TURKIYE- Columnist Yilmaz Oztuna comments on the prospect of a US-led military campaign in Iraq and Turkey’s possible role in it. A summary of his column is as follows:
The Justice and Development Party (AKP) government, which rules over a country where a deep economic crisis and ethic and even moral decay prevail, has taken on three very broad and complex foreign issues: the European Union, Cyprus and Iraq. It tried its level best for Turkey’s EU accession at the Union’s recent Copenhagen summit, but it was unable to get what it expected. I hope that we haven’t missed our chance on Cyprus, and the government is still working on the Iraq issue.
The US will stop at nothing to topple Saddam Hussein. Moreover, there is no force in the world which can hold Washington back from doing so. If only Saddam Hussein were to take a step back, a war in Iraq could be averted. The United Nations’ efforts to head war off are useless. The US is greatly determined to take control of oil resources all by itself, and its doing this is a certainty. Great Britain will get its share, and Israel will strengthen its security in the Middle East. What about Turkey? What will it get?
Turkey’s only goal is to minimize its prospective losses from a possible war. It is in no way after the spoils of an Iraq war. We are solely concerned about the possible consequences our country may face should the Mideast’s power balances shift. Washington is speaking gently to Turkey, but it’s avoiding making any specific pledges to us. Turkey cannot declare war on Iraq. It cannot embark upon such an adventure. However, it will no doubt support the US to this or that extent. Otherwise, when this chapter is over, Washington may accuse Turkey of taking a pro-Iraq stance. If that happens, Turkey could suffer greatly. We haven’t yet forgotten those long years of US embargo on our country after the 1974 Cyprus peace operation.
The political leadership will make a decision after hearing the General Staff’s opinion, as the issue largely has to do with the military. The clock is ticking. Prime Minister Abdullah Gul will visit Arab countries to convince them that Turkey doesn’t want to get involved in a war, but that it has no choice. And even these countries, which are greatly dependent on the US, will hypocritically accuse us of failing to stand up to America. Yet, Turkey has to seek the opportunity to have its say on the future of Iraq.
SOURCE: OFFICE OF THE PRIME MINISTER, DIRECTORATE GENERAL OF PRESS AND INFORMATION