These words were uttered by the president of a country that had been ruled by neocons for two consecutive terms with the support of evangelicals, who number around 70 million. Even this was sufficient to make Obama's visit a historic one. I had participated in a TV program on Kanal 7, when the US was preparing to invade Afghanistan, and when I said "The new founding actors of this world will be Muslims and Christians who are fair, who uphold justice and who feel divine responsibilities," Cengiz Çandar asked: "Who are they? I cannot see anyone who fits your description." Then I explained, "Today, Bush's America, which has gone mad, is miles from this point." Is Obama closer to this point? I am not sure.Such visits are carefully packaged. Indeed, this package forms the focus of interest from the general public and the media, who attach greater importance to symbols and rituals. And this packaging, consisting of symbols, rituals and protocols, serves to hide the context inside and mislead the general public. We should look beyond these rituals and see what the US really wants Turkey and the Muslim world to do.
The US has three main issues on its agenda: to tackle the global economic crisis; to minimize anti-US sentiment, which has reached 80 percent around the world; and to establish hegemony in the Middle East and Eurasia. The economic crisis is an entirely different event. Obama's visit to Turkey mainly centered on the two remaining agenda items. Obama says he will pursue a "multilateral" policy, unlike the unilateral policies of Bush. There are three players that have been clarified in his mind: the EU, NATO and Turkey. Turkey is both a candidate for being an EU member and a NATO member, but it is obvious that Obama intends to attach special importance to us. But it is also clear that Obama does not want to base his entire investment on these three players. He also seeks to come to terms with Iran and Arab countries. Yes, he came to Turkey in April and delivered a keynote speech at Parliament, but he soon went to Egypt. He had given a different message in Turkey, but he chose to address Arabs and the Muslim world in Egypt. There is a special meaning in this.
This is the question we must answer: To what extent is this new role tailored by the US for Turkey compatible with the interests of the world to which we belong?
Be it Bush or Obama, we can say that the US has four unchanging strategic targets: (1) to keep energy resources and energy transport routes under tight control; (2) to maintain support for Israel; (3) to prevent China and Russia from extending their influence to the south and west; and (4) to suppress the Islamic movements that oppose the unfair domination of the West on the Muslim world and that fight against oppressive regimes.
In order to achieve these targets, the US and Europe are exerting tight control over the Muslim world, and they do this through military occupation when necessary. In a nutshell, for them, the Muslim world is a hunting arena or a field of combat. In the new era, the US is pulling out from Iraq and trying to stabilize the Middle East through different instruments of power, but at the same time it is shifting its weight toward Afghanistan and Pakistan. Fair-minded people should ask: What has the US been trying to achieve in Afghanistan for some eight years? Why does it make hell out of Pakistan? On which law do they rely when NATO forces engage in the massacre of civilians?
In referring to a "multilateral partnership" in the resolution of issues, does Obama intend only the EU and NATO? With its new concepts, NATO is no longer an organization that ensures the security of Europe against the Soviet threat. It is now a military force that aims to maintain Western interests and establish Western hegemony in the Muslim world and Eurasia. Its new job description is not about military attacks from a country, but about intervention in crisis areas.
This is the common conviction of those who observe that things are getting worse in the region: If the US had really learned its lesson from what it had done, and if it really does not want to fight Islam as Obama frequently stresses, then it must take concrete but soothing steps concerning the Palestine issue and start an authentic dialogue and cooperation with the Muslim world.
