New Vision for New Era

This might be the situation in terms of relations between the governments. However, in terms of public opinion, dispelling the disappointment and doubts caused by recent incidents might not be so easy. Probably the beginning of a ‘new era’ for the public will take more time.

Gul’s visit to Washington focused in particular on the prospect of our sending troops to Iraq, and this issue dominated our media’s coverage. However, Gul’s visit and his meetings in Washington shouldn’t be evaluated through this lens alone. The issue of our sending troops to Iraq came up even before Gul’s visit. In other words, even if he hadn’t gone to the US, discussions on this issue would have begun here. Gul had the chance to express Turkey’s views, especially during his face-to-face meetings with US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Secretary of State Colin Powell. Circles close to Gul and US sources give the impression that Ankara didn’t reach any binding undertaking about our sending troops to Iraq and that the US had no misunderstandings on the issue. This is very important, because the March crisis over the proposed US troop deployment in Turkey resulted from misunderstandings. This time there’s no need for such, because the situation has been clearly and mutually laid out. In Washington’s view, now Ankara can make a decision as it wants. How would a ‘no’ answer from Ankara affect this new era? There’s no clear answer to this.

Excepting the issue of our sending Turkish troops to Iraq, there was a vision in Gul’s meetings. This was the role which Ankara can play in Iraq and the Middle East, the government’s new approach to solving chronic problems, including the Cyprus issue, and the model which was developed by Ankara by developing a democratic regime. Gul’s messages to US officials concerning these issues signalled a new strategy and vision. This might be the real factor for the healthy development of Turkish-US relations in the new era.”