Doubtlessly, there are points on which the two leaders found agreement during the meeting. But it’s also a certainty that there are topics the two countries don’t see the same way and over which they have differences. For example, on the point of how the period of normalization with Armenia should proceed from this point on, the approaches of the two leaders are very different. The Obama administration wants for the necessary protocols to be passed by the Turkish Parliament immediately and for the border with Armenia to be opened. But as Erdoğan expressed in detail, speaking to the press, any new step to be taken with regard to those protocols depends upon the Karabakh situation. Toward this end, Erdoğan requested from the president of the US, which is a Minsk Group member along with France and Russia, that a solution to end the Armenian occupation in Azerbaijan be expedited.
It would not have come as a surprise to a person trying to decipher the thoughts of the two leaders on the subject to come across dialogue such as this:
Obama: “Despite my believing that the events of 1915 amount to genocide and my campaign promise in this regard, in order to avoid sabotaging the normalization period that had begun between Turkey and Armenia, I refrained from using this world. Please, don’t stop this process. The protocols must enter into force.”
Erdoğan: “Despite great reaction from our brother-nation Azerbaijan as well as domestic opposition, we signed the Aug. 30 protocols. And as we promised, we sent it to Parliament. True, Karabakh wasn’t amongst the preconditions; however, the final decision after this phase lies with Parliament. If you want the protocols to be passed by Parliament, then strengthen the hand of the deputies against the opposition and Azerbaijan by taking a role as a helper in the solution to Karabakh. For, as we saw on March 1 [2003], sometimes Parliament doesn’t heed our recommendations.”
Similarly, it was also very difficult for agreement to emerge over the topic of sending combat troops to Afghanistan. Turkey, which is for the third time heading up the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) command, has from the start been opposed to a hot war in Afghanistan. It is understood that since the beginning Turkey hasn’t been quite convinced that the problem here can be solved with more soldiers and warfare. But as an ally it also can’t escape responsibility entirely; it promised to up its contributions to the training of Afghan troops and public works in the country.
It’s also hard to say the two sides are in complete agreement on another key issue: Iran. Erdoğan actually told journalists on the journey to Washington that Turkey thought no differently than America on the Iran issue. But the message that emerged from the public meetings at Washington isn’t that clear.
Erdoğan defends Iran’s rights to peaceful nuclear energy and isn’t as sure as America that Tehran is in pursuit of nuclear weapons. And a number of articles on the subject refer to the prime minister calling such allegations “gossip” in an interview with The Guardian. Erdoğan believes that all diplomatic channels must be exhausted on the topic before anything else happens. Also, he thinks that the last vote in Vienna was rushed and that further sanctions won’t serve any purpose.
Of course, all this doesn’t mean that they didn’t agree completely on any topics at all. The two sides are in agreement on a number of critical topics: the need for joint action against all forms of terrorism without exception, the establishment of a fund to develop economic relations, the perpetuation of Turkey’s active role in peace diplomacy in its region, the attribution of a special status for Kirkuk and energy projects. And it is precisely this picture -- that the two countries are conducting stable relations despite differences on some topics -- that indicates that the latest White House meeting represented a milestone in bilateral relations. This change has very important reasons, and this latest meeting has important results. But space limitations mean that these must be left until the next column.
