Posted on 03/29/2005 6:46:00 PM PST by pkpjamestown
I have just returned from a weeklong visit to the United States. I spoke with many people. The situation is very bad. Anti-Turkish sentiment in the United States is very strong. The rejection of US troop deployment two years ago has once again started to create trouble.
Mehmet Ali BIRAND I am sure you heard about the things I will write below from various commentators with varying opinions. It was Sami Kohen who reported on the matter most recently.
Well, this time, you will hear it from me.
The situation is now bad. It's beyond that.
We are facing an anti-Turkish sentiment in the United States that is getting worse every day.
The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) is aware of this. Foreign Ministry officials also note it in their reports, as do our officials in Washington.
Still, either Ankara does not know how serious the situation is or it is not taking it seriously enough.
I'm afraid this is the most dangerous part of the problem: Not taking the developments seriously enough.
If I am not mistaken, the attitude of the government is: “Yes, there is a problem, but all these can be resolved through mutual goodwill. There is no crisis.”
Yes, there is no crisis yet. However, if we don't take immediate steps to remedy the situation and make some constructive gestures, the situation will turn into an incredibly serious crisis.
Americans are not as impatient as we are. Tension slowly increases and one day the rope will break.
The rejection of the bill that would have allowed a U.S. troop deployment in Turkey two years ago is now making itself felt among those groups who are influential in crafting policies in Washington. We may think their anger is belated, but there is a fact we must note. There is something very disturbing going on.
In the 1980s, former Greek Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou had based his policies on anti-Americanism. He never minced his words and would always blast the United States because the people liked it. After a while Washington reacted, and Papandreou, together with Greece, paid a very high price.
We should not dismiss U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz citing the bill's rejection, saying: “If Turkey had allowed our troops in, the situation in Iraq would have been far better today and our losses would have been less.”
Such statements have an influence on ordinary people. Academics start talking about them at universities and then think tanks cite them in reports. And then commentators start to write about them as established facts.
One day we will wake up and realize the whole world believes we are the ones responsible for the way things turned out in Iraq.
We should take the matter seriously and do something:
First of all, the matter should be analyzed in detail and the government should admit things are headed towards a crisis. They should decide to do something to turn things around.
We may feel better by criticizing President George W. Bush and his entourage, but this won't resolve our problem. In other words, this cancer, which is giving signs of spreading to other parts of the body, cannot be treated by removing the cancerous ulcer.
Ankara should do everything in its power to open a dialogue with Washington. This dialogue will not work if it is held at a diplomatic level. Foreign Minister Abdullah Gül and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoðan should be involved. If not, it will be too late.
I am personally aware that Turkey has no intention of following an anti-U.S. policy. The top media executives know that the AKP government does not want to damage bilateral relations with the White House.
However, being aware of this doesn't solve the problem.
The fact is our counterparts are making assessments based on misperceptions, and they are getting angrier by the day.
The cancer is spreading.
The AKP government should take this seriously.
If it doesn't and waits for the prime minister to get involved, the day will come when all of us will be forced to pay the price.
Turkey, which will soon start its European Union accession negotiations and which has a very fragile economy, should not fall into the trap of anti-Americanism.
None of us can afford such clumsiness.
I'm sure the Europeans (France and Germany) made it clear to the Turks that if they supported the US in Iraq, it would end their chances of joining the EU.
Little did they know that France and Germany have no intention of letting them in the club any time soon. In the meanwhile Turkey will need US support on a variety of issues - Turnabout is fair play.
Allies help you in your time of need. Turkey is not an ally.
I for one am not in a forgiving mood.
Neither am I.
They stabbed us in the back. I will NEVER forget. If there is EVER anything I can do to repay the favor, I will.
I certainly haven't forgotten. Turkey's behavior in the days leading up to the invasion was fully as bad as Chirac's. They led us on as long as possible, and then they stabbed us in the back. And they have continued to make trouble every chance they get.
If they had told us earlier that they wouldn't let us through to Northern Iraq, we could have revised out plans. But they deliberately strung us along, and kept one of our key divisions out of Iraq for weeks as a result.
The problems in the Sunni Triangle are largely a result of this Turkish betrayal.
Sure, most Americans don't know where Turkey is. But those who are more informed, and care about foreign policy, certainly do.
No, Turkey is demonstrably no longer our ally. I have individual Turkish friends still but this Islamist-leaning government of theirs can go to hell as far as I am concerned, and their Mein Kampf fans along with it. There was a time when we could count on the Turks to watch our backs should we have to deal with, say, Syria, but no longer, unless we want Turkish knives in them.
As for their problem with the Kurds, it was their choice to align with our enemies and leave the Kurds as our only allies in the region. If what they reap now is bitter, it's what they sowed.
I guess I should have read the doggone article! LOL! He may well think of GWB as a cancerous ulcer, but our President could care less about his opinion of him and neither do I.
"As for their problem with the Kurds, it was their choice to align with our enemies and leave the Kurds as our only allies in the region."
Kurdish success will be a bitter revenge on Turkey. If they had helped, they would have a seat at the table and influence on events on their southern border. As it turns out, they won't. In the long run, this may be better.
The gratuitous, obligatory mention of WKRP's "Turkeys Away" episode.
However, it struck me sort of odd that a Turkish writer in a piece on the need to get back into America's good book would call the President names. :-)
Anyways, have a good one and thanks for a polite reply.
Cheers.
That is true however at this point if I had a choice of using the Mongol horde or the turks to make anything I'd buy, I'd choose Ulan Bater.
You are correct in citing the colapse of turkeys economy. They were counting on a huge American bribe to pull its economy out of trouble. Well like vieques they killed the golden goose.
Here's hoping turkey adn its economy take a dump.
And as for them ever being accepted into the european anything, Ah ha ha ha.
I plan on doing something about Turkey. I'm getting my turkey tags in a couple days in preparation of spring turkey season....errr, wait. It's not THAT kind of turkey? Nevermind....
Naaa, naa, naa, naa, naaa...ours start April 15th! KY
Sorry..we've got a cancer already in USA, it's a company called ACXIOM. It's garnering and hoarding (for sale) all of our personal info and data about ourselves. This must be reported to all people !
Indeed, trap scores above all else. ;-)
Turkey is by far an inocent bystander and/or an exemplary of Islamic work of art.
The turks are in Western Europe the biggest head acke for countries like Germany, Holland, Belgium, Swiss et all.
They are the "Mexicans" of Europe if you get my drift.
Due to the generous welfare system (especially in Germany) a family of Turks (2+ 4 kids) will get a monthly welfare of DM 5550.00 for doing "nothing"!( that is DM1000 pe kid plus DM750 per parent)
The Turks are for the most part "freeloaders", do not like to work hard, they are more involved with their religion and playing games at their local tavern.(did I mentioned they multiply like cockroaches?)
They do not like/will to assimilate to the society, participate in the national/local political elections and such.
Therefore, they are forming turkish ghettos where ever they congrate and God forbid one gets cought in that neigborhood after dark! (I grew up in Germany, Niedersachen, Dransfeld/Goettingen by Kassel)
In short the Turks, because of their stupid move are worry sick that the BIG FAT COW (aka USofA), will say F-you asshole, go pound sand.
No goodie, goodies for them freeloaders you understand!
Frankly, you know something...that serves them well, because they do not deserve anything. They are just a bunch of backstabbers and freeloaders, period!
A disgrace to Ottoman Empire!
The article was correct about the anti-Americanism in Greece causing a severance of relations. The Greeks knew of terrorism being planned against the bases, but were slow to convey the information because the government didn't want to look like a rat to its own people. So, we moved our bases out and it hurt the Greek economy. Turkey has wrangled with the US over the years for this reason or that...usually wanting more money. But because quality of the products built with American money on bases we use meant spending 2-3 times as much as anticipated, the state department began to look at the increasing anti-Americanism as another Greece. The last straw was not allowing us to use air space. The government in power right now drew its majority through anti-American rhetoric, firing up a lot of Islamic religous groups. Now it thinks it can negotiate a truce and we're gullible enough to do deals with them. We need to be in Turkey, but the price has always been high and will only get higher. We should find a more reasonable partner in the region, and one that wants to curtail the spread of radical Islam.
Greece is to Warsaw Pact and Turkey is to NATO. Oh, I'm sorry, that wasn't the comparison you wanted, eh? Perhaps you've forgotten about Athens' long term dalliance with the Communists
The Turks were probably the best ally we had during the Cold War. They put their butts on the table hosting IRBMs in the early days, and really helped us out in Korea. This latest episode is mostly the result of Al Queda holding a gun to the head of the Turkish government, something that has now greatly diminished.
As a reminder, most of the truck drivers in Iraq (as well as other skilled laborers) are Turkish, so while the current government is somewhat suspect, Yusef Average Turk is putting his neck out every day.
Now the French, that's a whole different story. They've had it in for us ever since the end of WWII, when they descended from the world stage, and the US became a superpower. They've been envious and jealous ever since, and will do anything to get back their (undeserved) pre-war stature. And I mean anything, including undermining us for decades during the Cold War, dumping Indochina in our lap, screaming about US imperialism in the UN while being the last true colonial nation on earth, organizing anti-American Europe...you name it. France is in a league all its own.
If Russia attacked Turkey from behind,
would Greece help?
Ignorance is nothing to be proud of.
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Missed the point entirely, didn't you...
Major Turkish weapons systems are almost entirely of US origin, and their military rediness could be seriously degraded at the stroke of a pen.
I would not say that Turkish, US relations are beyond repair, but as the author states, the ball is in their court, and if they fail to act soon, it could be too late.
We will not soon forget the backstabbing durring the run up to OIF. Several investigative inquiries have already determined that one of the major blunders in the early days of OIF was the low number of combat troops on the ground. Turkey bears much of the responsibility for this.
If the Turkish population does not wish an alliance with the US, that is their option as a democracy. It would be far more troublesome to them than to us. We are building new alliances in the area, and have lost much of the gratitude we owed them from their actions durring the cold war.
I consider the Kurds a far more reliable ally at this time.
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