NEW FACTS ON TURKISH-US RELATIONS
BY SAMI KOHEN (MILLIYET)
President Ahmet Necdet Sezer yesterday approved a
controversial bill concerning student amnesty which he had
previously vetoed. The bill enabling some 700,000 students
who were dismissed from university since June 29, 2000 to
return was passed by Parliament this week and then sent for
the president’s approval. The bill will go into effect after
its publication in the Official Gazette. /Turkiye/
Speaking
to reporters following his meeting with President Ahmet
Necdet Sezer, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan yesterday
expressed support for Sezer’s upcoming visit to Syria,
saying that Sezer’s decision to go ahead with the trip was
appropriate. Asked whether the visit would hurt Turkish-US
relations, Erdogan dismissed the possibility. “There is no
problem in our relations with the US,” he added. In related
news, speaking at a press conference yesterday, Foreign
Ministry spokesman Namik Tan said that Ankara would decide
by itself about its relations with its neighbors, adding,
“We conduct our foreign policy and foreign relations of our
own free will.” Tan added that Sezer would travel to
Damascus for his official visit in the second week of April.
/Aksam/
Speaking
at his party’s Central Decision and Executive Board (MKYK)
meeting yesterday, Foreign Minister Abdulah Gul briefed
participants on relations between Ankara and Washington,
which recently experienced tension due to President Ahmet
Necdet Sezer’s visit to Syria scheduled for next month,
saying that there was no problem between the two countries.
“There are some circles which are trying to say that there
is a problem between Turkey and the US, and that Turkey was
approving Syria’s actions,” he said. “But we did our best
for Syria to withdraw its troops from Lebanon and took
necessary steps on the matter. We told Syrian officials that
not withdrawing their troops could create problems.” /Aksam/
Foreign Ministry Spokesman Namik Tan yesterday predicted
that this week’s European Union decision to delay its
negotiations with Croatia would not affect Ankara beginning
its own accession talks. He added that he hoped Croatia
would meet the EU’s expectations as soon as possible and
begin its accession talks. /Aksam/
Attending a meeting yesterday at the Customs
Undersecretariat with State Minister Kursat Tuzmen, European
Commission Representative in Ankara Hansjoerg Kretschemer
said that the European Union decision to delay its
negotiations with Croatia was separate from Turkey, adding
that the accession talks with Ankara would begin on Oct. 3,
as planned. German Ambassador to Ankara Wolf-Ruthart Born,
who was also present at the meeting, also reiterated
Germany’s full support for Ankara beginning its EU accession
talks in October. In related news, EU-Turkey Joint
Parliamentary Commission Co-Chairman Joost Lagendijk said
that Ankara should learn from the EU decision on Croatia,
adding that Turkey should first sign the Ankara protocol
with the EU to begin its accession talks. He added that
there was no other condition for the talks. In related news,
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that there was no
connection between Ankara and the EU decision on Croatia,
adding that Zagreb only recently got involved in the EU
process. “The EU decision on Croatia isn’t about the
Copenhagen criteria, but war crimes,” he added. /Cumhuriyet/
The
90th anniversary of the Gallipoli campaign, a victory by
Turkish troops defending the Dardanelles during World War I,
is being commemorated today. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdogan, State Minister Besir Atalay, Defense Minister Vecdi
Gonul, Chief of General Staff Gen Hilmi Ozkok and the
Australian and New Zealand ambassadors to Turkey will all
attend the ceremonies. /Hurriyet/
A
landslide yesterday in the central Anatolian city of Sivas’
Koyulhisar district swallowed 21 houses, leaving 17 people
missing. Sivas Governor Hasan Canpolat said that search and
rescue operations were continuing, adding that though
housing was prohibited in the area, people had not heeded
the safety warnings. /Star/
Opposition Republican People’s Party’s (CHP) Istanbul
Sisli district Mayor Mustafa Sarigul will testify today
before the CHP Disciplinary Board. Sarigul was sent to the
board by the party’s Central Executive Council (MYK) last
November with a formal request to expel him from the party
due to corruption allegations. /Turkiye/
Independent Isparta Deputies Erkan Mumcu and Mehmet Sait
Armagan, as well as Malatya independent Deputy Suleyman
Saribas and Yozgat independent Deputy Mehmet Erdemir,
yesterday joined the Motherland Party (ANAP). A ceremony to
mark the event will be held tomorrow, said officials, adding
that Mumcu, a former ruling Justice and Development Party
(AKP) deputy and ex-culture and tourism minister, will
announce his candidacy for ANAP leadership during the
ceremony. ANAP, which failed to enter Parliament after the
2002 November elections, now has four seats in Parliament.
The latest situation in Parliament is as follows: the
Justice and Development Party (AKP): 361, Republican
People’s Party (CHP): 168, True Path Party (DYP): 6,
Motherland Party (ANAP): 4, People’s Ascent Party (HYP): 1,
independent: 9 and vacant: 1. /Turkiye/
President Ahmet Necdet Sezer’s upcoming official visit to
Damascus is a decision between Turkey and Syria, said US
State Department deputy spokesman Adam Ereli yesterday.
Reiterating the US position on Syria, Ereli said, “We would
certainly hope that Turkey as well as others send Syria a
clear message that the international community is of one
mind in wanting and calling on Syria to get all its forces
and intelligence operatives out of Lebanon.” /Hurriyet/
In a case seeking the closure of education labor union
Egitim-Sen because it advocates education in native
languages, a judge yesterday ruled against the closure. In
the text of his decision, Judge Kudret Kurt said that it is
natural that language is a component of differences in a
state rather than an element of separatism. “Education in
native languages is not against the law,” said Kurt. “On the
contrary, it is an indication that the state is looking
after its citizens.” /Sabah/
The Democratic People’s Party (DEHAP) on Monday will
organize celebrations of Nevruz, a day marking the advent of
spring. Stating that the Nevruz has been celebrated
peacefully in recent years, DEHAP Diyarbakir head Mesut
Bektas said that he had invited about 1,000 guests for the
celebrations including President Ahmet Necdet Sezer, Prime
Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Iraqi Kurdish Democratic
Party (IKDP) leader Massoud Barzani and Iraqi Kurdish
Patriotic Union (IPUK) leader Jalal Talabani. /Sabah/
Columnist Erdal Safak comments on Turkey’s European Union
membership bid. A summary of his column is as follows:
“Turkey is now concerned over its European Union
membership talks since Brussels decided to postpone entry
talks with Croatia due to its failure to arrest a top war
crimes suspect. ‘Will this decision be a precedent for other
candidate countries?’ our diplomats are now asking.
According to our Foreign Ministry, the issue has nothing to
do with Turkey’s membership talks.
However, the international community has interpreted the
decision as a powerful signal to other would-be EU members
that they must fully respect human rights. For example,
French Foreign Minister Michel Barnier said that the EU’s
decision is a precedent for Turkey, proving that Brussels
would never give any ground on human rights. In addition,
Joost Lagendijk, the co-president of the Turkey-EU Joint
Parliamentary Commission, stated that Turkey must take the
decision to heart. ‘On Oct. 3, Brussels will examine the
list of conditions that it stipulated had to be completed by
that date,’ he added. ‘If Ankara fails to fulfill even one
of them, Brussels can decide to postpone the country’s
accession talks, as in the case of Croatia.’
The final statement of last December’s Brussels summit
covered Croatia in three paragraphs. In the first, Brussels
praised the country’s preparations for EU membership. In the
second, Brussels urged Zagreb to surrender a Croatian former
general to the UN war crimes tribunal for trial. The last
paragraph underlines that this is the only precondition to
start the nation’s accession talks.
What about the paragraphs on Turkey? There are seven
articles on our country, from which there seem to be two
preconditions: First, the amendment of the Ankara Agreement
in line with the EU’s current members. In other words,
Ankara must recognize the Greek Cypriot administration.
Second, six laws must be approved by the Parliament by Oct.
3.
However, there are also certain sentences that could be
interpreted as preconditions as well, depending on the
intentions of the reader. For example, Brussels will closely
monitor both Turkey’s reform process to ensure the
protection of human rights and basic freedoms, and Ankara’s
progress on political reforms in line with the Accession
Partnership Document.
Moreover, the statement also stressed that Brussels noted
the earlier European Parliament decision on Turkey, which
lists a number of preconditions for Turkey’s membership
talks such as Ankara’s official recognition of the so-called
Armenian genocide, opening the Armenian border, reopening
the Heybeliada Seminary and ending compulsory religion
courses in schools. If the EU leaders said that they noted
this EP decision, should we see these as further
preconditions or not? As I said, everything hinges on the
intentions. If Brussels has good intentions towards Ankara,
the only problem we’ll have is the Customs Union. However,
if the EU leaders decide to see the summit statement through
another, wider-angle lens, then everything will grow much
more complicated…”
Columnist Sami Kohen comments on Turkish-US relations and
Ankara’s concerns about Washington’s foreign policy. A
summary of his column is as follows:
“For most of this week we’ve been trying to explain the
atmosphere in Washington towards Turkish-American relations,
because it’s important that we know what the US officials’
take on the issue is. Turkey’s response to the US must be
based on the facts. Now let’s see what Ankara thinks about
Washington’s concerns:
Turkey’s reliability: Turkish officials think it’s unfair
for the US to question Turkey’s reliability as an ally. As
one Turkish official put it: ‘Instead, we should question
America’s reliability. Does the US care about our concerns
on the PKK? Does the Bush administration take into account
our opinion on Iraq? Turkey has always been loyal to the
alliance. If the dialogue between our countries is in a
sorry state, it’s America’s fault.
US reaction to anti-Americanism: American officials and
analysts still relate the chill wind in bilateral relations
to the rise of ‘anti-Americanism’ in Turkey. But they don’t
want to admit that the true motive behind anti-Americanism
in Turkey is Bush administration policy on Iraq. As one
analyst said, ‘Unlike a large number of countries, neither
the Turkish government nor the public feels hostile towards
the US. Those in Washington must come to see that.’
The Syria issue: Another objective of America’s Middle
East policy is to soften up and eventually knock down Syria.
The recent events in Lebanon were just what the US needed to
make another move against Syria. And this time Washington
got active support from Europe and other nations.
Such a display of support was anticipated from Turkey as
well. Instead, Ankara announced that President Ahmet Necdet
Sezer would visit Syria. That clearly upset the US. Thus the
Syria issue was also added to the list of disagreements
between Turkey and the US.
It’s a new experience for the Bush administration to see
Turkey act according to a foreign policy independent from
that of Washington. But it’s time the US became tolerant of
Turkey and got used to Turkey’s new policy.”
