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EDITORIAL

Saturday, April 4, 2009
Mr. Obama and Turkey
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Published: April 3, 2009
President Obama has wisely decided to visit Turkey during his first
official trip to Europe. The United States needs Turkey’s cooperation

– in Iraq and Afghanistan as well as with Iran and efforts to broker
Middle East peace. But there are also very worrying trends in Turkey’s
relationship with Europe and its internal politics.

Related
Times Topics: Turkey
Mr. Obama must do all he can to help reverse those trends and anchor
Turkey more firmly in the West.

The Justice and Development Party scored an impressive re-election in
2007 after pursuing market-oriented policies that brought economic
growth and more trade ties with the European Union. That conservative
Muslim party also expanded human rights and brought Turkish law closer
to European standards.

Those reforms have since stalled – partly because of opposition from
civilian nationalists and generals who still wield too much clout.
(The trial of 86 people accused of plotting a military coup is a
reminder of the dark side of Turkish politics.) But Prime Minister
Recep Tayyip Erdogan also seems to have lost enthusiasm for the
European Union bid and the reforms that are the price of admission.
President Nicolas Sarkozy of France has been especially unhelpful,
making clear that he will do all he can to keep Turkey out of the
European Union. Mr. Obama must persuade Mr. Sarkozy and others that
admitting Turkey – a Muslim democracy – is in everyone’s interest.
And he must persuade Ankara that the required reforms will strengthen
Turkey’s democracy and provide more stability and growth.

We are concerned about Mr. Erdogan’s increasingly autocratic
tendencies. His government’s decision to slap the media mogul Aydin
Dogan with a $500 million tax bill smacks of retaliation against an
independent press that has successfully exposed government corruption.

Ankara’s willingness to help rebuild schools in Afghanistan is
welcome. But the situation there is dire, and NATO also needs more
troops and needs access to Turkish military bases to facilitate the
transport of American soldiers and equipment into Afghanistan and out
of Iraq.

Ankara has played a positive role, mediating indirect talks between
Israel and Syria. With Washington’s encouragement, Mr. Erdogan could
also use his relationships with Iran, Sudan and Hamas to encourage
improved behavior.

Turkey’s cooperation with Iraqi Kurds has vastly improved. There are
also reports that Turkey and Armenia may soon normalize relations.
We have long criticized Turkey for its self-destructive denial of the
World War I era mass killing of Armenians. But while Congress is again
contemplating a resolution denouncing the genocide, it would do a lot
more good for both Armenia and Turkey if it held back. Mr. Obama, who
vowed in the presidential campaign to recognize the event as genocide,
should also forbear.

The Bush administration’s disastrous war in Iraq fanned a destructive
anti-Americanism in Turkey. Mr. Obama’s visit is likely to soothe
hostile feelings. But he must go beyond that to secure a relationship

with an important ally and an important democracy in danger of
backsliding.