U.S. “Dives Deep” to Turkey

Yesterday, the U.S. military attacked Taliban locations in Pakistan’s Waziristan region by using unmanned missile-carrier aircraft; 12 people were killed by this sudden attack. Turkey wants to buy these unmanned aircraft, called “Reapers,” and use them against the PKK (Kurdistan Workers’ Party). Turkey has Heron or Predator types, which can be used only for gathering pictures and information, whereas Reapers send missiles into places via remote control to find targets, just like in spy movies.

The U.S. has this technology, and the American government can sell this high-tech product only upon the approval of Congress.

The Financial Times newspaper, published in England, wrote that at the G-20 meeting in Toronto two months ago, U.S. President Barack Obama told Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan that, because of Turkey’s recent political situation with Iran and Israel, Congress was not willing to permit this sale. In fact, there are other armament requirements subjected to permission; however, only Reaper came up for now.

A high level source whom I spoke with yesterday told me that “Turkey’s politics involving Iran and Israel are not leaning in Turkey’s favor in Congress, and this may create obstacles for the White House in supporting Turkey’s struggle with terrorism.”

Indeed, the U.S. is very much aware of Turkey’ s support in Afghanistan and Iraq and does not want to abandon this. For instance, Erdogan’s phone call with Obama at the beginning of August had been all about Iraq. It is not a coincidence that, after this meeting, most of the political parties willing to establish a government in Iraq came to Turkey and met with Turkish government officials, such as Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, and Davutoglu announced his desire to see a sustainable government in Iraq.

The U.S.’ planned withdrawal from Iraq, which will occur at the end of August, makes Turkish-American cooperation on Iraq more important. However, the fault line which has developed due to Iran and Israel hinders the bridge-building in Congress.

The press was informed that the Iraq issue was put on the agenda in Washington during the meeting on Turkey led by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

How Are Things?

The diplomat who emphasized that Clinton had “deep-dive” meetings with a few other countries said: “It would not be true to say that the mere focal point of this meeting is Turkey’s policy on Iran and Israel. However, it is certain that Turkey has been a big light flashing quite a bit on the radar screen of American foreign policy since 2009. Most likely, Clinton needs to answer more questions from Obama and Congress about Turkey, and she needs to understand Turkey deeply and act accordingly.” Since 2009 Turkey and the U.S. have been looking in different directions because of Turkey’s policy regarding Israel and Iran.

According to another officer in Washington, releasing this meeting to the press is as important as the existence of this meeting. The source said the U.S. State Department is not comfortable with Turkey’s foreign affairs team showing problems as unimportant and the relationship between the two countries as smooth. The State Department wants the Turkish public to know these problems.

At last, a source revealed the name of one who knows Turkish-American relations very well. It is Dr. Omer Taspinar from the Brookings Institution, and he briefly explains the situation: “The Obama government uses the adverse atmosphere in Congress as a pressure element on the AKP (the ruling party). Not only the sale of weapons, but also the Armenian issue may be brought to the agenda of Congress. These developments will cause the White House to send tough warning messages to Ankara.”

While the U.S. government is so dependent on Turkey in regard to strategic subjects like Iraq and Afghanistan, it is certainly a big problem for both Washington and Ankara that they conflict on Iran and Israel.

Erdogan and Davutoglu announced that they won’t step back from their requirements for an apology and compensation from Israel after the May 31 Mavi Marmara disaster.* Omer Celik intentionally did not invite the Israeli ambassador to the official Ramadan dinner and stated that he would insist on “foreign policy based on principles, not interests.”

Now it is wondered in the diplomatic world whether there will be any changes in these issues after the referendum on September 12.**

Translator’s Notes:

* Israel attacked the Gaza aid fleet and killed 9 Turkish people in the lead vessel called “Mavi Marmara” when it was in international waters on May 31, 2010.

** An amendment referendum on the Turkish Constitution of 1982.