RAGE OF ANKARA
By Nazlan Ertan

The New Anatolian, Turkey
Sept 30 2006

The Turkish temper has targeted two foreigners in the last seven
days: first Hansjoerg Kretschmer, the head of the European Commission
Delegation to Turkey, and Jalal Talabani, the Iraqi president.

Camiel Eurlings, the author of a much-modified Turkey report in
the European Parliament, was clearly overshadowed by those two,
particularly after an offending reference to the Armenian "genocide"
being a precondition for Turkish accession in the European Union was
removed from the text.

Accountability

The remarks by Kretschmer, made at the launch of Almanak Turkey, on
the security sector and democratic oversight, weren’t particularly
different to previous ones in European Commission progress reports.

However, his remarks that the military has been exempt of
"accountability," which must be observed by all state institutions,
created an angry reaction from the top commanders. Gen. Ilker Basbug,
the Land Forces commander and possibly the next chief of General
Staff, reacted tersely to the remarks, saying that it could not be
considered undemocratic to defend the principles of the republic. The
reply that was most-awaited was that of Gen. Yasar Buyukanit, the
new chief of staff, who is considered more of a hardliner than his
predecessor. The critical date of the response is Monday, when Prime
Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is in Washington.

Eurlings contained

The offensive report of Dutch Member of the European Parliament Camille
Eurlings was accepted by the EP general assembly this week, but Turkish
diplomacy, combined with distributed fact-sheets, letters and visiting
parliamentary delegations, managed to wipe out the most offensive
parts of the report. The wording that established recognition of the
Armenian "genocide" as a precondition to Turkish membership in the
European Union was withdrawn by Belgian Socialist Deputy Dominique de
Keyzer, after being reminded by her own party that the move may lead
to a loss of Turkish votes in the next local elections in Belgium,
scheduled for Oct. 8. For the first time, resident foreigners,
including Turkish guest-workers, will vote in the elections.

A reference to the Pontic Greek and Syriac "genocides" was also removed
from the text, replaced by an article which said that Turkey should
reconcile with its past.

In the words of Ali Babacan, Turkey’s two-hatted chief negotiator
who’s started a second tour of Europe by visiting Italy and Finland,
pointed out that the report, even at its present stage, is far
from satisfactory. True enough, the report carried heavy criticism,
part of which will be reflected in the Commission’s regular report
on Turkey. These centered around the role of the military, cultural
and religious freedoms, and the infamous Article 301 of the Turkish
Penal Code (TCK).

A new ‘Dawn’?

Yes, the notorious case against Elif Safak, whose last name means
"dawn," is over, but the debate on Article 301 of the TCK continues.

Attempts to change this article on insulting not only Turkish
institutions but Turkishness itself, continue. Criticized in a recent
Amnesty International report, the infamous article has been defended
by Justice Minister Cemil Cicek, who said that many European Union
countries have similar articles. Cicek, in a televised interview,
read a Polish text which makes insulting the national dignity of
Polish people and Polishness a criminal act. What he didn’t add,
however, is that this article was used for the last time in 1995.

Rumors indicate that the Foreign Ministry is eager to modify the
article before November, but that the Justice Ministry supports slower
moves in that direction.

Talabani speaks up

Iraqi President Jalal Talabani has achieved what no Turkish politician
could: He managed to get pro-state, anti-EU daily Cumhuriyet, and
liberal, pro-EU Radikal, newspapers with widely different outlooks,
to run the same headline: "Talabani threatens Turkey." The Iraqi
president said, while in the U.S., that he spoke to the PKK and said
the terrorist group will declare a ceasefire in a few days. A few days
later, he announced that Iraq’s neighbors are interfering in Iraq’s
affairs too much and if they don’t stop, Iraq will reciprocate by
supporting opposition groups in those countries.

Turkey, angry at being compared to regional countries such as Iran
and Syria, responded with a reasonably moderate statement. Foreign
Ministry spokesman Namik Tan said that Turkey’s policy toward Iraq
is both transparent and in line with good neighborly ties. Prime
Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, for once controlling his temper, said
that the remarks were unfortunate, and hoped it was a mistake which
would not be repeated. The harshest reaction came from Cemil Cicek,
the justice minister, who said, "This man is a boot kisser."

The remarks of Mr Talabani on interference by neighbors came at a
time when a Turkish Parliament delegation was in northern Iraq to
"see the situation of Turkmens and Kirkuk."

Mr. Erdogan goes to Washington

Erdogan left for London via Washington! In less than five days, the
premier will meet with both U.S. President George W.Bush and British
Premier Tony Blair. The joke in Ankara’s political circles is that
Erdogan intends to use this trip to clear the way to the presidency;
but he may be wiser to take his cues from Blair — and learn instead
to clear the way, period.