A CLEAR-HEADED LOOK AT THE
MIDEAST
BY CUNEYT ULSEVER (HURRIYET)
President Ahmet Necdet Sezer
yesterday “partially” approved a law amending
the controversial Anti-Terror Law, but will
apply to the Constitutional Court for the
cancellation of certain articles, a statement
from the Presidential Press Office said
yesterday. The controversial bill was passed at
the end of last month just before Parliament
went on recess on July 1, and the government was
awaiting Sezer’s decision. The law proposes
significant changes to the Anti-Terror Law. The
law earlier attracted criticism from human
rights organizations and intellectuals. /The New
Anatolian/
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdogan is due to travel to the Turkish Republic
of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) to attend ceremonies
on Thursday marking the 32nd anniversary of the
Cyprus Peace Operation. During his two-day stay
on the island, Erdogan will also attend some
groundbreaking ceremonies. He is expected to
criticize the European Union’s Cyprus policy and
the Greek Cypriots’ uncompromising stance on the
issue and reiterate that Ankara will not forsake
the Cyprus cause. Erdogan will also meet with
TRNC President Mehmet Ali Talat, former TRNC
President Rauf Denktas, and party leaders.
/Sabah/
Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said yesterday
that the government was determined to fight
terrorism, adding that it will do what is
necessary both at home and abroad. Before his
departure to London, Gul took reporters’
questions at Ankara’s Esenboga Airport on
anti-terror efforts. Stating that they were
determined to fight terrorism, Gul said that
they were expecting cooperation from the
international community. Gul said that all
necessary preparations were being taken on this
issue and that whatever was required would be
done both in and outside Turkey’s borders.
/Aksam/
The
Cabinet yesterday convened under the
chairmanship of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdogan to discuss a number of issues, including
recently stepped-up terrorist attacks. Also
present at the meeting were Foreign Minister
Abdullah Gul, Chief of General Staff Gen. Hilmi
Ozkok, Justice Minister and government spokesman
Cemil Cicek, Interior Minister Abdulkadir Aksu,
and Finance Minister Kemal Unakita. Speaking
afterwards, Cicek said that the government would
never forsake the fight against terrorism.
“We’ll continue to support our armed forces in
this fight,” said Cicek. Stressing that fight
against the terrorist group PKK wasn’t seasonal,
Cicek added it was above governments and
parties. “Each measure is examined by the
related institution and than carried out,” said
Cicek. “It should be known that the target of
this fight is the terrorist group PKK and other
terrorists. Turkey is taking all measures
against the PKK and it will continue to do so.”
/Milliyet/
Parliament Speaker Bulent Arinc
yesterday called for Kurdish citizens to openly
declare that they oppose the terrorist PKK.
Speaking on state broadcaster TRT-2, Arinc said,
“The public’s opposition and rejection of the
terrorist group is the most important support in
the fight against terrorism,” adding, “Therefore
I call on the Kurds to openly declare that they
oppose the terrorist group. We expect them to
declare that they won’t be involved with the
terrorist group anymore, as they haven’t been so
far.” /Hurriyet/
While
new measures to be taken against terrorism were
being discussed at yesterday’s Cabinet meeting,
US Ambassador to Turkey Ross Wilson and Iraqi
Ambassador to Turkey Sabah Umran were summoned
to the Foreign Ministry. The message “If you
don’t organize an operation against the PKK
presence in northern Iraq, we will” was conveyed
to the ambassadors. Foreign Ministry
Undersecretary Ali Tuygan stated that the
military option was on the table. In the wake of
stepped-up deadly terrorist attacks, Turkey is
preparing to take measures about northern Iraq,
where most of the terrorist PKK’s members are
based. After the meeting with the ambassadors,
Tuygan told a press conference, “I told the two
ambassadors that more determined steps should be
taken on this issue,” and added, “I emphasized
that the current situation was unacceptable for
Turkey. I declared to them that we were
expecting steps to change the current situation
to be taken in the shortest possible time.” In
related news, US Ambassador Wilson said that
Turkey shouldn’t act unilaterally in northern
Iraq, adding, “The next step should be the
continuation of trilateral meetings. Meetings
between Turkey, the US and Iraq should be
continued.” After his visit to the Turkish Union
of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges (TOBB),
Wilson told reporters that he felt sorrow over
Turkish security forces losing their lives to
PKK terrorism. /Cumhuriyet/
US
Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Matthew
Bryza is due to pay an official visit to the
Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC)
today. During his short stay on the island,
Bryza is expected to meet separately with TRNC
President Mehmet Ali Talat, Prime Minister Ferdi
Sabit Soyer, and Foreign Minister Serdar Denktas
to discuss the Cyprus issue. In related news,
Greek Cypriot newspapers were displeased with
the visit and claimed that Bryza wasn’t a
reliable mediator. /Turkiye/
In a
written statement, opposition True Path Party
(DYP) leader Mehmet Ali Talat commented on a
recent rise in terrorist attacks, saying that
the nation was ready to do its best to end
terrorism in the country. “Recent attacks show
that terrorism shouldn’t be seen as
unimportant,” said the statement. Agar stressed
that the terror problem couldn’t be solved with
ad hoc policies and criticized the government,
saying that it had no plan to fight the
terrorist PKK. “The resources, links, and
supporters of terror are clear,” he said.
“Turkey has a great deal of experience in
fighting terrorism.” /Cumhuriyet/
Seven soldiers who were killed
by the terrorist PKK in Siirt’s Eruh district
and one policeman who was killed in Van were
laid to rest yesterday. Some 5,000 mourners
attended the funeral ceremonies in Izmir,
Ankara, Konya, Kirikkale, and other provinces.
Deputy Prime Minister Abdullatif Sener, Interior
Minister Abdulkadir Aksu, Motherland Party
(ANAVATAN) leader Erkan Mumcu, and National
Security Council (NSC) Secretary-General Yigit
Alpogan attended the ceremony in Ankara,
Polatli. During the funerals, the families of
the fallen soldiers and other mourners condemned
the terrorist PKK. /All papers/
Columnist Turker Alkan comments on Turkey’s
foreign policy towards the Middle East. A
summary of his column is as follows:
“Turkey’s foreign policy which has been followed
up to now aimed to stay outside the quagmire of
the Middle East. It took pains over not taking
sides in conflicts among Arabs or the
Arab-Israeli conflicts directly and openly.
Maybe due to this policy we have no firm friends
in the Middle East, but we haven’t had fierce
enemies either and we managed to stay out of
war. However, during the Justice and Development
Party’s (AKP) term in office we've started to
get signals that we could abandon this
traditional policy. At least, now there is the
impression that the government has adopted a
two-prong policy for the Middle East. Prime
Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan seems to be
favoring Arabs in terms of Arab-Israeli
relations, which is a more hawkish stance than
the Foreign Ministry. For example, Hamas’ leader
was invited to Ankara, leaving the Foreign
Ministry out of the loop, Erdogan’s advisor met
with the Hamas leader in Damascus secretly, and
Erdogan started to criticize Israel openly,
whereas the Foreign Ministry has been silent of
late. Erdogan said that if Israel wants to
invade Palestine, it will see the response for
this. As he’s no an ordinary citizen, his words
should be taken seriously. Then one would ask if
Turkey is threatening Israel. This is a very
serious step. It’s difficult to understand what
Erdogan is planning by taking sides openly in a
war that it has no direct stake in. In addition,
it’s strange that many Arab states didn’t
protest Israel as much as Erdogan did due to
latest developments but instead said that Hamas,
which was embraced by Erdogan, was responsible
for the war. It’s just like Saudi Arabia’s
freezing the property holdings of the
terrorist-businessman Yasin El Kadi, who is
backed by Erdogan. Why is Erdogan adopting a
stance with his own advisors like a second
foreign minister and making initiatives that
might cause serious foreign policy reversals? A
few reason come to mind. Firstly, Turkey might
have thought that it could establish relations
with different forces in our region by following
a two-prong foreign policy. Actually, I don’t
think that it’s possible. No state can conduct
foreign policy alternatives which contradict
each other. Secondly, Erdogan and the Foreign
Ministry might have different views. As one
cannot make the Foreign Ministry passive in
short order, it seems that Erdogan decided to
set up his own Foreign Ministry. Foreign
Minister Abdullah Gul evaluated these strange
developments by saying that Erdogan could do
whatever he wants, even without informing him.
When the Foreign Ministry says something,
Erdogan denies it. There’s a very serious
fissure in our foreign policy. In addition,
there’s no unity of understanding which shows
the interests of the state and the policy to be
followed. This is an AKP classic.”
Columnist Cuneyt Ulsever comments on the Middle
East. A summary of his column is as follows:
“Israel’s disproportionate use of force against
Hezbollah and its attacks against civilians
offend moral values. Our people feel distant
from the US because of the Iraq war and are also
against Israel, whom they see as the unfair
side. It seems that our anti-American feelings
are being strengthened with anti-Israel
feelings. But I believe that somebody has to try
to understand what’s going on without being
clouded by emotionalism.
I
earlier stated that the US and its close ally
Israel are in an aggressive mood out of fear
that they will lose their sphere of influence in
the Middle East in the 21st century. But we also
have to see the situation from another angle.
Hezbollah also hits northern Israel. Civilian
Israelis are dying in northern Israel and some
are living in shelters. Like Beirut, Haifa also
looks like a ghost town. The missiles which
Hezbollah is using against Israel are made in
Iran. Iran gives these missiles to Hezbollah.
Besides the US and Israel, one also has to
understand Iran’s aims in the Middle East for
the 21st century. I insist on claiming that Iran
is preparing to be to be the strongest imperial
power in the Middle East in the 21st century. It
is very difficult to understand events in the
Middle East without understanding that Iran’s
intentions in the region aren’t different from
those of other countries.
1. As
a Shiite country, Iran sees all Sunni countries
as enemies and tries to put pressure on despotic
countries in the region by financing
organizations like Hezbollah and Hamas. 2. The
chaos in Iraq created by the US and the American
government being stuck in Iraq mostly benefits
Iran. 3. The fastest-growing groups in Iraq are
allied to Iran. 4. Soon we’ll see Hezbollah
start to be active in Iraq. 5. With its
increased oil revenues, Iran sees this period as
one that brings great opportunities for it. 6.
Iran is also aware that its imperial policy in
the Middle East will make it the natural ally of
Russia and China. 7. Israel was provoked by the
kidnapping of an Israeli soldier by Hezbollah
and Hamas, and thus the world’s focus changed
(like the agenda of the G8 summit) and attention
shifted to ‘Israel’s attacks’ rather on worries
about Iran’s nuclear program.
Iran’s being closer to developing nuclear arms
and filling the power vacuum created by the US
with its allied groups plus its aim at
destroying Israel are policies that makes Turkey
less influential in the region, and these should
bother Turkey as much as the Israeli attacks.”
