Gül’s Visit Heralds A New Phase in US-Turkish Relations

Turkish President Abdullah Gül’s visit to the White House, his first such visit to the US as president and the first visit by a Turkish president in 11 years, comes at a time when US-Turkish relations have taken a new turn.

Ever since Parliament rejected a motion to let American troops use Turkish territory for the invasion of Iraq in March 2003 relations between the two countries have been strained and the vision of “strategic alliance” has been lost. While the US has blamed the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party), of which Gül was the first prime minister, Turkey has turned the charges against the neoconservatives in Washington. Most of the neocons responsible for the Iraq war have now left the Bush administration and the AK Party is again in power, having received a more powerful mandate with the July 2007 elections. After five years of tensions fed by deep mistrust and opposing policies, US-Turkish relations seem to have entered a new honeymoon period. The reasons for this sea change are multiple and have significant implications for the future of relations between the two countries.

President Gül is no stranger to the White House. He has been there and to other Western capitals before as foreign minister. His first visit as president, however, confirms the process of normalization in Turkey. Last year was fraught with major political crises and showdowns between the military and the government. Gül’s nomination for president in April 2007 sparked a series of events that led to street demonstrations, a constitutional stalemate, the calling of early elections and finally his election as president in August. The fact that these crises were overcome despite fears of a military intervention shows the strength of Turkish democracy.

These domestic developments have important bearings on US-Turkish relations. The current US administration and the one that will come to power next year will have to accept the new realities of Turkey. Turkey is no longer a small agent of the cold war era that wants to secure itself by living under the comfortable shadow of a superpower. Turkey’s internal soul-searching and its desire to be a prosperous, democratic and secular country with a strong Muslim population has led it to experiment with a “conservative modernity” in a way that has become of interest to other Muslim countries in the region. As Turkey consolidates its social cohesion and strengthens its economy, it is becoming impervious to the arbitrary interventions of irresponsible actors. Furthermore, as Turkey becomes an active player in regional and international politics, it will be able to avoid petty nationalisms and isolationist regionalisms. Some elements in the Bush administration have failed to understand these deep changes in Turkey’s new perspective on domestic and international issues.

The issues of the separatist Kurdistan Worker’s Party (PKK) terrorism and the so-called Armenian genocide bill have hurt US-Turkish relations over the last two decades. The Turkish public is suspicious of the American support for Turkey in its fight against the PKK. The fact that the Bush administration has been quiet about the PKK installments in northern Iraq, which is under the rule of Massoud Barzani, the president of the Kurdish regional administration, has inflamed anti-American and anti-Barzani sentiments in Turkey. The Armenian genocide bill brought to the Senate floor by Nancy Pelosi, the speaker of the house, also continues to hurt US-Turkish relations. However, there are more important areas in which the US and Turkish perspectives part ways. The Bush administration’s catastrophic failures in its Middle East policies have alienated its traditional allies in the region. Now Turkey and the US see things differently in Iraq, Palestine, Lebanon, Iran, Syria and Russia as well as in such strategic issues as energy security, democratization and regime changes. As Turkey increases its depth in regional politics,