You berate Barrack Obama for his public call for Turkish entry into the European Union (“Talking Turkey,” April 11, 2009). You even call it a tactical mistake, for the Union’s leaders do not take kindly to outsiders telling them publicly who should join their club. Outsiders? When it comes to global geopolitics, the Union is little more than an American protectorate. And Turkey is of great strategic import as an alternative energy corridor between Central Asia and Europe, as the gas spat between Russia and Ukraine has recently shown. Regardless of when Turkey will join the club, keeping its membership on the table is hardly the job of political leaders in Brussels and Ankara alone, as you argue, but those in Washington, as well. And it is only to Obama’s credit that he can talk turkey, too. A pity you took your own clever title so very lightly!