Obama’s Visit to Turkey: A New Beginning for Both Countries

The visit of U.S. President Barack Obama to Turkey created a wave of excitement in the country. The visit is in general evaluated as successful for both of the countries. In the process of reconstructing American hegemony in the world, Turkey was one of the stops on the President’s list. After sending off Obama to Iraq, Turkey is talking about the meaning of his cleverly prepared speech given in the Turkish Grand National Assembly (TBMM) word by word and the future relationship between the two countries. In a country like Turkey, which has a Muslim-dominated population but is secular in constitution; is in the Middle East but also has non-Arab roots; is paving the way to enter the European Union; and is increasing its voice in the last summits; it was very well-received speech because of the parallelisms, such as his Muslim parents and the Muslim world, the Armenian issue, and the U.S.’s history with the Native Americans. In contrast with Bush’s discourse, Obama did not mention moderate Islam, but mostly the secular and democratic character of Turkey, although his sensitivity towards Islamic values was highlighted during the visit. Touching upon Turkey’s role as a bridge, Obama said that he is ready to construct the bridge, because he overcame racial barriers in his past and has roots in different religions, drawing a parallel between himself and Turkey.

As a result of the Bush Doctrine and Bush’s policies in the region, antagonism against the U.S. increased in Turkey, although recent surveys indicate that more than half of Turks approved of Obama. Now people are debating his sincerity, and while some say he is too romantic, others argue that he is also a realist, as he has learned from the faults of his predecessors. But we see that the same characteristics of Obama that drew American citizens to vote for him also influence Turkish citizens; this is another parallel between the two countries.

It is sure that Turkey is in a place in which the U.S. has an interest. In the past Turkey was seen as having potential in its region, but in the last decade it has been using its potential to solve problems in its region, although chaos sometimes arises due to sensitive domestic issues. Although the relationship between the U.S. and Turkey is not a strategic partnership because they are not equal powers and it is an asymmetric relationship, it may be said that there is a “model partnership” between the countries.

A striking transformation has occurred in Turkey’s Middle East policies in the last decade. After many years of ignoring the region, Turkey’s turned its attention to the region’s political, social, and economic issues and increased its soft power and visibility. It was particularly concerned with the U.S.’s occupation of its neighbor, and Turkey’s position on the energy basins increased its geostrategic importance. Long years of discussions regarding the Kurdish establishment in the north of Iraq and the U.S.’s deployment in Turkey have escalated the discussions among Turkish decision makers. Today both the U.S. and Turkey want to increase the soft power elements in their foreign policy tools. As a peaceful opening to the Islamic World and keen interest in playing a role between the conflicting parties with its Islamic-rooted governmental, Turkey also wants to cooperate with the U.S.’s new approach. Although the position is advantageous for the region’s countries, its leading position may increase the feelings of rivalry between the countries’ leaders. Obama has a list of many issues to solve, beside his country’s economic troubles. Turkey is also involved in many issues with the U.S., such as Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, the liquidation of the PKK from northern Iraq, the energy issue, the Syria-Israel talks, combating terrorism, the Caucasus, Armenia, Russia, and relations with Muslim countries.

The timing of Obama’s visit helped Turkey to enforce its relationship with the new U.S. president. The G-20 and NATO summits before the Alliance of Civilizations conference were like a preparatory stage to meeting with Turkish officials. The disagreement over Rasmussen showed again Turkey’s capacity to resist on some events. Although some European leaders perceived Turkey’s position as deliberately blocking a decision, Turkey’s resistance to a candidate like Rasmussen, who has a tarnished image due to his stance on the cartoon issue, actually contributed to its soft power in the Middle East. And Turkey’s objection to Rasmussen’s allowance of PKK-supporter Roj TV in Denmark underlined the sensitivity of the PKK issue in Turkey.

Despite Germany and France’s opposition on the European Union issue, Obama reaffirmed the U.S.’ support of Turkey’s EU accession, as have previous U.S. presidents. In the Middle East Turkey’s efforts to enter the Union is a confusing point in the minds of the people, and Turkey’s lengthy negotiations have been interpreted as futile. Although the process is long and tiring for Turkey, its duty is to explain its aims to the Middle Eastern countries and intensify its visits and relations with European leaders to revive the relations after a long period of stagnancy in the relations. The Armenian issue was another question related to Obama’s visit for Turkish foreign policy analysts looking towards the approaching date of 24 April. Although we know Obama had made some promises regarding the issue, Turkish President Abdullah Gul’s speech emphasizing the establishment of a committee to study the archives and his desire for the participation of other nations to the committee as third parties showed Turkey’s confidence on the issue and its openness towards solving the issue. When we take into consideration Obama’s personality and approach, it may be hoped that the call of the Turkish President will be evaluated.

Obama’s visit to Turkey one month after Hillary Clinton’s visit makes clear that Turkey is seen as an important actor for the newly formed U.S. government. The visit is different from Obama’s visits to other countries thus far, because Turkey is the first Muslim majority country for Obama to visit as president, and the visit is not a part of an international event. Turkey is seen as a helper after the strained relations since 2003, and the U.S. is keen to regain Turkey’s friendship in line with its theme of “making of peace with Islam,” and Turkey is aware of its role. For the Turkish government the past week’s summits and Obama’s visit, after the recent surprising results of the time-consuming local elections, provided a chance to turn to international events to define its agenda again for the future projections of its foreign policy.


Serpil ACIKALIN

USAK Center of Middle Eastern Studies (JTW)

Thursday, 9 April 2009
.........http://www.turkishweekly.net/op-ed/2502/obama’s-visit-to-turkey-a-new-beginning-for-both-countries-.html