Monsters and Critics.com
April 4 2009

PREVIEW: Obama travels to Turkey as allies’ interests converge
Europe News

By Christopher Wade Apr 4, 2009, 10:13 GMT

Ankara – US President Barrack Obama arrives in Turkey Sunday night,
fulfilling his pledge to visit a Muslim nation in his first 100 days
in office, as the two-NATO allies work on rebuilding a relationship
sorely tested by the 2004 US-led invasion of Iraq.

During his talks with Turkish leaders in Ankara Monday – a visit that
will include Obama making a speech to the Turkish parliament, then a
tour of the ancient city of Istanbul Tuesday – Obama will seek to
emphasise his administration’s new approach to regional problems.

High on the agenda will be discussions about withdrawing US troops
from Iraq, stepping up reconstruction efforts in Afghanistan and new
US moves to engage Iran and Syria.

‘There is so much on the agenda of the new administration that has a
Turkish dimension,’ Suat Kiniklioglu, deputy head of the ruling
Justice and Development Party’s (AKP) Foreign Affairs Commission, told
the German Press Agency dpa.

‘Anything from Afghanistan, to Pakistan to the Middle East Peace
process, to energy security to Iran. All of these things have a strong
Turkish component.’

Of particular interest are Obama’s attempts to engage to Iran and
Syria. Just a few years ago Turkey was lambasted by the Bush
administration for making overtures to Syria. Today, Washington is
making tentative steps to engage a country that it has scorned as a
state that sponsors terrorism.

‘These things aren’t easy,’ according to Taha Ozhan of the Turkish
foreign policy think-tank SETA. ‘Just 10 years ago, Turkey and Syria
were almost at war,’ he said, referring to Turkey’s threat in 1998 to
invade Syria which was at the time harbouring Kurdish separatist
leader Abdullah Ocalan.

Recent Turkish foreign policy of engagement now seems to be in step
with US policy, but the potential for problems to emerge still exists.

‘Turkey and the US have have so many overlapping policies in
overlapping regions,’ Ozhan said. ‘Of course this is positive but it
is in exactly these overlapping plans that problems can emerge.’

One of those problems that could emerge will be the plan to withdraw
US troops from Iraq. Turkey has offered to facilitate the withdrawal
but it is what the US leaves behind that has Turkey worried. An Iraq
which is split would leave Turkey with a major foreign and domestic
policy problem.

‘If a de facto Kurdish state in northern Iraq is established then this
will seriously hurt US-Turkish relations,’ said Ozhan.

Turkey in particular fears that such a state would only inflame
Kurdish separatist ideas in Turkey itself. Already Ankara is upset at
the US failure to deal with the Kurdish Workers’ Party (PKK) which
uses northern Iraq as a base from which to launch attacks inside
Turkey itself.

Obama is expected to praise Turkey for its recent attempts to
normalise relations with its neighbour Armenia – but here, too, there
is the potential for US-Turkish relations to turn sour.

During his presidential campaign Obama promised to recognize as
genocide the killings of hundreds of thousands of ethnic Armenians
during the dieing days of the Ottoman Empire.

No US president has actually used the word ‘genocide’ to describe the
events of 1915, and Turkey will be watching closely to see if Obama
keeps to his pledge.

Turkey refuses to accept that the killings constitute a genocide,
instead saying that there were massacres committed by both sides.

‘We shouldn’t underestimate the potential of this to ruin the
relationship,’ said the AKP’s Kiniklioglu. ‘It would be extremely
difficult for any Turkish prime minister not to react to such a
statement.’

During his visit Obama is sure to praise Turkey and to stress the
importance of its role in the region. He will express his support for
Turkey’s bid to join the European Union and for human rights reforms
that the government has implemented in recent years.

During the Bush administration and the invasion of Iraq, Turkish- US
relations hit rock bottom. Obama’s visit is the first step to repair
the relationship.

Especially when it comes to regional foreign policy, Turkey once again
feels that there is someone in the White House whose approach is the
same as theirs.