OBAMA AND ERDOGAN
Hellenic News of America
Dec 2 2009
Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is scheduled to meet
with President Barack Obama at the White House on December 7, 2009.
Unfortunately, President Obama is following the flawed and failed
policies of the Bush and Clinton administrations towards Turkey.
Obama has watered down his campaign statements and those of Vice
President Joe Biden. He has not ordered a critical review of the United
States-Turkey relations. He keeps talking as if Turkey is a loyal,
reliable ally of substantial importance and a bridge between East
and West and between Christians and Muslims. The facts are otherwise
and Obama�s rhetoric on Turkey is inaccurate, misleading and omits
important items.
Turkey and Iran Obama has failed to state that Turkey is giving full
support to the Iranian government and its tainted re-elected President
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Erdogan and Turkey�s president were among the
first foreign leaders to call and congratulate Ahmadinejad which was a
deliberate act against the opposition movement in Iran which movement
supported by most of the world community in its denunciation of the
election of Ahmadinejad as fraudulent.
Turkey opposes U.S. and Western policy towards Iran. An editorial
in the Los Angeles Times, October 31, 2009, pointed out that Turkey,
"NATO�s only Muslim member is undermining Western efforts to keep
nuclear weapons from Iran by expanding trade ties."
The editorial points out that while "Congress pushes legislation
aimed at punishing foreign companies that sell petroleum to Iran,
and the United Nations prepares to consider sanctions against that
country if an ongoing round of nuclear talks fails, Iranian leaders
this week were elated over plans to treble trade ties" with Turkey
from $7 billion to $20 billion by 2011.
The Turkey-Iran trade deals and Turkey�s support of the Iranian
Muslim dictatorship "are fueling worries that Turkey…is turning
its back on the West to embrace Islamist regimes to the east."
The editorial refers to Turkey’s "newfound self-confidence. Its
economic clout and geopolitical importance have put it in a position to
realize long-held desires to be a major player on the world diplomatic
stage. Flirting with Iran is a way of asserting independence from
the global powers that be."
The editorial concluded: "That self-confidence will probably be on
full display Dec. 7, when Erdogan heads to Washington to visit with
President Obama. He is expected to be assertive. But Obama needs
to do some lecturing of his own. A nuclear-armed Iran is not in
Turkey’s interest, and Erdogan’s frequent assurances that Tehran is
solely interested in an energy program are either laughably naive or
dangerously cynical."
Turkey and Israel The Turkey-Israel military arrangement, initiated
in 1996 during the Clinton administration by Vice President Gore�s
office, was not in the interests of the U.S. It provided jobs for
Israel�s defense industry and arms enhancement for Turkey according
to Professor Amos Perlmutter. The Cold War was over. We did not and
do not need a militaristic Turkey.
The military arrangement should be ended for a number of reasons,
including the fact that it was harmful to Greece, Cyprus and Armenia.
In effect, it demonstrated support of Turkey�s invasion and
occupation of Cyprus; support of Turkey�s denial of the Armenian,
Greek and Assyrian genocides; support of Turkey�s violations of
the human and political rights of its Kurdish minority; and support
of Turkey�s numerous violations of religious freedom.
Turkey�s military arrangement with Israel and relations generally
have worsened in recent years because of Erdogan�s insulting attack
on Israeli President Shimon Peres at Davos and Erdogan�s rhetoric
against Israel generally and particularly after Israel�s 2008
Gaza attack.
Daniel Pipes, director of the Middle East Forum and Taube distinguished
visiting fellow at the Hoover institution of Stanford University,
in a Jerusalem Post article, Oct. 28, 2009, pointed "to the profound
change of orientation by Turkey’s government – for six decades the
West’s closest Muslim ally – since Erdogan’s AK party came to power
in 2002." That orientation has shifted to Muslim nations and the East,
particularly Iran and Syria.
Pipes refers to Turkey as "an ally no more" and cites three recent
examples in his article. The first was on Oct. 11, 2009, when the
Turkish military "abruptly asked Israeli forces not to participate
in the annual �Anatolian Eagle� air force exercise."
Secondly, Pipes cites Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem�s
announcement on Oct. 13 that Turkish and Syrian forces had just
"carried out maneuvers near Ankara."
Thirdly, "ten Turkish ministers, led by Foreign Minister Davutoglu,
joined their Syrian counterparts on Oct. 13 for talks under the
auspices of the just-established �Turkey-Syria High Level Strategic
Cooperation Council.� The ministers announced having signed almost
40 agreements…and that the two countries’ leaders would sign a
strategic agreement in November."
Pipes points out that Turkey�s strategy "to enhance relations with
regional and Muslim states" comes from the strategy "enunciated by
Davutoglu in his influential 2000 book, Strategic Depth: Turkey’s
International Position."
Pipes also cites Barry Rubin of the Interdisciplinary Center in
Herzliya that "the Israel-Turkey alliance is over," and that "Turkey’s
armed forces no longer guard the secular republic and can no longer
intervene if the government becomes too Islamist." Also Rubin notes,
"The Turkish government is closer politically to Iran and Syria than
to the United States and Israel."
Pipes further cites Caroline Glick, a Jerusalem Post columnist, who
"goes further: Ankara has already "left the Western alliance and
became a full member of the Iranian axis."
Turkey and the Kurds Turkey still denies its 15-20 million Kurdish
minority (20%) full human and political rights. Turkey has committed
outrageous crimes against humanity in the treatment of its Kurdish
minority: 3,000 villages burned to the ground; 3,000,000 refugees;
30,000 Kurds killed by Turkey�s military; 17,000 Kurds assassinated
by Turkey�s para-military squads. (See Eric Rouleau, "Turkey�s
Dream of Democracy," Foreign Affairs, Nov./Dec. 2000; pp 100-114.)
Obama should insist on full human and political rights for Turkey�s
Kurdish minority and compensation for the victims and their heirs.
Turkey-anti-Christian Turkey was founded on the ashes of Turkey�s
genocides against its Armenia, Greek and Assyrian Christian minorities
in the 1920�s led by Kemal Ataturk. Turkey was the leading
anti-Christian nation in the world in the 20th century, killing over
2,500,000 Christians. And today it violates the religious freedom of
the tiny Greek Orthodox Christian minority of 2000 and the Ecumenical
Patriarchate.
Turkey-anti-Semitic Turkey is also a leading anti-Semitic nation. The
Erdogan government has increased the anti-Israel rhetoric considerably
over the past several years.
Turkey� Denial policy Turkey continues to deny its genocide history
against the Armenian, Greek and Assyrian Christians and its founding on
the bodies of its genocides. Turkey, in my view, will never be fully
accepted as a nation until it recognized its genocides and provide
compensation as Germany particularly and Japan have done for their
horrendous crimes.
Obama�s Need to Act Frankly, President Obama needs to do more than
lecture. He needs to consider putting U.S sanctions on Turkey and
the withdrawal of existing benefits if Turkey does not meet specific
conditions regarding Iran and the Greek American core issues of
Cyprus, the Aegean, FYROM and religious freedom for the Ecumenical
Patriarchate, which are based on fundamental U.S. principles of the
rule of law, democratic norms and religious freedom.
Get Active The Greek American community needs to act vigorously,
forcefully and respectfully in calling and writing to President Obama
to support the rule of law, democratic norms and religious freedom
regarding Turkey and to support sanctions if Turkey does not meet
specific conditions.
Call the White House Comments line at 202-456-1111 and write:
President Barack Obama, The White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue,
NW, Washington, DC 20500. Act today, it does help.
Gene Rossides is founder of the American Hellenic Institute and former
Assistant Secretary of the Treasury