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ALİ H. ASLAN
a.aslan@todayszaman.com |
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Ambassador Tan: The right choice for Washington
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| The government has not let things linger too long since the resignation of Nabi Şensoy as the Turkish ambassador to Washington and has quickly found a person to replace him. Currently serving as the deputy undersecretary of foreign affairs, Ambassador Namık Tan will become the next Turkish ambassador to the US. |
Ambassador Tan was among the most suitable candidates for this critical assignment. First of all, he knows the setting and players on the US diplomatic scene well as he was previously assigned to Washington twice, and he also has experience in Turkish foreign policy departments that are closely related to the US. He will be able to make a quick start without needing much preparation or preliminary training. He has also left behind good memories in Washington from his previous tours here. Indeed, the news of his appointment has created excitement in circles that closely monitor Turkey, in particular the Jewish lobby. His close relations with the Jewish lobby in Washington served as a good reference for his appointment as ambassador to Tel Aviv in 2006. I am sure that these ties have been specifically taken into consideration in deciding on his appointment to Washington.
Despite Ankara's attempts to create new channels of communication with groups such the black or Hispanic lobbies, the Jewish lobby is still the major power to positively or negatively influence Turkish-US relations. Given the fact that this lobby has been uneasy about the Turkish government's policies on Iran and Israel and has also lent support to the recently increasing campaign against the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party), it is rather appropriate to appoint a person who has their respect to Washington.
Whoever Ankara sends to Washington would be welcomed by the US administration because respect for an envoy is not due to his or her personal qualities, but because of the country he or she represents. Likewise, the Turkish government quickly approved US Ambassador to Turkey James Jeffrey. There is no reason why the Obama administration would not show the same courtesy to Ambassador Tan.
Social communication skills play a major role in modern diplomacy. Being a dynamic and resolute diplomat, Tan, I believe, will not remain bound to his office, but will go out and expand his social network in Washington. His wife, Fügen, too, will take various initiatives.
Americans are a practical and pragmatic people. One of the qualities they seek most in ambassadors appointed to Washington is their ability to access their own capitals. Of course, every ambassador is officially tied to his or her home country and carries a certain weight there. Still, envoys who have personal ties with top government officials are preferred. Tan worked closely with former Foreign Minister Abdullah Gül, who is now the Turkish president. He has also gained the trust of Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu. He is capable of conveying his opinions to those in high positions via direct phone calls and by convincing them to take a certain course of action. US officials attach special importance to ambassadors with high access.
This was one of the biggest handicaps of Ambassador Nabi Şensoy, although he was a high-quality and experienced ambassador. For instance, he would have difficulty getting appointments with Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Phillip Gordon. Gordon would not feel the need to seek Şensoy's mediation because he could directly phone Turkish Foreign Minister Davutoğlu thanks to his personal friendship with him. In fact, these breaches of diplomatic traditions implied that US officials thought that Şensoy did not have much access to higher government officials in Ankara. I assume and hope that his American counterparts will treat Tan differently.
For Turkish ambassadors appointed to Washington, relations not only with Americans, but also with the diverse Turkish community in the US are important. The Turkish Embassy in Washington has a great responsibility to eliminate hostilities that may arise among different factions within the Turkish community and channel their competition into positive energy and power. In my humble opinion, the essential principle in this respect is to encourage all factions who work for the benefit of Turkey and Turkish-US relations and to maintain an equal distance from, while embracing and showing respect toward them.
During the last 12 years of my work in the US capital, I cannot say that every ambassador has managed to do so. In particular, there were Turkish ambassadors who would opt to remain aloof to religious or conservative circles whose influence is growing in the US in parallel with a similar increase in their homeland. Some of them would not visit the successful institutions established by these groups or who would even backbite and secretly undermine their projects.
Working as the first counselor and spokesperson of the Turkish Embassy in Washington, Tan was able to establish close relations with the representatives of diverse media organizations and gain their respect. He was the 'Namık Abi' (Big Brother Namık) of diplomatic correspondents during his term as the spokesperson of the Turkish Foreign Ministry in Ankara. I believe that his humble, all-embracing attitude will continue during his term as ambassador in Washington. This is the very quality that has ensured his rise to the most prestigious diplomatic positions at the young age of 53.
Tan was also among the most likely candidates for another critical position being established in Ankara, and by preferring to appoint him to Washington, the Turkish government has shown the importance it attaches to Turkish-US relations. I am particularly glad to see that the Erdogan administration has refrained from making a political appointment to Washington and has chosen to make use of the existing resources within the foreign policy bureaucracy. Otherwise, the functioning of the bureaucracy would be unnecessarily strained, with every action of the ambassador in Washington serving as fuel for partisan debates.
A number of able colleagues await Tan's arrival in Washington. I am sure that they will undertake projects to boost Turkey's image in the US, as well as Turkish Embassy’s prestige in Ankara. I would like to express my best wishes of good luck to our freshly appointed ambassador to Washington -- aka our Namık Abi -- who will take office in 2010, a year that may strain Turkish-US relations, particularly with respect to the Iranian and Armenian issues.
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