Ricciardone’s Sailor’s Knot

The new American ambassador, Francis Ricciardone, arrived in Turkey last week. Yet, even before the dust cleared from his shoes, he spoke to the Turkish media and stirred a debate. As Rusen Cakir [a Turkish journalist] pointed out in his piece last Friday, Ricciardone’s statement boggled the minds of many who are used to bringing mono-causal explanations to every issue. Needless to say, according to the Ulusalci-Kemalist camp, the U.S. and CIA are behind everything that happens. What undermined that camp, they believe, is also the hideous, imperialist U.S. Yet now, when Ricciardone’s statements somewhat paralleled the criticisms along the Ulusalci line, some minds are boggled. New scenarios are being produced now; new journalistic pieces have appeared. Pro-government groups did not like Ricciardone’s statement either. Pro-government groups had assumed that the new American ambassador would adopt a new attitude toward the government than the previous ambassadors. In short, we have an American ambassador here in Ankara who is liked neither by Jesus nor by Moses!

Because we are fond of treating assumptions as theories and theories as the truth itself, let me write my own scenario upon Ricciardone’s statements. Ricciardone might not have appealed to anybody with his statements, but these statements could work in other ways. Israel comes first among those who will benefit from them. The fact that Israel is not happy about the “new Turkey” or is disturbed by Turkey’s new positioning must be well-known to everybody. While the Middle East is changing, both the role Turkey plays in the region and Turkey’s position in it are changing as well. As I tried to show in my previous pieces, those who closely follow American media should have noticed that while the events shook Egypt, the dominant view that emerged in the U.S. was that the U.S. needs to consolidate its relations with both Turkey and Israel. Yes, the U.S. must strengthen its ties not only to Israel, but also to Turkey.

Yet, what stands as a ghostly figure between the U.S. and Israel is Turkey. Because it is extremely disturbed by Turkey’s new orientation, Israel is not only being content with its worsening relations with Turkey, it does not want the U.S. to repair its relations with Turkey either. Can someone tell me this is not exactly what Israel is trying to do? Israel has been ardently using all the means it possesses to undermine the incumbent Turkish government. The continuing Ergenekon trials about coup d’état attempts are the perfect opportunity for Israel to get the job done. If we consider who is interfering with the trial process, no doubts will remain in our minds. The claims of alleged “fascist practices” in the Turkish government have replaced artificially created, former bogeyman of “religious reactionism.” The U.S. enters the stage at exactly this point, upon such claims. While Islamism is still kept as a reason for reaction and a source of threat, the frontline territory to produce new alleged sources of threats is being consciously expanded. Otherwise, how can we explain the fact that the American administration, which was caught totally unprepared and remains paralyzed to respond in a uniform and meaningful way to what happened in Egypt, suddenly came out and supported Ricciardone’s statements, which even the ambassador himself later qualified?

I do not deny that it is no longer possible to make the previously enjoyed distinction between what is domestic and what is foreign policy because on issues such as fundamental democratic principles and human rights, everybody has the right to opine and speak out; but here, in Turkey’s case, things seem a bit more complex to me. If we could, I would suggest calling what the American ambassador is actually doing by speaking out on these matters “the sailor’s knot.” Let it be noted that the U.S.’ shadow will be all around us during the Ergenekon trial period. And behind that shadow, of course, will be Israel’s.

There is no escaping from these happenings in the coming days and months. It is inevitable. Remember that even a mere contact — let alone an explicit intervention — with the world’s power balance naturally causes “earthquakes.” When that balance is changing in its own dynamics and releases an earthquake all over, Turkey will naturally experience this sort of upheaval. After all, you can’t swim in the sea and hope to not get wet. You will get wet; no worries, as long as you know how to swim!