CLOUDS GATHERING OVER TURKISH-US RELATIONS

Hurriyet
lish/domestic/10964914.asp?gid=244
Feb 10 2009
Turkey

ANKARA – Two serious threats are on the horizon to relations between
NATO allies Turkey and the United States during the period of the new
Obama administration in Washington: a resolution recognizing Armenian
claims and the fallout from the Turkish prime minister’s encounter
with Israeli President Shimon Peres at Davos, according to a veteran
U.S. diplomat.

"The style of leadership in Washington now has changed and is quite
different from the Bush style. I am optimistic about the future of
bilateral ties but there are two very serious problems on the horizon,"
retired Ambassador James Holmes, president of the American-Turkish
Council, told the Hurriyet Daily News & Economic Review in an interview
yesterday.

One issue is the negative repercussions in Washington from a public
confrontation between Peres and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdogan at the now-infamous Davos panel that ended when the latter
walked off stage, he said.

"As popular as that was in Turkey and in much of the Arab world it
was received very negatively in the United States and particularly
in the American-Jewish community, which has always been a supporter
and ally of Turkey," said Holmes.

"The American-Jewish community’s support for Turkey’s position on
the Armenian genocide resolution, for example, is gone. They will not
expend any political energy in blocking a resolution or a presidential
proclamation."

Holmes said he watched the full panel debate.

‘Mediator role blown away’ "I could see what happened, I could see
who raised his voice first, I could see who pointed fingers, but in
the United States we got 30 seconds in which Erdogan lost his temper
with Peres and stalked off stage. That was it and all the blame was
put on Erdogan’s shoulders," he said. "That is not a fair presentation
but is a fact of media life in the United States. I don’t think it
is permanent, I don’t think it is terribly serious but it does need
to be addressed."

Turkey has expended energy in positioning itself as peace broker in
the Middle East and according to Holmes, the mediation role has been
undertaken successfully for the better part of the year with a lot
credit going to Turkey for this.

"And in the minds of most in Washington this has been blown away now
by what happened in Davos," he said.

Holmes illustrated what he said was "the inconsistency of Turkey’s
policy of inclusiveness," in the case of Gaza when Erdogan skipped
Israel on his regional tour following the Israeli offensive and his
rhetoric excluded recognition of some of the initiatives that were
taken by Hamas and had led to violence.

As another example of inconsistency, Holmes said many in Washington
questioned the visit by Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, whose
regime stands accused of genocide in Darfur.

"Turkey has shown an independent foreign policy streak over the last
three or four years, much of that was appreciated or well-received in
the United States. Over time people have begun to understand there
was value in Turkey’s ability to speak with Hamas, there was value
in its ability to work with the leadership of Syria," Holmes said.

Anti-Semitism "But this is certainly not the case with
al-Bashir. Turkey received al-Bashir and his deputy was recently here
(in Ankara), so many people have scratched their heads and asked what
is going on here."

While the government’s strong rhetoric against Israel raised questions
over Turkey’s regional role, it also awakened grave distress among
Turkish Jews over rising anti-Semitism.

Holmes said some instances, particularly in Istanbul, had frightened
the Turkish-Jewish community and led to the emergence of a feeling in
Washington that Turkey and the government were moving in the direction
of anti-Semitic behavior. "This is another sign of anti-Western
behavior on the part of Turkey that has to be addressed," he added.

"It is all loss, no gain. This is the message that we need to get
across in Washington," he said referring to Armenians’ efforts to make
their claims regarding the 1915 incidents recognized as "genocide".

Armenia, with the backing of the diaspora, claims up to 1.5 million
of their kin were slaughtered in orchestrated killings in 1915.

Turkey rejects the claims saying that 300,000 Armenians, along with at
least as many Turks, died in civil strife that emerged when Armenians
took up arms, backed by Russia, for independence in eastern Anatolia.

The issue remains unsolved as Armenia drags its feet on accepting
Turkey’s proposal to form an independent commission to investigate
the claims.