AYDINLIK TÜRKİYE'NİN HABERCİSİ

Y A Z A R L A R
My mind's still numb

What did happen at the Oval Office during the meeting between President George W. Bush and Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan? Did the discussions go smoothly as was claimed by the Turkish participants or come to nothing according to information supplied by some Americans?

When I received an invitation to accompany Mr. Erdogan on his visit to the U.S. I never thought this would be a once in a lifetime experience to observe the U.S. to mishandle the media. The meeting lasted only an hour but the media circus didn't stop until we left Washington D.C. It even continued after our arrival in Ankara.

I was right there at the Oval Office when President Bush praised Turkey and the leadership of Mr. Erdogan. He defined their talks as "all in all, it was a very rich and important discussion." I had the impression that the Oval Office meeting was a meeting of minds between the two statesmen.

The following remarks are from what Mr. Bush said during the photo opportunity after the meeting, "Turkey and the U.S. have an important strategic relationship. I told the prime minister how grateful I was that he's a strong supporter of the broader Middle East Initiative (GME). Turkey's democracy is an important example for the people in the Middle East, and I want to thank you for your leadership. ... I thanked the prime minister for Turkey's leadership role in Afghanistan. ... We discussed a lot of foreign policy and the shared interests of our countries."

I heard all this direct from Mr. Bush while he was sitting next to Mr. Erdogan and looking me straight in the eyes as I was standing right across from him. I'm sure he was enjoying seeing the expression in my eyes shift from desperation to relief. I never believed in the necessity for the meeting in the first place, with the contention that the U. S. and Turkey have different outlooks on some topics of mutual interest, and in many of those topics Turkey showed commonsense. I had little hope that any good would come out of the meeting, and this was the reason for my initial desperation. But when I heard Mr. Bush speaking in the best possible terms about their discussions, I started to feel relieved.

Well, whatever happened during the discussions in the Oval Office happened under the watchful eyes of some Americans who didn't waste any time in hesitating to present the meeting as a failure. They came out of the Oval Office determined that they had to convince like-minded Turks among the media that Erdogan didn't get what he wanted from Mr. Bush, and that the friction between the two sides hadn't changed. The information provided after the meeting by some Americans was contrary to what President Bush said at the photo opportunity. What we heard from him was that "all in all, it was a very rich and important discussion,",but what some Americans claimed afterwards was the opposite "all in all," they said, "the discussion took place in a sour atmosphere," and "both sides failed to come to an understanding on most major issues."

Prime Minister Erdogan was clearly annoyed by the discrepancies in what he heard and witnessed at the Oval Office and what he read the next day in both Turkish and U.S. press. At a press conference he held on our way back to Turkey, Erdogan was unable to contain his uneasiness. He stood by what he felt Mr. Bush said during and after their meeting.

My mind works differently.

Since I know who have misinformed some Turkish journalists based in Washington about the failure of discussions at the Oval Office, I can easily envisage the motives behind their misinformation. Still, I have great difficulty to understand how on earth they could actually contradict their own president for whatever profit they hope to gain through their misinformation. If this had happened in Turkey I would have had a clear-cut motive: We have a state within a state, sometimes benefiting from contradictions, but the venue was the Oval Office and I always believed that the U.S. president represented the U.S. unity.

By observing the diplomatic community in Ankara, I've come to appreciate the astute powers of a public servant. A diplomat can serve their country better by gaining the trust of their hosts. Double dealing is the thing of the past in diplomacy. Of course, anybody can be deceived by misinformation campaigns, and this has happened in Turkey many times. But this time the deception campaign was really crude. The U.S. has never learned that they can't get away with the same smear campaigns they apply to other countries.

Turkey offers the key to many misfortunes the U.S. has encountered in the Middle East, and many U.S. aspirations would be easier to accomplish if Turkey gave its full support. I was hoping, in my heart of hearts, that Mr. Bush could find the appropriate language to ask for assistance when he met with Mr. Erdogan at the Oval Office, and what Mr. Bush said at the photo opportunity proved that my secret hope came true. I wish what happened afterwards, however, had never taken place.

It was a quick visit to Washington, DC. The only scene that will remain engraved in my mind is Mr. Bush speaking highly of his guest and praising the talks, all the time while looking at me, while I stood directly opposite of him at the Oval Office. My mind is a blank afterwards.

From The New Anatolian, June 14, 2005

 

 
  • Mr. Erdogan is in Washington - June 7, 2005

  • I'm innocent - May 31, 2005

  • Humiliation: Today for me, tomorrow for you - May 24, 2005

  • If only we had dialogue - May 17, 2005

  • From Cairo with love - May 10, 2005

  • Eyeless in Gaza - May 3, 2005

  • A partner is still needed in Cyprus - April 26, 2005

  • 'My name is State, Deep State' - April 19, 2005

  • Greed kills - April 12, 2005

  • From the observation deck - April 5, 2005

  • The mirror has cracked - March 29, 2005

  • Remembering things past - March 22, 2005

  • I invite you to use your imagination - March 15, 2005

  • A time for encouragement - March 8, 2005

  • The proof in the pudding - March 1, 2005

  • Hail to the Columnist! - February 22, 2005

  • It is in our blood, we do not waver - February 15, 2005

  • Excuse my question - February 8, 2005

  • A friend in need - February 1, 2005


  • 14 Haziran 2005
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    FEHMİ KORU


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