United States and Turkey Strive to Deepen Relations

Following a US visit by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan that has been hailed for repairing a frayed bilateral relationship, Washington and Ankara appear set to establish a "softer strategic relationship." The soft partnership will focus on maintaining existing military-strategic links, while deepening political and economic cooperation.

Erdogan spent five days in late January trip wooing US business and political leaders. US officials indicated that their anger with Ankara -- stirred by the Turkish parliament's decision almost a year ago not to grant US troops temporary basing rights -- had largely dissipated. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive]. Of late, Washington has come to view Turkey as a potentially valuable ally in helping to contain Islamic radicalism in the Middle East and in Central Asia. As such, the Bush administration is now expressing an interest in deepening ties, building what Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz has characterized as a "very different kind of strategic partnership."

"In the old days it [US-Turkish relations] was very much dominated by the military threat from the Soviet Union, and our cooperation as military allies," Wolfowitz said during a January 29 interview broadcast by CNN Turk television.

"In this era, the softer one, if you want to call it that, the philosophical side, the common values, the common beliefs in secular democracy, is much more important than the concrete military things," Wolfowitz added.

He went on to stress, however, that military cooperation would remain an important component of the partnership. In a sign that the strategic partnership is once again fully functional, Washington is using the Incirlik military base in Turkey to rotate US forces into and out of Iraq. Roughly 100,000 US troops will pass through Incirlik during the rotation.

Erdogan's visit provided crucial momentum to efforts to forge a deepened US-Turkish partnership. Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said the trip fulfilled most of Ankara's expectations. "We observed that there has been a common vision between Turkey and the United States on all important issues such as the Middle East, Iraq and Cyprus," Gul was quoted as saying by the Anatolia News Agency on January 31. "The US administration appreciated our initiative to add human rights and democratization dimension to the strategic relations.''

Though the Incirlik decision generated complaints in Turkish opposition circles, political analysts in Istanbul and Ankara generally agreed with the government assessment of the visit. "Tension in relations seen in 2003, and stemming from Iraqi issue, has been overcome to a great extent," Yasemin Congar, Washington correspondent of daily Milliyet wrote February 2. "A new era started in relations."

The primary benefit of Erdogan's visit, from Ankara's view point, concerned US policy on Iraq's reconstruction. Turkey stressed that it opposed any effort by Kurds in northern Iraq to gain autonomous powers. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive]. US officials remained non-committal on Iraq's future political structure. However, Washington pledged to address the issue of Kurdish radical activity in northern Iraq, especially the presence of Kurdistan Worker's Party (PKK) militants in the region.

Turkish officials were also cheered by indicators that US-Turkish economic dealings may pick up. During his visit, Erdogan sought to assure potential investors that the Turkish economic recovery was on firm ground. "Our businessmen held a series of meetings with US businessmen. ... I believe that these talks will yield positive results soon," Erdogan said in an Anatolia news agency report published February 2. Officials in Ankara also indicated that Turkish participation in Iraq reconstruction projects could increase.

Not all the economic news was good during Erdogan's trip, though. Ankara failed to convince Washington to modify existing conditions attached to an $8.5 billion credit offer. The most onerous condition, in Ankara's view, is a requirement that precludes possible Turkish military intervention in northern Iraq. Unidentified Turkish officials were quoted by the mass-circulation daily Hurriyet as saying that Turkey may opt not to tap into the credit, so as not to limit its future security options. Some observers believe Erdogan's government will continue to press the Bush administration to ease the credit conditions.

The Bush administration advocated Turkish membership in the European Union. At the same time, US officials rebuffed a Turkish feeler to on securing Washington's mediation in ongoing efforts to promote the reunification of Cyprus. The United States reportedly insisted that future reunification negotiations should be conducted under UN auspices. At the same time, US officials indicated that Washington would strive to play a constructive role in the process.