BY TUNCAY OZKAN
AKSAM- Columnist Tuncay Ozkan comments on what Turkey and the US should do in the wake of the Sulaimaniyah incident. A summary of his column is as follows:
The joint inquiry set up to investigate the July 4-6 detention of Turkish soldiers by US forces in Sulaimaniyah, northern Iraq has now completed its work. What will happen next? I consider a quarrel between Washington and Ankara over the report’s findings to be likely. Therefore, we should determine a strategy for this contingency right now.
The US should neither have conducted an operation to get the Turkish soldiers out the region, nor treated them badly and accused them of assassination. The US says that it cannot apologize. This is just the beginning. Washington is only preparing for future attacks. However, it’s on the wrong road. Soon it will realize its mistake but until that time, Turkey mustn’t get upset or fearful.
For this reason, Turkey should clarify its stance. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan should maintain the stance he took during his recent telephone conversation with US Vice President Dick Cheney. In addition, the records of this conversation should be distributed to other members of the government so they can all speak with one voice. The US detentions in Sulaimaniyah were clearly planned. Now the language and conclusions of the joint inquiry’s report is very important because it will determine the situation from now on. At this point, Turkey should not relent. We must do what is needed on every issue, including punishing the US soldiers involved.
From now on, Turkey should boost its initiatives in the region both militarily and politically. It should meet the needs of its national interests in northern Iraq with both its military presence and political approach. Towards this end, it should use trade and the economy. As Chief of General Staff Gen. Hilmi Ozkok said recently in Diyarbakir, the US will soon turn back to Turkey because there’s no other way. In addition, soon the US and Britain will understand that they’re stuck in a swamp in Iraq.
Ankara should also prepare an agreement on ‘cooperation against terrorism’ and tell Washington against whom it must fight. Turkey should show the US that it’s a great country. However, we should be careful. If the US can’t comprehend our strength, we might end up stuck in the same swamp as the US. For this reason, our politicians should be very careful.
SOURCE: OFFICE OF THE PRIME MINISTER, DIRECTORATE GENERAL OF PRESS AND INFORMATION