BY TURKER ALKAN
RADIKAL- We’re angry with the Americans, and not without reason. They treated our soldiers as prisoners of war by putting sacks on their heads, they’re failed to act against PKK terrorists, they don’t care about the killings of Turkish truck drivers or kidnappings of Turkish businessmen, and they’ve failed to keep their promises. However, don’t you think that there’s a deliberate message behind these acts? I guess Washington wants to say to us, ‘We’re friends and strategic allies, but you didn’t hold up your end. You left me standing alone when I was going to war, and didn’t keep your promises. I’ll support you just as much as you supported me.’ It would be a diplomatic faux pas for the US to say it openly, but this is their indirect message to us, that is, ‘You reap what you sow.’ Behind this stance, there is the desire to discipline us by taking the wind out of our sails. The US wants to say, ‘Our work in Iraq isn’t finished yet. The situation might get worse. You’ll either cooperate with us, or a Kurdish state will be established in northern Iraq with the PKK still there.’ The US is ignoring our requests, which might indicate that a long bargaining process is continuing.’
The US has plans not only in Iraq, but also in the Middle East and North Africa. Maybe it’s strong enough to fulfill these plans without Turkey. However, if it works with Turkey, which is the most developed and strongest country in the region, it can get what it wants more easily and at a lower cost. Maybe the US has its own calculations, but we should solve our own problems and shouldn’t expect everything from the US just because it holds the power in Iraq. For example, we blamed the US, Iraqi Kurds and Arabs when five Turkish security guards working for Iraq’s Turkish Embassy were killed recently. Our accusations may be correct, but we should also blame ourselves a little. Everybody in Iraq put their head in the lion’s mouth, particularly Turks. In such an atmosphere, were we right to dispatch security officials in a car? Did nobody think that these officials would be targets? Was it so difficult to send them to Baghdad Airport with five plane tickets or in an armored vehicle? I don’t blame anybody. Of course the responsible people thought about these issues as well, and maybe they were hindered by red tape. How right is it to not do what we can but then blame the US?