Journal of Turkish Weekly, Turkey
2005-04-01 12:02:17
Turkish-US Relations: The National Security Council and a Civilian Comment
Ferai Tinc
Columnist Ferai Tinc comments on Turkish-US relations. A summary of her
column is as follows:
`Turkish-US relations have recently been issue one for our country. Although
neither government will admit to there being a problem, recent media reports
have argued that there’s an ongoing crisis between Ankara and Washington.
National Security Council (NSC) Secretary-General Yigit Alpogan on Wednesday
delivered a remarkable speech on this issue at the Turkish-US Business
Council in Istanbul. `Recent `crisis’ allegations are baseless, but our
partnership must still be revamped,’ he said. `We need a healthier dialogue
and frank conversation.’
Attendees of the meeting included US Ambassador to Ankara Eric Edelman and
Istanbul Chief Consul David Arnett. Alpogan underlined that first of all
Ankara’s doubts and concerns about Iraq must be dispelled so that bilateral
relations can be revamped.
`Our countries need to harmonize their policies on the northern Iraq and
Kirkuk issues,’ said Alpogan. `In this context, two essential issues that
come to mind are protecting Iraq’s territorial integrity and eliminating the
terrorist PKK’s presence in northern Iraq.’ Alpogan added that the US should
also support Turkey’s EU membership bid and not make concessions on the
so-called Armenian genocide allegations. Furthermore, he asked Washington to
see Ankara as an effective player in the Mideast peace process.
Not only Turkish but also American officials are currently trying to give
positive messages about bilateral relations. US Defense Secretary Donald
Rumsfeld on Wednesday denied that he had criticized Turkey’s refusal to let
American troops deploy on its soil before the Iraq war. In addition, Edelman
said that intergovernmental relations were in fine shape.
However, the more positive messages we get, the more we tend to read between
the lines. Each day brings new and conflicting statements concerning
Incirlik Airbase. Although the Americans insist that their requests were
shaped in line with the Defense and Cooperation Agreement between our two
countries, Ankara believes that matters concerning third parties can’t be
evaluated in the context of this agreement.
Both sides are blaming the media for harming bilateral relations through
baseless exaggerations. However, as the problems are so obvious, these
accusations are completely unfair. As Alpogan said, `It’s the task of
officials of our two countries to defend common interests with courage and
without hesitation.’ This is an important point.’
Source: Hurriyet via BYEGM, 1 April 2005
2005-04-01 12:02:17