Your comments on Turkey in your report of May 20th, no. 334 “For Two Reasons” were a surprise for us. 

Indeed, there were many who were disappointed before and during the war in Iraq. The Turkish Government must have been one of them as it was the one to ask the Parliament to allow the use of its territory by US Forces to open the northern front in Iraq but fell 3 votes short of the required majority. But it was a position preferred by the Turkish Parliament, which has to be respected. While it is true that this decision is widely debated in Turkey, too, it is unclear whether the US had not preferred to go ahead on its own without Turkey’s participation in the military operation. 

Most disappointing is the way certain quarters, including respectable Institutes like yours misread the position taken by Turkey. 

There is no question that Turkey was and remains a friend and an ally of the US. We presume that allies share same or similar perspectives as long as there has not been a change in the strategic objective. However, they also should have an obligation of mutually respecting and understanding each other’s interests and sensitivities.  

From the beginning of the Gulf War in 1991 to the end of the War in Iraq in 2003, Turkey’s contribution to the US struggle against the Saddam regime has been substantial. The Operation Northern Watch (ONW) out of Incirlik in southern Turkey enforcing the no-fly zone over the years after the Gulf War has enabled peace and tranquility in northern Iraq and has become redundant with the start of the War in Iraq, as it was a peacetime operation. Needless to say, US forces under the Defence and Coopersation Agreement remain in Incirlik. 

During the war in Iraq, although its Parliament did not allow the stationing of US troops in Turkey for use in the Northern Front, it facilitated the transit of substantial numbers of military equipment and vehicles to cross over Iraq and also permitted utilization of its airspace by US war planes and missiles. 

As an immediate neighbour of Iraq, Turkey had and still has an interest in a stable. Democratic and territorially integrated Iraq which does not constitute a threat to its neighbours and which does not serve as a haven for terrorists.  There is a big Turkoman minority in Iraq so far persecuted. And there  exists remnants of the terrorist PKK group which is seeking an opportunity to start its despicable activities in Turkey. Therefore, it is a question of immediate security for Turkey what happens in Iraq. An undemocratic Iraq would exclude its citizens of Turkoman minority from government and an unstable Iraq would encourage the PKK terrorists. Two other neighbours of Iraq, namely Iran and Syria are also neighbours of Turkey and contacts with them is only natural. However, one should refrain from attributing other meanings to these contacts. It is undeniably in the interest of Turkey to seek stable and improved relations with all its neghbours. 

Turkey, with its functioning secular democracy, is committed to continue its role model status for the countries looking forward to reach a higher level of freedom, democracy and free market economy in her region. Turkey will continue to cooperate with the US on various strategic issues ranging from the Middle East Peace Initiative to the maintenance of peace and security in the Balkans and Caucasus along with combating terrorism. 

Relations with Israel have been developing on the basis of mutual benefit in political, economic, scientific, technological and other fields. It is also a perfect example of tolerance between faiths and co-existence between countries with populations of different religions, particularly in the Middle East, which is marked by conflicts largely based on religious differences. Progress in the resolution of the Palestine question will also contribute to achieving peace, stability and prosperity in the region, a process which also requires close cooperation with the US and major powers in Europe. Turkey has always advocated this kind of cooperation. 

Turkish Foreign Policy Institute is a private think-tank in existence since 1974. For further information consult our web site: http://www.foreignpolicy.org.tr