Suddenly, Bernard Lewis lost his love for Turkey

He is nostalgic to the era of the Turkish generals and their dictatorships when he used to enjoy his tate-a-tates with Turkish dictators. "Not that he thinks that Turkey is the beacon of hope it used to be. Lewis believed the west-looking secular state imposed by Kemal Atatürk could be a model for other Muslim countries, but the AKP government of prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in power since 2003, is Islamist-leaning and close to both Hezbollah and Hamas. In the aftermath of the killing of nine Turkish activists on the Mavi Marmara, Turkey is reported to be considering cutting diplomatic ties with Israel altogether. ‘I find it very alarming. Erdogan wants to change the whole direction. He’s gradually taking over the country step by step, universities, the police — he’s got everything except the judiciary.’""