TURKPULSE No:87TURKISH
FOREIGN POLICY – Realities and Balderdash
TURKPULSE No:87TURKISH
FOREIGN POLICY – Realities and Balderdash
Realities and Balderdash have, nowadays, been intermingled in Turkey’s foreign policy and national security questions such as the imminent war in Iraq and the Cyprus problem. This confusion is mostly due to the fact that some retired top bureaucrats; Turkish diplomats, commanders and politicians of the cold war period are making assessments on the basis of the realities of their time and arrive at directly the opposite results of Ankara’s intentions and policies about these hot issues of today. For a more realistic and objective appraisal of Turkey’s current policies on the Iraq crisis and the Cyprus problem please see the article below.
TURKPULSE No:88GULF
POLICY EQUIPPED WITH TEETH
Despite
strenuous efforts by the Washington-guided universal disinformation mechanism
to make Turkey out to be their partner in the prospective American assault,
indeed aggression against Iraq, the real picture is quite different as has
been reported by Pulse
for
over a year now, starting with its article dated December 31th,
2001. Far from being a party in this forthcoming military campaign in the
Gulf, the Turkish Armed Forces are moving sufficient forces into Northern Iraq
and reinforcements to the common frontier to deter this intention and the top
Turkish commanders are issuing statements about their “determination and
capability” to fulfil this peace mission. The Americans first attempted to
describe Turkey’s actions about northern Iraq as “adventure”, but they
are realising better each day that the Turkish moves are neither a bluff nor a
bargaining chip to be waived in time, but a deep-rooted national security
issue based on long calculations and experience. For the latest development in
this carefully calculated national security policy of Turkey, please see the
article below.
TURKPULSE No:89IRAQ
– IS THE GAME OVER?
President
Bush said of the Iraq crisis last week “The game is over.” France’s
answer was quick and categorical. Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin, who
was paying an official visit to India, promptly said from New Delhi, “It
is not a game. Neither is it over.” Almost at the same time,
the German Foreign Minister Fischer was saying to the visiting American
Defence Secretary Rumsfeld in front of the TV cameras in Berlin that he
could not tell the German people that there should be a war against Iraq
because he himself did not believe that the charges against that country are
true. Shortly afterwards President Putin was visiting Berlin and Paris and
putting Russia’s mighty military weight behind the Franco-German
opposition to war. Back in Ankara PM Abdullah Gul was including President
Putin in his wide circle of direct or telephone contacts with foreign
statesmen in an attempt to save peace in Iraq, as well as calling President
Assad to encourage him about realising the Damascus summit of the six
regional countries for peace, as had been agreed upon at the foreign
minister level meeting in Istanbul on January 23rd. For the facts
and motives behind these developments in Turkey’s stance and activities
please read the article below.