BY YIGIT BULUT
VATAN- I only laugh at statements saying that there's economic crisis and the US is going bankrupt. There is a crisis, and some people are getting bankrupt and state money is going to somebody, but believe me, there's not such a clear, pure crisis. I'm talking abut a 1997 document called 'A National Security Strategy for a New Century' which was prepared by the Clinton administration. The document is very clear; we'll settle in the region where Turkey will dominate. If necessary, this region might be southern or eastern Anatolia. And the US will settle there in the new century, as required by the new strategy.
Today the situation is different! This thesis was used, and the military-industrial structure benefitted greatly. Now a new thesis and point of view is necessary. So how did our equation, whose main element is the US, develop after the 1950s? How did it get harsher after 1997 and reach its nadir in 2003? Let's review.
Our religion-centered civilian elements were activated by the US and Germany against the potential danger of Russia (communism). This process was also supported by Britain and France, on the condition that Germany had access to Central Asian oil regions, without touching Middle Eastern oil. In Turkey, the process in which religious elements were injected into the wheel of the state against the danger of communism started. We saw the same logic after 1980 as well.
A report on 'from Kemalist secularism to Ottoman secularism' was published in official state organs. While the intellectuals pushed a new synthesis, all sorts of ideas moving away from Ataturk's principles continued to be pushed as well. We saw that the same logic was again dominant in the atmosphere following the 1999 economic crisis and particularly after 2003. A model of Turkey as an 'exemplary older brother' in the Middle East started to be implemented again. The March 2003 motion for US soldiers to use Turkish soil to deploy for the Iraq war was rejected, but the US used Turkish territory anyway. The motion's rejection was applauded by the Middle East, and Arab kings visited Turkey after 80 years, and were received at the Dolmabahce Palace. So the new theory of Ottomanism started to be practiced, though symbolically.
By the way, elements belonging to other religions were activated, as required by Ottoman secularism. The pope's visit was important in terms of testing the limits of this, but this thesis started to be invalidated by the end of the US military-industrial complex. In line with the end of these theses, the bell curve started to turn downwards, which is no coincidence.
Consequently, all the details contained in the first versions in the 1950s and clarified in 1997 were experienced! Now a new thesis is necessary for the US in the Middle East and Central Asia! In this respect, US President Barack Obama's visit to Turkey next week is important. If we can save cooperation from the vicious circle of 'Turkey should become a part of Europe' and make new openings, Obama's visit might cause new implications. Long live 'fully independent' Turkey!