Journal of Turkish Weekly
March 7 2009
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is Visiting Turkey
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is visiting Turkey today. Hilary
Clinton will meet President Abdullah Gul, Prime Minister Tayyip
Erdogan and Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Babacan during her visit.
Withdrawal of US’ troops from Iraq, US’ demands on military support of
Turkey in Afghanistan, intermediary role of Turkey on Iran issue are
expected to be the major topics of today’s meetings.
In the meetings, Turkey is expected to demand just stance from the US
concerning the issues of Middle East and conducting dialog with
Hamas. Moreover, Turkey is to deliver demands regarding the President
Obama’s April 24 speech. Since Barack Obama is known with his close
relations to Armenian lobbies, whether he is going to name the 1915
Events "genocide’ or not is a matter of concern for Turkey. Human
Rights Report released by the US Department of State will be another
topic in the meetings. Especially US’s reports’ critiques towards
Turkey respecting the issues of freedom of speech and press are
expected to be brought to table by Turkish officials.
We talked to Mehmet Yegin, USAK expert on US Studies, on Clinton’s
visit to Turkey. Mehmet Yegin shared his analysis on what primary
concerns were laying in this visit and what Turkey can expect from it.
Mr. Yegin stated that "The primary concern for the US administration
is to better the prestige of the US in bilateral relations.’ As a
reflection of the US’ concerns on improving its image in Turkey
Mr. Yegin remarked that Hillary Clinton will take part in a TV program
in which present-day topics are discussed by four women instead of
attending other kind s of discussion programs along with her formal
visits. Mr. Yegin also stated "Clintons have an extensive credibility
in Turkey. We remember Hillary Clinton and Bill Clinton’s visit to
Turkey just after the 1999 Earthquake in Turkey which created a
sympathetic image of Clintons. During this visit, as you may recall,
Bill Clinton had a speech in Turkish Parliament which had ceased by
the applauses of Turkish parliamentarians at least ten times.’
Moreover, Mr. Yegin evaluated the meaning of the meeting for the US
side. He said "Hillary Clinton believes in smart power which focuses
on employment of both soft power as well as military power in
politics. Thus, her visit aims to reduce the Anti-Americanism and to
enhace the US-Turkey cooperation on the regional matters. This visit
can be considered in line with Hillary Clinton’s politic discourse and
stance.’
Regarding the political aspects of Clinton’s visit we asked
Mr. Yegin’s thoughts on Turkey’s plans towards US’ strategies and also
its expectations from the US. Mr Yegin said that "The issues at stake
in the meetings are mainly Turkey’s possible meditator role between
the US and Iran, sending troops to Afghanistan, and the Armenian
allegations on 1915 events. Turkey is not so enthusiastic about
sending troops to Afghanistan because of the increasing
insurgencies. Yet, the door is not entirely shut for such
option. Considering Obama’s scheduled speech on April 24, Turkish side
is going to express Turkey’s expectations regarding Obama’s
speech. Although Obama promised his voters to recognize Armenian
allegations and name the 1915 events as "genocide’, there are rumors
that he will not call the 1915 events as expected. Thus, Turkey is
likely to focus on this possibility.’
Mr. Yegin shared his analysis on what is the importance of Turkey for
the US as his conclusion remarks: "As Clinton’s visit points out,
Turkey is important for the US politics. Clinton’s visit can be seen
as the US’ efforts to enhance relations not only at diplomatic level
but also at society level.’
Saturday, 7 March 2009
Dilek Aydemir (JTW)