BY YILMAZ OZTUNA
TURKIYE- Anglo-Saxon societies celebrate their new heads of state beginning their terms through great ceremonies. The coronation of British monarchs and US presidents' inauguration are similar in terms of this glorification. The Americans already say, "'We elect a king every four years.' The president is the head of both the government and the state, as there is no premier, and he is the military's commander in chief. On the other hand, in the United Kingdom, the monarch is only an indispensable symbol.
The beginning of the term of Barack Obama, the 44th president, took on greater extravagance. Some 2 million people watched it in Washington, and half of the world on television. Invitation cards were being sold for $8,500. After eight years, the Democratic Party is back in power. The Republican Party became the opposition.
For the first time in history, a black president has been elected to a non-black-majority nation. The inauguration cost some $150 million at a time of ongoing global crisis. On the same day, following a 75 percent drop in value of its shares, the Royal Bank of Scotland, in the US' key ally the UK, closed its doors with a loss of half a trillion.
Obama has shadowed the Gaza tragedy. Israel caused damage worth $2 billion in the region. Saudi King Abdullah will pay for half of it. Saudi Arabia, which has the world's biggest oil reserves and is the top oil exporter, profited enormously from high oil prices in the wake of the Iraq invasion. But what about the children suffering in Gaza? Nothing can console them.
Obama took his oath of office on the same Bible used to swear in President Abraham Lincoln. He is expected to help get the world out of the global economic crisis, set Iraq and Afghanistan in order, show Iran its place, tackle Hamas and Al Qaeda, rearrange the world's oil flow, put Israel at ease, etc.
In my poor opinion as a historian, I know that he can't possibly tackle all of these issues. With apologies to our strategic ally, leaders like Lincoln come along only once.