THE MILITARY WAS RIGHT
BY SERDAR TURGUT (AKSAM)
Parliament Speaker Bulent Arinc
yesterday commented on debates over a possible
cross-border operation against the terrorist
PKK, saying that Parliament would do its best to
meet the government’s wishes on the issue. Asked
about US Ambassador Ross Wilson’s statements
discouraging such an operation, Arinc declined
to comment, saying that Foreign Ministry
officials would make necessary statements on the
issue. Saying that all of the needs of security
forces were being met in the fight against
terrorism, Arinc added that Turkey was using the
right methods to fight the terrorist PKK.
/Sabah/
Addressing at the General Assembly of Foreign
Economic Relations Board (DEIK) yesterday, Prime
Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke about
Turkey’s underdeveloped areas. “Hakkari, Van and
Diyarbakir should be like present-day Istanbul,”
said Erdogan, adding, “If we can achieve this,
we can say that we’re successful. This will
start with education and health. We’ll achieve
this by bringing justice, security, roads,
agriculture and livestock up to European Union
standards.” Erdogan said that all regions of the
country should have equal standards, and that
this will make Turkey stronger. “Turkey has
achieved security and stability during this
period,” he added. “There is economic activity
in all cities. But we can’t go forward while key
infrastructure problems still persist in many
cities. There can be no villages without roads
and running water.” /Hurriyet/
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdogan is due today to travel to the Turkish
Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) to attend
tomorrow’s ceremonies marking the 32nd
anniversary of the Cyprus Peace Operation.
During his three-day visit, Erdogan will meet
separately with TRNC President Mehmet Ali Talat,
Prime Minister Ferdi Sabit Soyer, and former
President Rauf Denktas. /Turkiye/
Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul, currently in
London for an official visit, yesterday met with
his British counterpart Margaret Beckett to
discuss a number of issues, including Iraq.
During their meeting, Gul said that the Iraqi
government was unable to control northern Iraq
due to its own security problems. Speaking
afterwards at a joint press conference, Gul
called their meeting “very fruitful,” saying
that they had discussed bilateral relations,
Turkey’s European Union membership bid, Cyprus,
Iraq, and the fight against terrorism. Saying
that he had told Beckett that the terrorist PKK
takes shelter in northern Iraq due to the power
vacuum there, Gul added that Iraq couldn’t
control the region due to its own security
problems. “We need to cooperate,” he stressed.
Commenting on the Cyprus issue, Gul said that no
one in the world could criticize the Turkish
Cypriots or Ankara concerning the issue. In
related news, under its new Anti-Terror Law,
Britain has outlawed the terrorist groups
Kongra-Gel and Kadek, since they are front names
for the terrorist PKK. /Turkiye/
During his contacts in Istanbul, Erdogan spoke
to reporters about US Ambassador to Turkey Ross
Wilson’s recent statements discouraging a
possible cross-border operation into Iraq. “If
reports on the statement of the US ambassador
are accurate, this is very mistaken,” said
Erdogan. “It is not up to this ambassador or
ambassadors to decide on that. It is only the
government of the Republic of Turkey which will
decide on and implement this.” He added, “We
would prefer to act together with the concerned
countries, but if there’s no willingness on
their part, we will do what is necessary.”
/Star/
Opposition parties yesterday
voiced support to the government over a possible
cross-border operation into northern Iraq
against the terrorist PKK. Main opposition
Republican People’s Party (CHP) deputy group
leader Ali Topuz said yesterday that Turkey
didn’t need anybody’s permission for such an
operation. Opposition Motherland Party
(ANAVATAN) Party leader Erkan Mumcu said that a
cross-border operation was in Turkey’s
legitimate interest. True Path Party (DYP)
leader Mehmet Agar said, “If Turkey can’t get
any results from diplomatic initiatives, it
should have the courage to exercise its rights
under international law. Our opposition doesn’t
go beyond the Habur [border gate with Iraq]. If
Turkey uses its rights arising from
international law, we don’t oppose it.”
/Cumhuriyet/
The 86th anniversary of the
Presidential Command of the Armed Guard was
celebrated yesterday. President Ahmet Necdet
Sezer, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan,
Defense Minister Vecdi Gonul, and Chief of
General Staff Gen. Hilmi Ozkok attended the
ceremony. /Sabah/
In an interview with news
channel NTV, US Ambassador to Turkey Ross Wilson
yesterday said that the US had no double
standard over terrorism. “By saying ‘Israel has
the right to defend itself,’ I made a call on
Israel to do less damage to civilians,” said
Wilson. "Conditions may change regionally. A
unilateral operation in northern Iraq wouldn’t
be reasonable and sensible. Turkey has an ally
in Iraq. Israel doesn’t have such an
opportunity.” Meanwhile, US State Department
spokesman Sean McCormack backed Wilson’s
statements and gave this message on Turkey’s
preparations for a possible cross-border
operation: “I don’t believe that we supported
this in the past. We support exchange of
intelligence among the multinational force in
Iraq, Iraqi government and Turkey and tried to
respond to the terrorist threat on the Turkish
population.” /Hurriyet/
Columnist Muharrem Sarikaya comments on two
problems faced by Turkey. A summary of his
column is as follows:
“Turkey has to solve two problems, both of which
start with the north. The first is northern
Iraq, as the government has been declaring its
determination to carry out a cross-border
operation against the terrorist PKK. The second
is Northern Cyprus, which will commemorate the
32nd anniversary of the Peace Operation
tomorrow. Considering its determination, there
are two solutions. Firstly, the northern Iraqi
administration or the coalition forces should
capture high-ranking PKK members and hand them
over to Turkey. Alternately, Turkey, which has
the largest military power in the region, should
deal with it. Otherwise, as True Path Party
(DYP) deputy leader Cagri Erdogan stated, Turkey
would suffer from problems in its region and it
would be considered a great military power but
one lacking influence. It seems that the
government is also aware of this. Likewise,
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan yesterday
criticized the US ambassador to Ankara for
saying that Turkey shouldn’t carry out a
cross-border operation. While I was talking to
Justice Minister Cemil Cicek yesterday, he
expressed similar criticisms.
Cicek
said that he has voiced his wish many times that
the trouble should be tackled by the US and the
Iraq administration. ‘Whenever we said this,
they replied that first the government must be
established in Iraq,’ Cicek explained. 'When the
government was established, they started to say
that the government isn’t effective. We would be
happy to see our allies’ determination and
cooperate with them, if it would solve the
problem. If they can’t do this, each country has
the right to protect its borders.’ I asked Cicek
if a deadline has been given to the US and Iraq
after which Turkey will do what’s necessary.
‘This matter concerns the Foreign Ministry,’ he
said. 'It would be wrong for me to speak about
this.’ It seems that a deadline has been given
to the US and Iraq to deal with the terrorist
PKK. It’s expected that the allies will do
what’s necessary in that period.
The
second problem is Northern Cyprus. Erdogan will
go to Lefkosa today to commemorate the 32nd
anniversary of the Peace Operation. He wants
Washington’s support to solve the Cyprus issue.
US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Matthew
Bryza met with the Turkish Republic of Northern
Cyprus (TRNC) administration as part of this
yesterday. TRNC Foreign Minister Serdar Denktas
summarized the current situation on Cyprus by
saying that he wasn’t hopeful about tripartite
meetings with TRNC President Mehmet Ali Talat
and Greek Cypriot administration leader Tassos
Papadopoulos set earlier this month under the
initiative of UN Deputy Secretary-General
Ibrahim Gambari. He added that common ground
with Papadopoulos was impossible and that even
if the atmosphere is favorable, no conclusion
could be reached in 40 years. Denktas suggested
that Turkey should make its decision and suspend
its membership talks with the EU after watching
the meeting between Talat and Papadopoulos at
the end of this month. Actually, even if Turkey
doesn’t suspend them, the EU will freeze our
membership talks on the grounds that Turkey
didn’t implement the additional protocol for
Greek Cyprus. It seems that next month’s heat
wave will be overcome by the chill coming from
these ‘norths’.”
Columnist Serdar Turgut comments on Turkish-US
relations. A summary of his column is as
follows:
“General Hilmi Ozkok made the following speech
after the March 2003 motion (to allow US troops
to invade northern Iraq from Turkish soil) was
defeated in Parliament: ‘Everyone should know
that the motion which was rejected today will
put Turkey and our ally the US at odds in the
long run.’ Many didn’t understand his words that
day. Especially the government didn’t understand
him. They thought that it was a good lesson for
the US and was to Turkey's benefit in the long
run. Those who weren’t of the same opinion were
labeled pro-American (myself included).
But
developments since then have shown that those
who favored the motion were right. A Kurdish
structure under US control has been formed in
northern Iraq, and this formation is on the way
to becoming a state. Turkey lost its maneuvering
room in northern Iraq by rejecting the motion
and lost its chance to act together with the US
and take developments in the region under
control. Moreover, there were confrontations
with the US which reached the level of
antagonism. With the reduction of Turkish power
in the region, the PKK began to be more active
and the US didn’t prevent this for strategic
reasons.
Turkey has tried to find solutions to this
problem, and it is well known that a
cross-border operation is the first such
solution. There is the possibility that this
operation could bring Turkey and the US into a
confrontation or even a war. So the predictions
of the military were right. Of course it
wouldn’t be good to have a confrontation with
the US, the world superpower, but it is certain
that such an environment would also not be good
for the US. Because the Turkish Armed Forces
(TSK) also have extensive experience in the
region and in-depth knowledge about conditions
in the region in times of war.
Moreover, the confrontation of the two allies
would also be a diplomatic failure for the US.
The US will start to rebuild the region and it
will need Turkey. Israel will also need Turkey
in trying to reach peace. Therefore, everyone
has to be cool-headed and see that a
confrontation of the two allies would cause a
disaster in the Middle East. There is no
obstacle to the US, which dedicates itself to
the fight against terrorism, moving to intervene
against the PKK. If this is done, then Turkey
will be more peaceful and the way to peace in
the region will be opened. But the US
unfortunately isn’t signaling such a step. This
is candidate for one of the biggest failures of
the US government in history.”
