Say Plainly What’s Going On In Iraq

BY TURGUT TARHANLI

RADIKAL- Columnist Turgut Tarhanli comments on Turkey’s Iraq policy. A summary of his column is as follows:

Paul Bremer, the civilian administrator of the American-led occupation in Iraq, on Sunday stated that the introduction of Turkish troops remained a sensitive matter in the country, claiming that Iraqis felt understandably sensitive since Turks were in Iraq during the Ottoman Empire era for 400 years [Note: Please see the correction below]. According to Bremer, Turkey and Iraq’s Governing Council must sit down and discuss the troop deployment issue in order to reach a solution.

Our politicians reacted harshly to Bremer’s words implying that the Ottoman Empire practiced colonialist rule. Bremer is known to be highly experienced in the area of crisis management. However, this time he seems to have forgotten what he learned. Meanwhile, I don’t understand why our people immediately rushed in to defend the history of the Ottoman Empire, especially right now as we’re all celebrating the 80th anniversary of our republic. In addition, after Bremer’s remarks, certain members of our government branded the coalition forces as ‘occupying powers.’ Now I don’t deny that this is in fact true. The American and British forces are nothing but occupiers, which is why we can’t currently speak of a legitimate administration in Iraq, notwithstanding the various efforts to form an Iraqi government representing all the country’s ethnic groups. Under these circumstances, saying that the US is currently the only authority to determine Iraq’s administrators is no mistake. Even the UN Security Council resolution passed earlier this month, which provided a framework for UN participation in the country’s postwar reconstruction, cannot legitimize the US’ position in the region. This resolution might only be interpreted as a road map for the international community to establish a more democratic regime there.

However, Turkey doesn’t seem to grasp this reality. Last week our prime minister stated that the UN resolution had provided his government with the necessary international legitimacy, paving the way for the deployment of our troops in Iraq. If our government meets such legitimacy with approval, then I believe there’s no point in reacting to Bremer’s words by underlining that what’s currently going on in Iraq is clearly an occupation. Turkey needs to straightforwardly name what’s going on in Iraq now, rather than harping on the issue of the fairness of Ottoman rule.