The Obama victory raises fresh hopes for the world

The hope now is that the same strength of this country, when applied properly and under competent leadership, will "wreak a lot of good." A sentiment around the globe is that a bad dream has come to an end and we are on the threshold of what will hopefully be a new and much more conciliatory and human era based on mutual respect.

The cynics are there of course and their argument is that once Obama makes some headway in his new job he will be confronted with the bitter realities of life and fall in line.

It is of course true to and extent, as the late American historian Stephen Ambrose once said, that it is the office that makes the man and not the other way around. But this is not an absolute fact and, given the prevailing political and economic environment at the time, history has produced leaders who have changed the world for the better. Put another way, "the man can sometimes make the office." This, at any rate, is the hope that has been invested in President Obama and his administration. Obama's first advantage is the devastation he is taking over both domestically and internationally from the Bush administration. This is a negative factor of course but it does provide him with very concrete examples of "what should definitely not be done in the future."

Obama’s second advantage is that, unlike former President Bush, his election victory was clear-cut, which gives him a solid mandate for serious social change. And finally, the fact that he has generated so much hope around the world is an advantage that makes it easier to take bold or even revolutionary steps.

As an aside here, anyone listening to Obama’s inaugural speech probably has a much better understanding of why the militarists that have taken hold of Israel were in such a hurry to visit their vengeance on the people of Gaza. If I was a member of that militarist administration, I certainly would be unhappy with Obama’s speech.

The Obama victory has also raised hopes for improved ties between Ankara and Washington. These ties continue of course but not with much love in them, mainly due to the debacle engineered in Iraq by the Bush administration and a handful of "neocons". It is clear from out discussions with high officials that Ankara is not fully at ease concerning the promises made by Obama to the Armenian lobby in the United States. We have mentioned in this column before that there is forward thinking on this score.

Put another way the government is considering now how it will react, as if feels it must, if something that causes outrage in Turkish public opinion should come out of Washington on this score. The manner in which Prime Minister Erdoğan pandered to the public over Israel’s attack on Gaza has also left many diplomats in Ankara feeling that should the Obama administration offend Turkey then the government is more likely to pander to the outrage in Turkish public opinion.

Foreign Minister Babacan openly suggested to a group of journalists -- this one included -- in a live interview last Friday night on NTV that should and Armenian genocide bill pass in the United States, then this will harm the historic opening in relations presently.

This seems to suggest that if the Armenian lobby should have its way in Washington, Turkey will most likely punish Armenia first in retaliation and thus "hit back at U.S. interests in the Caucasus." This may be mere speculation on our part, but it is a fact that when France adopted and Armenian genocide bill in the early part of this decade Ankara’s first move was to revoke visa privileges for citizens of Armenia (these were reinstated later.)

There is a Turkish saying. It refers to "poking an eye out while trying to trim the brow." Our belief is that even if the Obama administration tries to "trim the Armenian brow," apropos of the promises given, it will nevertheless try and ensure that it does not poke an eye out in its relations with Ankara. Put another way the Obama administration is cognizant of the fact that these relations are becoming more important by the day, given developments in this part of the work which ensure that the two countries will need each other for the foreseeable future. Put another way, "the strategic interest" can not be overlooked by the United States, as indeed by Ankara, in the long run. But President Obama has also charted a vision of democracy, human rights, equality for all, non violent responses to crises etc, as he must in order to fulfill Martin Luther King’s dream properly. This means that if the Erdoğan government can move in a noticeable way along these lines, and contribute to better democracy and human rights in Turkey, then the ties between the two countries Ñ which are now based on loveless strategic interests Ñ can move in the direction of mutual respect and understanding. This clearly will be the best way to also combat anti-Americanism in Turkey.