A RUSH TO WAR
BY ERGIN YILDIZOGLU (CUMHURIYET)
Plans are now firm for a summit to be held tomorrow in
Istanbul promoting a peaceful resolution to the Iraq issue. The
foreign ministers of Turkey, Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Saudi Arabia
and Iran are expected to attend the meeting, and Prime Minister
Abdullah Gul will serve as host. Following the Istanbul summit,
another meeting is planned to be held in Damascus, Syria with
the attendance of heads of state and government or foreign
ministers of the above countries, possibly joined by Kuwait and
Iraq itself in the latter case. The details of the Damascus
meeting have yet to be finalized. /All Papers/
German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer will arrive in
Istanbul tomorrow to hold a series of contacts with Turkish
officials. Fischer is expected to meet with Foreign Minister
Yasar Yakis and Prime Minister Abdullah Gul, among others. /Turkiye/
Ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) leader Recep
Tayyip Erdogan yesterday spoke out forthrightly for peace in
Iraq, saying that Turkey was heeding the public’s desire to try
to avoid war and that other countries should do the same.
Speaking at his party’s group meeting in Parliament, Erdogan
praised the government’s initiatives to peacefully resolve the
Iraq issue. “Amid preparations for war, demonstrations are being
held worldwide to promote peace,” said the AKP leader. “The
world’s decision-makers must heed this rising chorus in favor of
peace.” Turning to his recent tour of Central Asian countries,
Erdogan stated that the focus of his visits had been the energy
sector. “We took important steps towards cooperation in energy
projects,” said the AKP leader. Stressing that the government
was taking an active stance in a host of areas from the economy
to international diplomacy, Erdogan said that others would get
used to the administration’s rapid pace and fall into line.
Meanwhile, Koc Group CEO Rahmi Koc yesterday met with the AKP
leader in Ankara in what Koc called “a courtesy visit.” /Turkiye/
At the conclusion yesterday of the annual Socialist
International meeting in Rome, participants passed a resolution
calling for a peaceful resolution of the Iraq issue, with
Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Deniz Baykal among those
speaking out against war. “We can’t just sit and watch events
unfold in Iraq,” said Baykal in a speech. “If we aren’t able to
prevent war, this would be a true failure on our part.” He added
that the Socialist International should do its utmost to promote
peace and head off war in the region. In the meeting’s final
declaration on Iraq, participants stated that efforts at peace
needed to be given more time, adding that war should be used
only as a last resort. /Aksam/
US Ambassador to Ankara Robert Pearson is scheduled next
Monday to brief select Turkish parliamentarians on the Iraq
issue. Pearson will lay out the US policy on Iraq to the members
of four parliamentary commissions, namely the Human Rights,
Foreign Affairs, National Defense and Planning & Budget
Commissions. /Star/
Yannakis Kasulides, the foreign minister of Greek Cyprus,
yesterday stated that the UN’s Cyprus plan might be changed per
the separate requests of both sides on the island. Alleging that
Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) President Rauf
Denktas had no real interest in reaching a settlement, Kasulides
remarked that there had recently been a shift in Turkey’s Cyprus
policy and that politicians had begun to voice differing views
on the issue. /Cumhuriyet/
The governors of six eastern and southeastern Anatolia
provinces and 19 high-level officials from Ankara yesterday met
in Diyarbakir to discuss possible measures to be taken in case
of war in Iraq. In particular, the participants exchanged views
on preparations for holding back a possible exodus of Iraqi
refugees to Anatolia’s eastern and southeastern regions.
/Cumhuriyet/
Iraq’s Ambassador to Ankara Talip Abid Salih al-Dileymi
yesterday stated that Iraq appreciated Turkey’s efforts to find
a peaceful solution to the current crisis in his country.
Stating that the Iraqi nation was well aware that the Turkish
people are opposed a war in Iraq, al-Dileymi added that Turkey’s
Iraq policy was in line with the principle of “Peace at home,
peace in the world” as established by modern Turkey’s founder,
Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. Al-Dileymi yesterday met with Turkish
Foreign Ministry officials to evaluate recent developments in
the region. /Cumhuriyet/
Appearing on television yesterday, State Minister for the
Economy Ali Babacan said that early next month the Justice and
Development Party (AKP) government would complete its work on
the fourth review of Turkey’s economic program in cooperation
with International Monetary Fund officials. Babacan also stated
that the government would complete a new Letter of Intent (LOI)
within two weeks, adding that after doing so it would invite an
IMF delegation to Turkey. Babacan added that he would be a
speaker at a seminar on “A World Without the IMF” during the
Davos summit in Switzerland which begins tomorrow. IMF’s First
Managing Director Anne Krueger will also make a speech at that
meeting, said Babacan. /Milliyet/
Central Bank Governor Sureyya Serdengecti said yesterday that
the CB had taken precautionary measures to help protect the
nation’s economy from harm in case of a war in Iraq. “We’re
ready for any kind of crisis, including a war in Iraq,” he
stated. “We have $26 billion in foreign exchange reserves as
well as a floating exchange rate to cushion the impact on Turkey
of a possible war.” Asked about the ruling Justice and
Development Party (AKP) government’s 6.5% primary surplus target,
Serdengecti stated that the CB would do its utmost to reach this
goal, but that it needed firm support from the government to do
so. He added that the government’s support was also very
important for the success of the nation’s economic program. “The
government needs to take measures to boost its revenues and
reduce public sector expenditures,” he added. /Milliyet/
Columnist Oktay Eksi comments on his meetings yesterday with
Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) President Rauf
Denktas and Greek Cypriot administration leader Glafcos Clerides,
focusing today on the latter. A summary of his column is as
follows:
“Yesterday I met separately with the two main players on the
Cyprus issue, Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC)
President Rauf Denktas and Greek Cypriot administration leader
Glafcos Clerides, at their official residences. Both of them
discussed the issue with the firm attitude of long-distance
runners, determined not to quit the race without completing
their runs. Talking with them led me to think that without
changing this approach, they’ll never come to an agreement
because they speak about the same subjects but use completely
different languages. ‘If Denktas resigns and another person
comes in as negotiator, we’ll need to start over from the very
beginning,’ Clerides told me, expressing a preference to keep
his old interlocutor. When I told Denktas about this, I had the
impression that he also preferred to discuss the matter with
Clerides, rather than someone else.
Today let’s start with Clerides… I thought that only Denktas
was saying that an immediate solution couldn’t be reached on the
plan proposed by United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan
last November. However, Clerides also said, ‘There are a great
many issues in the plan which we haven’t been able to address
yet. Therefore concluding negotiations before Feb. 28 [the UN
deadline] isn’t in the cards.’ In addition, Clerides was pleased
with the recent demonstrations against Denktas held in the north.
‘We weren’t expecting such a large turnout,’ he told me, adding
that the Greek Cypriot administration had played no role in
those demonstrations. ‘Justice and Development Party [AKP]
leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that he found Turkey’s old
policies on Cyprus mistaken,’ Clerides announced. ‘However, he
didn’t say what new policies he would replace the old with.’
According to Clerides, ‘If a solution can’t be found
concerning the Cyprus issue, the difference in the standard of
living between the two sides will grow wider, making finding a
solution even harder, so time is of the essence.’ Despite this
statement, Clerides seemed relatively relaxed. It seems clear
that he’s thinking, ‘We’ll be a European Union member sooner or
later. We need not worry.’ As a matter of fact, when he met with
Denktas a few days ago, certain conditions that had never been
discussed before were suddenly put on the table. For example, he
requested that six separate cantons be established for Greek
Cypriots settling in Northern Cyprus. In addition, he requested
that a Turkish force of 2,000-7,000 soldiers mentioned in
Annan’s plan be obliged to leave the island after a certain
period of time has passed. Although Denktas considers their
presence vital, Clerides seems not to agree. Do you think they
can come to a meeting of minds on this?”
Columnist Ergin Yildizoglu writes about a possible US-led
military campaign in Iraq. A summary of his column is as follows:
“Do you know where the phase ‘axis of evil’ came from? Former
journalist and Bush speechwriter David Frum, who got fired when
his wife e-mailed all his friends boasting that he had coined
the phrase, explains how it all happened in his tell-all of his
13 months in the White House: When Michael Gerson, chief
presidential speechwriter, was assigned to write Bush’s 2002
State of the Union address, a speech required annually of all US
presidents, he barged into Frum’s office and asked him to come
up with the government’s justification for war against Iraq. In
his review of Frum’s White House memoir ‘The Right Man’ in
Monday’s New York Observer, Ted Widmer writes: ‘This is bizarre
no matter what your politics: Either the decision had been made
to invade, but no one knew the reason, or -- even worse -- the
Bush administration was genuinely interested in Mr. Frum’s
opinion about whether or not to go to war. Last I heard,
speechwriters are not supposed to determine the policy of the
United States.’
Last week we were moved one step closer to a war in Iraq
after weapons inspectors announced they had found empty(!)
warheads along with plans regarding nuclear bombs. Furthermore,
British Prime Minister Tony Blair said, ‘We won’t let the UN
veto our decision on waging a war against Saddam,’ and then
ordered masses of British troops to the Gulf Region. Some
analysts believe that within 30 days, the fate of Iraq will
become clear. Frum’s above-quoted anecdote is key in
understanding why things in the Iraq crisis came down to the
situation we now face.
Let’s remember once again why the US is dead set to strike at
Iraq. Firstly, as you probably know, Iraq possesses weapons of
mass destruction. Now don’t ask me, ‘Then why doesn’t the US
strike at Korea?’ Be careful, just asking that may be evidence
that you’re taking up the side of terrorists and US enemies, and
if you share the same sympathies as a quarter-million anti-war
‘traitors’ who took to the streets in Washington over the
weekend, you could even be labelled a ‘Muslim fanatic.’ Secondly,
the Arab people, who have been suffering under dictators and
torturers for many years now, should be liberated and given a
democratic regime. Moreover, state enterprises in Iraq,
especially those pertaining to oil and gas, must be privatized (Oops!
My tongue slipped. Did I just say state enterprises? Please
strike that bit).
Don’t ask me these questions either: ‘Wasn’t it the US which
supported these dictators for so many years, and provided Saddam
himself with chemicals which were used in March 1988 to gas and
kill thousands of Kurds in Halepce? If the Bush administration
is so democratic, how is it that Bush can revoke a US citizen’s
civil rights by simply declaring him or her a ‘foreign combatant,’
and also try to establish a surveillance network over all
electronic communications in both the US and everywhere else?
How is that certain major media outlets in the US can even
discuss such inane questions as ‘Under what circumstances can
torture be justified’?
Don’t worry, be happy. The US has ‘very well-grounded’
reasons for killing tens of thousands of Iraqis. And no doubt
Bush will seek neither a UN resolution nor weapons inspectors’
proof of illegal weapons to do so.
I hear you asking, ‘Why are we being dragged into a war?’
Well, just take a look at the scribblings of certain columnists
of our prestigious media. They will tell you why Turkey
shouldn’t stay out of this war, and how the country’s long-term
interests necessitate our active involvement.
In a speech delivered to Yale University’s graduating class
two years ago, Bush said: ‘Life has its own turning points,
presents its own demands, writes its own story. And as time goes
by we come to realize that we are not the real authors of this
story.’ I wonder, who is writing the text of the war this time?”
