OBAMA VISIT TO BE START OF NEW ERA, ATILGAN SAYS
Today’s Zaman
March 20 2009
Turkey
US President Barack Obama’s planned visit to Turkey in April will be
a milestone in the two countries’ relationship, according Nationalist
Movement Party (MHP) deputy and Retired Gen. KurÅ~_at Atılgan.
Speaking to Today’s Zaman about his views on Obama’s plans, Atılgan
said he believed Obama’s visit will be followed by military operations
against Kurdistan Workers’ Party’s (PKK) terrorist bases in northern
Iraq.
Atılgan expressed the opinion that Obama’s decision to visit Turkey at
such an early phase of his presidency could be a watershed event for
future developments. "This visit could be the first step in changing
the region’s balances from head to toe."
Also a member of the NATO Parliamentarians Assembly, Atılgan
projected: "President Obama’s first point of discussion will be the
NATO summit. I think his decision to visit Turkey after the summit is
highly indicative of the importance the US administration attaches to
Turkey. … The US administration understands that none of its policies
would succeed without Turkey’s support and contribution," he said.
He listed four central themes to the discussions taking place in the
upcoming meeting: developments in Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran and the
Caucasus, highlighting the issue of Iraq as the most crucial subject.
"This will be a visit where conflicting policies over Iraq will be
harmonized. With the US’s partial pullout from Iraq, Turkey’s new
position in the region will be established," Altıgan noted.
He said the US has taken terrorist organizations PKK and the Party
for a Free Life in Kurdistan (PJAK), an Iranian offshoot of the PKK,
out of the equation and will start clearing these elements from the
region in April and May, believing the US would support a Turkish
operation into northern Iraq in April. However, the US will support the
Kurdish political struggle. "The armed Kurdish movement has nothing
left to do. But the US has made its mind up to take the initiative
in the resolution of the Kurdish question.
The issue will be put on the table at events such as conferences,
summits and international gatherings. …. As long as they don’t
contradict Turkey’s sensitivities, important steps can be taken in
the region towards solution of the Kurdish question."
He also said he doubted that Obama would appease the Armenian
community, adding that the president will not fulfill his promise
to declare that the killings of Anatolian Armenians during the early
20th century amounted to genocide. However, Atılgan said the US will
ask Turkey to do more to normalize its relations with Armenia.
"Armenia has the [political] position of being the country in the
Caucasus closest to Russia. They [the US] will want Turkey to open
its border with Armenia in order to pull Armenia out of Moscow’s
sphere of influence. Turkey might have special demands, and in return
for these, Obama might not mention genocide in his speech on April
24. The Armenian diaspora, which is aware of this, has already started
pressuring Obama to keep his promise."
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
