BY SAMI KOHEN
MILLIYET- A series of significant developments in Turkish-United States relations have recently taken place, including the government’s permission earlier this week for a year’s extension on the use of Incirlik Airbase by allied forces under a United Nations resolution. This agreement grants the US a number of restricted rights for using the airbase. Ankara has neither accepted nor rejected all of the American demands, but found a diplomatic way to finesse them.
The fact that the government approved the agreement on the eve of April 24, the so-called ‘Armenian genocide day,’ is very important. The Armenian groups have recently stepped up pressure on US President George W. Bush about a proposed congressional resolution urging him to use the term ‘genocide’ in his remarks on that day. American diplomatic circles believe that no matter how hard the Armenian lobby tries, it can neither persuade Bush to use the term nor convince Congress to pass a resolution recognizing the so-called genocide.
It’s quite difficult to get a sense of the current state of Turkish-American relations. Our media recently gave extensive coverage to ‘crisis’ stories between the two countries. However, both Ankara and Washington have retained their positions as two close allies, insisting that there’s no such crisis between their administrations. Our military forces are denying allegations along these lines on the one hand, but expressing their dissatisfaction over the US’ policy in northern Iraq on the other.
A meeting called ‘Redefining and Boosting Turkish-US relations’ was held yesterday in Istanbul by the ARI movement, an independent movement to promote structural change and youth participation in Turkish democracy, and these issues were discussed in detail. Significant figures from the political, business, academic and media world attended the gathering and clarified a number of key points on Turkish-US relations, which can be summed up as follows:
During the Cold War, Turkey and the US became closer then ever under common national interests, which were at that time threatened by common security problems. Although they managed to maintain their partnership in the post-Cold War era, the US changed radically in wake of Sept. 11, which inevitably affected bilateral relations. * Over the course of time, Turkish foreign policy has stayed conservative, and thus failed to keep up with new developments. * Turkey can realize its plans on the issues of the terrorist PKK and northern Iraq only by establishing more harmonious cooperation with the US. The governments don’t need to constantly fine-tune their policies. Nations should stop being paranoid and try to catch up with the latest developments, and this is possible only if the governments keep their citizens well informed and guide them in correct directions.
‘Neither side is indispensable to the other, but both Washington and Ankara would lose much should their relationship deteriorate further,' writes Michael Rubin in the current issue of Turkish Policy Quarterly, a journal published with the support of the ARI Movement. 'If Turkish and American politicians and diplomats do not acknowledge and put aside their past mistakes, bilateral relations will continue to sour,' he adds, stressing, 'The US-Turkish partnership is simply too important to lose.’ I think this is a very important point for all of us.