GEOPOLITICAL REALITIES IN ANKARA
By Tulin Daloglu
Washington Times, DC
Oct 31 2006
Turkey faces an exceptional dilemma: retaining its cultural heritage
while maintaining the character of its majority-Muslim population
and making sure that its secular principles and foundation remain
aligned with the goals of a modernized Western future.
The Turkish public distrusts all traditionally accepted Western
alliances, from the U.S. and NATO to the U.N. and the EU. Turks
looked to the U.N. for approval of the Iraq war, yet still feel the
organization is ineffective and rarely solves conflicts. Turkish
officials say they will abide by any U.N. Security Council decision
on Iran, if and when one passes. Turks, however, wonder whether the
U.N. will help Turkey when its economy is threatened by possible
radical Islamist attacks. Cyprus is a good example.
Greek Cypriots rejected the U.N.’s 2004 plan to end the separation
of the island. Turkish Cypriots accepted it, and neither the U.N. nor
the EU seems to care. They seem to not care whether they promised to
lift economic sanctions, which would boost Turkish Cypriot economy
and eventually eliminate one of the main reasons the Greek Cypriots
did not accept the unification plan. The image of Turks as barbarians
is so pervasive and so harmful that EU member countries forget that
north Cyprus is a working democracy.
Germans were similarly concerned about the economic gap between East
Germany and West Germany when the Berlin wall came down, with the added
complication of Communism. The difference was in how Germany approached
it — determined to close the gap rather than making it an obstacle.
Yet Oli Rehn, the EU Enlargement Commissioner, recently warned Ankara
that talks could come to a crashing halt if Turkey fails to implement
a customs union with Cyprus. Turks question thegrounds on which the
EU accepted Greek Cypriots, especially after Turkish Cypriots accepted
the U.N. plan despite its heavy price.
The EU’s demands on Turkey are endless, from explicit conditions
demanded by signed agreements to pressure to recognize the so-called
Armenian genocide. Turks admit that the country’s politics are
problematic to say the very least — but the country should not be
treated this way, with its culture insulted and its people treated
as second-class citizens. Turks feel that the West is Turk-bashing.
Before the second Iraq war began, it took NATO more than a month to
decide to plan to help Turkey if Saddam Hussein launched retaliatory
attacks against it. That lag time left Turks with the impression that
the other NATO members think their lives are less valuable than those
of others in the coalition. But if Turkey does not send its troops
into combat in places like Afghanistan and refuses to be the "proof"
that the war on terror is not a fight between Christians and Muslims,
it faces condemnation.
Turkey had led ISAF twice and has proven its capabilities. But
according to Turkish media reports, CENTCOM commander, Gen. John
Abizaid, said he would not allow Turkey to cross the border to
Northern Iraq — even at a time when he was visiting Kandahar,
Afghanistan. Turkey’s only motivation for going into Northern Iraq
is to defend itself against attacks from separatist Kurdish terrorists.
Turks conflict with Kurdish nationalists who claim Turkish sovereign
land, and they are continually suspicious about whether the U.S.
supports such an independent Kurdistan.
The debates about the future of NATO, the relevance of the U.N.
and the possibility of the EU’s dissolution have the potential to
make all local politics global. The international community has a
responsibility to be clear about the future of these institutions.The
West also has a responsibility to keep its ally from falling victim
to political Islam. It is important — indeed, fundamental to the
character and principles of the Turkish nation — to focus on how
Turks’ present actions will affect their future.
It is time for Turkey to think hard about the consequences of
anti-Americanism and anti-Westernism within its own borders, and
really look at what allowing those conditions to continue will cost
the country as a whole.
A Turkey pushed away from the Western alliance will turn old friends
into foes, and radical Islamists will reap the benefits.
Turkish President Ahmet Necdet Sezer should issue warnings about the
republic’s threatened principles and radical Islamists on the rise.
He should lay out clear and constructive plans to fight those
conditions before his term ends in May — or the consequences that
will follow if the next president represents political Islam could
prove devastating.
Tulin Daloglu is a free-lance writer.