[A-List] Turkey: WSJ cheers for Turkey

[Sabri Oncu <soncu@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

A while ago I forwarded an article a fellow from Turkey sent to
me as well as to WSN. He was claiming that Turkey will become
another Israel in the Middle East. Tunku Vandarajan of the Wall
Street Journal is calling exactly for that. Interesting!

By the way, note Vandarajan's below approval of Kemal's "social
engineering" to construct the Turkish Republic from the rubble of
a collapsed Ottoman Empire. I wonder whether he would approve
Lenin's  "social engineering" to construct the USSR from the
rubble of a collapsed Russian Empire with the same enthusiasm.

Sabri

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CITIZEN OF THE WORLD

A Friend Indeed
Three cheers for Turkey, stalwart ally and Muslim exemplar.

BY TUNKU VARADARAJAN
Tuesday, May 14, 2002 12:01 a.m. EDT

If I were marooned on an uninhabited island with only a single
human companion--in a situation where conviviality, as well as an
ability to be philosophical when the need arose, accounted for a
great deal--I'd regard myself as fortunate if he or she turned
out to be Turkish.

I like the Turks, not just as individuals but also because I
admire their country. I believe that Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the
founder of modern Turkey, was one of the great politicians of the
20th century, and the nation he constructed from the rubble of a
collapsed Ottoman Empire is the most attractive example of social
engineering one could hope to observe.

This Saturday, the annual Turkish-American parade will take place
in New York City, in which Turks of all stripes--from doctors to
gas-station attendants--will lay bare their dedication to their
adoptive and native countries. As a committed Turkophile and new
immigrant to America, I would urge as many of you as can make it
to attend the parade too, for the U.S. has had no ally more
loyal, more consistent and more principled than Turkey.

In this, Turkey is on a par with Britain and Israel. Yet if you
ask the average American the question Which U.S. ally has been
the most stalwart?, you are likely to hear the names of a variety
of other countries before you hear that of Turkey.

Turkey has a PR problem in this country. This is the result of
three factors. The first is the innate modesty of the Turks
themselves. They are not a gaudy or boastful people; and since
their support for the U.S., and for NATO, wells up from an
implacable conviction that Turkey's interests are inseparable
from those of a U.S.-led West, they prefer to go about their
business quietly.

Besides, the Turkish end of the alliance was not forged
opportunistically, or to win cheap brownie points, or infusions
of cash or arms or aid. It endures because the Turks want it to
endure, and it endures even though Turkey is treated with
contumely by the European Union, a collection of states that,
barring Britain, has done far less for U.S. security and
strategic well-being than Turkey has. Ask Donald Rumsfeld if he'd
prefer a world without France or one without Turkey. See what he
says!

The second factor working against a better appreciation of
Turkey's contribution is the small size of the Turkish-American
population. The most liberal estimates put it at 300,000, though
the truest figure might be nearer 200,000. Although they are
concentrated in a few urban nodes, such as New York and Chicago,
they haven't the collective muscle in any one place to form a
voting bloc to which politicians must pay obligatory court. So
they're ignored. Or worse.

And here's where the third factor comes in. It is Turkey's
misfortune--and the misfortune of Turkish-Americans--that there
exists in the U.S. a range of Armenian and Greek organizations
that dedicate themselves to damaging Turkey's reputation. I was
at a conference of Turkish-Americans in Chicago over the weekend
and heard numerous tales of harassment from ordinary Turkish
professionals who do their best to make Turkey's case in the U.S.
A gentleman who runs a Turkish Web site recounted his experiences
of death threats from Armenians, as well as instances of hacking
into his, and others', sites.

Because of the vocal, and virulent, anti-Turkey organizations
that roam unchecked in the American political landscape,
politicians are afraid to espouse the cause of Turkey.
Ironically, the anti-Turkey rancor in this country, at least
where it comes from Greek-Americans, is increasingly
anachronistic; in reality, Greece and Turkey are growing closer
to each other politically, and it was noticed by all, at a
conference I attended in Istanbul earlier this year, that George
Papandreou, the Greek foreign minister, addressed his Turkish
counterpart in terms so warm one might have mistaken him for the
latter's long-lost brother.

May I, therefore, make a suggestion? The bipartisan Turkey Caucus
in Congress consists of 41 members (it is headed by the Democrat
Robert Wexler, who, though quite insufferable during the Florida
presidential recount, proves with his support for Turkey that
he's not all bad); this is a piffling size. So why can't those
congressmen and -women who constitute the informal Israel caucus
take on Turkey's cause?

Israel, like the U.S., counts Turkey as a loyal friend. Muslim
Turkey's diplomatic relations with the Jewish state have always
been genuine and comprehensive--and conducted at the risk of
great opprobrium in the ummah, or the Muslim world--unlike the
ersatz diplomatic relations Israel has with Egypt or Jordan. What
is more, the relations rest on a bedrock of people-to-people
affection, and not on some opportunistic calculus. Turkey is
alone in the Muslim world--although one must remember that the
country, though a state of Muslims, is not a Muslim state--as a
place that offers a haven to Jews, and in which Jews live and
work without fear. (It was a revelation, when I was in Istanbul,
to find that one of the most respected newspaper columnists in
the country is called Sami Kohen--the "Cohen," here, being
spelled in accordance with Turkish orthography.)

Those Americans who are Israel's friends must declare themselves
Turkey's friends too. And those American politicians who work
sedulously to ensure the protection of Israeli interests must do
the same for Turkey. For Turkey's security affects our security,
and our security ensures Israel's. So let the connections be made
plain, and obvious, and let them be pursued to their logical
conclusion.

March with Turkey--on Saturday, and after.

Mr. Varadarajan is deputy editorial features editor of The Wall
Street Journal. His column appears Tuesdays

Full at:
http://www.opinionjournal.com/columnists/tvaradarajan/?id=1100017
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