CUMHURIYET- Columnist Hikmet Bila comments on government leaders’ recent comments on a possible US operation against Iraq. A summary of his column is as follows:
Even while the Iraq wardrums beat even more insistently, our leaders are speaking in dulcimer tones: Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit said, ‘The US is talking about a military operation. Even if Turkey doesn’t want to participate in this operation, it will be dragged into it. If a war which neither interests us nor is necessary for us starts and we get involved, we might face grave losses, particularly among our young people. Things are going off the rails.’ Deputy Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz said, ‘Turkey has to participate in this operation in order to ensure a solution in favor of Turkey.’ State Minister Responsible for the Economy Masum Turker weighed in with, ‘I have to prepare the economy for the possibility of war. A great deal of serious work is being done concerning this issue. My basic aim is to dispel fears that the economy will go south.’ And Defense Minister Sabahattin Cakmakoglu said, ‘If our efforts to avert conflict aren’t successful, we should move one stage ahead. We might flex our muscle. If necessary, an operation might be on the agenda.’ If such words belonged to mere politicians, they wouldn’t be quite so important. However, these words belong to the Turkish Republic’s prime minister, deputy prime minister and defense minister, and they are all serious words. The prime minister paints a picture of Turkey being dragged into a war. Is Turkey in such a sorry state that it can be dragged into a war that it doesn’t even want? If Turkey has to fight just because its security and future were endangered as a result of recent developments in northern Iraq and thus constitute an ‘unacceptable’ situation, then why is this war ‘unnecessary’? The prime minister’s words fail to address these questions. War is a serious business, but one searches with great effort to find our leaders expressing the proper gravitas. Is this war talk the official position of the state, or just some politicians’ election gambits? Is a disaster on the horizon, or are we watching a horror movie? President Ahmet Necdet Sezer, who describes Turkey’s European Union membership bid as a ‘national matter,’ held a leaders’ summit this summer to ensure that the necessary harmonization laws were passed. The coming war -- which the prime minister said that Turkey is being ‘dragged into’ -- is a ‘national matter’ as well. Moreover, it’s also an urgent matter. The president is at the same time the commander-in-chief. Sezer can take up his historic duties by convening two summits:
Making Turkey’s stance clear by convening both the leaders in power and the opposition leaders. Showing that this issue has regional import by meeting with the Iranian and Syrian heads of states, two key actors on the Iraqi issue.
Turkey should actually do something, instead of shouting helplessly, ‘We are being dragged’ and ‘There might be grave losses.’ War is a path that should be followed only when it’s inevitable and all peaceful alternatives have been exhausted. War is a serious business indeed.