[A-List] Erdogan, Bush And Saddam

[Sabri Oncu <soncu@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Milliyet is one of the newspapers of record in Turkey. It belongs
to the media mogul Aydin Dogan and is known to act as a voice of
the Turkish Military from time to time.

Sabri

++++++++++++

Erdogan, Bush And Saddam

MILLIYET- Columnist Yasemin Congar comments on Justice and
Development Party (AKP) leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkish-US
relations and the recent US elections which culminated in a
historic victory for the Republicans, President Bush?s party. A
summary of her column is as follows:

I?m writing this editorial just after delivering a speech at a
panel entitled ?How Does the World See the United States?? at the
Chicago Festival. My speech basically focused on the first two
years of the Bush administration and last week?s US congressional
elections. Although the panel had nothing to do with Turkish-US
relations, I did touch upon the issue when discussing the Iraq
problem. Most of the questions I was asked at the panel revolved
around the possible future actions of the Justice and Development
Party (AKP), which is seen by many as an Islamist party.

One of the most interesting questions I was asked came from a US
judge. ?I?m not afraid that the AKP is Islamist or that it has
designs against the secular regime,? he began. ?What concerns me
is the chance that it will pursue populist policies or be an
incapable ruler. The question that must be asked is whether the
AKP government will cause Turkey to backtrack to the populist
policies of the ?90s, which would inevitably make the economy
completely dependent on politics.? This is the most popular
question within US circles, which know Turkey?s political and
economic dynamics very well. Let?s first focus on the statement
of a US official who is intimately responsible for Turkish-US
relations: ?The US shouldn?t be suspicious of the AKP?s policies
or intentions. We have to help the AKP, which has clearly stated
that it is ready to support the IMF- backed economic program and
to improve Turkish-EU as well as Turkish-US relations.? Although
there are still certain unanswered questions on people?s minds,
the Bush administration has already decided to fully cooperate
with the new AKP-led Turkish government.

Another issue on the minds of Washington circles is AKP leader
Recep Tayyip Erdogan?s unclear political situation as a leader
currently unable to officially take part in the new AKP
government. The Bush administration believes that Erdogan is a
charismatic, successful leader who played a major role in
attracting votes to the AKP. Therefore, Washington thinks that
the laws must be changed as soon as possible in order to
eliminate the obstacles to Erdogan?s becoming prime minister. US
officials also believe that if this isn?t done, there would
effectively be two prime ministers in Turkey, one holding the
post and Erdogan acting as a highly influential behind-the-scenes
PM. The Bush administration wants to see an elected prime
minister rather than some other figure appointed due to the AKP
leader?s political ban.

As we all know, the Republicans recaptured control of the Senate
earlier last week, giving President Bush dominance over both
houses of Congress and their legislative agendas. During the
election campaign, Bush pounded home his agenda -- tax cuts,
homeland security, and a strong military -- and accused the
Democrats of having no agenda besides obstructionism. We can
evaluate his victory as indicating that US voters trusted the
Republicans more than the Democrats, or we can say that the
Democrats failed to develop alternative strategies to Bush?s
peculiar policies such as tax cuts. Now, Bush is a truly elected
president. There are two important points here regarding
Turkish-US relations: The Bush administration now seems to be
omnipotent in dealing with almost every issue, including the Iraq
problem. In addition, it will be easier for the Bush
administration, which now has a majority of seats in both houses,
to pass though Congress an aid package for Turkey in return for
its full support for the US Army during a possible Iraq military
intervention.

The UN Security Council last week unanimously approved a new
disarmament resolution for Iraq, warning its leader Saddam
Hussein that he must scrap his weapons programs or face ?serious
consequences,? such as a US-led war. The 15-0 vote represented a
significant achievement for the Bush administration. The Security
Council decided ?to afford Iraq a final opportunity to comply
with its disarmament obligations under relevant resolutions of
the council; and accordingly decides to set up an enhanced
inspection regime with the aim of bringing to full and verified
completion the disarmament process established by subsequent
resolutions of the council.? However, we should also see that
this resolution is a clear sign that Saddam Hussein is facing his
last days as the leader of his government. Ankara has to play
this game very carefully, taking into consideration all the
possible consequences of an imminent war.


SOURCE: OFFICE OF THE PRIME MINISTER, DIRECTORATE GENERAL OF
PRESS AND INFORMATION


BYEGM 11/11/2002 7:28:48 AM

Article at:
http://www.turkishpress.com/turkishpress/news.asp?ID=7716