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BUSH'S IRAQ CAMPAIGN HELPED REVIVE PKK THREAT, SAYS OBAMA
Today's Zaman
24 October 2008, Friday
Turkey
Barack Obama and his candidate for vice president, Joe Biden, meet
supporters in an election rally.
US Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama has blamed the
administration of Republican President George W. Bush for straining
the country's ties with Turkey, its NATO ally, and pledged to lead
efforts to bring Turkey and the Iraqi Kurds to find a solution to
the terror threat posed by the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).
In a blueprint of his plans to create a stronger partnership
with Europe, Obama said he and his candidate for vice president,
Joe Biden, believe a close relationship with "a stable, democratic,
Western-oriented Republic of Turkey" is an important national interest
for the United States. "That relationship has been deeply strained in
recent years, most importantly by the Bush administration's misguided
and mismanaged intervention in Iraq, which has helped revive the
terrorist threat posed to Turkey by the separatist Kurdish Workers
Party [PKK]," the document, published on his election campaign Web
site, said. "The result is that this strategically important NATO
ally, the most advanced democracy in the Muslim world, is turning
against the West," said Obama and Biden, recalling recent opinion
polls indicating that the number of Turks with a favorable opinion
of the United States had fallen to 12 percent.
"Barack Obama and Joe Biden will lead a diplomatic effort to
bring together Turkish and Iraqi Kurdish leaders and negotiate a
comprehensive agreement that deals with the PKK threat, guarantees
Turkey's territorial integrity, and facilitates badly needed Turkish
investment in and trade with the Kurds of northern Iraq," said the
document.
Most surveys show Obama ahead of his Republican rival John McCain by
a wide margin. A Gallup poll of world countries showed this week that
the world's population as a whole supports Obama 4-1 over McCain,
a result reflecting the public mood in Turkey, as well. Although as
many as 70 percent of Turks are indifferent about the outcome of the
Nov. 4 election, 22 percent want Obama to win, as opposed to only 8
percent favoring McCain.
Turkish-US relations have been strained since the US-led invasion of
Iraq in 2003. The Turkish public's sympathy for the US has dropped
significantly amid US inaction to end the PKK presence in northern
Iraq despite repeated Turkish requests. In November last year, Bush,
after a meeting with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the White
House, declared the PKK a "common enemy" for Turkey, the United States
and Iraq. The US military also began to supply intelligence about the
PKK to facilitate Turkish cross-border raids on the terrorist group's
targets in northern Iraq. Turkish officials say intelligence sharing
with the United States has been functioning effectively.
Obama and Biden made no mention of a 2003 vote in Turkish Parliament
rejecting a US request to use Turkish territory to open a northern
front on Iraq, a development that irritated the United States and
is believed to have prompted the Bush administration not to heed
subsequent Turkish demands for action against the PKK.
"Barack Obama and Joe Biden will support the promotion of democracy,
human rights, and freedom of expression in Turkey and support its
efforts to join the European Union," the document said.
In a declaration likely to please the Turkish government, Obama and
Biden also said the United States must work with European partners
to isolate Iran economically and politically if "it continues to
support terrorism and defy the Security Council's demand that it
suspend uranium enrichment."
Ankara is opposed to nuclear weapons, but calls for a solution through
dialogue to the international row over Iran's nuclear program. A US
administration led by McCain is expected to push for tough sanctions,
including use of military force, to deter Iran from pursuing its
nuclear program, which Tehran says is aimed at generating energy.
"Unlike the Bush administration, Barack Obama and Joe Biden would
conduct direct talks with Iran, a move that would bolster support
from our allies and demonstrate that any lack of progress from the
Iranians is due to Tehran's refusal to cooperate, not a lack of
seriousness or leadership from the United States," said the document.
Their blueprint also touched on the division of Cyprus and pledged
that an Obama administration will "show US leadership in seeking to
negotiate a political settlement on Cyprus" and insisted that the
island's Turkish and Greek communities should unite.
"A negotiated political settlement on Cyprus would not only end the
island's tragic division but would pave the way to prosperity and
peace throughout the entire region. It would finally give repose to
the people of Cyprus after many years of division and uncertainty. It
would help foster better Greek-Turkish relations, strengthen Turkish
democracy, reduce the risk of military conflict, and remove a major
obstacle to Turkish membership in the EU," the document explained.
They did not refer to the issue of Armenian claims of genocide
at the hands of the late Ottoman Empire, something that Turkish
policy-makers fear would cause problems in relations with an Obama
administration. Obama has repeatedly pledged to Armenian-American
voters that the US will recognize the genocide claims if he is elected.
Today's Zaman
24 October 2008, Friday
Turkey
Barack Obama and his candidate for vice president, Joe Biden, meet
supporters in an election rally.
US Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama has blamed the
administration of Republican President George W. Bush for straining
the country's ties with Turkey, its NATO ally, and pledged to lead
efforts to bring Turkey and the Iraqi Kurds to find a solution to
the terror threat posed by the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).
In a blueprint of his plans to create a stronger partnership
with Europe, Obama said he and his candidate for vice president,
Joe Biden, believe a close relationship with "a stable, democratic,
Western-oriented Republic of Turkey" is an important national interest
for the United States. "That relationship has been deeply strained in
recent years, most importantly by the Bush administration's misguided
and mismanaged intervention in Iraq, which has helped revive the
terrorist threat posed to Turkey by the separatist Kurdish Workers
Party [PKK]," the document, published on his election campaign Web
site, said. "The result is that this strategically important NATO
ally, the most advanced democracy in the Muslim world, is turning
against the West," said Obama and Biden, recalling recent opinion
polls indicating that the number of Turks with a favorable opinion
of the United States had fallen to 12 percent.
"Barack Obama and Joe Biden will lead a diplomatic effort to
bring together Turkish and Iraqi Kurdish leaders and negotiate a
comprehensive agreement that deals with the PKK threat, guarantees
Turkey's territorial integrity, and facilitates badly needed Turkish
investment in and trade with the Kurds of northern Iraq," said the
document.
Most surveys show Obama ahead of his Republican rival John McCain by
a wide margin. A Gallup poll of world countries showed this week that
the world's population as a whole supports Obama 4-1 over McCain,
a result reflecting the public mood in Turkey, as well. Although as
many as 70 percent of Turks are indifferent about the outcome of the
Nov. 4 election, 22 percent want Obama to win, as opposed to only 8
percent favoring McCain.
Turkish-US relations have been strained since the US-led invasion of
Iraq in 2003. The Turkish public's sympathy for the US has dropped
significantly amid US inaction to end the PKK presence in northern
Iraq despite repeated Turkish requests. In November last year, Bush,
after a meeting with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the White
House, declared the PKK a "common enemy" for Turkey, the United States
and Iraq. The US military also began to supply intelligence about the
PKK to facilitate Turkish cross-border raids on the terrorist group's
targets in northern Iraq. Turkish officials say intelligence sharing
with the United States has been functioning effectively.
Obama and Biden made no mention of a 2003 vote in Turkish Parliament
rejecting a US request to use Turkish territory to open a northern
front on Iraq, a development that irritated the United States and
is believed to have prompted the Bush administration not to heed
subsequent Turkish demands for action against the PKK.
"Barack Obama and Joe Biden will support the promotion of democracy,
human rights, and freedom of expression in Turkey and support its
efforts to join the European Union," the document said.
In a declaration likely to please the Turkish government, Obama and
Biden also said the United States must work with European partners
to isolate Iran economically and politically if "it continues to
support terrorism and defy the Security Council's demand that it
suspend uranium enrichment."
Ankara is opposed to nuclear weapons, but calls for a solution through
dialogue to the international row over Iran's nuclear program. A US
administration led by McCain is expected to push for tough sanctions,
including use of military force, to deter Iran from pursuing its
nuclear program, which Tehran says is aimed at generating energy.
"Unlike the Bush administration, Barack Obama and Joe Biden would
conduct direct talks with Iran, a move that would bolster support
from our allies and demonstrate that any lack of progress from the
Iranians is due to Tehran's refusal to cooperate, not a lack of
seriousness or leadership from the United States," said the document.
Their blueprint also touched on the division of Cyprus and pledged
that an Obama administration will "show US leadership in seeking to
negotiate a political settlement on Cyprus" and insisted that the
island's Turkish and Greek communities should unite.
"A negotiated political settlement on Cyprus would not only end the
island's tragic division but would pave the way to prosperity and
peace throughout the entire region. It would finally give repose to
the people of Cyprus after many years of division and uncertainty. It
would help foster better Greek-Turkish relations, strengthen Turkish
democracy, reduce the risk of military conflict, and remove a major
obstacle to Turkish membership in the EU," the document explained.
They did not refer to the issue of Armenian claims of genocide
at the hands of the late Ottoman Empire, something that Turkish
policy-makers fear would cause problems in relations with an Obama
administration. Obama has repeatedly pledged to Armenian-American
voters that the US will recognize the genocide claims if he is elected.