Moreover, we must think about what troubles this crossing might cause for our country. As you will remember, the Ottoman Empire had to participate in World War I due to the crossing of two modified German vessels, the Midilli and the Yavuz, to the Black Sea.To hoist its flag in the Black Sea was the US' long-awaited dream. The Russian incursion into Georgia provided a good excuse for it. Of course, this may have important repercussions, but its symbolic significance is already known: The US has shown Russia and Iran that it has come a step closer to them and that it has the power to come yet closer. The Russian General Staff openly voices their discontent, saying, "Do not expect us to believe that the US vessels are just carrying diapers and blankets to Georgia." What's more interesting is that the Russian chief of general staff noted that there are NATO and US war vessels in the Black Sea, including four Turkish war vessels.
One would not be prophesying to say that Turkey's position is the most problematic one in this situation. The Turkish Foreign Ministry is in complete silence. Possibly, they are meditating on how the next step should be taken.
If you ask me, there are several defects in the policies that were pursued up to now. It seems that the Turkish Foreign Ministry had complete faith in the argument that the Cold War had completely ended and that we live in a unipolar world with a single boss, the US. This is a naive belief, as one should know that, at least in theory, uni-polarity is against the nature of things.
Possibly, those who have directed Turkish foreign policy for the last several years have taken relations with Georgia far beyond those normally established between two neighboring countries. Of course, Turkey should establish good relations with Georgia. Work done in connection with energy and natural gas are important, although they are risky. To this, one can add a higher level of trade and economic relations between the two countries. But any relations that go beyond this threshold cannot be reasonably justified. For instance, the military relations, the reports of Turkish officers' training the Georgian army and various strategic investments are some of the things that are difficult to justify.
Turkey is a NATO member. However, using NATO as a tool, the West has fabricated a nonexistent threat and is trying to dominate the entire region and even the planet. This is an insatiable imperial passion, and some countries will naturally want to resist it. It is only a matter of time in aggregating a sufficient level of economic and military power. It is now understood that China, India, Russia and Iran will not accept NATO's expansionist attitude.
Even if they are members of a certain alliance, countries will take into consideration their medium and long-term interests before making up their minds. Turkey's interests require that Turkey should establish good relations with its neighbors, minimize its problems and promote its trade, economic, social and cultural relations. Russia and Iran are two important neighbors to this country. In other words, even if it is a NATO member, Turkey cannot pursue extremely biased attitudes or unfriendly policies toward its neighbors.
Turkey should ask itself this question: Should I boost my NATO involvement or should I promote more friendly relations with my neighbors? The answer is obvious: Turkey should, without forgetting the fact that it is a NATO member, establish relations that build confidence and show that Turkey is not acting against any of its neighbors. I hope these US vessels will not bring the same calamity to this country as was done by the two German vessels that forced us to become involved in World War I.
