Turkish Press
May 11 2005
Visit To Israel Not Enough To Resolve Problems With United States
Fatih Altayli, one of columnists of the Hurriyet daily, referred to
the relations between Turkey and the United States in his article
today:
”The bilateral relations between Turkey and the United States
is not likely to be improved.
Although some circles claim that Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdogan’s visit to Israel eased the tension to some extend, (it seems
that) the United States’ problem is about Prime Minister Erdogan
himself. Erdogan has criticized the United States harshly, and not
accepted U.S. Ambassador to Turkey Eric Edelman’s request for an
appointment for six weeks. The United States considers those
‘intentional’ and ‘unacceptable’.
Even though U.S. President George W. Bush told Erdogan during
yesterday’s celebrations in Moscow that we was waiting for his visit,
the U.S. State Department has not scheduled yet an appointment.
Greece, which requested an appointment with President Bush after
Turkey, has already been given a firm date on May 20th. However,
Turkey, which sent its undersecretary of the MFA to the United States
to get an appointment, has not come to a conclusion yet.
Of course, the United States will make an appointment; however,
it won’t coincide with graduation date of Erdogan’s daughter. It
means that the United States will not make a beau geste. The
appointment will be fixed for mid-June. In that case, Erdogan will
have to go to the United States twice in a month.
In the meantime, President Viktor Yushchenko of Ukraine is
planning to pay a visit to Turkey in June. If Erdogan cannot go to
the United States since date of appointment with President Bush
coincides with President Yushchenko’s visit, the United States will
create a ‘professional tension’ by accusing Erdogan of failing to
attend the appointment.
Also, Ambassador Edelman will return to the United States in
June. And the new ambassador will not replace Edelman immediately.
The new ambassador will arrive in Turkey in fall the earliest. So,
the United States will intend to give to Turkey the following
message: ‘you should not consider yourself at the epicenter of the
world. We can carry out our relations even without an ambassador.’
In the past, Pentagon had always taken action to resolve
problems between Turkey and the United States. But now, there is a
problem between Turkey and the Pentagon, and the U.S. State
Department is trying to resolve it.”
-TURKISH PEOPLE’S SUPPORT TO EU ACCESSION DECREASES FROM 73 TO
63.5 PERCENT-
On the other hand Muharrem Sarikaya, a columnist of the Sabah
daily, referred to a dramatic decrease in Turkish people’s support to
the country’s European Union (EU) accession. Sarikaya writes:
”Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul gave EU ambassadors in Ankara
the message that Turkey is complying with adjustment protocol fully.
Gul said that there was no delay in timetable of Turkey on its path
to the EU.
But when we look at the recent surveys, there is a backlash in
Turkish people’s support to the country’s EU accession.
Economic Development Foundation conducted a survey in 23 cities
of Turkey in June 2004. According to this survey, 94.5 percent of
people stated that ‘We should be a full member of the EU’. Only 4.4
percent of people who joined the survey said ‘no’ to the EU, while
1.1 percent of them had no opinion on the issue.
Eastern cities such as Erzurum, Sivas and Van supported fully
Turkey’s membership to the EU.
The situation is different now. There are four separate surveys
conducted recently. One of them was conducted by Justice &
Development Party (AK Party). AK Party leader and Prime Minister
Erdogan earlier noted that more than 75 percent of Turkish people
supported the country’s EU accession. The last survey by AK Party
noted that this ratio was reduced to 63 percent.
Another survey was sponsored by Turkey’s Secretariat General for
EU. It said that Turkish people’s support to EU accession fall to 60
percent.
40 percent of the people who support EU membership said that ‘I
believe that we should join the EU, but the union will not accept
Turkey.’
When we consider the reasons for decrease in Turkish people’s
support, we can list three points:
1-Cyprus and Armenian issue: Despite promises made last year
that the blockade imposed on Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus
(TRNC) would be lifted, EU has not taken any step on this matter.
Worse, some decisions taken by EU on so-called Armenian genocide
allegations put pressure on Turkey.
2-Expectation: A great expectation on EU was created by the
government before December 17th. However, most of expectations were
not met.
3-Nationalism: Activities of nationalist groups strengthened
nationalist feelings.