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  • US-Turkish Relations Go Wobbly Now Over Syria

    US-Turkish Relations Go Wobbly Now Over Syria
    By K Gajendra Singh

    Al-Jazeerah.info, GA
    March 23 2005

    When it appeared that the acrimonious airing of differences between
    Nato allies USA and Turkey over Iraq had ebbed somewhat, US efforts
    to 'franchise ' a ' Cedar revolution' in Lebanon, to weaken and
    isolate Syria have brought acute tensions back into the relationship.
    Turkish President Ahmet Necdet Sezer told media last week that he would
    go ahead with his planned visit to Syria in mid-April. "Of course,
    we will go (to Syria)," he said when questioned by reporters at the
    presidential palace.

    Analysts commented that Sezer's visit could be interpreted as support
    for Syria at a time when it was under mounting international pressure
    to end its military presence in Lebanon. Turkey largely kept its
    silence when USA supported by France commanded Syria to quit Lebanon
    forthwith.

    Ankara has also kept quiet on sale of short range Russian missiles to
    Damascus. It would have howled over such a deal in the past. Russian
    Defence Minister and head of the Russian Security Council Igor Ivanov
    told Israel's Channel 1 TV last week that Russia is ready to provide
    assurances that non-portable, anti-aircraft Strelets missiles with
    a range of 4-5 Kms being sold to Syria would not threaten Israel.

    US ambassador Eric Edelman had urged Ankara to join in for an immediate
    and complete Syrian withdrawal. "What can be said on Syria is that
    the international community is completely unanimous on UN Security
    Council Resolution 1559," which calls on Syria to immediately pull out
    of Lebanon. "We hope Turkey will join the international community. Of
    course, the decision to do so lies with Turkey," Edelman added.

    The Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul explained that his country
    was fully in line with the UN resolutions as "democracy and the
    dissemination of freedoms in various parts of the region is Turkey's
    basic policy". Diplomatic sources in Damascus reportedly revealed that
    the US administration reacted angrily at the Turkish government's
    silence over a Turkish people's delegation visiting Syria to voice
    its support and solidarity with the Syrian people in the face of the
    US pressures and the Israeli threats.

    USA has cautioned, even warned Ankara many times, not to have
    close relations with Damascus, but Turkey has ignored such threats.
    Several bilateral high level visits have taken place, the last one
    was in December by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
    Sezer's visit is in return for Syrian President Bashar Assad's
    earlier visit to Turkey in 2004, which marked a turning point in the
    Syrian-Turkish relations.

    Syria has begun withdrawing its forces from Lebanon near to its border
    as laid down in the 1989 Taif Agreement, which had ended the 16 year
    civil war in Lebanon in which nearly 100,000 people were killed and the
    nation almost destroyed. Syria had gone in to protect the Christians
    and the Druzes, now leading opponents of Syria. Last year US and
    France made UN Security Council pass resolution 1559, which called
    for Syrian with drawl and disarming of various militias in Lebanon.

    France became the colonial power in Syria following the First World
    War, which ended the Ottoman empire and its rule over the Middle
    East. Paris created Lebanon by detaching it from Greater Syria to
    give a dominant role to Maronite Christians, who had forged closer
    relations with France during the Crusades.



    After massive but peaceful demonstrations from anti- and pro -Syrian
    groups ignited after the assassination of former Lebanese Prime
    Minister Rafiq Hariri in February, an early morning bomb blast on 19
    March morning in the Christian sector of Beirut has rekindled fears
    of renewal of inter -communal violence and worse.

    During the cold war, while Turkey was member of Nato, Syria was a close
    ally of USSR. But after the collapse of the Soviet Union and the change
    in international strategic scenario, specially after the illegal US
    invasion of Iraq two years ago, Turkey and Syria have come closer.

    In late 1998 Turkey had threatened to invade Syria unless it expelled
    Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan and his Kurdistan Workers' Party
    (PKK ), sheltered in Syria. Ocalan was expelled, caught up by Turkish
    agents in Kenya, brought to Turkey for trial and is now lodged in a
    Turkish jail.

    The US -Turkish differences reached a high acrimonious level, when
    on 1March, 2003, Turkish Parliament shot down a government proposal
    to let US use its territory to open a second front against Iraq from
    the north. Since then Turks have remained opposed to US policies in
    the region.

    Turkish Foreign Ministry did try to lower tensions when it spokesman
    Namik Tan told the media on 10 March that Turkey was strongly committed
    to its strategic partnership with the United States. Rebuffing
    recent allegations that the ruling Justice and Development Party's
    (AKP) had helped encourage rising anti-American sentiment in Turkey,
    Tan stated that Turkey was a friend and ally to the US and that such
    media allegations had no place in Ankara's relations with Washington

    But utterances like the recent one by Defense Secretary Donald
    Rumsfeld on the 2nd anniversary of US invasion of Iraq do not help
    either. He told Fox News TV on 21 March that "Given the level of the
    insurgency today, two years later, clearly if we had been able to
    get the 4th Infantry Division in from the north, in through Turkey,
    more of the Iraqi, Saddam Hussein, Baathist regime would have been
    captured or killed." "The insurgency today would be less," he said.
    Rumsfeld of course understands little about insurgency, rebellion
    and war of independence against occupying powers through out history,
    Vietnam. Algeria and Kenya being recent examples.

    War of Words in US media ;

    Calling Turkey "The Sick Man of Europe-Again " in his oped piece of
    16 February in the Wall Street Journal ",Robert Pollock declared that
    "Islamism and leftism add up to anti-American madness in Turkey." Prime
    Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's favorite.-- Yeni Safak has repeatedly
    claimed that U.S. forces used chemical weapons in Fallujah. One
    of its columnists has alleged that U.S. soldiers raped women and
    children there and left their bodies in the streets to be eaten by
    dogs. Among the paper's "scoops" have been the 1,000 Israeli soldiers
    deployed alongside U.S. forces in Iraq, and that U.S. forces have
    been harvesting the innards of dead Iraqis for sale on the U.S.
    "organ market."

    "It's not much better in the secular press. The mainstream Hurriyet has
    accused Israeli hit squads of assassinating Turkish security personnel
    in Mosul, and the U.S. of starting an occupation of Indonesia under
    the guise of humanitarian assistance. In Al Sabah, a columnist
    last fall accused the U.S. ambassador to Turkey, Eric Edelman,
    of letting his "ethnic origins"--guess what, he's Jewish--determine
    his behavior. --The intellectual climate in which he's operating has
    gone so mad that he actually felt compelled to organize a conference
    call with scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey to explain that
    secret U.S. nuclear testing did not cause the recent tsunami.

    "All of which makes Mr. Erdogan a prize hypocrite for protesting to
    Condoleezza Rice the unflattering portrayal of Turkey in an episode of
    the fictional TV show "The West Wing." The episode allegedly depicts
    Turkey as having been taking over by a retrograde populist government
    that threatens women's rights. (Sounds about right to me.) "

    Tensions fictionalized into US-Turkish War ;

    Voice of America 's Ed Warner reported on this startling shift of
    opinion in a nation recently considered quite close to the United
    States. He quoted from a current best selling novel depicting war
    between the two countries

    Turkey is in flames. A U.S. air attack has leveled Istanbul and
    Ankara, and now American tanks are rolling in to occupy the country.
    In desperation, the Turks call on Russia and the European Union for
    help, and these onetime enemies of Turkey stall the U.S. advance
    and end the war, but not before an enterprising Turkish agent has
    destroyed much of Washington with a nuclear device.

    It is from Turkey's best-selling Turkish novel titled 'Metal Storm'
    which has indeed taken the Turkish public by storm and politicians with
    its outrageous plot which strikes a responsive chord. One of the two
    authors, Burak Turna, a former military affairs reporter, claims his
    book is not just another conspiracy theory but a possibility theory.

    Certainly there is a war of the words. A recent BBC survey indicated
    that Turkey was now the most anti-American nation on earth. So, no
    monstrous act was considered beyond America or its Israeli partner in
    crime who are even compared to the German Nazis. Warner then writes
    about the causes and quotes Sabri Sayari, director of the Institute
    for Turkish Studies at Georgetown University. Turks believe the United
    States has failed to suppress the anti-Turkish rebels operating in
    northern Iraq.

    He said,"I think Turkish sentiment has to be explained in the context
    of what is happening in Iraq," he said. "Obviously, the war in Iraq
    has not been popular in Turkey for a variety of reasons, especially
    the situation in northern Iraq with the growing power of the Kurds
    and the general instability that has engulfed a neighboring country."

    "The US has been pretty much in support of Turkey's experiment with a
    party that originates from the Islamist movement." "When it initially
    came to power in 2002, this party was viewed as something that would
    prove that Islam and democracy are compatible and there should be no
    clash of civilizations. So the US was upholding Turkey as a kind of
    model in a way," he added

    Henry Barkey, professor of international relations at Lehigh
    University, says there is Turkish concern of spillover. A separate
    Kurdish entity in Iraq could revive the separatist movement in Turkey.
    "I think this is overly exaggerated. The Turkish Kurds have had
    problems with the Turkish government and the Turkish elite, but they
    are part of a very vibrant economy and a very vibrant society, which
    is on its way to become a member of the European Union a decade and
    a half from now."

    Prof Barkey continued that relations cooled after Turkey's refusal to
    let U.S. forces invade Iraq from its territory. But U.S. actions hardly
    excuse the constant anti-American drumbeat of Turkish politicians
    and journalists. Nothing Washington says is believed:

    "When you have serious newspapers publishing articles about the United
    States having a secret weapon that makes earthquakes and that Istanbul
    is the next target," he explained. "When you have newspapers that
    publish all kinds of scurrilous articles about the United States,
    that is more worrisome. The problem is that some Turkish politicians
    have joined the fray and have accused the United States of genocide
    and all kinds of other activities in Iraq."

    Calling for dialogue Professor Barkey said that U.S. and Turkish
    officials" should sit down and map out the steps ahead to restore
    proper, if not amicable relations. The two countries are too important
    for each other to let the current rancor persist. "

    Of course Warner did not disclose that PKK rebellion since 1984
    against the Turkish state cost over 35,000 lives, including those of
    5,000 soldiers. To control and neutralize the rebellion, thousands of
    Kurdish villages have been bombed, destroyed, abandoned or relocated;
    millions of Kurds have been moved to shanty towns in the south and
    east or migrated westwards. The economy of the region was shattered.
    With a third of the Turkish army tied up in the southeast, the cost
    of countering the insurgency at its height amounted to between US$6
    billion to $8 billion a year.

    The rebellion died down after the arrest and trial of Ocalan in 1999,
    but it has not been fully eradicated. And the PKK - now also called
    Konga-Gel - shifted almost 4,000 of its cadres to northern Iraq and
    refused to lay down arms. A five year unilateral ceasefire declared by
    PKK in 1999 was not renewed in last June. There have been increasing
    skirmishes and battles between Kurdish insurgents and Turkish security
    forces inside Turkey. Turkey remains frustrated over US reluctance to
    employ military means against the PKK fighters - in spite of promises
    to do so. US priority to disarm PKK cadres was never very high,in fact,
    it wants to reward Iraqi Kurds, who have remained peaceful and loyal,
    unlike the rest of the country.

    The Turks manifest a pervasive distrust of autonomy or models of a
    federal state for Iraqi Kurds: it would encourage the aspirations
    of their own Kurds. It also revives memories of Western conspiracies
    against Turkey and the un-ratified 1920 Treaty of Sevres forced on the
    Ottoman Sultan by the World War I victors. It promised independence
    to the Armenians and autonomy to Turkey's Kurds, which Iraqi Kurds
    could later join. So Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, after undoing the Sevres
    Treaty with his war of independence, opted for a unitary state and
    ruthlessly suppressed Kurdish rebellions in Turkey.


    The war between Iraq and resurgent Shi'ites in Iran in 1980s helped
    the PKK establish itself in the lawless north Kurdish Iraq territory.
    The PKK also helped itself with arms freely available in the region
    during the eight-year war. The 1990-91 Gulf crisis and war also proved
    to be a watershed in the violent explosion of the Kurdish rebellion
    in Turkey.

    Writing in the Washington Times, Andrew Borowiec claimed that
    "Turkey's often virulent anti-American media campaign appears to
    be ebbing somewhat, but diplomats say considerable damage has been
    done to the relationship between the two allies." He added that,
    "Signals from Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan are regarded as
    confusing -- one day minimizing the differences with Washington,
    and another day warning about their impact."

    He quoted Istanbul's left-leaning Cumhuriyet daily, "The United
    States wants Turkey to cooperate with it unconditionally. Should
    such a cooperation be rejected, then [Washington] is threatening to
    isolate Turkey, and going even further, to turn it into a target
    country. ... The situation is every bit this serious." He also
    refers to, "Metal Storm," novel, already into a third edition, which
    describes an imaginary U.S. invasion of Turkey,. "Much to the concern
    of the U.S. Embassy in Ankara, the book is particularly appreciated
    in Turkish military and government circles. According to a recent
    opinion poll, 82 percent of Turks consider U.S. policies under the
    Bush administration to be negative.

    "The peace and freedom loving country of the Cold War period has now
    become the enemy of peace and freedom," wrote columnist Ahmet Cakar in
    Istanbul Ortadogu, a newspaper supporting the right-wing Nationalist
    Action Party. "The United States, which dreams of dominating the
    entire world, is especially attacking Muslim countries and shedding
    Muslim blood in streams."

    But he noted a sober appeal to "respect mutual sensitivities"
    in the English-language Ankara Turkish Daily News (TDN). "The
    relationship between the two countries "rests on mutual respect and
    national interests," said TDN the newspaper said. "The two countries
    should take cognizance of their common interests and United Nations
    resolutions. Both countries should be more calm and more collected
    in relating incidents and events that occur in wartime."

    The mass-circulation Istanbul Milliyet also reminded its readers that
    "the United States is not Turkey's enemy. On the contrary, it is a
    friendly country, it is our ally." "There is no doubt that the United
    States is also making mistakes that should be criticized. And it is
    being criticized," the newspaper added.

    TDN was bought last year by a corporate business house from its founder
    editor Ilhan Cevik's family. When the author returned to Ankara in 1992
    after 20 years, the quality of journalism had declined, with major
    trading /industry corporate interests having muscled their way into
    media to exploit its power for their interests, in the foot steps of US
    media now under control of half a dozen corporate conglomerates. People
    in Turkey bought newspapers for the gifts of crockery and other awards
    instituted to increase circulation and not for its contents. A sad
    development in the free world which lectures others on media freedom.

    Turkish Media reaction;

    Writing in Yeni Safak, Columnist Ibrahim Karagul commented on 17 March,
    "Considering the range of his activities, his statements which violate
    the decorum of democracy, and his interest in Turkey's internal
    affairs, Eric Edelman acts more like a colonial governor than an
    ambassador. Since his appointment as US ambassador to Turkey, Edelman's
    actions have always caused discomfort among the public. His latest
    'suggestions' on Sezer's upcoming visit to Syria had the same impact.

    "Edelman is probably the least-liked and trusted American ambassador
    in Turkish history, and his reputation is not likely to recuperate.
    Edelman's actions have exceeded his diplomatic mission. His 'interest'
    in nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), the Turkish media and ethnic
    minorities make him go beyond his role as an ambassador. His presence
    here has never contributed to Turkish-American relations, and it
    never will. If we want to address the reasons for anti-Americanism,
    Edelman must be issue one. As long as Edelman stays in Turkey, the
    chill wind disturbing bilateral relations will last." ( Incidentally
    Edelman has resigned but cited personal reasons )

    Chiding the pro-US writers in the Turkish media, Karagul said, "Don't
    our government and people have the ability to decide which countries
    we should visit? Is our foreign policy decided by Edelman and his
    chorus among the Turkish media? -- Do we have to act in accordance
    with the common interests of Israel and the US? Is Turkey not an
    independent nation?". He concluded, " The ultimate plan is to corner
    and control Turkey in order to use it as a hit man. The Vietnamese
    were terrorists, according to the US. Latin America, China, Libya
    and the USSR were also terrorists. And now Iran and Syria. But if
    they abandon their policies based on opposing the US, they will no
    longer be called terrorists. Instead, they will be lauded as models
    of democracy for the Middle East." If Turkey follows an independent
    policy, " who can guarantee that those who serve Turkey's interests
    won't be declared terrorists? --Isn't more than half of the world
    already a threat for the US?"

    Recalling ups and downs in US Turkish relations since Turkey's No to
    US troops, another Journalist Fehmi Koru wrote in the New Anatolian
    on 15 March, 'Turkey's stature was raised by Parliament's decision
    in March 2003. Many in the region started to look up to Turkey as
    a strong democracy which could say "No" to a superpower with little
    regard for challenges to its hegemony. This isn't just my point of
    view or that of the people in the region, but is also shared by some
    U.S. specialists. Alan Makovsky, an aide to Congressman Tom Lantos,
    in a panel discussion last week in Washington DC. called it "ironic"
    that Turkey's stand against the U.S. can be used as a successful
    example of the U.S.' democratization project for the Middle East.

    He then lambasted US corporate media, "Can you find any justification
    for the high number of articles recently appearing in the U.S. media
    criticizing Turkey for being "anti-U.S."?

    He added that Turkey could play an important role in the
    democratization of the Middle East because the Parliament didn't say
    "No" to a good relationship between Turkey and the U.S., but only
    opposed US intentions to get Turkey involved in an unjustified
    war in Iraq. It was a warning to all concerned to steer clear of
    military engagement which would lead nowhere. Democracy has worked
    beautifully in Turkey, making the country an exemplary democracy for
    both undemocratic countries in the region and for those democracies
    with little respect for their peoples' wishes.

    " Instead of rushing to Turkey's assistance to put things in order in
    the region, the people representing U.S. interests in Ankara have been
    trying to ruin anything good that remains. Can you see the reason why?
    He then quoted Einstein who once said, "Logic will get you from A to B,
    imagination will take you everywhere." So one has to use imagination,
    Koru concluded.

    Even US friendly Sami Kohen in a recent column, while reacting to US
    criticism of Turkish reliability quoted a Turkish official: 'Instead,
    we should question America's reliability. Does the US care about our
    concerns on the PKK? Does the Bush administration take into account
    our opinion on Iraq? Turkey has always been loyal to the alliance. If
    the dialogue between our countries is in a sorry state, it's America's
    fault. He added that that the true motive behind anti-Americanism in
    Turkey is Bush administration policy on Iraq.' Unlike a large number
    of countries, neither the Turkish government nor the public feels
    hostile towards the US. Those in Washington must come to see that.'

    On the Syrian question, US Middle East policy was "to soften up and
    eventually knock down Syria. The recent events in Lebanon were just
    what the US needed to make another move against Syria. And this time
    Washington got active support from Europe and other nations. Such
    a display of support was anticipated from Turkey as well. Instead,
    Ankara announced that President Sezer would visit Syria. That clearly
    upset the US. Thus the Syria issue was also added to the list of
    disagreements between Turkey and the US.

    "It's a new experience for the Bush administration to see Turkey act
    according to a foreign policy independent from that of Washington.
    But it's time the US became tolerant of Turkey and got used to Turkey's
    new policy."

    Fireworks !

    To discuss and analyze the future of Turkish-American relations a
    panel discussion on "Can Turkish-American relations be saved?" will
    be held in Washington on 23 March. It would be organized by the
    American Enterprise Institute (AEI), known for supporting franchised
    revolutions in Ukraine, Georgia and elsewhere, with the aim of
    restoring relationship .. The US side would include Robert Pollock
    of Wall Street Journal, Richard Perle and Michael Rubin, all known
    for lambasting Turkey in the media. Ankara will be represented
    by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) Vice- President
    Murat Mercan.

    Conclusion;

    Since decades Turkey has suffered the consequences of the wars next
    door, first between Iraq and Iran in 1980s, then US led war on Iraq
    in 1991. And now the illegal US invasion of Iraq two years, with no
    end in sight in spite of Washington's glib talk of promoting democracy
    in the region. After decades of political and economic instability at
    home under asymmetrical coalition governments, the new party with its
    overwhelming strength in the parliament and the municipalities would
    like to concentrate on economic rebuilding of the state. Turkey thus
    aims to promote peace in the region and with a growing economy and a
    million strong armed forces would like to be a regional peacemaker
    and promote democratic legitimacy in international relations. It
    would like Syria and Iran to act according to the demands of the
    international community, but not according to what USA and Israel
    demand. Turkey's new neighborhood policy remains how to minimize
    problems without being pulled into international confrontations.

    Turkey doggedly pursued its campaign to stop Israeli interference
    in Iraqi Kurdistan after an article by veteran US journalist Seymour
    Hersh exposed Tel Aviv providing training to Peshmarga commando units
    in north Iraq and running covert operations in neighbouring countries
    Israel was also infiltrating agents into Iran to plot Iran's.
    clandestine nuclear weapons program for a possible pre-emptive
    strikes. Israel would prefer a weak and decentralized Iraq if not
    a divided one. It led to public denunciation of Israel's actions in
    Gaza, which Erdogan described as state terrorism. It also adversely
    affected their close defence relationship.

    But conflicting strategic interests and consequent tensions between the
    US and Israel, and Syria and Iran would not make Turkey's task easy.

    (K Gajendra Singh, served as Indian Ambassador to Turkey and Azerbaijan
    in 1992-96. Prior to that, he served as ambassador to Jordan (during
    the 1990-91 Gulf war), Romania and Senegal. He is currently chairman
    of the Foundation for Indo-Turkic Studies. The views expressed here
    are his own.- [email protected])
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