FRENCH HAVE LITTLE TO COMPLAIN ABOUT, BUT …
By Ilnur Cevik

The New Anatolian, Turkey
Nov 18 2006

Opinions

It’s no secret that Turks are extremely angry and frustrated with
a French National Assembly decision to make it a crime to deny that
Turks were involved in a genocide against the Armenians at the turn
of the last century.

The Turkish government was known to have voiced its dissatisfaction
with this decision to the French administration, but it was generally
believed that Ankara would take a "wait and see" approach to observe
whether the French Senate would reject the bill or how the French
president would block it.

But a development this week showed that either the government changed
its decision and has started to prod the French not to make any wrong
calculations about Turkey’s silence or the Turkish military has jumped
the gun and has decided to punish the French…

Land Forces Commander Gen. Ilker Basbug let the cat out of the bag,
saying the military had shelved its relations with the French and
that the first-ever meeting between the Turkish and French militaries
scheduled for December was cancelled.

If this is the case, then there are several important questions to
be asked.

Was this a unilateral decision by the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK), and
if so why wasn’t it made official by the General Staff headquarters
but rather left to a Land Forces commander to make such a statement
in an informal environment like a reception?

If all this is also true, then our adversaries can once again argue
that the TSK is not acting like an institution controlled by the
elected civilian government but has a mind of its own…

If all this is not the case and it was a government decision to start
showing the French, we are unhappy then it should not have been left
to a military official to make such an announcement.

It seems the government may be involved in all this because soon
after this incident, Defense Minister Vecdi Gonul disclosed that the
French will not be officially invited to the defense fair in Ankara
scheduled for next May. The French were allegedly so annoyed that
the French Military attache who was present at the meeting for the
fair refused to attend a reception given later at the Dedeman Hotel

The French should have been prepared for all this because what they
have done has deeply hurt the Turkish people, who consider France an
old and trusted ally. What we oppose is the way all this was done

If the military is so forceful on the French issue, they should shelve
all economic relations with French companies. The military-controlled
and -funded giant OYAK company has strong ties with the French in all
sectors especially in the auto industry and in insurance. Why don’t
they show the same courage through OYAK?