BY FEHMI KORU
YENI SAFAK- Columnist Fehmi Koru comments on the detention of Turkish soldiers based in Sulaymaniyah, northern Iraq on Friday by US forces. A summary of his column is as follows:
Certain political observers tend to relate US detention on Friday of 11 Turkish special forces in Sulaymaniyah, northern Iraq to Ankara's refusal in March to allow US troop deployment on Turkish soil during the US-led Iraq war. This is what they say: ‘Washington had yet to stomach this bitter refusal, thus trying to force Ankara to share its disappointment every way that it can.’
No doubt the ‘hawking wing’ in Washington could hardly put up with the Turkish Parliament’s rejection of a US request to use the country as a springboard for a northern front against Saddam Hussein. And in fact, they themselves have openly been stating this for quite a long time now. But at the same time we’ve heard them saying, ‘All those things are in the past now; let’s look in the future.’ In addition, Washington has been seeking ways to put Turkish-US relations back on track, and it is set to host Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul towards the end of this month.
Apparently, the Turkish refusal to give US troops access to northern Iraq has left deep scarves on the US’ ‘hegemonic’ world view, though it did not affect the course of the Iraq war substantially. Contrary to what the war planners in the Pentagon had defended, the failure to open a northern front did not result in mounting US casualties or a prolonged war.
What was the driving force behind the aggressive US detention of Turkish soldiers? There are important points in the timing of the detentions, the way they happened and their immediate aftermath. First of all, the Turkish Special Forces have been based in Sulaymaniyah for many months now. Yet, the US troops have seemed to deliberately choose the 4th of July, the US Independence Day, to detain Turkish soldiers out of awareness that top US officials in Washington would go on a four-day vacation. As a matter of fact, Turkish officials, when they heard of the incident, had hard times to find someone to talk to in the Washington administration. Secondly, when at last Turkish officials found some counterpart to consult on the detentions, they realize that Washington had no idea about the incident.
The government must manage this crisis wisely. Otherwise, Turkish-US relations could enter an irreversible path.
SOURCE: OFFICE OF THE PRIME MINISTER, DIRECTORATE GENERAL OF PRESS AND INFORMATION