BY FERAI TINC
HURRIYET- While preparations for the month-end NATO summit in Istanbul are continuing, NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer yesterday sent messages from Brussels to the people of Istanbul. ‘I know that traffic in the city has been turned upside down due to the NATO summit, and people are facing hardships,’ he said. ‘I apologize to all Istanbulites. However, I want to tell those people that the summit will be useful for defending our common values.’ For him, the summit will be a turning point in NATO’s history. ‘I’m proud that the summit will be held in Istanbul,’ he added. ‘NATO defends the values like peace and democracy which terrorists try to destroy. Turkey shares these values both with its fight against terrorism and its recent reformist efforts towards European Union membership. The Turkish nation will support steps for values which it consider important. In addition, Istanbul is a bridge between the East and West. It has a symbolic importance expressing NATO’s future with its geographical and strategic location.’ US Ambassador to NATO Nicholas Burns echoed the same points while emphasizing the symbolic importance of the summit and Turkey’s importance for NATO.
In addition, Scheffer said that Turkey had highlighted its responsibilities within NATO in its new mission as part of the fight against terrorism. Stating that NATO Senior Representative in Afghanistan Hikmet Cetin represented the alliance there very well and that he is beloved in the country, Scheffer added that a proposal to extend his term of duty had been accepted. Scheffer also mentioned being glad that Turkey will have the next command of the International Security and Assistance Force (ISAF) there.
The upcoming NATO summit in Istanbul should be a very important meeting where alliance decides how to face the threats of the 21st century. The Afghanistan issue will be one of the most important ones discussed there. The US suggestion that NATO should undertake duties in Iraq failed to win support, so it won’t be on the agenda. As the power in Iraq will be handed over to the Iraqis on June 30, binding steps on the Iraq issue will be avoided at the summit. The Greater Middle Easter Project (GME) will be one of the issues discussed. Under the GME, strengthened dialogue with Mediterranean countries will be on the agenda. In addition, the most important and newest initiative is the ‘Istanbul Cooperation Initiative’ covering bilateral relations envisaged between the Arab countries and NATO. Meanwhile, NATO will release an eight-article package in Istanbul for the fight against terrorism.