Murat Yetkin, one of columnists of Radikal daily, said in his article --``United States and AKP have mutual feelings``-- that U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld`s statement caused uneasiness in Ankara. ``In an interview with the FOX TV Channel, Rumsfeld claimed that Turkey`s not allowing U.S. soldiers to launch an operation from the north was among reasons of the armed attacks which were still going on in Iraq. While foreign ministries of the two countries were making statements to ease the tension, government circles (in Turkey) were surprised by such a statement of Rumsfeld.``
``Rumsfeld`s words could be seen in the U.S. capital as the manifest of acknowledgment of date of March 1st, 2003 as the beginning of deterioration of Turkish-US relations and of gradually ossifying judgment against the AKP`s political power. It is possible to read it in a presentation at the U.S. Senate. The presentation at the U.S. Senate Committee for Foreign Affairs on March 8th was on the `Future of Democracy in the Black Sea Region`. It was made by Bruce P. Jackson. It included hardly acceptable expressions about Turkey and the AKP. According to Jackson, Turkey, which reached a historic milestone with the EU on December 17th, 2004, has been living through a `national and geopolitical identity crisis`, and standing on the threshold of a `difficult and problematic period`. Jackson relates it to problems of the AKP, which he describes as `a secular Islamic government` about changes in the Middle East and its integration process with the EU,`` Yetkin said.
He added, ``in an interview with the Sabah daily on March 19th, Foreign Minister & Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Gul said that criticizing the media and the United States increased the prestige of the AKP in the public opinion. However, it is evident that one of the most important reasons of government`s problems abroad is that it has become diametrically opposite as against the United States. Also, if this situation starts to deteriorate Turkey`s relations with the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), government could face more difficulties.``