TURKISH ACADEMICS HAVE MIXED OPINIONS ON OBAMA WIN
Hurriyet
Nov 8 2012
Turkey
Turkish academics have mixed views about U.S. President Barack Obama’s
new term. Obama will act relatively more “relieved” during his second
term, since he is no longer faced with the risk of failing to be
re-elected due to term limitations in the U.S., according to Soner
Cagaptay, director of the Turkish Research Program at the Washington
Institute. Under the second term of the Obama administration, the U.S.
will “zoom out” from Middle Eastern engagement, he said, adding that
the U.S. wants Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to step down “slowly,”
despite Turkey’s intention to “speed up” the process.
Soli Ozel, an academic in the International Relations Department of
Kadir Has University, said the U.S. gave a clear message to Turkey
about “its mishandling of the Syria crisis” by marginalizing the
Syrian opposition with the Muslim Brotherhood’s dominance in the
movement. The U.S. sent an obvious message that Turkey could not
handle it, according to Ozel. “We are not comfortable with the Muslim
Brotherhood’s involvement. We have decided to take this movement to
a relatively weak place [Doha]; we will try something new there.”
‘US prefers soft transition in Syria, unlike Turkey’
Gulden Ayman, another academic in Marmara University’s Political
Science Department, said the time factor regarding the Syria crisis
was the key point where Turkey and the U.S. fail to agree. She
added that in Obama’s second term this will come to the surface more
than ever. While the U.S. wants a soft transition, Turkey demands
an immediate international intervention in Syria. Ayman said such
an action being supported by the Obama administration was not on
the horizon.
“The best surprise is no surprise,” said Ä°lter Turan, a professor
at Istanbul Bilgi University. However, Turan drew attention to the
alleged Armenian genocide’s 100th anniversary, which will be during
Obama’s second term. Turkey has to deal with the 1915 incidents before
2015 by trying to find a new way of expressing its sorrow, Turan said.
November/08/2012
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress