Hadn't President Barack Hussein Obama declared "We are ready to initiate a new partnership [with the Muslim world] based on mutual respect and mutual interest. … My job is to communicate the fact that the US has a stake in the well-being of the Muslim world, that the language we use has to be a language of respect" (Al Arabiya, January 26)? Wasn't the US calling on NATO members to increase their contributions to the fight against the Taliban and al-Qaeda in Afghanistan? Wasn't Obama intending to assure the whole world, and particularly the Muslim world, that his administration makes a clear distinction between Islam and terrorism?
And who is Rasmussen? He is the Danish prime minister who in 2006 defended the publication of Islamophobic cartoons, including one that depicted the Prophet Muhammad with a bomb in his turban, in a Danish newspaper in the name of freedom of expression. The cartoons had led to violent protests in the Muslim world. To say the least, Rasmussen is not at all a respected European politician among Muslims. He has also opposed the accession of Turkey, the only Muslim-majority member of NATO, to the European Union. His government, again in the name of freedom of expression, has allowed a television station affiliated with the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), regarded by both the US and the EU as a terrorist organization, to broadcast from Denmark despite Ankara's continued protests.
For all the above reasons, newspapers speculated that Turkey would oppose Rasmussen taking the top seat in NATO. In order to find out what the official position might be, I talked with a high-ranking diplomat from the Foreign Ministry in Ankara last Tuesday. The impression I got was that Ankara surely did not support Rasmussen's appointment, but stood in principle for decisions to be made by consensus, and thus would not vote against Rasmussen if it would be the only member country to oppose him. This seemed to make sense. The same evening I read in the papers that President Abdullah Gül had told Reuters in Baghdad that Turkey had not yet decided on the issue (March 24).
The following day, Wednesday, I came across a statement by Suat Kınıklıoğlu, spokesman for Parliament's Foreign Affairs Commission, to Fox News that the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) was staunchly opposed to Rasmussen. On Friday evening I listened to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Turkish television station NTV, where he said he had talked to Rasmussen on the phone during the day and expressed to him openly and clearly his various objections. He said not only that he was under pressure from leaders of Muslim countries to stop Rasmussen's appointment, but that supporting Rasmussen would even conflict with the principles of his party. The impression I got from what Erdoğan said was that he had in effect asked Rasmussen to refrain from announcing his candidacy for the job. And, finally, on Saturday, I woke up to read -- to my great astonishment -- that President Gül had not only told reporters in Brussels on Friday that "Turkey had no specific stance against Rasmussen," but also that "he is one of the most successful prime ministers in Europe" (Today's Zaman, March 28).
Ankara surely appears, perhaps in the heat of the local elections campaign, to be much confused and not pursuing a coherent stance on the issue. This does not, however, change the fact that Rasmussen heading NATO is a very bad idea. No one has explained why this is so better than Stephen Kinzer in the Guardian: "Appointing Rasmussen to head the alliance that is waging the counter-insurgent war in Afghanistan would … send the message that NATO happily turns over its top job to a figure many Muslims revile. Coming on the heels of the aggressive raids and drone bombings that have become the ugly face of NATO in Afghanistan, it would be a magnificent gift to the Taliban and its al-Qaeda allies across the border in Pakistan -- a recruiting tool beyond anything they could come up with on their own. The Taliban and al-Qaeda will certainly portray Rasmussen's appointment as proof that NATO is guided above all by hatred of Islam. … It would be like pouring gasoline onto the fire that already threatens to consume Afghanistan and Pakistan. The only Muslim country in NATO, Turkey… has the power to veto this choice, [but] it should not have to do so. President Obama and his European allies should come to their senses and choose a NATO secretary general who will not come into office with the handicap of being hated by millions of Muslims around the world" (March 25).
I hope that Rasmussen before others comes to his senses and refrains from seeking the job.
