Your task is to extract the thesis of an opinionated news article by selecting some of its text segments. The thesis is a summarization of what the author wants to persuade the reader of. Your answer should consist of segments of the given text. Note that you are not allowed to combine different sentences.

Ex Input:
Let's see Turkey for what it really is. How times have changed . In the 18th century, Russian meddling in Crimea and Syria would have likely led to war with Turkey . Today, Russia's actions in the former Ottoman world mean a state visit for Russian President Vladimir Putin, discounted natural gas, and lucrative trade deals . Turkey's recent coziness with Russia, and its reluctance to take on the ISIL, have left many politicians in the West confused and frustrated . However , to understand Turkish foreign policy one must first look at US and European foreign policy . The lack of any coherent US-Middle East policy has made Turkey reluctant to respond to ISIL in any meaningful way . US President Barack Obama's disinterest in the region began with his hell-bent desire to remove all US forces from Iraq, no matter what the security situation was like . As far as Ankara was concerned, the US left behind unfinished business in Iraq . Next came the US response to the so-called Arab Spring , which amounted to telling regional autocrats that they had to go , and when they did not leave, the US failed to do anything about it . Perhaps the biggest failure of Obama's Middle East policy was drawing a "red line", and then failing to enforce it when Bashar al-Assad used chemical weapons against his own people . Pushing Turkey away . Since Turkey does not believe the US will see through to the completion of its mission to take on ISIL and force Assad out of power , understandably, Ankara has been reluctant to come on board . As far as Ankara is concerned, US creditability in the Middle East is bankrupt . It is not just US foreign policy pushing Turkey away from the West . This week, the EU's new foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, visited Ankara and told a group of journalists that the EU's "top priority will be Turkey's EU accession process" . After years of delays by Brussels, it is not likely anyone in Turkey will believe these words - nor should they . Europe's empty promises of EU membership, and its weak response over Russia's invasion of Ukraine, has forced Turkey to hedge its bets that closer ties with Moscow are preferable to those with Brussels . Making a bad situation worse is the degree of European xenophobia lurking inside the debate around Turkish membership of the EU . Make no mistake ; Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has not been the easiest leader for the West to work with . Apart from some of his more ridiculous, but harmless statements -"Muslim sailors reached the American continent 314 years before Columbus, in 1178" - many in the West have been put off by his crackdown on political dissent, limitations on press freedom, and his drive to bring a more conservative brand of Islam into what is still a largely secular society . Leaders in the West would be wise not to dismiss Turkey altogether because of Erdogan's ironfisted leadership style . Turkey is a parliamentary democracy , but as the president, Erdogan derives his extensive powers because his Justice and Development Party (AKP) currently controls parliament . Without an AKP majority in parliament, the centre of power in Turkish politics is likely to shift back to the prime minister's office . In June, Turkey will hold its next parliamentary elections - and if the elections are anything like Turkey's 2014 presidential elections , the race will be close . If the AKP does not get a majority, or if they have to form a coalition , Erdogan's power and influence will be significantly curtailed . Turkey is situated in a dangerous neighbourhood . It has land borders with Syria, Iraq, and Iran . Its border with Armenia is closed . A recent investigation uncovered a terror organisation operating inside Turkey with links to Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps . ISIL controls huge swaths of land along the Turkish border with Syria and Iran . The threat from Assad is so great that NATO currently provides air defence units to protect Turkish airspace . It is clear that foreign policy decisions taken by the US and Europe have left Turkey feeling exposed . Short-sighted leaders in the West need to open their eyes and see Turkey for what it really is: a valued NATO partner, a secular state (at least for now) bridging Europe and the Islamic world, a developing economy and a major player in the energy market . What a tragedy it would be if broken promises from Europe, combined with a lack of US leadership and strategy in the Middle East, results in a Turkey that becomes more fundamentalist, anti-western, and pro- Russian .

Ex Output:
Turkey's recent coziness with Russia, and its reluctance to take on the ISIL, have left many politicians in the West confused and frustrated


Ex Input:
Yes, too many of us are in pointless jobs - but don't despair. In his usual prescient fashion, Guy Debord once lamented that "young people everywhere have been allowed to choose between love and a garbage disposal unit . Everywhere they have chosen the garbage disposal unit." The Situationists' vision of the future was not, as I'm sure you've guessed, an optimistic one , but it's nice to see that their spirit is alive and well on the London underground . "How can one even begin to speak of dignity in labour when one secretly feels that one's job should not exist?" a poster asks , as part of a campaign called #bullshitjobs devised by the anarchist magazine Strike! Another poster reads:"The moral and spiritual damage that comes from the situation is profound . It is a scar on our collective soul . Virtually no one talks about it." And a third:"It's as if someone were out there making up pointless jobs for the sake of keeping us all working." Just what every commuter needs on their first day back at work, you might think . But I love these subvertisements, mainly because they are right . No one talks about the soul-crushing sadness experienced by the chronically exhausted and unfulfilled hordes . Forget the garbage disposal : we're in urgent need of an army of pooper-scooper-wielding refuseniks , because bullshit jobs are everywhere . Of course , complaining about any of this or doing something as daring as opting out finds you guilty of the most conspicuous of crimes against capitalism: laziness . Or a suspicious lack of ambition, resulting in the label of "scrounger" if you're working class and that of "pampered entitled millennial with no moral backbone" if you're middle class . But don't despair : humans have an incredible capacity for survival . There are ways to endure the pointlessly mundane jobs that many of us do . Here are my tips :. One of the most level-headed people I know sets very little store in his job when it comes to defining himself as a human being . Instead ,  it's the things he does outside of work that he regards as his main means of personal fulfilment . Guy Debord regarded maximum pleasure as the central aim of any revolution , so start your own personal one, via music or reading or sex or anything that you enjoy doing creatively . Then pour your soul into these activities instead of thinking about work . If you can do one of these activities during working hours , even better . Not people who use the word "facetime" as a way of describing hanging out, or talk about things "going forward" . These people will be first up against the wall . I mean family and friends, people you love . Love is the answer (actually, anaesthetising yourself with drink and drugs is the answer , but unfortunately it's less slimming) . This sounds flippant but can actually be an effective means of delaying job- induced madness . A friend who worked stacking shelves in Tesco overnight was able to keep his sanity by pretending he was playing a game of foodstuff-sized Tetris . In a similar vein, you could see how many Cradle of Filth lyrics you can subtly weave into your customer service emails, wreak subtle psychological havoc upon your colleagues, or, if you're a hairdresser , deliberately give everyone terrible haircuts for your own amusement (my hairdresser has been doing this for years) . The biggest modern lie is the one told by the Steve Jobses of this world : that, career-wise, we must do what we love in order to experience true happiness . It's a lovely thought but, unfortunately for the generation sold this nonsense by idealistic baby-boomers, a fulfilling job is a luxury, not a given . Instead , as some means of twisted compensation, we're offered slave wages, zero-hours contracts and made-up job titles . But as depressing as things look, it's important to keep hold of those youthful aspirations and harness them , if not for financial profit, then for sanity's sake . It's exhausting , I know, especially as in Britain we work the longest hours in Europe . You are right to be furious . We all are . In the words of the retro anarchist-punk soundbite dusted off by Russell Brand:"Let's have a revolution, yeah?" (At least after a short nap .) Let's continue to campaign for better and more flexible working hours, wages that people can actually survive on, and freedom from harassment and exploitation . Let's vote . Let's join our unions . Let's take the bastards to tribunal (whoops, no legal aid) . Because if you're going to do a bullshit job , you might as well get what you can out of it .

Ex Output:
In a similar vein, you could see how many Cradle of Filth lyrics you can subtly weave into your customer service emails, wreak subtle psychological havoc upon your colleagues, or, if you're a hairdresser The biggest modern lie is the one told by the Steve Jobses of this world


Ex Input:
Mario Cuomo and the folly of progressivism. How precious in the sight of progressives was one of their saints, Mario Cuomo, the three-term governor of New York who died last week at age 82 . He was a model of progressivism and a gifted rhetorician . In most media accounts, references were made to two speeches Cuomo delivered in 1984, one at the Democratic National Convention in San Francisco where Walter Mondale was nominated for president, and the other at the University of Notre Dame where Cuomo spoke about abortion and the "proper" role of religion in politics . The thing about progressivism is that it resembles floor wax -- all shine and no depth . In his Democratic convention speech, Cuomo referenced Ronald Reagan's line about America being a "shining city on a hill." Cuomo responded,"A shining city is perhaps all the president sees from the portico of the White House or the veranda of his ranch, where everyone seems to be doing well . But there's another city; there' s another part to the shining city.... In this part of the city, there are more poor than ever . More families in trouble . More and more people who need help but can't find it . ... There are people who sleep in the city streets, in the gutter where the glitter doesn't show." This is boilerplate Democratic rhetoric we've heard since the days of Franklin Roosevelt . After Democrats Roosevelt, Truman, Kennedy, Johnson, Carter, Clinton and Obama, are fewer families in trouble? Are there fewer poor people, especially since Johnson's "War on Poverty" promised to end it? Statistics reveal there are not , so why do so many embrace progressive ideas? If something isn't working , why repeat the errors? As Reagan noted, government too often adds to problems ; it doesn' t solve them . Government doesn't create jobs ; a thriving private economy does . Government welfare mostly doesn't incentivize people to escape poverty, but too often sustains them in poverty and addicts them to government handouts . On the issue of church and state, Cuomo bisected the subjects in his Notre Dame speech . While he said he accepted Catholic teaching against capital punishment , he rejected its opposition to abortion . In this, the late Cardinal Joseph Bernardin expressed opposition to both issues while eloquently arguing that the Catholic Church believes that each is part of a "seamless garment" of life and that all life matters and should not be taken by individuals, or the state . This is another flaw of progressivism . Progressives are happy to embrace church teachings when it favors their political agenda, but reject them when those teachings don't conform to their politics . My one encounter with Cuomo came after a column I wrote following his 2007 debate with former Speaker Newt Gingrich at Cooper Union in New York, the site of a famous speech by Abraham Lincoln . I said that Gingrich clearly won the debate and made a mockery of Cuomo's liberalism . Cuomo called me and after identifying himself launched into a tirade that lasted about 90 seconds . He then hung up giving me no opportunity to say much more than "hello, nice to hear from you." Vanity . Vanity . Most obituaries and news reports called Cuomo "inspiring." A New York Times editorial correctly noted:"For all his idealism, Mr  Cuomo's years as governor were dogged by economic recession that blunted his hopes to leave great programs and innovation as his legacy . He had to cut services and scratch for scarce revenue." Inspiration is good if it motivates people to do for themselves and improve their lives . Otherwise ,  it's nothing more than floor wax . May Gov  Cuomo rest in peace .

Ex Output:

How precious in the sight of progressives was one of their saints, Mario Cuomo, the three-term governor of New York who died last week at age 82


