Turkey: Trying to Maintain the Calm
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Published on: July 21st 2007 12:47:28
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| In advance of Turkey’s parliamentary elections on July 22nd, the chief objective of US efforts is, as one State Department official explained to us, “to keep the lid on unwelcome events.” In a July 6th telephone conversation with her Turkish counterpart Abdullah Gül, Secretary of State Rice sought to head off both a large-scale Turkish military raid into Iraq and a political crisis between the civil and military institutions. General Joseph Ralston, the State Department’s envoy against the Kurdish PKK separatist movement, has delivered a blunt message to Massoud Barzani, President of the Kurdistan Regional Government to control the PKK. He has also counseled the Turkish government against undertaking any military incursions into Iraq. US officials are cautiously optimistic that the Turks will stay their hand until after the elections. A State Department official told us: “Our analysis is that Prime Minister Erdogan is headed for a comfortable victory. He does not need to play the nationalist card.” US attention is thus more focused on the circumstances that will prevail after the election. Erdogan is highly regarded in the White House. Officials there look forward to continued partnership with him. There is also relief among senior US officials that, as they believe, the Turkish General Staff (TGS) appears to have gone too far. Nonetheless, General Yaşar Bükükanit, the TGS chief, is expected to visit Washington soon after the election. |
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