Islam,Terrorism and Jihad
Can Turkey’s Anti-Terrorism Cooperation with Iran Lead to a Strategic Partnership?The liability of the relationship, however, as Ozdag suggests, is that Iran is not on the same page with Turkey when it comes to maintaining the unity of Iraq. In addition, Iran’s policy on the Kirkuk issue is to support the Kurdish position on autonomy/independence, which contradicts Turkey’s position on a unified Iraq (umitozdag.com, May 25, 2007). Retired General Tuncer Kilinc put emphasis on similar points: “Given its location there are competing pressures on Turkey. Whereas its Western partners want to see Turkey on their side against Iran, Turkey’s position requires it to maintain its ties with Iran. In other words, Turkey cannot afford to follow a uni-dimensional foreign policy given its geography and economic ties. Therefore Turkey should seek new partnerships with Russia, Iran, China, and India and conduct its foreign policy through mutually-reinforcing institutions” (Referans, March 23, 2007). The rationale behind Turkey’s strategic thinking was revealed by Gen. Basbug in 2006. In his inaugural speech on the occasion of assuming the command of the Turkish Land Forces on August 25 of that year, Gen. Basbug revealed: “Given the fact that some states [i.e., the United States] and groups [i.e., the Kurdish leadership in northern Iraq] do not take effective measures against the PKK terror, before finding a solution for the Kirkuk problem, we should develop strategies to force them to take effective measures” (kkk.tsk.mil.tr, August 25, 2006).
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12:22 AM
Moderate Islamist here
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