BY ZEYNEP GURCANLI (STAR)
Columnist Zeynep Gurcanli comments on US Secretary of State Colin Powell’s visit to Turkey today. A summary of her column is as follows:
The problems encountered by US and British coalition forces in Iraq have proven that the war will not go as they planned. Most of the assumptions on which the US had based its decision to attack Iraq turned out to be false. Let’s take a look at the current picture: Saddam Hussein’s paramilitary forces are resisting coalition forces in northern Iraq, which means the US assumption that Saddam is a hated tyrant fell flat. The Kurdish forces in northern Iraq which had been expected to help US troops do not seem as powerful as expected. Furthermore, tension is rising in the Arab world. The US is actually stuck in Iraq, which is why the Bush administration is currently looking for a reliable new ally. Diplomatic circles in Washington, which had charged Turkey with betrayal, have suddenly begun asking themselves what the Bush administration did wrong with Turkey. US Secretary of State Colin Powell’s visit to Turkey should be interpreted within this framework. Washington has shifted its tactics in its relations with Turkey. Powell decided to pay an official to Ankara in a bid to mend our strained relations, which have suffered ever since Parliament refused to authorize US troop deployments on Turkish soil.
Powell has brought a new economic aid package with him, and here are some important points this new package includes:
1) The Bush administration is to spend $750 million on purchasing Turkish products to be sent to US troops in Iraq.
2) Textile products will be included into the Qualified Industrial Zones (QIZs) to be established jointly by Turkey and the US.
3) US quotas on Turkish textile products will be increased.
4) Turkey is to provide US soldiers with the textile products they need.
5) The US Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) is to grant Turkey’s small- and medium-sized enterprises (SEEs) with loans.
The additional package focuses on a number of measures designed to improve commercial ties between our two countries.
Will the Bush administration again ask to use Turkish soil to open a northern front against Iraq? We don’t know yet. Will a new proposal for the deployment of US troops on Turkish soil be prepared? I have no idea. However, I expect Powell not to bring up this issue during his visit. I believe that the Bush administration is planning to ask for Turkey’s support in the future. This visit is meant solely to soothe a disappointed ally.
SOURCE: OFFICE OF THE PRIME MINISTER, DIRECTORATE GENERAL OF PRESS AND INFORMATION