BY TAHA AKYOL
MILLIYET- I'm sure US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton boosted the US image in Turkey. Obviously, she's a smiling and warm person. So what about her background? After attending her meetings, Ahmet Davutoglu, a top foreign policy advisor to the prime minister, said that Clinton had first gained great political experiences as the first lady, then as senator, and finally as a presidential candidate. Davutoglu added that she had long been interested in foreign policy and that her power comes not from her name, but her background. A warm temperament and a clear mind obviously signal a better period for Turkish-US relations.
With his belligerent and exclusionary policies, George W. Bush symbolized the 'ugly American.' On the other hand, Obama and Clinton reflect the picture of the 'beautiful American' with their peaceful policies which favor dialogue. Actually the essence and goals of American policies haven't changed, but for example, Bush used to voice threats to make Iran give up its nuclear program, whereas Obama talks about dialogue and tries to win over forces in the region which seem to be close to Iran, including Hamas. Turkey has long approached things this way.
According to my notes from a meeting Davutoglu and Deputy Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Unal Cevikoz held with journalists, Davutoglu said that Obama's foreign policy needs overlap with Turkey's potential and thus Turkish-US relations could be entering one of their best periods. In this sense, Davutoglu said that 'more common working areas' between Turkey and the US for the solution of Middle East issues had emerged and that relations would improve. So he said that Obama was unlikely to talk about a so-called genocide.
At that time, it wasn't known that Mrs. Clinton would visit Turkey and that this visit would be followed in a month by Obama. This process should continue in the way envisaged by Davutoglu. As a matter of fact, from Clinton's speeches, the views of our countries overlap to a great extent in terms of fighting terrorism, ending the embargo on the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), energy problems, our EU membership bid, and solving the Middle East issues.
Another very positive side of Clinton's visit was that it ended the paranoia over 'moderate Islam.' The Bush administration didn't have any policy meant to turn Turkey into a country 'which applies shariah moderately,' but terminology mistakes led to paranoia. It's a good thing that Clinton ended it. She stressed such values as democracy, a secular constitution, freedom of religion, a free market economy, and a sense of responsibility, and said that the US didn't categorize any country by its religious leanings.
Now we can approach Turkey's domestic sociological dynamics and Turkish-US relations free of the paranoia over moderate Islam. The first steps for peace in the Muslim Middle East will be taken by setting paranoia aside, bringing Iran to the table, directing Israel towards common sense, and getting radicals to engage in dialogue. Obviously, the common efforts of Turkey and the US will play a very important role in this process.