Columnist Taha Akyol comments on his conversation with Prime Minister Gul on Turkey’s policy towards a possible US-led operation against Iraq. A summary of his column is as follows:
Speaking recently to Prime Minister Abdullah Gul, I asked him, ‘Your peace initiative, doesn’t it veer away from the US and point to the Middle East?’ He replied, ‘I told Turkish Industrialists’ and Businessmen’s Association [TUSIAD] Chairman Tuncay Ozilhan the same thing. Should we give the green light to the coming of 120,000 US soldiers to Turkey in order to show unity to our allies? This wouldn’t be fitting for a great country like Turkey.’ And what about the US administration’s opinion, I asked him. ‘They understand our concerns and consider them justified,’ he answered. ‘We meet with US Ambassador Robert Pearson often. I also met with our Ambassador in Washington Faruk Logoglu a short while ago. There are no problems in Turkish-US relations, nor can there be any. The US is pleased with my tour of the Middle East because they know our aim, and they know that we put pressure on Saddam Hussein.’
Of course the US wants Turkey to do more to show its support. Gul agreed but then added, ‘However, we have to favor peaceful means of resolution as much as we do the US, and use all our possibilities as much as we can.’ It’s good for us to pursue a peace policy, but are we fulfilling our obligations to our allies? ‘We have taken very positive steps and made progress,’ he replied. ‘Turkish and the US soldiers are gathering information and making plans by considering a host of contingencies. Of course we are working with our allies.’ Stating that he had been meeting with the General Staff concerning this issue, Gul added, ‘Tell me what you want from the soldiers so I can give them orders immediately!’ Gul declined to give any details on his recent meeting with Chief of General Staff Gen. Hilmi Ozkok, saying only, ‘I was pleased with the meeting. They [the military] don’t consider the government indecisive. On the contrary, they think that our cautious policy is appropriate.’
As for what I think, the Iraq issue is a very complicated one, and matters of war and peace aren’t just black and white. Therefore a ‘finely balanced policy’ is necessary. Some forces in Turkey, for example TUSIAD, think that we are standing too close to Iraq, a situation which threatens to destroy our friendship with the US. Such a development would surely hurt us. Other forces, for example the opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), are concerned that we are moving step by step ever closer to war. If this happens, we will be harmed as well. There is a delicate balance between these two risks. Maintaining this balance is a difficult task, and Mr. Gul is proceeding carefully on the issue.
SOURCE: OFFICE OF THE PRIME MINISTER, DIRECTORATE GENERAL OF PRESS AND INFORMATION