A Race Against Time

MILLIYET- Columnist Sami Kohen comments on the race against time in the Iraq crisis. A summary of his column is as follows:
It seems as if every morning’s newspaper bears a fresh proclamation of, ‘This is a very critical week’ or ‘The most critical day,’ but right now such phrases are apt. Will Parliament consider the proposal for allowing the deployment of US forces in Turkey or won’t it? How long will the Bush administration wait? Or will Bush abandon the northern front and choose an alternative plan? At this point not weeks, but just a few days remain to make these important decisions. Actually the time factor is vital for the US. Bush has to race against time in his preparations for an attack against Iraq. Now if he can’t complete his work on his war plans, he will soon have passed the most appropriate period for attack, that is, the middle of March. However, Turkey isn’t in such a hurry. On the contrary, Ankara wants to gain time. As a matter of fact, the reason for uneasiness between Ankara and Washington is both sides’ different approach towards the time factor.
There were two reasons for Turkey to take its time concerning the second proposal: the international situation and the bargaining between Ankara and Washington. The report presented by the UN inspectors to the Security Council, the many speeches to the council in favor of a peaceful solution, the increasingly widespread demonstrations against war and the expectations of possible positive effects at the European Union’s recent summit all played important roles in pushing back the second proposal till after last week’s holiday. Although these factors haven’t disappeared, the signs from Washington show that Bush isn’t deterred by them at all and is still determined on a military operation. His pressure on Turkey is an indicator of this.
Secondly, Turkey expects its economic, political and military negotiations with the US to lead to an agreement more favorable to Turkey’s interests. Certain developments towards this end happened during the holiday but nothing is firm yet. At this point, the time factor becomes key again and perhaps we’re in the most critical days right now. Whether the second proposal will be sent to Parliament or not will be determined during this critical period.
Both sides expect this issue to be solved through a consensus. If one can be reached concerning the above-mentioned three issues, maybe the issue of the second proposal will be solved at the end of this week or the beginning of next week. Yesterday’s speech by ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan was very important. He gave the Parliament and the public this message: History in the region is to be rewritten. Turkey’s choice is whether to be excluded from this process or instead to play an active role in it.

SOURCE: OFFICE OF THE PRIME MINISTER, DIRECTORATE GENERAL OF PRESS AND INFORMATION