Watching America
Hurriyet, Turkey
By Yalcin Dogan
Translated By Garabet Moumdjian
16 November 2008
Original Article (Turkish)
It is important that we keep strong against his advances, and play the diplomatic game when we sit with him at the negotiating table. What we really have to do is ensure that the Americans are not worried about it. But is this possible with Obama?
It’s a big book. Like an encyclopedia volume. It may be about 3 to 4 kilograms in weight. It has very bright pages with lots of photos.
It deals with issues concerning the Kurds since the 1850’s. The book always mentions Kurdistan as a country. It has lots of photos, lots of history. Perhaps it’s what awaits us tomorrow…
The book can’t be found everywhere. Those bookstores that carry it are keeping the copies as precious things.
The book can be found at the bookstore of the World Bank. Is this the Word Bank that I know? There is a lot of buzz about Kurds and Kurdistan nowadays in America and in many European countries. Go to any bookstore in these countries and you will find a section about the Kurds. They speak about their history and even the PKK (Kurdish Workers’ Party).
Know this and study it as your lesson for school. It’s obvious--wherever there are books about Kurds, there are writings about the PKK.
American civil society, non-governmental organizations, and now the bureaucracy of the country are asking us Turks the same question: Ok, you beat up the PKK. What are you now going to do regarding the Kurds?
Is there anyone among us who knows the answer to this question? Do those who rule Turkey have a serious and timely answer to this? No, and of course no!
The issue is: Who is asking us this same question now and why is it important to us who this asker is?
It is Obama’s administration and his team who are asking the question.
This is what this means: As soon as he takes over the administration of the United States, Obama will deal very closely with the Kurdish issue. Even though officially America considers the PKK as a terrorist organization, Obama too will start his interrogation from that point of view. But what will happen then? He will then ask us what we are going to do now. Yes, what are we going to do? Do you have a project, a policy, an alternative dossier for this issue?
Instead of sending the message of “stay strong and don’t listen to anybody” to Obama, It would be wiser for Rajap Tayyip Erdogan (Turkey’s Prime Minister) to study the dossier and have some solutions regarding the issue.
Preferred course of action:
For the time being Turkey can only deal with Obama and his administration through unofficial channels.
As soon as he presides over the Administration, Obama’s priority will be the internal economic situation of America.
As for his foreign policy, Iraq will be the top priority. This entails bringing soldiers out of Iraq, dealing with the internal divisions of that country and trying to solve them, Preserving American hegemony there after pulling soldiers out, etc. Obama has already made it clear that these are the priorities of his administration.
But one must not forget that when he says Iraq, this also means the Kurdish issue. And when he says Kurdish issue, it means the PKK; its terror, and the condition of Kurds inside Turkey, and thus his policy toward that issue.
It is possible to assume that in our dealings with Obama he will ask us to come to an agreement regarding these issues. It is also possible to assume that our dealings with Obama will not be limited to intelligence sharing with the American administration.
It is important that we keep strong against his advances, and play the diplomatic game when we sit with him at the negotiating table. What we really have to do is ensure that the Americans are not worried about it. But is this possible with Obama?
So what’s the solution? It is one that would make Turks and Kurds content. Is there such a solution? Please be advised that if Turkey doesn’t have such a solution, one might be formulated for it by the new American administration!
http://watchingamerica.com/News/12010/the-united-states-never-prioritizes-democracy-over-its-national-security/
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