This is a significant summit because it isn't just limited to the neighboring countries. The representatives of the five members from the UN Security Council, the foreign ministers of the Group of Eight (G8) and the League of Arab States, the UN and the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) secretary-generals will also attend the meeting. Following the meeting, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan will visit US President Bush in the US on Nov. 5. This one-week period will be the last avenue of diplomacy.Due to the authorization (to conduct an operation into northern Iraq) given by Parliament, the government can only keep a diplomatic solution option available for a little while longer. The Erdoğan-Bush meeting must provide a decision for a concrete military step. Without capturing significant figures of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and without an operation that will put an end to the PKK's infiltration through Turkish borders for attacks, Turkey can't advance on the European Union path; rather it will follow the path of isolation. The point is to limit the military operation with the PKK without directing it to the Kurdish administration in northern Iraq and allowing any chance to those who want to create a Turkish-Kurdish conflict to realize their goal. Massoud Barzani's irresponsible words and provocations, far from earnestness, shouldn't be grounds for Turkey to do wrong.
US is the key country in this matter
The US is experiencing a moment of destiny. The "trust" factor must be dominant in US-Turkish relations. The US can no longer detain Turkey, can't throw the ball in. In other words, the outcome of the Bush-Erdoğan summit can't be advice for moderation on the part of Turkey. For me, the participation of General Staff representatives in Erdoğan's visit to the US is a signal that the US administration will not make a mistake at this critical point. Although the soldiers' participation in this trip reflects the common policy of the government and indicates the civilian-military balance in Turkey, it actually has another meaning: The US will support Turkey's military operation against the PKK and it won't lay the groundwork for the emergence of a blood feud between Turkey and the Iraqi Kurdish administration because it is considering its own national interests as well. Everybody will see that the US won't be able to sacrifice Turkey because of Iraqi President Jalal Talabani and Barzani. Anything else would mean an eclipse of wit for the US.
We all know that there is an opposition against the US, caused by the US's wrong policies and that it has hit bottom in public opinion polls in Turkey. There are also those who claim that Turkey should defy the US in northern Iraq and even fight against anything in Iraq even if the US opposes such a move. There are even those who claim that we may establish alliances with India, China and Iran. Without doubt, Turkey isn't a satellite state of the US, nor one of its colonies, either. But we haven't seen anyone make a rational analysis of republican Turkey's run after a different goal, leaving the EU and US axis, either. Those voicing the Iran , India and China alliances and the semi-official academics that support them are also the people who try to condemn Turkey in a closed totalitarian regime at the same time. This has only one meaning: In this country, anti-democratic expectations and longings are still alive, strong and hoping for help from extraordinary situations. Moreover, these people also have to unravel the reason why Syria and particularly Iran aren't supporting Turkey in its fight against the PKK. The answer is pretty simple for us: No one in our region, especially Iran, would like a strong Turkey, which again determines the terms, seals and attracts listeners whenever it has something to say, and that's that. Turkey is determined to fight against the PKK and become a strong international actor in the region, and for this reason the Erdoğan-Bush meeting will provide a solution, which supports this aim.
