Promoting Turkey's modern, muslim face

Soli Ozel, Professor, International Relations, Istanbul Bilgi University, Project Syndicate

Recently, Turkey assumed from Britain command of the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan. Typically, hardly anyone noticed. Turkey's troubles -- be they financial crises or the current illness of Primer Minister Bulent Ecevit -- grab headlines.

But in the world forged by the terrorist attacks on America last September, the identity, and the choices and alliances that Turkey made in its historical quest to become modern, have acquired greater significance than ever before. Turkey's leadership of the peacekeeping forces in Afghanistan, something hugely popular among Turks, highlights once more the fact that Turkey is the only Muslim nation that is a member of NATO.

Turkey's straddling of Islam and the West makes the country's domestic and international politics intriguing. Indeed, many Turks view their country's development as a compelling rejoinder to any idea of an inevitable "clash of civilizations" between Islam and the West.

The logic of Turkish support for America's war against terrorism was quick to appear. In Sept. 11 many Turks found vindication of their decades-long effort to draw the world's attention -- and in particular Europe -- to the scourge of terror. By supporting America's operation in Afghanistan and speaking out against efforts to vilify Islam, the government managed to reconcile Turkey's strategic interests and its religious sensitivities.

Endless talk show debates on Turkish television demonstrated that there was plenty of reflective thinking taking place. To the extent that some Islamists did not reject outright violence against civilians, they seem to have lost public support. In addition, left-wing secular opposition to U.S. policy kept the debate from focusing solely on Islam. Turkey also hosted a two- day "dialog of civilizations" last February between the Organization of the Islamic Conference and the European Union. Participants from both sides found common cause expressing their doubts about American policies.

Turkey remains concerned that Iraq may be America's next target. Iraq is the single issue on which American and Turkish interests diverge sharply. Neither the Turkish military nor the Turkish government nor public opinion supports an American campaign against Iraq. The best the Turks could get from Vice President Dick Cheney, during his visit last March, was a tepid assurance that no American military attack was imminent.

Officially, Turkey is concerned that Saddam Hussein's fall could result in the irreparable fracturing of the Iraqi state. Below the surface lurk longstanding Turkish anxieties about Kurdish nationalism, and how this might threaten Turkish unity from across the borders of a newly-shattered Iraq. But few Turks doubt that if the U.S. decides to send ground forces into Iraq, Turkey will provide the launching pad, and may even participate.

Turkey's generally positive relations with Israel have come under strain as a result of Israel's "Operation Defensive Shield." In the face of public anger with Israel, Turkey's military continued building its security relationship with the Jewish state, and recently awarded Israel a lucrative tank modernization contract.

A May public opinion poll found nearly two-thirds of the public opposed Turkey's stance on the Israeli-Palestinian fighting. But this is mitigated at times by public revulsion over suicide bombing attacks in Israel. A further element was the lethal assault in Hebron against an international observer team that included two Turkish officers. The Turkish military believes that the attack, which killed Maj. Cengiz Toytunc, was carried out by Palestinians.

Most of Turkey's public objects to drawing links between Islam and mindless terrorist violence. The government's emphasis on Turkey's secular state and Islamic tradition resonates deeply, and there is a strong feeling that Turkey can mediate between the West and the Islamic world.

Islamist parties, their political fortunes reviving as secular parties suffer yet another crisis of public confidence, have been careful not to exploit popular resentments that may have developed since Sept. 11. Tayip Erdogan, the leader of one Islamist party, argued that attacks on innocent civilians could never be justified in religious terms.

Of course, the Islamists are kept under careful watch by the military, which has repeatedly intervened in Turkish politics to defend Turkey's secular political identity. But the Islamist parties also recognize the strength of popular support for Turkey as a modern country, poised to represent Islam's modern face in today's world.