How Is Obama Goingto Deal with Turkey?

Published in Radikal
(Turkey) on 6 November 2008
by (link to originallink to original)
Translated from by Garabet K. Moumdjian. Edited by Lauren Abuouf.
ANKARA- Obama’s election for the United States’ presidency is a matter that doesn’t interest his country only. It rather interests the whole world. The most important thing for us is what changes in America’s foreign policy will be of importance to Turkey.

With the election of the black American, Democratic candidate Barack Obama as president of the USA, many changes are awaited in the foreign policies of the new administration. The list of issues Obama stressed during his campaign, such as Turkey, the number of US troops in Iraq, Cuba, policies toward Iran, energy policies etc., is a long one. Here are the changes we might witness:

Obama’s Politics toward Turkey

In an interview with Turkey’s NTV, Omar Tashpinar, Brookings Institute researcher and an expert on Turkey, said that this election will be good for Turkey. “The experts on Turkey on Obama’s team know Turkey better than those on Bush’s team,” added Tashpinar. “Obama’s administration will resemble that of Clinton,” he concluded.

The Armenian Question

Tashpinar also added that when analyzing Obama, one must not look at him only from the Armenian point of view. He also added that, "what Obama wants is to take away the Armenian issue from the focal point of American politics. This means that what needs to be done is what is happening at this moment, like president Gul’s visit to Yerevan. In other words, Turkey must rely on itself in solving this problem.”

Lobbying the European Union

According to Tashpinar, Obama will lobby for Turkey excessively within the European Union. Tashpinar is of the opinion that Obama will be even more vocal than Clinton in this matter.

Peace will come to the Middle East

“Like Clinton, Obama will work toward establishing peace in the Middle East,” adds Tashpinar. He stressed that Obama knows how important Turkey is in this process and how big of a strategic role the country plays in the Middle East.

“It is important that Turkey understands this and plans its future steps accordingly,” concluded Tashpinar.

Concerning Northern Iraq

Tashpinar had this to say regarding policies toward Northern Iraq: “From Washington’s point of view Turkey is showing a very positive stance toward the issue in Northern Iraq (with respect to the Kurds). This means that Turkey is not waiting for a solution to come from the United States, but rather is taking step in that direction, and, most importantly, Turkey is not harboring any fear about Northern Iraq. According to Obama, the United States is not going to remain in the area forever, and this means that good relations between Turkey and Northern Iraq are welcomed. So, instead of looking only to the issue of the PKK (Kurdish Workers Party), it will be better if Turkey engages Northern Iraq and thus wins [Mesud] Barzani’s friendship. Kirkuk is the mother of all issues...if that issue is solved, Northern Iraq will be on its way to relaxation.”

Tashpinar also stressed that President Obama’s stance toward the PKK is as follows: “Obama also looks at the PKK as a terrorist organization, but he also believes that there is a Kurdish issue in Turkey. The most important issue for the United States under Obama is Turkey's efforts to solve its problems by engaging others with whom it [the U.S.] has problems. Therefore, I believe that before relocating his soldiers away from Northern Iraq, Obama will see to it that some sort of arrangement is reached with Turkey.”







ANKARA - ABD Ba?kan?’n?n Obama olmas? sadece ülkesini de?il tüm dünyay? ilgilendiriyor.??te ba?ta Türkiye olmak üzere yeni ABD Ba?kan?’n?n d?? politika ba?l?klar?
Siyah Demokrat Senatör Barack Obama’n?n yeni ABD ba?kan? seçilmesiyle birlikte Washington yönetiminin iç ve d?? politikas?nda birçok de?i?iklik olmas? bekleniyor. De?i?iklik mesaj?n?, seçimin ard?ndan yapt??? zafer konu?mas?nda da veren Obama’n?n, Türkiye, Irak’taki Amerikan askerlerinin say?s?, Küba, Irak, ?ran politikalar?, enerji politikas? ve di?er birçok konuda yapmay? vaat etti?i de?i?iklik alanlar? ?unlar:

OBAMA’NIN TÜRK?YE POL?T?KALARI

NTV’ye konu?an Obama’n?n ekibini yak?ndan tan?yon Brooking Enstitüsü Türkiye Uzman? Ömer Ta?p?nar bu seçim sonucunun Türkiye için iyi olaca??n? söyledi. “Obama'n?n ekibindeki Türkiye uzmanlar? Bush'un ekibindekilere göre Türkiye’yi daha iyi tan?yan uzmanlar. Obama iktidar? Clinton iktidar? dönemine benzeyecek”dedi.

ERMEN? MESELES?
Obama’y? de?erlendirken sadece Ermeni penceresinden bak?lmamas? gerekti?ini söyleyen Ta?p?nar Obama’n?n Ermeni meselesine bak???n? da ?öyle anlatt?: “Obama’n?n Türkiye'den bekledi?i ?ey Ermeni meselesinin ABD odakl? tart???lmas?ndan vazgeçilmesi... Yap?lmas? gereken zaten ?u anda yap?lan ?eydir. Gül'ün Erivan ziyareti gibi... Yani Türkiye’nin kendine güvenmesi gerekiyor.”

OBAMA AB KONUSUNDA TÜRK?YE ?Ç?N LOB? YAPACAKTIR
Ta?p?nar’a göre Avrupa Birli?i konusunda Obama'n?n Türkiye lehine yapaca?? lobi çok önemli. Onun da Clinton gibi Türkiye’nin AB’ye girmesi için lobi yapaca??na inand???n? belirtiyor.

ORTADO?U’YA BARI? GELECEK ”Obama’yla birlikte Clinton dönemindeki gibi Ortado?u bar?? sürecine girecektir” diyen Ta?p?nar Türkiye’nin bu noktada çok önemli bir ülke konumuna geldi?ini söyledi ve “Yeter ki Türkiye stratejik olarak bir iktidara sahip olsun... Bunun için her ?eyden önce kendimize güvenmemiz gerekiyor” dedi.

KUZEY IRAK POL?T?KASI OBAMA’NIN ?STED??? G?B?
Ta?p?nar sözlerine ?öyle devam etti: “Washington’dan bak?l?nca Türkiye'nin Kuzey Irak politikas?nda son deredece olumlu bir geli?me gösteriyor. Yani Türkiye Kuzey Irak'ta sadece ABD’den çözüm beklemiyor kendi ad?m ad?yor, Kuzey Irak’tan korkmuyor. Obama’yla birlikte ABD bölgede kalmayacak ve Kuzey Irak'?n tek dostu belki de Türkiye olacak. Türkiye sadece PKK’ya bakmak yerine Kuzey Irak’a bakarsa Barzani’nin deste?ini kazanacak. Ana konu Kerkük... Kerkük sorunu halledilirse kuzey ?rak sonunu daha rahat halledilir.

Ta?p?nar Obama’n?n PKK’ya bak???n? da ?öyle anlatt?: “obama yönetiminin PKK’ya bak??? “PKK tabii ki terör örgütüdür ama Türkiye'de bir kürt sorunu vard?r biçiminde olacakt?r. Ancak ABD’nin Türkiye mi, Barzani mi diye bir seçim yapmas? söz konusu olmayacakt?r. ?ki taraf?n birbiriyle ili?ki içinde olmas?n? isteyecektir. Bence Obama yönetimi Irak’tan askeri aç?dan ç?karken Türkiye ile Kuzey Irak'?n aras?n?n iyi olmas?n? isteyecektir.”

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