MILLIYET- Columnist Fikret Bila writes on the US and British stance on Turkey’s northern Iraq policy. A summary of his column is as follows:
The speech that Chief of General Staff Gen. Hilmi Ozkok gave at yesterday’s press conference clarified Turkey’s stance on the Iraq war, and conveyed important messages to the leaders of both the coalition forces and the Iraqi Kurdish opposition groups.
‘This is not our war,’ said Gen. Ozkok. ‘This is not our mission.’ These words made Turkey’s stance abundantly clear. I wish our politicians had shown such admirable specificity at the beginning of the Iraq crisis. Perhaps such a clear stance might have prevented the current tension between Turkey and the US. However, back then our politicians talked and acted as if Turkey supported this war and wanted to take part in it. But then they rejected giving help to the US. That’s why Turkey is currently being treated as a scapegoat in the international community. Both the US and Britain have started to make disparaging remarks against our country.
The US and Britain keep sounding warnings about the possible adverse effects of Turkey’s intervention in northern Iraq. At the same time, they are also trying to keep the lines of communication with Turkey open, since they are encountering serious problems in the war’s southern front. Both Bush and Blair need to answer a couple of critical questions:
‘If our Parliament had passed the proposal to allow the deployment of US troops on our soil, Turkish troops would also have entered northern Iraq. In other words, you would not have opposed Turkey’s intervention if that proposal had gone through. You were counting on Turkey at that time, but no longer. But why? What has changed? You believed that Turkey once had justifiable reasons for entering the region, but it doesn’t now?’
Our politicians should have asked these questions. They should have underlined that Turkey needs to enter the region so as to protect its own security and national interests.
‘I have difficulty comprehending those who claim there is a threat to them lying across the ocean,’ Ozkok added. ‘And yet when Turkey says the same threat exists on the other side of its own border, we are greeted by scoffs of disbelief. If developments get out of control, I hope our friends will not ask us to take action that they now oppose.’ Bush and Blair should consider these remarks. Ozkok also clarified under which conditions Turkey would feel it necessary to send its troops to the region. ‘Our biggest concern is an attack on our position, or a large refugee crisis resulting from unexpected developments in the war, or an attack on our stability from armed elements in the region,’ the general added. ‘The purpose of an existing Turkish military force along the Iraqi border was to keep the peace and provide relief aid.’ Both the US and Britain should also clarify their stances on Turkey’s possible intervention in the region. Threatening a country on the one hand, and requesting its help on the other, is an attitude ill-fitting either nation.
SOURCE: OFFICE OF THE PRIME MINISTER, DIRECTORATE GENERAL OF PRESS AND INFORMATION