Fatih Altayli: A grave situation in American-Turkish relations

I have been gone for a week. A little vacation, a little work. To tell the truth, not writing about it is hard. I tried to get a feeling for Turkish-American relations while in New York. Truthfully, the situation is worse than it looks from Turkey.Turkey-US relations have really broken down.  The American media's attitude towards Turkey is deeper than a few insults heard on television series or programs. It criticizes Turkey at every opportunity, and on every level. On ethnic television channels watched by Muslim viewers, it talks about the pressure put on Muslims living in Turkey. In other arenas, it talks about the human rights violations in Turkey. The man on the street now knows Turkey. But not in a good way. Wall Street Journal writer Pollock says he loved Turkey.  As for the "ugly" asessments in his article, he says "There was a clear problem, and no one wanted to see it. Especially not in Turkey. I showed this in my article. I put the problem out there. Now I think that whatever needs to be done to straighten things out in Turkey should be done. I'm with you." As for the dosage of criticism in his writing, Pollock had this to say: "If I had written more lightly about everything, it wouldn't have had the effect it did. I put a diagnosis on the problem. I wrote clearly. Now it's time for treatment to begin."But the treatment is not going to be easy. The Prime Minister is planning a June visit to the US. But Bush is acting skittish about giving him an appointment time.The Turkish Charge d'Affaire Ali Tuygan, in Washington recently, was unable to confirm an appointment for Erdogan. This is another sign of the tension between Ankara and Washington. However, everyone is hoping that the Prime Minister's upcoming trip to Israel will be an important step towards normalizing relations. Some important names in the US government believe the crisis in Turkey-US relations is not just in the area of the relationship itself, but on the level of "geography." They believe Turkey needs to start anew in this area. "Turkey needs to part with its 'partnership model,' which is based on its geo-strategic placement, and enter into a different and deeper relationship with the US." It looks like the coming period will bring a new and different face to Turkey-US relations. And Turkey will decide whether this new face will be positive or negative.  Â