A DELICATE BALANCE
BY FEHMI KORU (YENI SAFAK)
Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul, currently in Islamabad,
Pakistan for a two-day visit, yesterday met with his counterpart
Hursid Mahmud Kasuri to discuss a number of issues, including
Iraq’s postwar reconstruction. Speaking after their meeting, Gul
said that the Turkish-Pakistani alliance was a very strong one.
“We have exceptional political relations, and we plan to make
this the case in our economic ties as well,” said Gul. “We want
to strengthen our commercial cooperation and we will strive
towards this end.” Regarding the disputed region of Kashmir, Gul
said that Turkey was pleased with recent positive developments
between India and Pakistan. Stressing that residents of Kashmir
had suffered for many years, Gul said he hoped this easing of
tensions would eventually bring stability and peace to the
region. Advocating that problems be solved through dialogue and
international legitimacy, Gul added that Turkey and Pakistan had
decided to exchange views on Iraq’s reconstruction. “We would be
pleased to see Pakistan contributing troops to an Iraq
international peacekeeping force,” said Gul. Asked about the
effect of the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) in Turkey’s political
life, Gul replied that the nation was governed by a
constitutional order. “There have been problems in the past, but
now we’ve overcome these,” said Gul. “Turkey is governed with a
constitutional order through a democratically elected government.”
For his part, Kasuri said that he was very pleased to host Gul,
adding that they had decided to comprehensively boost
cooperation between the two countries. Gul later met with
Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf. /Aksam/
Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev yesterday arrived in
Turkey to pay an official visit. Nazarbayev first attended a
meeting of Kazakh and Turkish businessmen along with Prime
Minister and ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) leader
Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Speaking at the meeting, Nazarbayev said
that Turkey and Kazakhstan would do their best to boost
bilateral economic and political relations. “Difficult days lie
behind us, as our nation has overcome its problems,” said the
Kazakh president. “We want to invest in Turkey.” Also speaking
at the meeting, Erdogan said that trade between Turkey and
Kazakhstan had risen, especially in recent years, but that there
was a need to increase it further. “Turkey is ready to take all
steps to boost our mutual trade volume,” added Erdogan. /Hurriyet/
The powerful US House Judiciary Committee yesterday passed a
resolution recognizing the so-called Armenian genocide and
reaffirming support for the UN Convention on the Prevention and
Punishment of Genocide. The committee then sent the resolution
to the full US House of Representatives for a floor vote. The
resolution, first introduced on April 9 to coincide with the
anniversary of the “genocide,” states that the lessons of the so-called
Armenian genocide, the Holocaust and genocides in Cambodia and
Rwanda should be used to help prevent similar tragedies in the
future. Both the US State Department and Turkish Ambassador to
the US Faruk Logoglu had previously sent letters to the
committee asking it to strike the “Armenian genocide” reference
from the resolution, which currently has over 66 sponsors or co-sponsors.
While the Armenian lobby claim that more than 1.5 million
Armenians were killed at the hands of the Ottoman Empire around
1915, the Turkish government accuses Armenians of distorting the
historical record by overstating the numbers and the facts,
arguing that the casualties were victims of wartime, not
genocide. /Cumhuriyet/
State Minister for Economy Ali Babacan yesterday met with
International Monetary Fund (IMF) Turkey Desk Chief Juha
Kahkonen. During their two-hour meeting, the officials
reportedly discussed the criteria for completing the fifth
review of Turkey’s IMF-supported economic program. Before his
meeting with Babacan, Kahkonen also met with Treasury
Undersecretary Ibrahim Canakci for one hour. /Turkiye/
World Bank Vice President for Europe and Central Asia
Johannes Linn is due to visit Ankara on May 29. On his farewell
tour of various countries before his retirement, Linn is
expected to meet with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, State
Minister Ali Babacan and other officials as part of his contacts
in Ankara. /Turkiye/
In a bid to launch new commercial initiatives in the Middle
East and Central Asia, Canadian companies have selected Turkey
as their new strategic partner. A number of Canadian businessmen
arrived in Istanbul yesterday to forge contacts with their
Turkish counterparts, beginning with a meeting held with the
attendance of Gar Knutson, Canada’s secretary of state for
Eastern Europe and the Middle East. “To date, Canadian companies
have invested $400 million in Turkey,” said Knutson. “However, I
believe that both countries have greater potential and should
improve their cooperation in the fields of energy, health,
telecommunications, construction and transportation.”
Furthermore, Canadian Ambassador to Turkey Michael Lier told the
meeting that his country saw Turkey as not only as an economic
partner but also a strategic one. /Cumhuriyet/
EVTEKS 2003, the world’s second-largest home textiles fair,
yesterday began at the 100,000 square-meter CNREXPO exhibition
space in Istanbul. The fair, officially opened by Industry
Minister Ali Coskun and State Minister Kursad Tuzmen, is set to
last through Sunday and should attract some 100,000 visitors. /Turkiye/
Columnist Tuncay Ozkan comments on the desires of the Turkish
people and what should be done to address them. A summary of his
column is as follows:
“Revising Article 8 of the Anti-Terror Law is of course a
good move. Turkey should have tackled this problem before. But
it hasn’t happened yet, since those who support amending the
article for the sake of the EU had previously wanted the article
kept as is. The problem always stems from the double standards
of Turkey’s administration. Turkey wants to enjoy the rule of
law and get rid of double standards. Today those who are
fighting against terrorism might oppose amending this law. Isn’t
it a mistake not to come to an agreement with them and take
measures to address their concerns? These mistakes help nobody.
There are so many things that Turkey should change, and we do
want to change. However, won’t we discuss how we will replace
whatever we do away with? Of course we should. Everybody living
in Turkey wants democracy and the reconstruction and
transformation of politics. But we failed to understand or trust
those who favored change, so we treated them shabbily, because
one can’t explain radical changes to established systems before
the nation is ready.
Do we really have as many people in our country who favor the
modern world as we think? Or are we seeing only the demands and
needs of a well-educated elite? In other words, in a country
where the average education level is just over three years, has
everybody forgotten their empty stomachs and come to favor the
Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) adopting EU standards?
Please don’t misunderstand me. The Turkish people deserve
better. But what are we going to do in practice? We haven’t even
been able to decide whether our mandatory education will last
five years or eight. In the midst of such chaos, certain people
might spoil the existing order. History is full of nations which
committed such errors. Turkey shouldn’t present these criteria
as a fait accompli. Taking drastic steps on the TSK without
first thinking would cast a shadow over the future of our
country.”
Columnist Fehmi Koru writes about the US’ failure to maintain
order in Afghanistan and Iraq, and Turkey’s position towards the
latter. A summary of his column is as follows:
“It is only a matter of time before US forces, just as they
did in Afghanistan, establish security and stability in Iraq.
Moreover, Washington has moved to bring the Palestinian-Israeli
conflict to an end. The US Secretary of State Colin Powell-backed
‘road map’ is widely expected to contribute significantly to
efforts for a permanent settlement of the issue. US President
George W. Bush, who has successfully restored his country’s
image of a superpower victimized by the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist
attacks, is almost guaranteed to win a second term in next
year’s presidential elections…
Scratch the surface of the above lines, and very clearly they
do not correspond with reality. No matter how hard it tries to
make us believe that this is how it is, in fact it is not.
Taking advantage of the Sept. 11 attacks, the deadly ‘hawk wing’
in Washington first attacked Afghanistan and then Iraq. If they
had their druthers, Syria and Iran would be the next two targets.
And by the way, the same war lobby has asked Turkey to apologize
to the US for ‘failing to move in lockstep’ with US aims.
However, the current picture in both Iraq and the US shows that
things are not going as planned.
Let’s first see what is going on in Afghanistan. The Bush
administration has backed Hamid Karzai, a consultant to US oil
company Unocal, as the head of the country’s new interim
government. Yet Karzai’s leadership is confined to merely the
capital Kabul. There are local warlords all over the country who
rule areas under their own control. Here’s what the Associated
Press reported on Tuesday: ‘President Hamid Karzai threatened to
resign if recalcitrant governors across the country don't send
vital customs revenues to the central government.’
The situation in Afghanistan is having an impact in
Washington. On May 6, US Congressman Dana Rohrabacher accused
the US State Department of letting the fruits of the US military
victory in Afghanistan waste away through neglect. ‘US officials
are going the wrong way in Afghanistan,’ said Rohrabacher.
What about Iraq? Are the American GI-patrolled Iraqi streets
safe? Here’s the answer of Monday’s Washington Post: ‘Iraqis
have begun tracking down and killing former members of the
ruling Baath Party, doubtful that the United States intends to
adequately punish the mid-level government functionaries who
they say tormented them for three decades.’
Bush and his close aides have put the US and the world as
well as themselves into great trouble. Let’s take a look at what
the New York Times said on Tuesday: ‘This is not what the White
House wanted as President Bush starts pointing toward next
year's election campaign. Iraq is in a state of near anarchy.
The conflict between Israel and the Palestinians is escalating
again, and Islamic terrorists are on the attack in the Middle
East. Just at the moment when Bush would like the nation to
think of him as a statesman, everything seems to be going the
wrong way in one of the world's most combustible regions. Bush
has himself to blame in part.’
Washington’s hawks have put the world into very hot water.
The current situation in Iraq requires Turkey to play an active
role. Therefore, it makes no sense to say that Turkey should
stay out of this mess. That’s why I believe that when it feels
it necessary, Turkey, putting forward its own conditions, should
get involved in the problem. Ankara must start at once seeking
ways to stop the chaos in Iraq before it comes to threaten our
own stability. The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP)
government’s skill in foreign policy hinges upon its ability to
negotiate this delicate balance.”
