The foreign press can be very informative:
Turks swap sides as war film turns US into foe
From Suna Erdem in Istanbul
AN ANTI-AMERICAN film charting US abuses in Iraq has broken box-office records in Turkey, exploiting a wave of nationalism gripping Washington's only Muslim ally in Nato. Valley of the Wolves--Iraq has been watched by more than 2.5 million Turks in its first ten days. Such is the success of the most expensive Turkish film ever made (5.8 million pounds) that lawyers and police have been raiding the sellers of pirate copies.
"The film is absolutely magnificent," Bulent Arinc, the parliament Speaker and one of several politicians to attend the gala in Ankara, said. "It is completely true to life." Applause broke out when the American "bad guy," played by Billy Zane, was killed. The film begins with a real-life incident in which US troops arrested 11 Turkish special forces in Iraq and marched them off at gunpoint, an event for which the US has apologised but never fully explained. It deeply upset Turks, who are normally favourably disposed to all things American.
The story follows Polat Alemdar, an intelligence agent, as he travels to Iraq to avenge one of the Turkish soldiers, who was so tormented that he committed suicide. Polat joins a bride who survived a wedding massacre perpetrated by Zane's character. The abuse at Abu Ghraib is portrayed in full. The film amounts to a collective venting of anger................
More at http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,11069-2044440,00.html
of you have sat, and perhaps thought, with us!
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