Turkish Press, MI
Feb 23 2007

Who Knows Turkey’s Balances Best Now?
Published: 2/23/2007

By Murat Yetkin

RADIKAL- Both Mottaki and Mahdi were in Ankara yesterday. We think
that the clear link between Iran’s nuclear program and Iraq’s future
was discussed. All political problems in the region such as the
terrorist PKK, the Turkmen situation in Iraq, the Palestinian-Israeli
dispute, and Lebanon are connected to each other. Political
sensitivity in the region has increased. Everything could go better,
or it could go worse.

Turkey is part of this diplomatic situation, but how?

Do the public and political decision-making mechanisms have enough
information about the policies and measures pursued in this process?

The title of today’s column has this goal in mind. Let’s give a hint
to those who want to answer this question. Who knows best both the
government’s and the Turkish Armed Forces’ (TSK) view on Turkey’s
stance on Iraq’s future, Iran’s nuclear program, what it would do
about energy transportation lines and security, and if the US
Congress will pass the Armenian resolution?

There are people who know firsthand the government’s and TSK’s stance
on these important political-strategic issues prior to May’s
presidential election. These are US Vice President Dick Cheney, US
President George W. Bush’s National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley,
and US Congressman Tom Lantos, who chairs the US House of
Representatives’ Foreign Affairs Committee.

Over the last two weeks, first Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul and
later Chief of General Staff Gen. Yasar Buyukanit conveyed their
views in detail on these important issues to these figures during
their contacts.

We have to assume that President Ahmet Necdet Sezer has information
on these issues owing to his regular weekly meetings.

The Turkish media lacks this information. We journalists know the
issue only from the answers we get to our questions. The debates in
Parliament don’t say enough. For example, we don’t know if Parliament
Speaker Bulent Arinc or main opposition Republican People’s Party
(CHP) leader Deniz Baykal is fully aware of the views of the
government and the TSK. The members of the National Security Council
(NSC) don’t have the latest information on the issue, since it hasn’t
met for about two months now.

Prior to his critical contacts in Washington, Buyukanit visited Gul
at the Foreign Ministry to discuss his visit. During their meeting,
maybe they coordinated what they would tell the US officials. In
fact, when there was a discrepancy in the statements of Buyukanit and
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on holding direct official
meeting with Iraq’s President Jalal Talabani, Gul said that the
statements weren’t in conflict, but complemented each other.

Turkey has to make decisions which will affect foreign policy this
year, when it will also hold two elections and make important
decisions on domestic matters. So sharing these decisions with the
public would be beneficial.’