Time to heal US-Turkey wounds

Sunday's elections give a fresh opportunity to fix a terrible collapse in bilateral ties.

from the July 24, 2007 edition

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All this was avoidable – and even now remains reparable. Were the US to demonstrate a readiness to address real threats to Turkey's interests, Turkey could play a constructive role in Iraqi Kurdistan, while improving the well-being of its own Kurdish-populated southeast.

Turks are already heavily invested in Iraqi Kurdistan's economic development, with more than 300 Turkish companies operating in the region. Turkish pipelines could provide Kurds an opportunity to export oil to international markets. A working bargain between the Kurds and Turkey is not beyond the reach of effective US leadership.

Unfortunately, policymakers in Washington seem intent on letting an important opportunity fester until it becomes a crisis.

The White House's strategic myopia was in full display during Turkey's constitutional crisis in April.

The crisis began when Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan nominated Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul for the presidency. Mr. Gul, like Mr. Erdogan, is a member of the Islamic-inspired AK party. His Islamist past and head-scarf-wearing wife raised fears of conservative Muslim dominance and triggered enormous backlash from Turkey's secular establishment.

It also brought ominous warnings from the military, which in Turkey's democracy enjoys a special status as guardian of the state, a role it exercised in overthrowing four earlier elected governments. Turkey's democrats found Washington's silence during this turmoil deafening.

To defuse the crisis, Erdogan moved to early general elections. Following the AK's solid election victory this weekend, the US should undertake a major diplomatic initiative to resuscitate US-Turkish relations.

This should begin with applause for Turkey's successful demonstration of what is possible in modernizing a moderate, secular Muslim democracy. It should include renewed advocacy for Turkish membership in the EU. But most important, it should engage Turkey and the Kurdistan Regional Government in specific steps to stop cross-border terrorist attacks from Kurdistan.

Moreover, this can be done without sacrificing other regional priorities. Even as Mr. Bush's hopes for Iraq founder, he still has an opportunity to support a credible counter-narrative to the rhetoric of radical Islamist groups across the region.

• Graham Allison is director of the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government and author of "Nuclear Terrorism: The Ultimate Preventable Catastrophe."

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