Turkish diplomats urge government to retaliate against U.S.

PanARMENIAN.Net - With bilateral ties with Washington already under severe strain over the Armenian Genocide resolution and the situation in northern Iraq, a senior parliamentarian of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) has called for tough sanctions against the United States in retaliation. Turkey's reaction must be to do what is expected: Shut down Incirlik air base and slow down U.S. logistics to Iraq via Habur border gate, Gündüz Aktan told the Turkish Daily News.



Aktan, a retired ambassador, was a member of a Turkish parliamentary delegation that lobbied in Washington last week against the resolution. What happened has happened. Turkey must retaliate against it, said Aktan. He warned the country might otherwise pay a higher price and eventually lose ground on foreign policy. This is not a matter of making a choice but is what needs to be done, he added.



Nüzhet Kandemir, another retired ambassador, called on the government to weigh all the risks and make thorough calculations over potential retaliatory moves against the United States.

These moves should not be discussed in public but should be considered secretly and seriously on the condition of being implemented when the time is ripe, he told the TDN.



Kandemir admitted that the Genocide resolution has dealt a blow to the efforts aimed at mending fences between the longtime allies after the rejection of a U.S. troop deployment motion prior to the Iraq war in 2003 in the Turkish Parliament. The problem stems from the fact that the relationship between Turkey and the United States is mis-qualified according to veteran diplomat Inal Batu. Strategic partners act as one state and two nations but this is not the case in terms of Turkish-U.S. ties, said Batu. He underlined that the passage of the Armenian Genocide resolution in the House panel, Turkey's rapprochement with radical Muslim group Hamas and energy agreements with Iran despite Washington's clear and vocal objections revealed the two countries were not strategic partners but merely allies. If we look at the issue from this perspective we will not be misled, he said.