ERDOGAN VISITS THE UNITED STATES: ECONOMY AND RELATIONS WITH OBAMA ON THE AGENDA
By Saban Kardas

Eurasia Daily Monitor
Nov 17 2008
DC

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan visited the United States
to attend the G-20 Summit, where he joined the leaders of developed
and industrializing nations to discuss the global financial crisis. In
addition to his participation in the summit activities, Erdogan held
bilateral meetings with several world leaders.

In his public statements throughout the trip, Erdogan underlined
the importance of international cooperation in fighting the global
crisis. Having emphasized the experience that Turkey had gathered from
its own economic recovery programs as a result of the devastating
crises of the 1990s and early-2000s, Erdogan maintained that his
country represented a hope and a model for those countries seeking
a way out of the current crisis (, November 13;
Yeni Safak, November 16).

These inflated statements aside, how the AKP government will cope
with the global financial crisis and whether it will seek help from
the IMF had been matters of debate (EDM, October 31). Since the AKP
came to power in 2002, reducing Turkey’s dependence on the IMF has
been one of the government’s primary economic goals. The AKP has
been arguing that Turkey could overcome the current crisis without
significant support from the international community. Since the
previous stand-by agreement with the IMF expired in May, Turkey has
been resisting another arrangement with the IMF because of the strict
fiscal conditions it would impose (New York Times, November 7).

During the G-20 Summit Erdogan met with Managing Director of the IMF
Dominique Strauss-Kahn on November 14, and their teams had additional
talks on November 15. Erdogan also met the President of the World Bank
Robert Zoellick. The World Bank is expected to increase credits to
Turkey to support various projects dealing with small and medium-sized
enterprises and renewable energy (; Anatolian Agency,
November 15).

The statements coming from both sides following the meeting between
Erdogan and Strauss-Kahn indicate that Turkey might be reversing
its stubborn position on IMF aid. Both parties stressed that Turkey
would maintain cooperation with the IMF in the future. Economic
sources speculated that a new stand-by agreement worth $15 to $20
billion might be signed soon, although differences of opinion remain
about the extent and kind of IMF aid to Turkey (,
November 16; Today’s Zaman, November 17). Experts believe that the
decision, albeit late, to start negotiations with the IMF is a step
in the right direction (Referans, November 17).

Erdogan also gave two public talks, in which he outlined the parameters
of the new activism in Turkish foreign policy and Turkey’s strategic
partnership with the United States, as well as developments in
domestic politics. On November 13 Erdogan spoke at a conference
at Columbia University, entitled "Turkey’s Role in Shaping the
Future" (, November 14). On November 14 Erdogan
discussedTurkish foreign policy at the Brookings Institution. During
these addresses, he congratulated U.S. President-elect Barack Obama and
emphasized that Turkey was ready to work with the new administration,
provided that it was sensitive to Turkey’s priorities.

On relations with Armenia, Erdogan repeated Turkey’s position that the
issue must be dealt with by the parties concerned through channels of
dialogue already established. He warned the incoming administration
not to let ethnic lobbies dictate American policy and spoil bilateral
relations between Turkey and the United States (Hurriyet Daily News,
November 17).

On the issue of nuclear proliferation and Iran, Erdogan highlighted
Turkey’s new-found role as peace broker and criticized U.S.-led efforts
against Tehran. Earlier in the week, the New York Times reported that
Erdogan had offered to mediate between Iran and the incoming Obama
administration (New York Times, November 11). During his talk at the
Brookings Institution, Erdogan said that given the trust Turkey had
built up with Iran, it was better positioned than the EU’s troika
to facilitate talks with Tehran. Some of his remarks on this issue
were, however, more controversial. Erdogan maintained that trying
to force Iran to drop its nuclear program while other countries
maintained nuclear arsenals was no ground for reducing tension. He
instead urged the countries pressuring Iran to eliminate such weapons
themselves, which would be a better basis for a comprehensive solution
(, November 15). Erdogan’s call for "total nuclear
disarmament" has been criticized as a fundamental deviation from
Turkey’s official position (Milliyet, November 15).

On the issue of Iraq, Erdogan emphasized Turkey’s positive
contributions to the reconstruction efforts there. He criticized Obama
for setting a clear exit date, however. He expressed concerns about
a premature American withdrawal, arguing that Iraq’s infrastructure
had not matured enough. (Cihan Haber Ajansi, November 14). U.S. State
Department Deputy Spokesman Robert Wood criticized Erdogan’s assessment
as overly pessimistic (Washington Times, November 15).

There were questions about whether Erdogan would meet Obama during the
trip; but because Obama has decided not to meet foreign leaders before
his inauguration, Erdogan searched out people who were likely to shape
Obama’s policies. In a separate meeting during his visit, Erdogan met
with Obama’s advisers Madeline Albright, Jim Leach, and Philip Gordon
(Yeni Safak, November 15). Some Turkish observers believe that the
choice of the Brookings Institute as the venue of Erdogan’s speech
in Washington, D.C., was also part of Turkey’s attempts to influence
the incoming administration. Veteran journalist Cengiz Candar noted
that despite its non-partisan position, Brookings was regarded as
a pro-Democrat organization and many Brookings specialists, such as
Philip Gordon, who were familiar with Turkey may end up working in
the new administration (Referans, November 15; Today’s Zaman, November
17). Another senior analyst, Semih Idiz, however, argued that Erdogan’s
controversial statements on Iran might ironically rock the boat,
just as Erdogan was seeking to build bridges (Milliyet, November 17).

Only time will tell whether "think-tank diplomacy" will put
Turkish-American relations on the right track. In any case, given
Erdogan’s critical position on Obama’s declared policies, it will be
interesting to see how the new administration will manage relations
with Turkey.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress