The United States Needs No Enemies,

[Gavur]

Turkish film on Iraq plays on anti-U.S. sentiment

Wed Feb 1, 2006 01:48 PM GMT

By Daren Butler
ISTANBUL (Reuters) - When he hears about the treatment of Turkish commandos detained by the U.S. military in Iraq, Polat Alemdar decides to take revenge to restore his country's honour.

But on his quest, the intelligence agent encounters U.S. forces conducting a string of atrocities -- a massacre of wedding guests, the torture of prisoners and ethnic cleansing.

Almost single-handedly he takes on America's military might.

Alemdar is the hero of "Valley of the Wolves - Iraq", a new Turkish action film that capitalises on a rise in anti-American sentiment in Turkey since the Iraq war and turns a spotlight on relations between the NATO allies.

The two countries enjoy warm ties but many Turks are ambivalent about the United States, enjoying its culture and products while distrusting its foreign policy, particularly in the Middle East.

The movie, which has a Turkish record budget of $10 million, opens with a depiction of the real-life arrest of Turkish special forces officers in north Iraq in July 2003.

The image of U.S. troops putting hoods over the commandos' heads stirred public anger and at the time Turkey's military chief condemned it as an attack on the nation's honour. One newspaper dubbed it the "Rambo Crisis".

"This attack is not against us, it is against the Turkish nation," says one of the soldiers in the film's depiction of the incident, which occurred three months after Ankara refused the U.S. army permission to use Turkish soil for its Iraq invasion.

More recently, Ankara criticised Washington's failure to act against Kurdish rebels who attack Turkey from northern Iraq.

"ENTERTAINMENT"

But the film comes at a time of improving bilateral relations and a U.S. diplomat brushed aside the film's significance, arguing relations between the two nations were returning to normal.

"It is entertainment. It does not purport to be a factual version of events," he told Reuters.

"Every relationship has its ups and downs. But our view is that we now need to look forward. There are lots of problems on which we need to work together and our relations actually overlap to a large degree in this region, including on Iraq."

A host of Turkish celebrities and politicians joined the film's stars at its Hollywood-style premiere on Tuesday night in Istanbul and Turkish guards in fake U.S. military uniforms maintained security.

Many in the audience said the film rang true.

"This film shows the reality of the oppression in Iraq," said university student Emrah Adiyaman as he posed for a photo in front of Hummer vehicles and weapons used in the movie.

"This is an important film. It should make Americans see why the world doesn't like them," said businessman Sabahattin Can.

American actor Billy Zane stars in the film as Alemdar's nemesis, a powerful U.S. intelligence agent who is determined to sow discord among Iraq's Arabs, Kurds and Turkmens.

He said he was not worried by the film's anti-U.S. slant.

"It was definitely slanted," he told reporters from his seat at the front of the cinema after the screening. But he added: "I'm a patriot. That's why I made this film."

Gary Busey appears in the film as a Jewish-American doctor who carries out organ transplants on unwitting Iraqi casualties, sending the organs off to Israel and the United States.

The film is directed by Serdar Akar and based on a popular TV series in which Alemdar, played by Necati Sasmaz, infiltrates Turkey's mafia in order to destroy it.

The film opens on Friday in Turkey and 14 other countries including the United States, Britain, Egypt and Syria.

(Additional reporting by Gareth Jones in Ankara)

© Reuters 2006. All Rights Reserved.

[Reincarnated Am]

In Turkish movie, Americans kill innocents

By BENJAMIN HARVEY
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER

ISTANBUL, Turkey -- In the most expensive Turkish movie ever made, American soldiers in Iraq crash a wedding and pump a little boy full of lead in front of his mother.

They kill dozens of innocent people with random machine gun fire, shoot the groom in the head, and drag those left alive to Abu Ghraib prison - where a Jewish doctor cuts out their organs, which he sells to rich people in New York, London and Tel Aviv.

"Valley of the Wolves Iraq" - set to open in Turkey on Friday - feeds off the increasingly negative feelings many Turks harbor toward their longtime NATO allies: Americans.

The movie, which reportedly cost some $10 million, is the latest in a new genre of popular culture that demonizes the United States. It comes on the heels of a novel called "Metal Storm" about a war between Turkey and the U.S., which has been a best seller for months.

One recent opinion poll revealed the depth of the hostility in Turkey toward Americans: 53 percent of Turks who responded to the 2005 Pew Global Attitudes survey associated Americans with the word "rude"; 70 percent with "violent"; 68 percent with "greedy"; and 57 percent with "immoral."

Advance tickets are already selling out across Turkey for the film, which has dialogue in Turkish, Arabic, Kurdish and English. In addition to Turkey, the film is set to be shown in more than a dozen other countries - including the United States, Britain, Germany, The Netherlands, Britain, Denmark, Russia, Egypt, Syria and Australia.



The movie's American stars are Billy Zane, who plays a self-professed "peacekeeper sent by God," and Gary Busey as the Jewish-American doctor.

U.S. soldiers have become hate figures in Muslim countries around the world after the unpopular war in Iraq. But here in Turkey, a personal grudge fuels the resentment.

"Valley of the Wolves Iraq" opens with a true story: On July 4, 2003, in Sulaymaniyah, northern Iraq, troops from the U.S. Army's 173rd Airborne Brigade raided and ransacked a Turkish special forces office, threw hoods over the heads of 11 Turkish special forces officers, and held them in custody for more than two days.

The Americans said they had been looking for Iraqi insurgents and unwittingly rounded up the Turks because they were not in uniform. Still, the incident damaged Turkish-U.S. relations and hurt Turkish national pride. Turks traditionally idolize their soldiers; most enthusiastically send their sons off for mandatory military service.

In the movie, one of the Turkish special forces officers commits suicide to save his honor. His farewell letter reaches Polat Alemdar, an elite Turkish intelligence officer who travels to northern Iraq with a small group of men to avenge the humiliation.

There they find a rogue group of U.S. soldiers led by officer Sam William Marshall - played by Zane. In the bloodfest that ensues, the small band of Turks bonds with the people of Iraq and eventually ends American atrocities there, killing Zane and his men in the final scene.

"The scenario is great," Istanbul Mayor Kadir Topbas told The Associated Press after the film was shown at a posh opening gala Tuesday night. "It was very successful. ... a soldier's honor must never be damaged."

But Topbas and other Turks at the premiere weren't too concerned about how the movie would be perceived in the United States.

"There isn't going to be a war over this," said Nefise Karatay, a Turkish model lounging on a sofa after the premiere. "Everyone knows that Americans have a good side. That's not what this is about."

---

Associated Press Writer Selcan Hacaoglu in Ankara contributed to this report.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/movies/1402AP_Turkey_Anti_US_Blockbuster.html

[Gavur]

'Turkey not to Allow US to Attack Iran from its Territory'

By Cihan, Istanbul
Published: Friday, February 10, 2006
zaman.com


Turkey has signaled her intention not to allow US forces permission to use Turkish soil to attack Iran in case of a possible US attack on the country.

Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said Turkey would not allow any country to use Turkish soil for an attack on any of Turkey's neighbors.


"Turkey's border with Iran was demarcated in 1639. This border is older than the foundation of the US or of some of the European countries," Gul told Hurriyet's Friday edition.





For further information please visit http://www.cihannews.com

[Gavur]

Turks Swap Sides As War Film Turns Us Into Foe

>From Suna Erdem in Istanbul

The Times
February 17, 2006

AN ANTI-AMERICAN film charting US abuses in Iraq has broken box-office
records in Turkey, exploiting a wave of nationalism gripping
Washington's only Muslim ally in Nato.

Valley of the Wolves -- Iraq has been watched by more than 2.5 million
Turks in its first ten days. Such is the success of the most expensive
Turkish film ever made (£5.8 million) that lawyers and police have
been raiding the sellers of pirate copies.

"The film is absolutely magnificent," Bulent Arinc, the parliament
Speaker and one of several politicians to attend the gala in Ankara,
said. "It is completely true to life.

Applause broke out when the American "bad guy", played by Billy Zane,
was killed. The film begins with a real-life incident in which US
troops arrested 11 Turkish special forces in Iraq and marched them
off at gunpoint, an event for which the US has apologised but never
fully explained. It deeply upset Turks, who are normally favourably
disposed to all things American.

The story follows Polat Alemdar, an intelligence agent, as he travels
to Iraq to avenge one of the Turkish soldiers, who was so tormented
that he committed suicide. Polat joins a bride who survived a wedding
massacre perpetrated by Zane's character. The abuse at Abu Ghraib is
portrayed in full.

The film amounts to a collective venting of anger. Pinar Terzi, 26,
an editorial assistant, said: "It shows all the awful things the
American soldiers did in Iraq."

She echoes the impression among Turks that America under President
Bush has ceased to be a close ally. She said: "Clinton wasn't like
this. He was a man of peace. But Bush and his people just want to
control Iraq and the whole region because of oil."

Although US diplomats have played down the significance of the film,
it does build on the success of Metal Storm, a rabidly anti-American
bestseller about a future war between Turkey and the US.

In the Pew Global Attitudes poll last year, 70 per cent of Turks
associated Americans with the word "violent". They also thought them
rude, greedy and immoral. Such attitudes also explain the popularity of
Cola Turk, a local soft drink produced after the Iraq war in a country
whose teenagers are devoted to Big Macs and American rock bands.

Turkey infuriated Washington when it blocked a US assault on Iraq
through southeast Turkey. For their part, Turks have been angered
by the US's perceived failure to act against Turkey-based Kurdish
separatist insurgents in Iraq.

Turkish ire is not directed solely at Washington. Turks are upset by
the apparent reluctance of the EU to admit Turkey to its ranks.

Rising nationalism fuelled angry protests at the trial of the novelist
Orhan Pamuk for publicly discussing the killing of a million Armenians
under Turkish rule in 1915. The commentator Mehmet Altan said: "I
fully expected this film to break records. Its makers knew exactly
what to do to profit from Turkey' s difficulties in adapting to the
world." Turkey's large, uneducated population felt lost in the the
information age, he added, and sections of the ruling elite opposed
reforms that eroded their power.

FRIENDS IN NEED

1952 Turkey enters Nato with US backing

1974 US imposes trade sanctions after invasion of northern Cyprus

1990 Turkey allows US-led coalition to conduct airstrikes on Iraq
from Turkish airbase

2003 Ahead of the war in Iraq, Turkey allows use of its airspace,
but not deployment of US forces

2005 US backs Turkish accession to the EU

[Gavur]

Op-Ed on “Turkey—Still Anti-American and a Problem”

Washington, DC — The following Op-Ed by AHI President Gene Rossides appeared in the March 11, 2006 issue of The National Herald, page 11 and the March 13, 2006 issue of Greek News, page 44.



Turkey—Still Anti-American and a Problem

By Gene Rossides

Turkey is still strongly anti-American and continues to be a problem in the region for U.S. interests.

Last month a new Turkish film “Valley of the Wolves: Iraq,” a violently anti-American and anti-Semitic film was released to record breaking audiences in Turkey.

The film fictionalizes the arrest by U.S. military authorities on July 4, 2003 of eleven members of a Turkish military special squad illegally in the Kurdish area of northern Iraq in 2003. At the time newspaper accounts stated that they were smuggling arms to groups opposing the Kurds in Iraqi Kurdistan and were suspected of being in Iraqi Kurdistan to assassinate a Kurdish leader. The Kurds are key allies of the U.S. in Iraq.

Turkey at that time was also threatening to invade northern Iraq to seek Turkish Kurds who were allegedly members of the PKK, a Kurdish rebel group seeking political and human rights and autonomy for the 20% Kurdish minority in Turkey.

The arrests of the 11 Turkish military illegally in Iraq occurred 3 months after the Turkish government miscalculated in negotiations with the U.S. for transit rights for the U.S. 4th Infantry Division to invade Iraq from the north. The U.S., through then Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz, had shockingly offered Turkey $26 billion for such transit rights. Prime Minister Erdogan said the offer of $26 billion “was not good enough” and sought $6 billion more. Turkey?s Parliament voted no on March 1, 2003. Turkey then continued to seek $6 billion more. The U.S. military overruled Wolfowitz and said they did not need Turkey to defeat Saddam Hussein and proved it.

Turkey?s negotiating tactics at that time to get $6 billion more for its cooperation were described by an American negotiator in the lead New York Times article (2-20-03, at A1; col.6) as “extortion in the name of alliance.”

“Valley of the Wolves: Iraq” cost $10 million which is the largest budget in Turkish film history. It has an international cast which includes Hollywood?s Billy Zane, who plays an American commander who the New York Times (2-14-06; A4; col.3) writes is depicted as “a sociopath, killing people without a second?s thought and claiming he is doing God?s will…. Other scenes show ruthless marines killing Iraqis and soldiers mistreating inmates at Abu Ghail prison, as well as an American Jewish surgeon, played by Gary Busey, who takes what look like kidneys from inmates during surgery to New York, London and Israel.”

The film also opened last month in Europe where the Washington Post (2-14-06; A12;col.2) reported “the U.S. Army issued a notice warning U.S. service members to stay away from affected multiplexes and ?to avoid getting into discussions about the movie with people you don?t know.?”

Audiences throughout Turkey cheer the film?s anti-U.S. message. The Washington Times (2-15-06; A12; col.1) wrote:

“ ?What this film shows is that the Americans won?t always have it their own way,? said Serdar Yagei, a student outside a theatre in central Istanbul.

Minutes earlier, he had been one of many in the audience who stood up and cheered when the film?s dour hero, Turkish agent Polat Alemdar, tracked down and killed a villainous U.S. Army officer who said he was guided by God.”

The Prime Minister?s wife, Emine Erdogan, praised the film, stating at a gala performance: “I feel so proud of them all.” And the leader of the Turkish parliament, Bulent Arine, praised its “realism.”

The Washington Times reported that:

“a senior Washington official interviewed by the Turkish daily Milliyet expressed concern about its success in a secular Muslim country…. ?Can you imagine the first lady or the head of the House of Representatives going to the gala performance of a film that could incite anti-Turkish feeling among Americans?? the official asked.”

In effect we have Turkish filmmakers turning an illegal Turkish military special forces mission against U.S. allies, the Kurds in northern Iraq, into a vicious anti-American film which is praised by the Turkish government.

The U.S. failed to conduct a thorough review of U.S. policy toward Turkey following Turkey?s refusal on March 1, 2003 to allow the U.S. to use bases in Turkey to open a northern front against Saddam Hussein?s dictatorship. At that time, Turkey proponents, such as Paul Wolfowitz, Richard Perle and Douglas Feith and its current paid foreign agents former Congressmen Bob Livingston and Steve Solarz, worked hard to downplay Turkey?s failure to help the U.S. and to restore the relationship to its pre- March 1, 2003 status.

The U.S. should now, in its own best interests conduct a full and critical review of U.S. policy towards Turkey.

Turkey?s actions in 2003 proved she is not a reliable ally when it counted most. On this point the issue is not whether one approved or disapproved of the war against Saddam Hussein.

Further the fact that we easily and quickly defeated Saddam Hussein?s forces and toppled his government without Turkey?s help also proved that Turkey is of minimal strategic value to the U.S.

It is also important to remember that during the Cold War, Turkey actively aided the Soviet military on several occasions to the serious detriment of the U.S.

Turkey?s traitorous actions and its virulent anti-American and anti-Semitic attitudes warrant a wholesale review of U.S. policy towards Turkey NOW. (See Wall Street Journal 2-16-05; A14; col.3, editorial page article, “The Sick Man of Europe- Again” by Robert L. Pollock, senior editorial writer, and noted journalist Arnaud de Borchgrave?s article “Cold Turkey” in the Washington Times; 3-8-05; A17; col.1.) The time is long overdue for such a review in the interests of the U.S.

The “Valley of the Wolves: Iraq” should serve as a forceful wake-up call for the White House, Congress, the media and the academic community and think tanks, that Turkey can never be considered a reliable ally.

And Turkey is simply not as important to U.S. interests strategically, politically or economically as its handful of proponents and paid lobbyists contend.

What course of action should the U.S. take now regarding Turkey?

First, the U.S. should stop the double standard on the application of the rule of law to Turkey and the appeasement of Turkey. That means the U.S. should publicly and forcefully:

1. call for the immediate removal of Turkey?s 40,000 illegal occupation troops from Cyprus. The current U.S. position that removal of the troops is part of the negotiations puts the U.S. in the position of condoning Turkey?s invasion of and aggression against Cyprus. We should state to Turkey what we stated to Iraq following her aggression against Kuwait—get out of Kuwait;

(2) call for the immediate removal of Turkey?s 120,000 Turkish colonists who are illegally in Cyprus in violation of the Geneva Convention of 1949;

(3) state that the maritime boundary between Greece and Turkey in the Aegean has been long-settled by international treaties; and

(4) call for full protection of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, the reopening of the Halki Patriarchal Theological School illegal closed in 1971, and the return of church properties illegally taken by the Turkish government.

Freedom House calls Turkey a partial democracy. The U.S. should also be

pressuring Turkey to achieve full democracy by:

1. placing its military and the military budget under civilian control;

(2) granting full political and human rights to all its citizens, including its 20% Kurdish minority; and

(3) providing full religious freedom for the Eastern Orthodox Christian religion, the Jewish religion and others.

The U.S. should publicly support recognition of the Armenian Genocide.

Time to Act

Call and write to President Bush, your Representative and your 2 Senators and ask them to support a critical review of U.S. policy towards Turkey and tell them about the Turkish film “Valley of the Wolves: Iraq” and its violently anti-American and anti-Semitic themes praised by the Turkish Prime Minister?s wife and the head of the Turkish Parliament.

President George W. Bush
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20500
Tel.: 202-456-1111 (Comments)
202-456-1414 (Main Switchboard)
Fax: 202-456-2461
E-mail: [email protected]


U.S. House of Representatives U.S. Senate
The Honorable____________ The Honorable___________
U.S. House of Representatives U.S. Senate
Washington, DC 20515 Washington, DC 20510

(202)-224-3121 (general number) 202-224-3121
Link to find your Representative: Link to find your Senators:
http://www.house.gov/ http://www.senate.gov/


You can make a difference!



###

For additional information, please contact Georgia Economou at (202) 785-8430 or at [email protected]. For general information about the activities of AHI, please see our website at http://www.ahiworld.org

[Gavur]

Fence-menders sent by Turkey to U.S. only make matters worse

SPECIAL TO WORLD TRIBUNE.COM
Tuesday, April 11, 2006
ANKARA — An attempt by Prime Minister Recep Erdogan to improve Turkish-U.S. relations has instead made them worse.

Erdogan sent two senior advisers to Washington to improve strained relations with the United States. The advisers ended up accusing the United States of supporting the Kurdish Workers Party, regarded by Ankara and Washington as a terrorist organization.



Erdogan sent advisers Saban Disli and Cüneyd Zapsu to the United States in wake of the cancellation of a visit by Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul, Middle East Newsline reported. The two Erdogan aides met State Department and White House officials as well as members of Congress.
"People I talked to in the United States, especially people in Congress, asked where Turkey is heading," U.S. ambassador to Ankara Ross Wilson was quoted by the Turkish media as saying.

In Washington, Disli and Zapsu defended Turkey's decision to invite Hamas for official talks in February 2006. Officials said members of Congress were astonished that the two advisers termed Hamas a political movement that deserved international recognition in wake of its victory in Palestinian legislative elections in January.

"They [members of Congress] were expressing concern and, even beyond concern, their anger," Wilson said. "They said, 'We cannot accept that a country like Turkey, which suffered much from terrorism, lets this happen.'"

Rep. Robert Wexler, a chairman of the Congressional Study Group on Turkey, agreed. During an address in Ankara on Monday, Wexler said he could not understand what benefit the Erdogan government achieved by hosting Hamas.

"To move the clock right forward in terms of the last month, the decision to have Hamas come to Ankara was met with almost total disbelief in Washington," Wexler said.

During his visit, Zapsu asserted that the United States has met PKK representatives. Zapsu was also said to have accused the administration of seeking to undermine Erdogan's rule.

"We'll be in power for six to seven more years," Zapsu was quoted by the Turkish media as saying in Washington. "The prime minister sent me to clarify certain issues. You should know how to utilize this man [Erdogan]. Utilize him instead of exerting efforts to remove him from power."

Parliamentarians said they would question members of the Turkish delegation. They said the remarks by Erdogan's aides harmed U.S.-Turkish relations.

"I was very upset when I heard about the remarks," Mehmet Dülger, chairman of parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee, said. "I cannot accept such a statement on 'exploitation of the prime minister.'"

Erdogan has come under a severe opposition criticism for his policy toward the PKK amid an escalation in the insurgency. The opposition has accused Erdogan of being prepared to negotiate with the PKK.

"We have nothing to do with terror organizations at the table," Erdogan said. "We have nothing to talk about with villains, murderers, traitors."




Copyright © 2006 East West Services, Inc.

[Gavur]

USA to help Turkey to settle relations with Armenia and PKK?

There is no coolness in American-Turkish relations, stated adviser to Secretary General of ruling now Party of Justice and Development of Turkey, Shaban Dishli, who visited the USA, being interviewed by Turkish Aksham newspaper.



Dishli stressed: “We explained to the American side format and content of our meetings with HAMAS leaders, and once more brought up question of Kurdistan Workers Party’s (PKK) terrorist activity. During the discussion, we informed Americans that Turkey disagrees with reshaping of Middle-East borders, and Iraqi neighbors agree to its position too. Despite the fact, Turkey is ready to cooperate with the USA in regional questions, if Washington helps us to settle relations with Armenia and PKK.”

http://www.regnum.ru/english/armenia/621151.html

[Gavur]

Turkish Media: Washington No Longer Trusts AKP Government

http://memri.org/bin/articles.cgi?Page=countries&Area=turkey&ID=SP114506

Special Dispatch Series - No. 1145
April 24, 2006 No.1145



The American-Turkish Council's annual conference, which took place in Washington, D.C. in late March 2006, reflected the current chill in Turkish-U.S. relations. While in previous years this conference was always attended by leading Turkish and U.S. government figures, businessmen, and military figures, this year it was marked by sparse participation. Most of the Turkish officials in attendance told the press that Turkish-U.S. relations were in much worse shape than they had previously believed.

Two emissaries sent by Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan on a fence-mending mission to Washington following the ATC conference also failed in their mission. The emissaries, PM Erdogan's personal advisor Cuneyt Zapsu and AKP Party Deputy Chairman and MP Saban Disli, came under fire from senior U.S. officials with whom they met on April 7, 2006 at the American Enterprise Institute. During the meeting, the U.S. officials expressed their anger regarding several issues: the AKP government's unpredictable policies, Turkey's February 2006 hosting of a Hamas delegation, and the release of the anti-American and antisemitic Turkish film Valley of the Wolves - Iraq, which had the endorsement of high level AKP figures at the level of the wife of the PM, cabinet ministers, the parliamentary speaker, and other dignitaries who attended the film's festive opening gala.

The U.S. officials also told Zapsu and Disli that the U.S. had considered the AKP government unreliable since March 1, 2003, when it had rejected a parliamentary motion to allow U.S. forces passage to northern Iraq through Turkey - which damaged the U.S.'s war plans and resulted in U.S. losses. Zapsu argued in response that since there was no alternative to the AKP in Turkey, the U.S. would just have to live with it for the next six to seven years - and that it should utilize PM Erdogan instead of trying to have him removed. These remarks provoked an onslaught of criticism by Turkish politicians and the Turkish media.

Despite 50 years of strategic Turkey-U.S. alliance, ever since the AKP came to power Turkish polls have shown continued erosion of these relations. A recent study found that the vast majority of Turks harbor anti-American sentiment and see the U.S. as a major threat to Turkey.

Following are excerpts from the Turkish media on the crisis in Turkey-U.S. relations:

The ATC Conference
"The AKP Has Lost All its Credit in the U.S."
In a March 29, 2006 column titled "A Saddening Picture in Washington," Asli Aydintasbas wrote in the centrist, secular Turkish daily Sabah: "[...] For many years, [ATC meetings] were important summits, with the participation of leaders from the Turkish government, business circles, and the [Turkish] General Staff. American senators, a few cabinet secretaries, countless generals, U.S. bureaucrats, and business executives used to fill glamorous ballrooms for the banquet.

"This year, the meeting was almost empty, with low representation from both the U.S. and Turkey. […] This is the sign of a 'confidence crisis' in the bilateral relations. At lunch yesterday, I spoke to an important American official who told me that everyone [in the U.S.] was tired of talking about the so-called Turkish-American strategic partnership, and that clearly there were problems. He was not attending the ATC meetings, but he had much to complain about: the film Valley of the Wolves - Iraq, [1] the visit (to Ankara) by the Hamas delegation [...] and the possible legalization of the Koran classes by the [AKP] government. He said not a single positive thing about the AKP government. He was afraid that Turkey would become another Malaysia.

"[Clearly] his perception was that [Turkey] was adamant about becoming more fundamentalist [i.e. Islamist] than Western. […] This was the sad picture in Washington D.C. […].

"[…] As happens every year, the resolution on the so-called Armenian genocide will again be on the agenda in April. Turkey can no longer be certain of the Jewish lobby's support. Some foresee that this year the U.S. senators might be coerced [to pass it]. If that happens, the 50-year friendship between the U.S. and Turkey will be a thing of the past."

In an April 3, 2006 article titled "The AKP's Credit Diminishes in the U.S.," Yasemin Congar, Washington correspondent for the mainstream, secular Milliyet, wrote:

"[…] Those who came from Turkey to Washington for the annual ATC meeting reflected their pessimism in saying: 'The state of [U.S.-Turkey] relations is much worse than what we had thought.' […] In fact, nothing was new; the Americans conveyed to their Turkish counterparts the mounting discomfort they felt about the already well-known issues, as follows: Sharp reactions regarding the February visit by Hamas… the movie Valley of the Wolves - Iraq and the general anti-Americanism in Turkey, for which they blame the AKP […]"


"Hamas Visit Equals [Turkey's] March 1 Rejection"

Congar continued, "A high-level American official told a Turkish former politician who visited him, 'As far as we are concerned, the Hamas visit equals [Turkey's] March 1 [2003] rejection of the motion [to allow U.S. forces passage to northern Iraq through Turkey]. The Turkish source told us that he had left this meeting with the understanding that 'the [U.S.] attitude to the AKP and to the Hamas visit was much worse than previously thought.' A leading Turkish businessman who held a series of meetings with Americans said, 'We saw that the AKP's credit here [i.e. in the U.S.] is fast disappearing.' […]"


U.S. Ambassador Wilson's Statements Differed from Official U.S. Statement

Congar wrote: "I asked U.S. Ambassador to Ankara Ross Wilson: Did your private statements, which differed from the official U.S. statement, lead to the misconception in the Turkish public opinion?' [...He] emphasized that it was natural to convey certain views on certain issues to the government without sharing them with the press. He said, 'If the Hamas visit was one of those, so be it.' In reality, [Wilson's previous] statements had recently been the topic of intense discussions within the Bush administration, and many [U.S.] officials were concerned that failing to respond strongly [regarding the Hamas visit] so as to avoid strong reactions from Turkish public opinion was compromising the effectiveness of the messages given [by the U.S.] to the AKP government. [2] […]"


Congressman Robert Wexler: "We Were 100% Against Turkey Talking to Hamas"

On March 30, Asli Aydintasbas of Sabah wrote: "[…] Important [U.S.] officials to whom I spoke called the Hamas visit a 'second March 1 incident.' Turkish officials who could no longer be certain of the support of the Jewish lobby were talking with fear about the possibility of the U.S. Senate passing the Armenian genocide resolution this year. [...] U.S. Congressman Robert Wexler, [whom I went to see,] is chairman of the Turkish caucus in Congress, and considered 'the voice of Turkey' within Congress. Wexler, who will be visiting Turkey next week to meet with PM Erdogan, is our No. 1 lobbyist…

"These were his words: '[…] On the issue of Hamas, as I wrote to your PM, it was an unfortunate decision [by Turkey] to be the first Western country to meet with that organization. It is impossible to comprehend how this could benefit Turkey. For the first time in a long time, the U.S. and Europe are on the same page about this issue, and they are against any contact with Hamas. On the subject of Hamas, the U.S. position is very clear. We were 100% against your talking to Hamas. [...] Some say that [the AKP's hosting of the Islamist Hamas] is due to an [Islamist AKP] reflex. […] Democratic countries like the U.S., England, and Turkey do not host terrorist organizations […]'

"[I asked,] Would you also react the same if Muqtada Al-Sadr came [to Turkey]? [3] [He said,] 'This would be extremely negative. Al-Sadr plays a direct role in the killing of U.S. soldiers in Iraq. It would be like you inviting bin Laden, or us inviting Ocalan [from the PKK].'"


AKP Emissaries Meet with U.S. Officials in Washington
U.S. Officials to AKP Leaders: "We Don't Trust AKP Government!"
AKP emissaries Zapsu and Disli, who were sent to mend the strained U.S-Turkey relations, ended up further exacerbating tensions. Their controversial visit was extensively covered by all the Turkish media. Following are excerpts from the coverage:


Quarrel in Washington

On April 9, 2006, Asli Aydintasbas wrote in Sabah: "[…] The polemic between the advisors and Richard Perle and another Pentagon official [at the AEI] was harmful and damaging. In the presence of journalists, Americans saying 'We don't trust the AKP government' and the Turkish side responding 'And you [the U.S.] are talking to the PKK' will open diplomatic wounds. […] This can be called the wrong method and the wrong officials.

"[…] The Turkey-U.S. crisis, which has not been resolved [since March 1, 2003] and even became chronic after the Hamas visit and Valley of the Wolves, cannot be solved by sending 'advisors.' […] After three years of experience with the AKP, the Americans are upset, and think 'you give us private messages [and promises] and then go and do the opposite.' […]

"Now Turkey and AKP must decide: For its national interests, does it want a close friendship with Washington, or does it prefer, in the name of having a 'multi-axis foreign policy,' a cordial relationship based on lowest common denominator? The choice belongs to Turkey, and not to the U.S....

"[…] The American side is not interested in a 'media flirtation' with the AKP government, but wants a 'state-to-state,' organic alliance [with Turkey] that includes economic and military ties. [The U.S.] is inclined to 'downgrade' its relationship with a Turkey that they no longer trust. Yet despite its negative psychology towards the AKP, […] no one in Washington wants to lose Turkey […]. [They want] a strong, democratic, secular, and Western Turkey that can continue its friendship with the U.S. and stay on the path towards Europe - all of which is in the interest of both the Bush administration and Ankara. […]


Fight Over Hamas

On April 8, 2006, Yasemin Congar of Milliyet quoted the tense interactions at the AEI meeting between officials from the White House, Vice President Cheney's office and figures close to the Pentagon, and AKP's Disli and Zapsu, as follows:

"Zapsu: We got your message on the Hamas issue loud and clear… Here, we are arguing over the method rather than the essence. I certainly would meet with [Hamas] if there was a one in 1,000 chance that [Hamas] might change; I would meet with them again. It would be naïve to say that there are no talks at all with groups that have killed people.

"AEI official: So, should we meet with the PKK, because there might be a one in a 1,000 chance that they might change too?

"Zapsu: Aren't you [...] meeting [with the PKK]?

"Pentagon official: No, the U.S. government does not meet with the PKK.

"Disli: We came to have a friendly dialogue. But if you ask us [questions] using [the same] language as […] PKK representatives, we cannot.

"[U.S. official]: In March 2003, we understood that we could not trust Turkey… We can love and respect you as a country and as a people, but, government to government, there may not be a relationship of trust.

"Zapsu: Saying 'we understood that we cannot trust Turkey' is not the right approach. The U.S. government must live with this [Turkish] government. We [i.e. AKP] are leading the polls with 42.7%. As the AKP, we will be in power for another six to seven years. Wouldn't it be wiser if we sorted out these misunderstandings, and misjudgments? […] We need the U.S. and the U.S. needs us.[…] This man [i.e. PM Erdogan] is honest; he is sincere in his beliefs. You must take advantage of him. He enjoys wide popularity. […] Instead of trying to knock him down, instead of sweeping him down the drain, use him. […]"


Emissary Disli: U.S.-Turkey Tensions are " Provocation by Jewish Lobby"

On April 8, 2006, the centrist, secular daily Aksam reported: "[…] A Turkish Foreign Ministry official evaluated the tensions in Washington as the manifestation of the great anger felt by the White House towards the AKP. He said: 'It is clear that they [the Americans] are reacting to the [AKP] government.' On the other hand, [the AKP's] Disli said that the incident was a provocation by the Jewish lobby. […] Disli told Aksam: 'There is an attempt to create an atmosphere that relations with the U.S. are severed, that they are finished. The Jewish lobby is behind all this.'"


U.S. Ambassador "Changed His Statements After He Went to Washington"

The report continued: "[Turkish] Foreign Ministry sources drew our [Aksam's] attention to the fact that Ambassador Wilson had given softer messages on the issue of the Hamas visit 'but changed his statements after he went to Washington. We know that the U.S. administration's reaction to Wilson caused the change.' [4]

"Another Foreign Ministry official told us: 'After the [Turkish parliament's] March 1 [2003] rejection of the motion [to allow U.S. forces passage to northern Iraq], the element of trust in our bilateral relations with the U.S. diminished. [...]"


Wife of Turkish PM Attended Gala Opening of Valley of the Wolves - Iraq, Praised Film Tearfully and Emotionally

Aksam continued: "During the talks in Washington by Zapsu and Disli, there was criticism also against [the Turkish PM's wife] Emine Erdogan's praise for Valley of the Wolves - Iraq. Zapsu said that some Washington circles had asked them how they would react if First Lady Laura Bush had [seen and] praised the [anti-Turkish film] Midnight Express. Zapsu said: 'Such a comparison would be wrong.'"

(It is noteworthy that in a recent interview with Robert Pollock of The Wall Street Journal, PM Erdogan refrained from condemning, or even criticizing, this "religiously and racially divisive" film that depicts Americans "murdering and dismembering Iraqis, to steal their organs for Jewish markets." Instead, Erdogan justified the making of this film, and its popularity, by saying that it was "based on media reports" and "TV images." [5] )


Disli: "The PKK is a Terrorist Organization [...] This Kind of Comparison [to Hamas] Is Completely Ugly"

On April 10, the Turkish Islamic daily Zaman, which is owned by Turkish Islamic leader Fethullah Gulen, reported:

"In their joint statement, Zapsu and Disli said: 'We emphasized that a fairly elected political party can never be seen [as] equal to a terrorist organization. The PKK is a terrorist organization responsible for the killings of thousands [of mainly soldiers and police officers], whose participation in an election is impossible; therefore, this kind of comparison between two friendly countries is completely ugly. We also said at that particular [AEI] meeting that the U.S. has broken many promises to us about [helping] our struggle against the PKK, which is sheltered in northern Iraq - a factor which fuels the anti-Americanism in Turkey.'"


Hurriyet: AKP Misled [Turkish] Public Opinion on Hamas Visit

On April 9, 2006, Turkish columnist Oktay Eksi of the mainstream, secular Hurriyet wrote: "It is understood that Washington has written Tayyip Erdogan off […] Erdogan should really be nervous. […] Obviously, the information that the AKP gave the public following Hamas leader Khaled Mash'al's visit in February did not reflect the truth.

"As you will remember, they [i.e. the AKP] had claimed that both the U.S. Embassy in Ankara and Israel were informed of the visit [in advance] and said, 'Ignore the public expressions of displeasure; they [i.e. the U.S. and Israel] were agreeable.' Apparently, there was nothing given or taken or agreed upon… And now, Washington has told Zapsu and Disli […] that the U.S. no longer trusts the AKP.

"In fact, love turning to hatred between the U.S. and the AKP is nothing new. It has happened before… with the U.S. feeling betrayed after the rejection of the March 1 motion… [and] on July 4, 2003, when the U.S. xxxxxled the honor of the Turkish Armed Forces and our nation by arresting 11 Turkish soldiers and officers in Suleymaniye and put sacks over their heads… [when] Tayyip Erdogan declared that Israel was a 'terrorist state' when Hamas leader Yassin was killed; when he used a similar term [i.e. "genocide"] for the U.S. attack on Fallujah; [when] he kept [former] U.S. Ambassador Eric Edelman waiting for months for an appointment - all these were incidents that brought about this result. […]"


Unofficial AKP Mouthpiece Yeni Safak: The American Enterprise Institute is Home to Warmongers [and] a Bloodthirsty Group
On April 9, 2006, columnist Fehmi Koru of the Islamic daily Yeni Safak wrote:

"[…] The AEI is the home of the worst warmongers in the U.S. All the pretexts for the assault on Iraq were planned and decorated with lies and deceptions by AEI 'experts,' and they were carried out by bureaucrats and politicians with AEI origins.[…]

"There is no way of convincing this bloodthirsty AEI group, that has brought nothing but blood and tears to the Middle East. They have lost, and they want others [i.e. the AKP] to pay for it… […]"


"An Open Warning to the US!"
In an April 9, 2006 column titled "An Open Warning to the U.S.!" Cuneyt Ulsever wrote in Hurriyet: "There is a survey that studied a concept that has recently preoccupied Turkey: A survey on nationalism has been conducted by Bilgi University and the Infakto Research Workshop on behalf of Tempo magazine. [...] The field work was conducted [...] February 18-28, 2006. […] I will issue a serious warning to our American friends [emphasis in original] about one aspect of the findings of this serious study.

"One of the questions asked was: 'Which of the following [countries] poses the greatest threat to our nation's security?' Pay attention to the fact that the question is not about 'love-hate' or 'appreciation-criticism.' […] The [Turkish] citizens were asked about the very sensitive issue of 'perception of threat.' […] The resulting picture of the 'perception of threat' by the Turkish public is as follows:

"U.S.: 35%; a probable independent Kurdish State in Northern Iraq: 25.8%; Greece: 9.5%; EU: 5.5%; Israel: 4%; Iraq: 3.5%; Iran: 1.5%; Russia: 0.3%; Other: 1.1%; None of the above: 1.9%; Don't know: 8.2%.

"It must be noted that the Turkish people's perception of 'an independent Kurdistan' is also [closely] related to the perception of the U.S.'s role as the party responsible for this and provoking this. Therefore, you can conclude that 60.8% of the respondents perceive the U.S. as a 'threat.' […]

"I hope that the U.S. leaders who have expectations from Turkey as part of their Middle East policies will carefully examine and analyze these findings."

[Gavur]

[1] The anti-American and antisemitic Turkish blockbuster Valley of the Wolves - Iraq is the most expensive film ever made in Turkey, and has drawn the biggest crowds, and has also been selling very well in Turkish communities in Europe and in Arab counties. The film depicts Americans as barbaric murderers who rape and kill Iraqis, with an American Jewish doctor dismembering them to supply organs for Jewish markets. While Turkish PM Tayyip Erdogan had the film privately screened for him, his wife Emine Erdogan attended the February 2006 gala opening, sitting with the film's very popular lead actor and Turkish Parliamentary Speaker Bulent Arinc. After the screening, an emotional and tearful Mrs. Erdogan praised the film, and Speaker Arinc called it "very realistic."

[2] See MEMRI Special Dispatch No. 1114, "Hamas Visit to Turkey Deepens Secular-Islamist Rift" (see "U.S. Ambassador Wilson: "Hamas Criticism - of Certain Groups in the U.S., Including Leading Jews - Not U.S. Official View") March 14, 2006, http://memri.org/bin/articles.cgi?Pa...ey&ID=SP111406.

[3] After the Hamas delegation's February 2006 visit to Ankara, Iraqi Prime Minister Designate Ja'fari came to the Turkish capital at the invitation of the AKP government. It was announced at that time that the Turkish government had also extended an invitation to Shiite leader Muqtada Al-Sadr, who is expected to come in a few months.

[4] Turkish Daily News, April 10, 2006: "[…] the U.S. Ambassador to Turkey Ross Wilson said the visit was 'disappointing' and stressed that some members of Congress asked where Turkey is heading. 'They were expressing concern, and even beyond concern, their anger.' They said, 'We cannot accept that a country like Turkey, which suffered much from terrorism, let this happen' Wilson was quoted as saying during a meeting last week [in Washington]." See: http://memri.org/bin/articles.cgi?Pa...ey&ID=SP111406.

[5] The Wall Street Journal, March 18, 2006.

[Gavur]

Report: Turkey won’t let U.S. attack Iran from its land

Turkey Refuses U.S. Request To Allow Attack On Iran From Turkish Base



By YNetNews

04/30/06 "YNetNews" -- -- Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said Sunday that his country refused a request from the United States to attack Iran from its Air Force base in Incirlik, despite the U.S. offer of a nuclear reactor, according to a report in Al Biyan.

In an interview for the United Arab Emirates newspaper, Gul noted that America’s efforts to attack Iran are “imaginary” and that Turkey’s stance is “strategic” and refuses the use of its land for any belligerent activity against neighboring countries. (Roee Nahmias)

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