works of academics and journalists often adhere closely to an official line. Yet there is another source, hidden virtually in plain sight, through which analysts and policymakers can overcome governments' carefully managed efforts to shape the perception of their countries: popular culture.

Since they are written according to the demands not of literary scholars but of consumers, popular works are closely reflective of prevailing attitudes of the time and place of their creation. This fight link is no less true of the political-thriller genre. Perhaps best exemplified in the United States by the novels of Tom Clancy, political thrillers incorporate real-world developments into narratives accessible--and believable--to a general audience.

One cannot understand the recent rise of anti-American feeling in a country such as Turkey--for decades a staunch NATO ally of the United States--without reference to the unvarnished perspective of popular fiction. Two recent works, one the fastest-selling book in Turkish history and the other soon to break all Turkish film-industry records, have both crystallized a number of fears and anxieties about Turkish anti-American conspiracy theories that, although described as fiction, seem to so many to be entirely plausible.

Metal Storm, by science-fiction author Burak Turna and journalist Orkun Ucar, became an instant bestseller in 2005, with over 450,000 copies sold since its first printing in late 2004. Set in 2007, Metal Storm purports to be an account of a two-stage war launched by the United States against Turkey, starting with "Operation Metal Storm." The American operation begins after the Turkish military enters the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk in response to a significant increase in the number of attacks on ethnic Turkmen. In the midst of preparing its own invasion of Syria, the United States quickly seizes upon the opportunity to attack Turkey, followed with an international media disinformation campaign portraying the Turks as having first fired at American soldiers. The second stage of the war is "Operation Sevres", a reference to the much-hated agreement signed at the end of the World War I whereby the Western powers hoped to divide Anatolia among itself.

Unlike Tom Clancy, who populates his novels with fictional characters of his own design, the authors of Metal Storm refer to current leaders, from Condoleezza Rice and Donald Rumsfeld to Vladimir Putin. In the eyes of some readers, this device blurs the line between fact and fantasy.

Indeed, throughout the book current Turkish military and political leaders wonder how and why the United States would attack Turkey after decades of what appeared to be a fruitful partnership. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and others are often portrayed as having difficulty grasping that the United States has actually attacked their...