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Arab political scientist: Turkey should stay above alliances in region
Pakinam El Sharkawy from Cairo University, who specializes in Iran, told Today’s Zaman how the American side sees the swap deal which is supposed to take 1,200 kilograms of low-enriched uranium (LEU) for fuel rods from Iran to be kept in Turkey.
“In the region, it is seen as an important step to ease tension while the American side sees it completely differently. They see it as a challenge to the Obama administration,” she said.
This is because Americans first wanted to impose sanctions on Iran and then to negotiate, she noted.
“Having the nuclear swap deal before imposing sanctions was a setback for the Americans because it changed their plans,” she said.
In May, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan paid a surprise visit to Tehran, and with Brazil brokered a nuclear fuel-swap deal while accusing the US and other nuclear-armed powers of applying double standards and not eliminating their own stockpiles of nuclear weapons.
Ankara said that Washington was aware of their actions but the American administration was not too happy about the deal.
“The Americans probably thought the efforts [of Turkey and Brazil] would not bear fruit immediately prior to imposing sanctions on Iran,” she said.
Although the US administration was supportive of such a deal last October, now it has declared that it is not.
Assistant Secretary of State Philip Gordon, who heads the US Department of State Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs, told BBC television on June 10 that Iran has been enriching uranium since last October.
“The Tehran declaration doesn’t say anything about Iran’s step to enrich LEU to 20 percent, which Iran says it is going to continue to do. There are real problems with the timetable and many other shortcomings that mean that the Tehran declaration doesn’t really satisfy the international community’s concerns,” Gordon said, following the June 9 UN Security Council vote approving new sanctions against Iran over its suspect nuclear program.
The resolution imposing a fourth round of sanctions against Iran was approved by a vote of 12-2 with Lebanon abstaining and Brazil and Turkey voting “no.”
“It is the timing. The US administration used the opportunity as it also gained support from China and Russia for a fourth round of sanctions on Iran,” El Sharkawy said.
She also said that cooperation between Turkey and the United States is not at its best.
“They need to have close cooperation again or there will be more gaps between them. We cannot afford to exclude Turkey from the Western hemisphere,” she said.
According to the academic, Ankara needs Washington to work with Israel and to maintain its active regional role, and Washington needs Ankara.
“Washington is largely controlled by the Israeli lobby. Turkey needs to think carefully about how to act regarding Israel. Turkey needs to reconcile with Washington in order to keep its status above alliances and above regional axes. Turkey’s position will be threatened if it leans towards a particular axis,” she noted.
Eight Turks and one Turkish-American were killed in the May 31 raid on the flotilla intending to break Israel’s blockade on Gaza. Israel says its naval commandos were acting in self-defense after being attacked by pro-Palestinian activists. Israel has set up a commission to investigate the raid. Turkey wants an international probe.
“It is better for Turkey to reconcile with Washington while keeping its legitimate legal demands against Israel. Ankara should have a balance so it does not lose partners,” she concluded.
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