NATO Summit and Turkey

It was the first meeting that the newly elected President of the United States Barack Obama came together with the European leaders. The summit also give leaders a chance to talk about closing down the U.S. Guantanamo base, correcting the mistakes of the Bush period, Obama’s adopting a multi-dimensional foreign policy approach, the United States and Europe’s joining forces on the ground of values and strengthened NATO-Atlantic ties. On the other side, France announced determination to play an effective role inside the alliance and to come back to its military wing.

The key subject of the summit was Afghanistan. After Obama announced sending 21,000 additional forces to Afghanistan, he expected NATO countries’ significant contributions. But their military didn’t meet expectations. NATO members rather preferred to send personnel for training local forces and money. And the content of Turkey’s contributions is not clear yet.

A remarkable development leaving its mark on the summit was Turkey’s objection to Rasmussen’s being the new NATO secretary-general. Turkey was right to object. It will be difficult for a politician who is seen as an enemy by the Islamic world to become effective in tasks related to a Muslim country, Afghanistan, as NATO’s most critical issue.

In the mean time, EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn’s unexpected statement revealed an unnecessary Nordic solidarity in the summit. Rehn said Turkey’s objections about the cartoon incident are not in accord with freedom of expression; therefore will make it difficult for Turkey to become an EU member.

Rehn seems unaware of the European Court of Human Rights, or ECHR’s, verdicts in the cases of the Wingrove vs. Britain, Otto Preminger Institute vs. Austria and Ismet Arslan vs. Turkey. If he had read the decisions in these cases, Rehn would’ve seen that the ECHR agrees that banning visual and written statements that hurt religious feelings is in line with the European Human Rights Convention.

The objection could’ve been comprehensive

Although Turkey’s attitude in the meeting is right in principal, it may be criticized in two points: Turkey could have more support in Europe if it hadn’t limited its objections to Rasmussen’s appointment as the new NATO secretary-general with his stance in the cartoon incident and the Roj TV only, and if it had added Rasmussen’s coalition with the xenophobic and extreme rightist Danish People’s Party to implement almost racist policies that are against immigrants and are not cherishing any moral values.

In addition to that, it is also worth questioning how appropriate Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s whole-heartedly expressing his negative views about Rasmussen’s being NATO secretary-general. Such statements limit maneuverability in similar meetings. Besides if the shared views contradict with the result, public opinion may have an impression that the result is a failure. And none of the parties seeking political agreement can be in absolute accord. In fact, Rasmussen said the Roj TV issue will be examined and if the channel’s affiliation with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, is proven, it would be shut down. We’ll see in time if this means Turkey’s requests are agreed or not.

There were, however, more distinguished candidates than Rasmussen. For instance, Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Store could’ve made more successful secretary general than Rasmussen for his personal qualities, past experiences, and international experience. Besides, Store’s view on Turkey is more balanced. Since Norway is not an EU member, it was unfortunately deprived of sending a better secretary-general to the Alliance.

We’ll see if NATO appointed a secretary-general who perfectly fits with its objective to make a new start.