Brooking Institute: We Can Revive Common Strategic Interests Between Turkey And U.S.

ISTANBUL - Martin Indyk, the Director of Brookings Institute's Middle East Centre commented on Wednesday that the Turkish-American relations were in crisis, adding that ''certainly the problem is Iraq, particularly the northern Iraq. This is dangerous for the future of U.S.-Turkey relations.''
Martin Indyk, a former U.S. ambassador who was the U.S. National Security Council's consultant for the Middle East when Bill Clinton was the U.S. President, talked about the U.S.'s Middle East Strategy in Istanbul as the guest of Turkish-American Business Council.
Indyk stated that Turkish-American relations were in crisis, adding that he didn't talk on behalf of the U.S. government, but he explained his own views. Noting that the problem between Turkey and the U.S. was Iraq, Indyk commented that armed forces of both countries carried out activities in the same land. Indyk stated that this could cause a conflict between the two armed forces.
Relations between Turkey and the U.S. were important because there was potential of conflict on land, he said. He commented that things could be different if the U.S. and Turkey could have found the way of destroying Saddam Hussein regime together. The U.S. entered the north of Iraq and used Kurds as the allies of the U.S. to this end, he noted.
Pointing out that Turkey and the U.S. had joint interests, Indyk stated that the U.S. wanted to maintain the territorial integrity of Iraq.
Indyk stated that the U.S. never wanted to see an independent Iraqi Kurdistan, adding that the countries had to fight against terrorism. The U.S. was a victim of terrorism just like Turkey, said Indyk, adding that the U.S. didn't want to regard north of Iraq as a platform to attack Turkey. He said that Turkey and the U.S. worked together to overcome the PKK problem, adding that they had common interests with Turkey. ''We want to see a stable Northern Iraq,'' said Indyk.
He noted that U.S. President George W. Bush formed a such strategy in the Middle East which was all related with neighbours of Turkey. The first target was toppling over Saddam Hussein, adding that the U.S. became powerful in the region following the overthrowing of Saddam regime.
There was a change to the advantage of moderate states in the region in respect of balance of power, said Indyk adding that Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Turkey became powerful while Syria and Iran were weakened.
Indyk stated that if the U.S. was not successful in Iraq, this would not be to the advantage of Turkey.
When asked if the U.S. extended support to terrorist organization PKK/KADEK, Indyk stated that the view claiming that U.S. was supporting PKK was nonsense.
Upon a question, Indyk accepted that there was insolence in the new strategy of the U.S. noting that the U.S. should have acted more carefully and taken into consideration the concerns of Turkey.
Upon another question, he said that both governments did mistakes, adding that the U.S. didn't take into consideration sufficiently the role of the public opinion in Turkey. Arrogance caused us to do mistakes, he said, adding that the U.S. and Turkey should act as allies.
Vural Akýsýk, the Chairman of Turkish-American Business Council said that the trade volume between the two countries was around 13.5 billion dollars and the balance between exports and imports was proportional. He added that yet Turkey's share in the U.S.'s foreign trade was not sufficient.
(ÖÞ-AÖ) 16.07.2003