OBAMA SHOULD MAKE A TURKEY TRIP
by Liam Hardy

Just International
ticle.cfm?newsid=20002962
Feb 5 2009
Malaysia

Washington DC – During his election campaign, US President Barack
Obama promised to make a trip to a Muslim country during his first
100 days in office to demonstrate that he is serious about easing
tensions between the United States and the Muslim world. If he decides
to follow through with this promise, Obama should seriously think
about making that visit to Turkey.

The United States and Turkey have had a long partnership, which was
based on mutual interest in containing communism during the Cold War
and in strengthening regional security and democracy in the post-Cold
War era. Recently, however, the relationship between the United
States and Turkey has become strained, threatening the partnership
at various levels.

Philip Gordon and Omer Taspinar, two scholars at the Brookings
Institution, describe in a recent publication that major policy
differences over Iraq, Armenia, Cyprus and Israel have created serious
stumbling blocks to US-Turkish relations.

These differences have fuelled distrust of the United States within
Turkey, which has ranked over the past few years at the very bottom
of opinion polls, such as the Pew Global Attitudes Project, which
measures individual countries’ popular support for the United States
and its policies. They have also contributed to heightened nationalism
and isolationism, as well as scepticism of institutions perceived as
close to the United States, which indirectly have a negative effect
on popular support for Turkey’s European Union reform process and
membership application.

Pressures stemming from the Iraq War have been paramount. In
particular, the public perception in Turkey of US support for an
autonomous Kurdish regional government in northern Iraq has created
resentment and fear among Turks because the Kurdish Workers Party
(PKK) has waged a violent separatist movement during the past several
decades. Although relations improved when the Bush administration
agreed to work with Turkey to fight terrorism stemming from the PKK
within Iraq’s borders in late 2007, public opinion still remains
highly resentful toward the United States over the invasion of Iraq.

In addition, domestic pressure within the United States to pass
a resolution in Congress condemning Turkey for the killing of
Armenians during World War I has further alienated Turks, most of whom
admit that killings occurred but argue that the violence was also
reciprocated. They seek an independent international commission to
determine whether the events at the time actually constituted genocide,
a claim that most Turks deny.

Severe tension between the two countries has arisen most recently with
regard to the conflict in Gaza. Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan,
who had previously tried to build a reputation as an honest broker in
the Middle East by overseeing discussions between Israel and Syria,
spoke out repeatedly against Israel’s recent military action in
Gaza. He even walked out of a panel discussion at the World Economic
Forum in January when Erdogan felt the moderator did not allow him
to respond to comments by Israeli President Shimon Peres.

Turkish-Israeli relations, which have historically been good, are
now being put to the test, creating another wedge between Turkey and
the United States, whose House of Representatives passed a resolution
supporting Israel during the recent conflict.

Some in Turkey question whether the country should remain committed to
its partnerships with the United States and Europe, instead preferring
closer relations with other power players in the region. These
sentiments are often found among those who are upset by US regional
policy and perceive a lack of respect from the West in general.

Despite these recent disagreements, the Obama administration should
remember that Turkey’s democracy, despite its flaws, has proven to be
one of the most successful and enduring in the region. If he addresses
the Muslim world from Turkey’s Grand National Assembly in Ankara early
on, Obama’s administration would send a signal that the United States
is committed to promoting democracy and compromise in the region.

This could do much to reinvigorate the partnership between the United
States and its longest-standing Muslim-majority ally. It would also
send a positive message to fledgling democracies in the region that the
United States, which is often described even today as an "experiment"
in democratic rule, firmly supports free elections and representative
governance as the most legitimate path to the law.

Obama must show that he stands behind Turkey’s quest for a deep and
stable representative democracy, committed to prosperity and liberty
for all citizens. Furthermore, addressing the rest of the Muslim
world from this platform would signify the beginning of positive
change between the United States and the region.

* Liam Hardy is an independent researcher on issues related to Turkey
and the region. This article was written for the Common Ground News
Service (CGNews) and can be accessed at