February 26, 2008 at 10:59:12

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Will Turkey be complicit in another war against another neighbour?

By Cem Ertür (about the author)     Page 3 of 13 page(s)

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"Turkey is playing a regional leadership role in the Middle East. Turkey's common borders with Iraq, Iran, and Syria provide an opportunity to advance peace and stability, fight proliferation of nuclear weapons, and defeat terrorists in a region that is now the epicenter of U.S. foreign policy." [14]

(US Under Secretary for Political Affairs Richard Burns, in the wake of his visit to Turkey in September 2007)

The Head of the Pentagon's Missile Defense Agency General Henry Obering recently said:

"The United States hopes to put a third major antimissile component in Europe along with those under negotiation with Poland and the Czech Republic to counter Iran... The previously unannounced third leg in Europe ... would be placed closer to Iran, which is speeding efforts to build ballistic missiles capable of delivering deadly weapons beyond the Middle East... The powerful, 'forward based' radar system would go in south-eastern Europe, possibly in Turkey, the Caucasus or the Caspian Sea region." [15]

Actually, 'the previously unannounced third leg in Europe' was announced back in March 2007 by the US Ambassador to NATO, Victoria Nuland:

"The defence system against long-range missiles of Iran and other countries ... will cover most of the territories of the NATO members and there will be no need for a second system within NATO. But the threat of Iran's short- and medium-range missiles is still present for countries like Turkey. In order to counter that, as USA and Turkey, we are working bilaterally as well as within the NATO framework." [16]

PRESSURE TO CUT ECONOMIC TIES WITH IRAN

Like Iran's main trading partners in the EU, Turkey has been under heavy and ongoing US pressure to cut its economic ties with Iran:

"Turkey's recent conclusion of a memorandum on energy co-operation with Iran is troubling. Now is not the time for business as usual with Iran. We urge all of our friends and allies, including Turkey, to not reward Iran by investing in its oil and gas sector, while Iran continues to defy the United Nations Security Council by continuing its nuclear research for a weapons capability." [14]

In January this year, Stuart Levey, US Treasury's undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, urged Turkey to be vigilant in its financial dealings with Iran:

"It is essential to share information to discuss risks ... and vigilance that is required in order to make sure that Turkey's financial institutions are not abused by Iranian financial institutions and Iranian state-owned banks." [17]

THE EUROPEAN UNION'S 'SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP' WITH TURKEY

The former German Foreign Affairs Minister Joschka Fischer made the following statement in October 2006:

"Turkey should be a security pillar for the European community, and the efforts to derail that relationship are impossibly short-sighted." [18]

Researcher Darius Mahdi Nazemroaya argues that:

" [The German] Chancellor Angela Merkel intensified her calls for the inclusion of Turkey within the framework of the E.U. through a 'special relationship,' but not as part of the actual European bloc. This also foreshadowed what Nicolas Sarkozy would later propose to the Turks." [18]

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