A Message from Washington to Ankara
By ALI H. ASLAN

Zaman Online, Turkey
April 21 2005

The three things that American diplomats who deal with Turkey most
object to hearing: Number one, citing cooperation in the Korean War
and back in the Ottoman period as evidence that Turkish-American
relations are healthy; Number two, the claim that there is no
anti-Americanism in Turkey; Number three, the claim that there are no
problems in Turkish-Israeli relations.

Despite all our warnings, almost all Turks who visit Washington still
repeat the same clichéd messages. The latest in line was
Undersecretary Ali Tuygan of the Turkish Foreign Ministry. Sick and
tired of trying to explain the situation through diplomatic language,
the Americans this time chose to speak directly.

Washington has expressed its concerns repeatedly, but Ankara insists
on closing its eyes and ears to the message. I think Tuygan and his
delegation must have understood the seriousness of the situation
after receiving the same message from each and every U.S. official.

I feel sorry that we were unable to receive the message through
polite and indirect ways. Why is Ankara unable to take the hints; why
does it live in its own world and how can it fail to determine
appropriate messages for its addressees? And how could one of our
top-level bureaucrats find himself in such a difficult situation in
front of his foreign counterparts?

On the other hand, I am happy that Americans have finally done it.
Ankara would have no chance of coming up with the right formulas for
the Turkish-American relations unless they accept the size and
intensity of the discontent in Washington. If the Speaker of the
Turkish Parliament Bulent Arinc, Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul and
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan repeated these messages that
Americans are tired of hearing in their anticipated visits, relations
could get even more stuck. Furthermore, I hope that now us
journalists, researchers and members of the Embassy who have been
reporting the ill-ease in Washington might be cleared of the charge
of exaggerating or even lying.

I am sure that Mr. Tuygan will report back to the top of the State in
Ankara the scale of Washington’s displeasure, especially over the
rising waves of anti-Americanism and anti-Semitism in Turkey and the
Turkey-Syria-Iran rapprochement. He will also explain that Americans
officials had pretended that they were not already aware of the
request from Erdogan and Gul to meet with Bush and Rice. Tuygan must
convey that the US expects a strong public campaign on the level of
the Prime Minister Erdogan to reach the masses to emphasize the
significance of Turkish-American relations and to condemn
anti-Americanism and anti-Semitism. Without this clear public
initiative, he will say, Turkey should not expect US encouragement
for a high-level political meeting, for the opening of a second
border gate to Iraq and for action against the Kurdistan Workers
Party (PKK) in Northern Iraq.

I do not know how Ankara will receive this message. To me, if the
recovering the bilateral relations is “necessary” for the US, it is
even more important for Turkey so Turkey should take the first steps.
If the government has received the message and believes that Turkey’s
interests require the avoidance of a confrontation with the US, they
should begin with the good-will gestures promptly without waiting for
a move from the other side. For instance, the official announcement
of the decision already taken on US use of the Incirlik airbase for
humanitarian operations should not be held back until Washington
gives its verdict on the alleged “Armenian genocide”.

I see no possibility for the President George W. Bush to acknowledge
the so-called genocide on his message on April 24. For the executive
wing to put pressure on to prevent adoption of a resolution by
Congress on the allegations, however, will depend on Ankara’s
cooperation with the Bush administration on areas of conflict.

It is obvious that Iraq is the area which has most disrupted the
nature of Turkish-American relations and requires the highest
cooperation. I agree with the evaluations of Michael Rubin in his
latest article published in the Turkish Policy Quarterly about
reciprocal errors and things to do: “Continued Turkish
anti-Americanism might be popular and even politically expedient as
Turkish politicians again approach elections, but with issues like
the status of Kirkuk unresolved and key Iraqi constitutional debates
yet to come, the U.S.-Turkish partnership is simply too important to
lose. If Turkish and American politicians and diplomats do not
acknowledge and put aside their past mistakes, bilateral relations
will continue to sour, impacting not only the once special
relationship, but also Turkey’s security and the future shape of
Iraq.”

Let’s see whether Ankara will get the message this time…

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