BY ASLI AYDINTASBAS
SABAH- In his recent letter of congratulations to US National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice, soon to be secretary of state, Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul stressed an important point: “Turkey and the US share the same ideals of freedom and democracy.’
In the aftermath of the Dec. 17 European Union summit, we should remember Gul’s letter. What he underscored there was that Turkish-American relations must be seen as ‘supplementary’ to our country’s EU membership bid, rather than an alternative. Some believe that Europe is trying to form a power alternative to the US, and that the old continent is incapable of doing so without Turkey. However, neither the US nor the Europeans see each other as rivals. Let alone French populism and the Iraqi crisis, Europe has no intention of forming an alternative military power to America’s. As a matter of fact, Europe believes that Turkey’s 50-year friendship with the US is a blessing for our country. Recognizing this fact, Gul and his diplomats are making great efforts to keep our relations with the US on track. Two days ago, ministry spokesman Namik Tan issued a statement thanking American forces for helping to deal with last week’s deadly terrorist attack against Turkish security guards in Mosul, Iraq. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan also echoed Tan’s words when he spoke this week with President Bush on the phone.
Therefore, we must leave behind our old, outmoded mentality, the one paralyzed by the fear of separatism and epitomized by the famous charge that ‘Everybody’s trying to divide our country.’ Turkey isn’t a lonely, isolated country which is constantly being exploited by foreign countries. Our country does have friends in Europe, and our government is capable of producing solutions to the world’s problems. Or at least, we must see ourselves like this. We can’t accuse the EU of being a ‘Christian club’ or ‘acting like Crusaders’ every time we hit a bump on our road to membership. We have to compromise at the negotiations table.
‘As you walk down this hall, are you aware of the importance of this moment?’ Luxembourg Foreign Minister asked Gul during the concluding minutes of the Brussels summit. Because Turkey isn’t a country alone fighting dragons… Because we have friends out there…
The more Western you feel, the more you become a Westerner.