Will The E.U. - U.S. Split Affect Ankara?

BY MAHIR KAYNAK
STAR- The NATO summit was very successful and important for Turkey. Terrorism was identified as a target, which is not a new theme, but we see that the difference of approach between the United States and the European Union proved unsolvable and in fact grew starker still.
Turkey’s position remained uncertain. While the United States considers Turkey an important element of ‘the common West’ and the keystone of the Greater Middle East Project, the EU persisted in putting its relations with Ankara on a different track than the Atlantic partnership.
While one of the main points of the US strategy in the region is clearly Islam, the EU continued its uncooperative attitude. On the other hand, Turkish President Ahmet Necdet Sezer insisted on treating religion as separate from politics.
The most important question for us is, if the US-EU split deepens, will this have an effect on Turkish politics?
Believing international developments to be the sole spur for the democratization of this region and concomitant anti-terrorist efforts would be a mistake. We could see changes carrying the force of a world war, and so it’s only natural that tensions too would increase. Turkey lies at the focal point of this, and may end up being greatly affected.