Turkey Chooses, Again
Back in February, the new government of Turkey was untested in governing and in dealing with its own military; untested in rallying support, and so followed rather than led public opinion; and was subjected to heavy European pressure, including the French/German/Belgian refusal to allow NATO to agree to defend Turkey should it be attacked. The upshot was that the government’s (fragile) intention to provide military assistance to the American-led coalition in Iraq fell apart.
Back in February, the new government of Turkey was untested in governing and in dealing with its own military; untested in rallying support, and so followed rather than led public opinion; and was subjected to heavy European pressure, including the French/German/Belgian refusal to allow NATO to agree to defend Turkey should it be attacked. The upshot was that the government’s (fragile) intention to provide military assistance to the American-led coalition in Iraq fell apart.
This week, the Turkish Parliament voted by more than a 2-1 margin to send troops to assist the coalition. A strong American “thank you” (and a high priority for reconstruction contracts) is in order to the Turkish government for leading not only parliamentary opinion, but also public opinion, to accept the deployment as being in Turkey’s interest. Which it is.
The Turkish decision should be seen in the context of three other important regional decisions regarding the liberation of Iraq and its future as a free country.
1) After some silly comments about not accepting Iraq’s new representatives because they weren’t democratically elected, the Arab League did, in fact, seat the provisional representatives.
2) OPEC did as well. Even the OPEC decision to reduce its quota levels in November can be understood logically in the context of the planned resumption of Iraqi oil sales on the market and the need to adjust to keep prices stable. The OPEC reduction was precisely the amount Iraq is expected to produce. According to some sources, OPEC decided it was better to accommodate having Iraq inside the organization than producing and selling oil outside.
3) The 57-country Organization of the Islamic Conference – from Comoros to Tajikistan, and Indonesia to Morocco – voted to accept the provisional government as well.
Under the circumstances, it is noteworthy that representatives of the EU were quick to say the organization has no official position on Turkey’s decision. They can’t give it up completely, however, with sources in Turkey pointing out that unofficially, the Europeans are telling Turkey it will be bad for Turkey’s “image” in Europe.
With all due respect, Turkey’s image is doing just fine right now.
A much more confident Turkey has not only worked to restore American trust in our longstanding relationship, but also put itself squarely on the side of freedom, democracy and the rule of law. The Europeans are probably miffed because they aren’t there yet. It speaks volumes about relative maturity that Turkey not only accepted the reality of the liberation of Iraq, but is working to help ensure that the reconstruction can proceed with increased security.