Diplomacy With The Arabs

Actually the situation is much more complex for Turkey than it was during the Gulf War 12 years ago. At that time, Iraq was occupying Kuwait. Likewise, the world refused to just stand and watch as an independent country was wiped off the map, and this refusal was reflected in a UN Security Council resolution. Turkey provided the coalition powers with the use of its facilities and opened Incirlik Airbase rather than opening a front directly on its neighbor Iraq. At that time, the first President Bush and Turkish President Turgut Ozal were in agreement on the need to use force against Iraq and ‘an Iraq without Saddam,’ but the army and the government were less sure. Today the General Staff and the US administration have a clearer stance, but the political power is hesitating to make a decision.

During the first months of the AKP government the atmosphere was different. Erdogan and Gul, flush from their election victory, were sending encouraging signals to the Bush administration concerning a possible operation against Iraq. During Erdogan’s visit to the White House, this was reflected in front of cameras but later the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government, unable to get what it expected from the European Union summit on Dec. 12, started hedging in order not to stand alone with the US during a possible Iraq operation. Finally, this ambivalent policy went as far as knocking on Saddam’s door in Baghdad. When he visited the White House last year, AKP leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan called Saddam a ‘dictator,’ but the trade minister’s visit to Iraq last week served to boost the legal standing of Saddam’s regime. Why did the AKP do this? Another contradiction is that Gul just signed a document giving the US the permission it wanted to inspect our air bases and airports. Actually the Bush administration is expecting to open a corridor into northern Iraq from Turkish territory and move US soldiers through our territory. However, meeting this request is impossible without the Turkish Parliament’s approval. I wonder if Gul’s government will say to his Arab friends, ‘We did our best but we are unable to make Saddam listen to us’ and give a green light to the US? Everybody is saying different things in Ankara now. We have been writing about this issue for weeks, so why doesn’t Parliament discuss our Iraq policy? And they told us that this new government would work with transparency.