Ertugrul Ozkok: Egos bursting out of their ears

It seemed at the time an exaggerated, even unfair analysis. But as the years passed, I began to wonder whether it wasn't just a bit true. There are some journalists who cannot control their egos. They are the ones busy saying "I wrote that first," or "I was the one to write that." But the truth is, journalism is a career that calls for risk-taking, and in fact, journalists must be free to make mistakes.

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I too make mistakes.

The other day, I was listening to an analysis of Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan's trip to Iran. Erdogan himself was talking about the development in Turkey's relations with Iran and other Middle East countries. I have criticized the AKP's Middle East policies in the past. I still believe invited HAMAS to Ankara was a mistake. And I believe not sending Turkish soldiers to Northern Iraq in the Second Gulf War was a historic mistake. But there are some subjects which I have also criticized which, looking now, I see that in fact I was wrong to criticize.

There have effective and true steps taken lately in our relations with regional countries. For example, the developments in our relations with Iran and Syria are exactly right. Turkey has really become a regional country to whose voice is listened. In short, this part of our foreign policy is going well.

And as far as the EU, the government's latest move on Cyprus was, I think, a fantastic diplomatic success.

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Despite this though, there is a direction we are taking which is very worrisome to me. When you look at it at first, it appears not to be a foreign policy problem, but a domestic problem. But the solution to this problem will have to come ultimately from foreign policy. For a while now, anti-Western feelings in Turkey have been growing. One of the reasons for this is the war in Iraq carried on by the US. On the other hand, there is also the hatred for the PKK that the Turkish people have.

If Turkey can bring its relations with the US to the same effective level on which it holds its relations with Israel and the EU, it would be a great advantage for both Turkey and the world at large. By which I mean, now that the Prime Minister and Foreign Minister have managed to erase the hostility against Turkey which existed in so many Middle Eastern countries, now they have to take steps to straighten out the anti-Western feelings in the Turkish public.

If the Erdogan-Gul pairing can do this and succeed at it, Turkish foreign policy will enter a golden period. Looking at everything else that has been done in these past 4 years, I don't think this will be impossible.