Turkish-American partnership 2.0

The think tank's bipartisan Independent Task Force on Turkey is chaired by former Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright and former National Security Advisor Stephen J. Hadley, and is directed by Steven A. Cook. The report's conclusion outlined its content: “The country is economically more successful, more representative politically, and playing a more influential role in its region and beyond. For the United States, Turkey has always been an important, if at times complicated, ally.”

This is a statement from Washington and never got the right attention from ordinary citizens in the US. Turkey plays an important role in the region and is an important country for the US. That's correct, but this is known by only a very small number of people on both sides of the Atlantic. However, the new Turkey is quite different from the old one, as the report stated, and new emerging political and business elites are evident in the domestic and international sphere. Sometimes it's hard for a small circle to reflect these changes and adapt to the “New Partnership.” In this regard, the author of the report is making a significant effort to catch this transformation.

The report put together by these highly influential Turkey-watchers aims to target this problem and would like to put Turkey onto the agenda of the policy-makers and ordinary citizens with an emphasis on these new developments in Turkey. As one can understand from the above statement, the committee and their report are not only trying to understand Turkish foreign policy, but also its economic policy and domestic politics in order to figure out how they shape the future of the country -- foreign policy specifically. The transformations in the region and the economic crisis in Europe, together with other emerging economies in the world, where Turkey stands and how it differs from the Turkey of 20 years ago are key challenges for US policy-makers to understand.

The report is pretty successful in outlining the key issues on the agenda and puts forward all aspects of policy recommendations to those in Washington. Economic development and the self-confidence attached to it and the diversification of the economy are appreciated in the report, with a little pessimism in its forecast for the future. And as Mr. Hadley put forward during a panel discussion at the CFR last week, the US has to understand business organizations like the Turkish Confederation of Industrialists and Businessmen (TUSKON) and has to find ways to develop mechanisms to work with them. This is a pretty bold statement that appreciates the new Turkey and its dynamism and seeks ways to work with them.

Coincidentally, the next day I was on a panel discussing the emerging Anatolian merchant class in a joint event hosted by The Hollings Center and the University of Washington Henry M. Jackson Foundation which focused on the US-Turkish commercial partnership, following on from the US-China and US-India partnership forums that took place in the last two years. This is one of the rare events that focuses on economic partnership, and this is exactly what the CFR report is recommending.

One of the main recommendations is to extend and enhance the Obama-Erdoğan and Davutoğlu-Clinton relationships, to make them sustainable in the long term and to diversify the relationship. All levels of bureaucracy and the governments need to understand each other and communicate properly and frequently, recognizing differences in policy approaches. The differences should not jeopardize common ground and general approaches. I would like to extend the content of the report's recommendation and would like to say that civil society, businesspeople and ordinary citizens on the street should be a part of it. Otherwise, conspiracy theories and intentional mistakes will inflate anti-Americanism in Turkey and Islamophobia in the US.

Stereotyping is not working, and monopolizing the US-Turkey relationship always has negative effects, since we do have a more democratic and more prosperous Turkey than 10 years ago. And in vibrant democratic societies public opinion does matter. The report seems to internalize these facts and extend recommendations accordingly.

The era of operating on International Monetary Fund (IMF) loans ended in Turkey five years ago, and the Turkish economy is still a success.