He sent an angry letter to Lee Hamilton, director of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, asking him not to honor Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu with its Public Service Award. Wisely no one paid any attention to such a “hate letter” as the Woodrow Wilson center presented its award to Davutoğlu in İstanbul last week.Yet the letter remains as the making of a mindset that tries to turn Turkey, the long-term ally of the US, into an enemy. In the letter, Rep. Ackerman uses words like “sickening,” “illegality,” “irresponsibility” and “hypocrisy” to describe Turkish foreign policy and Minister Davutoğlu.
He also threatens Turkey with the Armenian genocide claims and the Cyprus question. I really wonder if “blackmailing” is part of Woodrow Wilson’s political heritage that Rep. Ackerman seems anxious to preserve. I do not think so. Then he makes a “sickening comparison” of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) to Hamas.
From the letter I understand that Rep. Ackerman would be interested in sending what the PKK needs: weapons and ammunition. So giving such an impression will only confirm a belief that is shared by many nationalists and military commanders in Turkey that the US is behind the PKK. I do not share in such nonsense, of course, but they use such statements as the representatives of the official line to prove that there is a link between the PKK terrorist organization and the US administration. Thus people like Ackerman do no good for the image of America in Turkey.
Turkish and American governments are bound to work together in various parts of the world and on a variety of issues. Cooperation between the two countries and the two nations should be based on mutual interests and common values. There can also be disagreements. It is only natural. Does the US administration share in full the position of the Turkish government on the Cyprus question and the Armenian claims of genocide? No it does not.
On Iran, Ankara differs from Washington in the methods of getting a shared objective, which is to prevent Iran developing nuclear weapons by using all diplomatic means possible and refraining from confrontation. And it has good reasons for doing this. Turkey does not want to see its long-term ally, the US, and its permanent neighbor go to the brink of a war. It is aware that when your neighbor’s house ablaze it threatens your house as well.
Making adversarial statements out of such a disagreement would leave the US without friends. Describing Turkey and the Turks as “sickening,” “illegal” and “hypocritical” is not fair and friendly. Rep. Ackerman’s letter is utterly rude and does not suit a respected US lawmaker. But it reveals a mindset that is very problematic. Such a narrow-minded stance cannot represent the American viewpoint. I think his is a total blindness.
How can these friends of Turkey turn into “adversaries” overnight. The reason is disturbing, not for Turkey but for the US. They simply want unconditional support for Israel. Any country that does not do so is declared an “enemy.” I think this is the mindset of all radical movements including the ones that the US is fighting against in the Middle East. Now it is shocking to see the same attitude from a US congressman.
There could be no unconditional support even among the allies independent of the acts taken up by the allies. But what Israel and its allies in the US expect is this: Whatever Israel does, continue to support it without questioning its policies. This is no good even for Israel; this is not the way a good friend behaves.
Do what they suggest and lose all the friends of America. I think those who advocate such policies do not care if they are pushing the US towards trouble or not. They are simply turning the US into Israel that is questioned, distrusted and disliked by all.
