CLINTON FACES PLETHORA OF ISSUES WITH TURKEY
By Sue Pleming
Reuters
Feb 27 2009
UK
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – On the surface, U.S.-Turkish relations appear
stellar, but peel back a layer and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary
Clinton will find a host of bilateral tensions on her visit there
next week.
Clinton will make a fleeting trip to NATO member Turkey on March 7,
finishing off a weeklong visit to the Middle East and Europe where
much of the focus will be on Arab-Israeli peacemaking, in which Ankara
is increasingly involved.
There has been a wave of anti-Americanism in Turkey, a Muslim secular,
democratic state, particularly following the 2003 U.S. invasion of
Iraq and many of those tensions linger.
"Once you take off the first layer of paint, there are problems," said
Zeyno Baran, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute of U.S.-Turkish
relations.
One thorny issue is whether the Obama administration views the 1915
killings of Armenians as genocide committed by Ottoman Turks and
how it might deal with any plans in Congress to revive a resolution
calling it such.
A Turkish official in Washington said the Armenian issue, which
poisoned ties in recent years, would be raised, but Ankara wanted
the focus to be on areas of cooperation.
"At this moment, we hope that sound judgment will prevail and they
will keep this issue from being further politicized. I think it is
susceptible to distortion," he said.
In 2007, U.S.-Turkish relations plummeted when Congress took up
the issue against the wishes of then-President George W. Bush’s
administration. Ankara rejects allegations of genocide.
"Strategically, it is important for the United States to have
Turkey on its side. A big question is how much of a distraction this
Armenian genocide issue will be," said Turkey expert Samuel Brannen
of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington
think tank.
President Barack Obama referred to the killings of Armenians as
genocide during the 2008 election campaign, a view that could make
Clinton’s trip difficult.
Asked about current policy on the Armenian issue, a senior State
Department official was noncommittal.
"The administration is very aware about Turkish views on this and
is thinking about this issue in light of all the factors. There is
more to say, but none at present," said the official, who refused to
be identified.
Baran said if Congress took up the issue, U.S.-Turkish relations
would again suffer, and she predicted bilateral ties could be frozen
for months, the ambassador recalled and the U.S. Incirlik air base,
which is vital to Iraq operations, possibly affected.
MIDDLE EAST ROLE
U.S. officials are playing up Turkey’s important role in the region
ahead of Clinton’s trip and highlighting areas where the two can work
together, particularly in intelligence sharing to fight Kurdish PKK
rebels in the region.
"The bilateral relationship with Turkey has improved but now we have
an opportunity to build on that and build a genuine, close strategic
partnership," said senior State Department official Dan Fried.
Clinton wants Turkey to be helpful in convincing its neighbors to allow
their territory to become supply routes to Afghanistan, particularly
after Kyrgyzstan announced plans to close the U.S. Manas air base,
a major transit point for U.S. troops going into Afghanistan.
Turkey is a major player in Arab-Israeli peacemaking and has mediated
indirect talks between Syria and the Israelis.
Those talks broke down after Israel’s invasion of Gaza in December
but Turkish officials have said they are ready to resume mediation
efforts once a new Israeli government is in place following elections
this month.
While welcoming Turkish mediation with Syria, the Obama
administration differs over how to tackle Hamas, which controls the
Gaza Strip. Washington wants to isolate it, while Ankara feels the
Islamist group should not be excluded from any major peace agreement.
Despite differences over Hamas, the Obama administration might now
find Ankara an invaluable ally if it tries to reach out to Damascus
and Tehran and as it engages in Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking.
Turkey and Iran share important energy agreements and Iranian President
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad visited Istanbul last year, but Turkey shares
Washington’s misgivings about Iran’s nuclear program.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
