AS IRAN IS BATTERED BY THE US FOR TERRORISM, TURKEY STAND TO WIN
BY ILNUR CEVIK
ANKARA (TDN) Did anyone expect anything negative to come out of Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit's meetings in Washington? If they did then they must be mad.
We have said in the past week that the prime minister was flying to the U.S. capital with an extraordinary advantage of knowing that Turkey is being held in very high esteem in Washington.
Turkey's staunch support for the United States in its fight against terrorism and its active participation in the operation in Afghanistan has been deeply appreciated not only at the White House, the Pentagon and the State Department but also on Capitol Hill which has at times been rather cool towards Ankara in the past.
Turkey's role is progressively becoming more and more important in the eyes of Washington as developments unfold in our region.
The Americans have shifted their attention to Iran as a source of terrorism in the wake of recent developments. They feel Iran is actively behind the efforts to destabilize the Gaza Strip and thus create a southern Lebanon type situation to force the Israelis out while it has been caught sheltering Taleban and Al Qa’eda militants.
The Americans feel they had been misled by Iran that it had been tamed over the years and agree with the Israelis that Iran should be "stopped." The fact that Iran is developing longer-range ballistic missiles and will have the capability to hit Israel in the not too distant future is analyzed jointly with the recent statement of Hashemi Rafsanjani that a nuclear bomb would wipe out Israel. They feel the threat is fatal.
So while U.S. priorities are shifting from Iraq, the United States also says it does not want Saddam Hussein ruling in Baghdad and will do whatever necessary to achieve this "when the appropriate time comes." The United States also tells strategic partner Turkey that it will consult Ankara before doing anything... But the U.S. also has told Ankara that it too wants to be consulted before Ankara takes any steps on Iraq and does not want us to spring surprises "like the announcement that Ankara would back the opening of a second border gate with Iraq bypassing the Kurds". Washington also does not want Ankara to fan tensions between the Kurds and the Turkomans in northern Iraq...
These are very frank and warm discussions among two friends and strategic partners and shows Turkey's enhanced position vis-a-vis Washington. Yet, it also gives Turkey very serious responsibilities in this relationship. Turkey has to act with more caution and as a regional power. That means we have to put our house in order and also make sure that our internal problems do not hinder our capability to take serious decisions.
We also feel both friends and foes of Turkey should take note of this very interesting development. ENDS TURKEY POSITION 19102
Turkish Daily News published this article on its 18 January issue