BY YILMAZ OZTUNA
TURKIYE- Our strategic ally the US is rotating almost its entire Iraq occupation force. It will gradually send 13,000 soldiers stationed in Iraq back to the US through Incirlik Airbase. It will also deliver its 110,000 new soldiers from the US to Iraq, again through Incirlik. This way some quarter-million foreign soldiers will set foot on Turkish soil. This is a huge operation emphasizing the strategic aspect of our alliance with the US, one of the most comprehensive military rotations in world military history. It will help our relations with the US recover considerably. However, going back to the days of 2002 isn’t possible yet. Strong relations with the US will boost our importance for the European Union. In addition, this will provide us with a stronger position for our Middle East policy.
Syria and Iran are speaking kindly to Ankara. Turkey is warning these two countries against actions that might provoke the US. Will Washington waver from its attitude towards those two countries? Obviously not! Because then Pax Americana’s initiatives would be weakened. We should formulate our policy around this fact.
Our foreign policy in the coming months will be dominated by the Cyprus issue. The lack of a solution in Cyprus is so dangerous that it might change the balances in Turkey, spoil stability and even cause regime speculations. If failure to reach a solution is caused by the Greek Cypriots, we can do nothing. But If we can solve the Cyprus problem, neither our position as the US’ strategic ally nor our EU candidacy will be up in the air any longer. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s visit to the US next week will make both parties’ views about Cyprus and Kirkuk [in northern Iraq] clear.