Today’s Zaman, Turkey
Jan 2 2009

Gül says apology campaign hurts Armenia reconciliation bid

An initiative by a group of Turkish intellectuals to apologize for the
killings of Armenians in Anatolia in the years of World War I is
likely to have a negative effect on Turkey’s efforts for
reconciliation with Armenia, President Abdullah Gül has said.

He has also said Turkey and Armenia have found a historic opportunity
to talk about issues in good faith and that the dialogue process
between the two countries is continuing.

A group of intellectuals launched the online campaign last month to
apologize to Armenians for "the insensitivity showed to and denial of
the Great Catastrophe that the Ottoman Armenians were subjected to in
1915." The brief text, which has been signed online by more than
26,000 people, triggered a heated debate in Turkey and drew angry
criticism from Prime Minister Recep Tayyip ErdoÄ?an. Gül,
on the other hand, hailed the Internet initiative as a proof of
freedom of expression in Turkey, but he later asserted that this did
not mean he backed the campaign.

"To be honest, it will affect the process negatively," Gül said
in an interview with Today’s Zaman and the ATV television station this
week. "Looking at the consequences and the latest debates, I don’t
think that it has made a positive contribution."

Critics have said Turkey does not owe any apology over the World War I
events because Armenians also attacked Turks in collaboration with the
Russian army, which was then invading the Ottoman Empire, in hopes of
creating an Armenian state in eastern Anatolia. Others said the timing
of the signature campaign was inappropriate and may undermine the
public support for diplomatic efforts to start dialogue between Turkey
and Armenia. Gül spearheaded the rapprochement with a historic
visit to Yerevan in September to watch a World Cup qualifying match
between national soccer teams of the two countries.

When the apology campaign got under way, nationalist critics targeted
Gül, saying he was responsible for the initiative because he
paved the way for such a step by pursuing reconciliation with
Armenia. An opposition deputy, Canan Arıtman of the Republican
People’s Party (CHP) went so far as to claim that Gül’s mother
had ethnic Armenian roots and that this was the reason for his lack of
condemnation of the campaign. Gül responded by asserting that
his family was Muslim and Turkish and suing Arıtman for her
claims.

Gül insisted on freedom of speech, saying individuals do not
need to get permission from the state to undertake such initiatives,
but warned that the polarization that the campaign has triggered
brought negative consequences. "Sometimes such steps come at such a
time that they instantly cause polarization on a huge scale because of
the sensitivity of the matter in question. And thus they affect the
[diplomatic] process."

Turkish and Armenian diplomats have been holding secret talks on a
potential normalization of relations since Gül’s historic visit
to Yerevan in September. Gül declined to comment on the
diplomatic contacts, saying only that efforts were under
way. "Sometimes the efforts are made publicly, but sometimes they are
carried out in secrecy," he said.

Turkey, which has had no formal relations with Armenia since 1993 due
to Armenian occupation of Azerbaijani territory and Armenian efforts
to get Western states to officially recognize the killings of
Armenians at the hands of the late Ottoman Empire as genocide, wants
Yerevan to be part of a proposed Caucasus Stability and Cooperation
Platform, a regional organization to push for peaceful resolution of
conflicts that would also include Turkey, Russia, Georgia and
Azerbaijan.

Gül dismissed claims that Azerbaijan was unhappy about the
Turkish-Armenian reconciliation initiative and said Baku was also
satisfied because steps in the direction of resolving disputes in the
Caucasus, including the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict between Azerbaijan
and Armenia, were in the interest of all.

Good times ahead for Turkey-US ties

Gül also said he expected expanded cooperation with the United
States following President-elect Barack Obama’s inauguration on
Jan. 20. "The biggest difference between Obama and the previous
administration is that he is ready to avoid unilateralism in world
affairs and cooperate with other countries. And, as far as issues
where the US would seek multilateral action are concerned, Turkey
would be one of the most important partners of the US," he said.

One issue on which Turkey appears eager to provide advice is
Afghanistan. "We believe that military measures and big defense
budgets alone do not solve problems. Problems get bigger if you do not
win people’s hearts," said Gül.

The president also predicted expanded cooperation with Iraq following
US withdrawal from the country. The Iraqi government lends strong
support to Turkey’s efforts to combat the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’
Party (PKK), which launches attacks on Turkish targets from its bases
in northern Iraq. In the second half of 2008 Ankara launched public
contacts with the Iraqi Kurdish administration in northern Iraq to
discuss ways to eliminate the PKK.

Gül did not comment on planned measures to eliminate the PKK,
but said terrorism could not be tolerated.

He added that Obama’s team includes people that know Turkey well and
that the president-elect seems to have been well informed about Turkey
and its importance for the US. He also said his election as president
showed how the US system was capable of renovating itself even at a
time when such changes seemed so unlikely. "Two years ago I heard that
he was a charming politician, but no one seemed to think that he could
ever be elected as president. The fact that he was actually elected
increases one’s admiration for the US system. Think how the system can
reinvigorate itself. ¦ This is where the importance of democracy is
so apparent."

Tough start for Obama

But Gül also admitted that hard times were awaiting Obama
amidst an Israeli offensive in Gaza that has so far killed hundreds of
Palestinians. "One of the worst things is that you have a new
administration that pledges to work through dialogue with everyone and
you present a Middle East like that to such an administration as a
starter gift. This is a very bad thing," the president noted. He also
called for an end to divisions amongst Palestinians: "The division
there is about to divide the entire Arab world. No one should hope for
such a division."

Criticism of EU

Asked how Turkey’s EU accession process, which has stalled over EU
criticism of a slowdown in reforms and disputes over Cyprus,
Gül said he hoped the new year would be very productive in
terms of reforms and progress in the direction of membership, but also
directed criticism at the EU and said not all the fault was on
Turkey’s shoulders, as is commonly believed. "In fact, Turkey is doing
a lot of things, but the EU does not open the way for its progress
toward membership," he said, blaming European leaders for lacking
strategic vision. "The EU is in a state of contradiction. It is not
aware of its own powers; it sacrifices so many important issues for
petty political gains," Gül stressed.

Last autumn the EU warned that the Turkish government must refocus on
reforms immediately after the local elections in Turkey, slated for
end of March. The 27-nation bloc is also due to review Turkey’s
membership bid by the end of 2009 if Ankara continues to refuse to
open its ports and airports to traffic from EU member Greek
Cyprus. Turkish Cypriot and Greek Cypriot leaders have been holding
direct talks on reunification of the island, but they have recently
admitted that progress so far has been limited.

Gül said Turkey had proven its readiness for a just solution on
the divided island when it encouraged the Turkish Cypriots to back a
UN plan to reunite the island in 2004 and emphasized that Ankara would
continue to support Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat in the
ongoing reunification talks.

The president also responded to questions over media speculation that
he and Prime Minister ErdoÄ?an, a personal friend for decades,
have been parting ways recently over a number of disagreements. "Our
friendship is everlasting. We have been continuing with this
friendship in a professional and civilized manner. We have a
professional, modern attitude toward each other," he explained. "If
some people want to see backbiting and fights between the president
and prime minister of this country, this is out of the question and it
will remain so."

Gül admitted that rifts between the government and the
secularist state establishment, a closure case against the ruling
party and the ongoing economic crisis have harmed Turkey as a whole,
but noted that Turkey also got became mature at the end of such
debates and that, with its expanding democracy and growing economy,
Turkey will be a much stronger country in the future.

02 January 2009, Friday
YAVUZ BAYDAR / FUAT UÄ?UR ANKARA

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress