TURKEY PLEASED WITH CABINET

Hurriyet
Dec 1 2008
Turkey

WASHINGTON – As U.S. president-elect Barack Obama readied to announce
his former campaign rival Hillary Clinton as choice for secretary of
state, the reaction of Turkish officials was largely positive.

The reported choice of top diplomat, as well as others in defense
and national security, whom officials see as experienced and centrist
figures with a positive understanding of Turkey.

The announcement on Clinton is due to come at a news conference in
Chicago, said officials on Obama’s transition team. The incoming
president has also asked Robert Gates, the current defense secretary,
to keep his job for at least another year, sources close to the
president-elect said earlier. For the important post of the national
security advisor, the official closest to the president, Obama
has chosen retired Gen. James Jones, a former top NATO commander,
according to U.S. media. "We have very good relations with these three
figures. We believe Obama is forming a very good national security
cabinet," said one Turkish official privately.

One Turkish concern over the future of the U.S.-Turkish relationship
is Obama’s pledge during the primaries he would recognize the World
War I-era killings of Armenians by the Ottoman Empire as genocide if
elected president.

Obama more sincere Like Obama, Clinton also made a similar
promise during the primaries to recognize the Armenian killings
as genocide. But although Sen. Clinton also sponsored a genocide
resolution in the present Senate, some Armenian groups said she
objected to another similar legislation in the House of Representatives
in October 2007. As a result, most Armenians found Obama more sincere
on Armenian-related matters and the Armenian National Committee of
America, the largest U.S. Armenian group, decided to back him against
Clinton in the primaries.

Turkey also had good relations with the United States during the term
of former President Bill Clinton, Hillary’s husband.

A U.S. move to provide the Turkish military with intelligence against
the Kurdistan Workers’ Party terrorists in northern Iraq took effect
in late 2007 under the supervision of Gates and Turkish officials
were pleased he would most likely retain his job.

Gates in late 2006 replaced the unpopular Donald Rumsfeld, who until
the end of his tenure remained consistently angry with Turkey over
Ankara’s refusal to help the Iraq invasion by U.S.-led forces in 2003.

Amid the Iraq dispute in 2003 and 2004, the Turkish military was in a
serious friction with the U.S. Central Command responsible for Iraq,
and it was Jones, as the top NATO commander, who worked as a kind of
mediator to restore the estranged relationship with Ankara. "Jones
did a very good job to improve the military-to-military ties," said
one analyst here. "From Turkey’s viewpoint, Clinton, Gates and Jones
are probably the best trio of picks by Obama for his national security
team," said the analyst.