Journal of Turkish Daily
April 18 2015

The quality of Turkish democracy matters to us, says US official

18 April 2015

The United States gives importance to the `quality of Turkish
democracy’ not just in political and economic terms, but also as a
security issue, said Victoria Nuland, the U.S. Assistant Secretary of
State for European Affairs, following high level contacts in Turkey on
April 16, ahead of a NATO meeting in May and Turkish elections in
June. `It matters to us as allies, but also as a security issue,’ she
said in an exclusive interview with the Hürriyet Daily News. `In the
sense that our NATO alliance is based and built on democratic values,
we are all societies where the government serves the people, not the
other way around. So that dialogue between citizens and their
government, whether it is in the United States, whether it is in
Turkey, needs to be vibrant, needs to be strong, needs to be free,’
she said.

The focus of Nuland’s contacts in Turkey was actually on regional
security matters as well as Turkey-U.S. relations. Before her stop in
Istanbul where she met with Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Feridun
SinirlioÄ?lu and other ranking officials, Nuland was in Warsaw. Poland
hosts the missile sites and Turkey hosts the early warning radar sites
of the NATO-run U.S. missile shield program which made Russia
uncomfortable. `With Warsaw we talked a lot about the challenges to
the East [the crisis in Ukraine], and in Turkey we talk a lot about
the challenges to the South [Iraq, Syria and now Yemen].

Both are important NATO allies,’ Nuland said. `And it’s important for
all allies to be contributing to restoring stability in both
directions. So, you know, whether if you’re in Istanbul you’re going
talk about both, or if you’re in Warsaw you’re going talk about both.’

Pointing out that one of the main topics of the NATO foreign
ministers’ meeting in the Turkish Mediterranean resort of Antalya on
May 13-14 would be Ukraine, Nuland said the U.S. had expectations from
Turkey to counter the `pressure’ of Russia on Ukraine. `Turkey is
already making a good contribution. We would like Turkey to continue
to help us send the message to Moscow that it doesn’t have to be this
way, that if they implement the commitments they made at Minsk,
normalize the situation, get their troops, get their support out of
eastern Ukraine, that that will enhance the security of the whole
region,’ she said. Mentioning the report of Turkish trade people
showing a 35 percent decrease in Russian trade because of the U.S. and
EU sanctions, Nuland said, `All of us are sacrificing to make the firm
point to Russia that there are certain rules of the road, global rules
of the road, you can’t just bite off a piece of another country and
there not be consequences.’

Ukraine and Russia are just two topics on the busy agenda of
Turkey-U.S. relations, as Nuland puts it. Other issues range from
energy security to the fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and the
Levant (ISIL), from Iran’s nuclear deal to Yemen and Libya. One of her
aims in Turkey was to have `some sense of the concerns’ in Turkey
before Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt ÇavuÃ…?oÄ?lu’s visit to Washington
D.C. next week. That would be a critical week since it coincides with
the 100th year of the 1915 events and Turkey is under pressure to
acknowledge the mass killings of Armenians as `genocide.’ All eyes
will be on whether U.S. President Barack Obama says the word
`genocide’ or sticks with its Armenian `Meds Yeghern’ with no legal
consequences. Nuland did not make any comment on neither what Obama
will say nor the extended use of Turkey’s Ä°ncirlik base for operations
in Iraq and Syria.

But she said she `did not see’ Turkey drift from NATO and the Western
alliance, as she listed the areas of cooperation, which gives the
impression that the U.S. would not like to deter Turkey further from
cooperation under the circumstances. `Look, Turkey continues to lead
in Afghanistan very strongly; we have just had a conversation today
about the onward role that Turkey will continue to play and the
resolute support mission. Turkey is also playing a strong role in
reassuring the allies on NATO’s eastern edge, including playing a
patrolling role in the Black Sea. From where we sit, the contribution
that Turkey’s making in training in Iraq, helping to support and arm
the Peshmerga, is an absolutely essential security contribution.
Turkey’s perspective on the region, particularly as we have so much
tension from Libya, to Yemen, to Iraq, to Syria, the role of Iran `
it’s absolutely key that the U.S. and Turkey stay in close touch on
all of those issues,’ she said.

Regarding the discrepancy between Turkish President Tayyip ErdoÄ?an and
Obama on the fate of Syria and its president, Bashar al-Assad, Nuland
did not agree there was a huge difference in opinion. `We’ve been
clear that we think he’s a failed leader, that he needs to go,’ she
said. `We continue to talk about the right mix of pressure on al-Assad
to get back to negotiations. I would say that I think the U.S. and
Turkey have done more together in recent months on Syria than we’ve
done in some time, in the sense that we have worked together on
Kobane. We’ve gotten quite bit of appropriate support from Turkey for
the strikes and things that we’ve been doing in Syria. Turkey also
participates actively in all of the coalition working groups. You’ve
strengthened your approach to foreign fighters. Your legislative base
is going after them; that kind of intelligence cooperation is really,
really important. And also, strengthening Turkey’s intelligence
cooperation has been a priority of ours. So I think we are doing
better on that as well,’ she said.

Then comes the issue of the `quality of Turkish democracy.’ `I was
privileged to sit just now with a broad group of civil society
representatives,’ Nuland said. `We always take the opportunity when we
are in Turkey to talk to folks who are working to strengthen
democratic institutions, strengthen the right of expression,
strengthen free media. I’ll be doing a conversation on Internet
freedom later today which we think is also really important, not just
in political terms but in economic terms. The quality of Turkey’s
democracy matters to us. It matters to us as allies, but it’s also a
security issue.’

Nuland concluded, `I think that the essential element between Turkey
and the U.S. is always almost constant conversation, and particularly
now that we’re working together, when we have shared interests and
concerns in so many hot spots. We have to maintain almost constant
dialogue.’

By Murat Yetkin

From: A. Papazian