Why Europe must let Turkey through the door.

• Author: Friedman, Thomas L.
• Position: Perspectives - Brief Article - Column

While visiting Istanbul, I took a long walk along the Bosporus. There is nothing like standing at this stunning intersection of Europe and Asia to think about the dash of civilizations--and how we might avoid it. We are living at a remarkable hinge of history and it's not clear how it's going to swing. What is clear is that Osama bin Laden achieved his aim: 9/11 sparked real tensions between the Judeo-Christian West and the Muslim East. Whether these tensions explode into a real clash of civilizations will depend on whether we build bridges or dig ditches between the West and Islam in three key places--Turkey, Iraq, and Israel-Palestine. If we...