BY FERAI TINC
HURRIYET- Turkish-US relations have recently been issue one for our country. Although neither government will admit to there being a problem, recent media reports have argued that there’s an ongoing crisis between Ankara and Washington.
National Security Council (NSC) Secretary-General Yigit Alpogan on Wednesday delivered a remarkable speech on this issue at the Turkish-US Business Council in Istanbul. ‘Recent ‘crisis’ allegations are baseless, but our partnership must still be revamped,’ he said. ‘We need a healthier dialogue and frank conversation.’
Attendees of the meeting included US Ambassador to Ankara Eric Edelman and Istanbul Chief Consul David Arnett. Alpogan underlined that first of all Ankara’s doubts and concerns about Iraq must be dispelled so that bilateral relations can be revamped.
‘Our countries need to harmonize their policies on the northern Iraq and Kirkuk issues,’ said Alpogan. ‘In this context, two essential issues that come to mind are protecting Iraq’s territorial integrity and eliminating the terrorist PKK’s presence in northern Iraq.’ Alpogan added that the US should also support Turkey’s EU membership bid and not make concessions on the so-called Armenian genocide allegations. Furthermore, he asked Washington to see Ankara as an effective player in the Mideast peace process.
Not only Turkish but also American officials are currently trying to give positive messages about bilateral relations. US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld on Wednesday denied that he had criticized Turkey’s refusal to let American troops deploy on its soil before the Iraq war. In addition, Edelman said that intergovernmental relations were in fine shape.
However, the more positive messages we get, the more we tend to read between the lines. Each day brings new and conflicting statements concerning Incirlik Airbase. Although the Americans insist that their requests were shaped in line with the Defense and Cooperation Agreement between our two countries, Ankara believes that matters concerning third parties can’t be evaluated in the context of this agreement.
Both sides are blaming the media for harming bilateral relations through baseless exaggerations. However, as the problems are so obvious, these accusations are completely unfair. As Alpogan said, ‘It’s the task of officials of our two countries to defend common interests with courage and without hesitation.’ This is an important point.