This development is actually a good answer to the debates concerning Turkey’s axis. As a country capable of maintaining equal distance from all parties, not only in the problems between the West and the East but also in the internal problems of the East, Turkey presents the strongest assurance for the West.A headline from Baghdad that appeared in The New York Times last weekend rang alarm bells for US President Barack Obama and Washington. The news said that Sunnis were disappointed by the lengthy government formation process and that some Sunni militants were returning to al-Qaeda. This has the potential of directly putting the US military pullout from Iraq at risk and threatening regional security and stability. It was a clear indication of the fact that any failure in the government formation process will not only endanger Iraq’s stability but give rise to a surge of violent attacks. The role Ankara is playing in Iraq has the potential of warding off this risk. This said, has Turkey shifted its axis or reinforced it by playing this role?
Using only the goggles of secularism is to ignore this truth. An unstable Iraq will make it impossible for the US to decrease its troops in Afghanistan starting from July 2011. In this regard, Turkey is assuming a vital role for Washington. It is no coincidence that the Turkish Embassy in Baghdad has turned into a meeting spot for the government formation process.
To win everyone’s hearts entails an independent foreign policy trusted by the actors in the region instead of being a mere direct tool of the West. Ankara has been successfully implementing this policy.
Having become so successful in the peace process in Iraq, Ankara should be able to do the same within its own borders.
By getting rid of violence in its own political atmosphere, Turkey will not only find huge expanses of opportunities and possibilities but also make more contributions to regional stability. As it has managed to win the confidence of all parties in Iraq, Ankara must be able to win the hearts of its own Kurds.
It is obvious that there is a lack of trust in the region.
The fact that the democratic initiative was interrupted after the Habur incident has left many people confused. At the same time, many acknowledge the realities of politics. No one expects a dramatic step until the elections. They realize that the real solution process will start after the elections.
What should be done in such a setting consists of confidence-building steps. Legal proceedings launched against the police officers who asked several schoolmasters to introduce sanctions against stone-throwing children, as noted in the headline story of the Star newspaper yesterday, may be an example of such steps. To lend support to the “Living Language Institutes,” which were originally planned as Kurdology Institutes, may be another step.
The military tutelary regime is on its deathbed, and there is an ongoing process of negotiations with Abdullah Öcalan, which are certainly important points. But what the government should see is that as a country that has failed to establish peace within, Turkey will soon find that no one will take its peace efforts seriously. Now, we must be as active in the Southeast as we are in Iraq. A stable, developing Southeast is the greatest assurance for a stable Iraq.
Apparently, Turkey will successfully overcome this critical stage because both the Kurds who celebrated the Habur return as a peace festival and the Turks who said “yes” in the referendum have expressed their demands for peace.
It is the duty of politicians to implement these demands.
