Columnist Erol Manisali comments on a possible war against Iraq and Turkish-US relations. A summary of his column is as follows:
The Bush administration is about to wage a bloody war against Iraq to topple Saddam Hussein and establish a new regime which would be definitely dependent on the Washington. US preparations for a regime change in Iraq began in 1991, and the entire process would have already been completed had Turkey not reacted and resisted US designs on northern Iraq.
Now, Washington is talking to Ankara almost in a threatening fashion: ‘If you let me open a northern front into Iraq I will let you intervene in the region. Otherwise, you will bear the consequences. I will in any way hit Iraq and divide it. Now you are either with me or against me. And I warn you, there this whole Armenian issue and of course there are the Kurds, too.’
Apparently, the Bush administration is blackmailing Turkey. Moreover, the US is not to be trusted concerning its relations with the Kurdish groups in northern Iraq and the promises it had made to Turkey that no Kurdish state would be established in the region in post-Saddam period. The US, once it obtains Turkish support for a war against Baghdad and takes control of the entire northern Iraq, will no doubt begin its quest for a puppet Kurdish ‘statelet.’ So, either Turkey helps the US or not, US will not alter its secret agenda on northern Iraq. And Turkey’s support to the US will even speed up the process of the establishment of a Kurdish state. But if Turkey and other regional countries oppose US war plans, they will have a chance to challenge Bush administration’s overall designs for the Middle East.
US’ Turkey policy has always been plagued by grave mistakes. From the very beginning of the relations between the two countries, the US has treated Turkey as if it was not a strategic partner but rather as a country in its backyard.
The Bush administration is all alone vis-à-vis the international community. Powers such as Germany, France, Russia, China and India are dead set against US’ aggressive and illegal policies. Under these circumstances, Turkish Parliament’s rejecting last weekend a proposal, which would have allowed stationing of US troops, strengthened the peace front. Turkey should not get involved in a war against Iraq along side the US if it doesn’t want to be isolated in the world in future.

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