Bashing Turkey for 72 Hours
Ahmet Gursoy, Special to The Turkish Times - Three major cable news and the printed word from coast to coast in February 20, 2003, were bashing Turkey over the delay in reaching an agreement for the establishment of the northern front on Iraq in case of a war. It started Thursday, February 20, 2003, the New York Times carried a front page coverage with three additional articles on a dedicated page titled "Impasse with the Turks" and an editorial titled "Dollar Diplomacy." The editorial said: "Turkey, in effect, told Mr. Bush this week to ante up $32 billion if he wants Ankara to take a seat at the table. The business of lining up reluctant governments to provide bases and support for possible military action is not exactly an exercise in Wilsonian idealism. In the administration's efforts to line up Turkish support, it risks trampling on the very values America claims to be fighting for."

In the next 72 hours the coverage of the news in the air, and in the printed word were self centered and arrogant. One of the New York Times articles on Thursday carried the term of "extortion in the name of alliance" in describing the Turkish pressure for more aid, and commentators of cable network were looking for spin-doctors to fill the air.

Our own young Zeyno Baran appeared on the Fax News on Thursday, and next day Friday on the PBS-New Hours, assuring with a solemn face that it will all be resolved in good faith within days. She looked like a good candidate for a Turkish Focus Group in the future.

Nevertheless she failed to articulate the undesirability of the long term loans for the present Turkish economy and the lessons learned from the previous Gulf War of 1991, such as boarder refugees in millions and an economic decay that followed.

On Saturday, February 22nd the New York Times carried a short article on the topic of Northern Front; reporting that the United States has reached an agreement with the Turkish government on a package of $15 billion in immediate economic and military aid in a step that is expected to pave the way for American troops to use Turkish bases in case of war with Iraq. The new agreement increased the front end payments in aid from $5 billion to $15 billion of which $10 billion will be paid back in long term loans. The next day, Sun-day, New York Times carried a full page editorial exploring, "The Real Mean-ing of Iraq" and continued the Turkey - Bas-hing: "The Size of the Turkish demands made the anti-Iraq for-ces look less like a serious coalition than a diplomatic version of - Let's Make a Deal."

Historically, very major war resulted in a "Deal-Making" (as an end game) to recover the economic losses. The new government in Ankara did very well by taking the Deal Making prior to war, to eliminate any future embarrassment. Looking back to the Americans, it was the Revolutionary War that brought the national unity, and also the fiscal responsibility among the initial thirteen colonies. When British left in 1783, the eight year long war destroyed the national economy and the City of New York was in ruins. The newly established U.S. Congress was in need of financial help and decided to send three most respected Americans, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson to Paris to obtain loans from the King of France without much success. In 1786, John Adams finally obtained two sets of $2 million loans from Holland with 5% interest which was not adequate for the recovery.

Alexander Hamilton who became the first Secretary of Treasury for the United States Government, was a federalist believing that central government would lead the new nation through powerful economic and diplomatic world presence.

The Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson, on the other hand, believed that freedom was more secure in the hands of smaller government at smaller communities. Hamilton wanted New York City to become the capital of the United States, and Jefferson wanted the capital to be in Virginia. Hamilton asked congress for the federal government to assume responsibility for the enormous debts incurred by the individual colonies, particularly New York City, during the Revolutionary War. Hamilton knew the Federal bond issue would bolster the flow of capital into the new country and the City of New York. It would also jump-start this economic plan for the new republic. For the economic plan he was unable to convince the southern politicians in the U.S. Congress. In June 1790, Hamilton was able to cut a deal with Jefferson. He agreed to move the capital from New York to the Potomac if Jefferson would influence other southerners not to block his economic plan. The "Swap of Power for Money" worked. It had a profound impact and influence on the orderly establishment of Washington, DC, and the future growth of New York City. Soon money was pouring as the trade in stocks and bonds soared. It was the beginning of New York Stock Exchange.

On March 2, 2003, the New York Times at the front page wrote: "The Turkish Parliament, yesterday dealt a heavy blow to the Bush administration's plan for a northern front against Iraq, narrowly rejecting a measure that would have allowed thousands of American combat troops to use the country as a base."

Three days later Thomas L. Friedman, in his op-ed page article of the New York Times wrote: "There is something admirable about the Turkish democracy's refusal to be bribed into a war, its people don't want."

If all the reporters knew their history as well as Mr. Friedman did, maybe there would have been less arrogance in their reporting.

You can reach the author at gursoy@pbworld.com