TURKEY, ANGRY AT U.S., PLEDGES SUPPORT FOR IRAN
By Patrick Goodenough
CNSNews.com
s/article/62473
March 9 2010
Leftist Turks protest against the United States in Istanbul, Turkey,
on Friday, March 5, 2010, a day after a U.S. congressional committee
approved a resolution branding the World War I-era killing of Armenians
a genocide. The banner says Turkey should boot the U.S.
military from the Incirlik military base in southern Turkey. (AP
Photo/Ibrahim Usta)(CNSNews.com) – As the Obama administration
scrambles to contain the diplomatic fallout with Turkey over the
"Armenian genocide" resolution in the U.S. Congress, Turkey’s tilt
towards Iran continues largely unnoticed.
Turkey’s "formerly Islamist" president, Abdullah Gul, in a weekend
telephone conversation with his Iranian counterpart called for a
deepening of bilateral relations and voiced support for Iran in
international forums. Turkey is non-permanent member of the U.N.
Security Council, the most important international body to have Iran
on its current agenda.
The encounter was virtually ignored by media outside of Turkey
and Iran.
Iran’s Fars news agency said Gul told President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
"that the two countries would defend each other’s positions at
international forums, and emphasized the importance of tightening
the relations between them and of consulting on regional and security
matters."
Ahmadinejad praised Ankara’s policies and "strong and progressive"
bilateral ties. He said that "regional and global developments
are changing in favor of Iran and Turkey," Turkey’s Dunya Gazetesi
newspaper reported.
President Barack Obama holds a town hall meeting in Istanbul, Turkey,
on Tuesday, April 7, 2009. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)The phone
call came three days after Gul and President Obama spoke on the phone,
on the eve of a vote in the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee on
a resolution condemning as "genocide" the mass killings of Armenians
in the Ottoman Empire early last century.
The resolution passed by a single vote, Turkey withdrew its ambassador
in protest, and the administration has vowed to prevent it from going
to the House floor.
Obama has been at pains to strengthen ties with Turkey, a longstanding
NATO ally, including it on the itinerary for his first presidential
trip outside North America last April, and welcoming Prime Minister
Recep Tayyip Erdogan as a personal friend when meeting with the Turk
at the Oval Office in December.
Yet under Erdogan and his Justice and Development Party (AKP) ally,
Gul, Turkey’s policies regarding Iran are increasingly at odds with
those of Washington. Turkish and Iranian leaders have paid reciprocal
visits and Erdogan has referred to Ahmadinejad as his "friend."
As the Obama administration works with allies to win support for
a new U.N. Security Council Iran sanctions resolution, it faces
resistance not just from China, but also from Turkey and several
other non-permanent council members.
Last November, Turkey declined to support a resolution at the
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) censuring Iran for its
uranium enrichment activities, choosing instead to abstain.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan addresses lawmakers in
Ankara on Tuesday, Dec. 1, 2009. (AP Photo)Gul’s conversation with
Ahmadinejad came on the eve of a visit to the region by Vice President
Joe Biden, with Iran high on the agenda.
While the U.S., Israel and others suspect that Iran’s nuclear program
is a cover for attempts to develop an atomic weapons capability,
Turkey says it supports Tehran’s position that the program is for
peaceful purposes only.
Amid a growing trading relationship, the two nations have also
signed agreements and protocols on energy investment, including joint
exploration and production of natural gas reserves in Iran. Erdogan
is pushing, against U.S. wishes, for Iran to be included in a key
pipeline project that aims to bringing Caspian natural gas to Western
markets via Turkey and bypassing Russia.
Iran and Turkey have long histories of animosity, underscored when
the Islamic revolution of 1979 widened the gap between fundamentalist
Iran and traditionally Muslim but secular Turkey.
The warming of tie over the past year or so has coincided with Ankara’s
increasingly outspoken stance on the Israel-Arab conflict.
Under Erdogan, Turkey has shifted from being a key mediator between
Israel and its neighbors – notably Syria – to becoming one of Israel’s
most ardent regional critics.
In a weekend interview with a Saudi newspaper Al Wattan, Erdogan
expressed his support for the Palestinians, whether they were
members of Mahmoud Abbas’ West Bank-based Fatah faction or Hamas,
the Iranian-backed terrorist group ruling Gaza.
"I love my brothers in Fatah and my brothers in Hamas wherever they
are," the paper quoted the Turkish prime minister as saying, urging
the rival factions to unite because division was only in the interests
of their "enemies."
Despite their AKP having Islamist roots, both Erdogan and Gul insist
that it is committed to a secular state.
The government recently launched a crackdown on the fervently secular
military, accusing dozens of commanders of links to an alleged
coup plot.