BY ZEYNEP GURCANLI
STAR - Columnist Zeynep Gurcanli comments on the US administration’s views on the Turkish military. A summary of her column is as follows:
Public opinion here is focused on whether Turkey will send troops to Iraq as part of international stabilization force there. This issue will no doubt be high on the agenda of Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul’s five-day visit to Washington, but it won’t be at the very top. Besides Turkish troop deployments, there is yet another issue the US administration is much more concerned about: The Supreme Military Council (YAS) meeting scheduled for this Friday. Those in Washington who keep a close eye on Turkey’s domestic politics keep asking this question: ‘What will happen at the YAS meeting?’
This question is quite important, as it covers the entire background of the ups and downs in Turkish-US relations since the onset of the Iraq war. In review: the criticisms of Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, a leading hawk who accused the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) of ‘remaining silent’ during the debate over US troop deployments for Iraq; the detention of 11 Turkish soldiers in Sulaimaniya earlier this month; and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld’s letter to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, one alleging ‘disturbing’ activities of Turkish personnel in northern Iraq – all these contributed to Washington’s question mark concerning our military.
The more the Washington people talk, the move they reveal their views of the Turkish military. Apparently, Washington’s hawks are unhappy with a certain quarter within the TSK, a circle which they criticize for allegedly acting ‘suspicious’ towards Turkey’s relations with the West. Ironically, Washington’s hawks are unhappy with the TSK’s own ‘hawks.’ The Bush administration is putting the blame on this circle for our Parliament’s rejection of US troop deployments as well as out failure to fully comply with the EU’s Copenhagen criteria and the Cyprus deadlock, and so has branded it ‘the biggest obstacle’ to Turkey’s good relations with the West in general and the US in particular.
That’s why the US administration is so curious about the YAS meeting, seeing it as an opportunity to assess the strength of the TSK’s ‘hawk wing’. During his Washington visit, Gul is very likely to face questions about the YAS, and his answers will probably top the agenda of his contacts.