BOOK REVIEW
William Hale, Turkey, the US and Iraq, London, SAQI & London Middle East Institute at SOAS, 2007, 200 p.
William Hale is surely among the most renowned Western scholars of Turkish politics and foreign policy. His previous works on Turkey are all considered reference books, making a great deal of contribution to the academic literature in the field of Turkish Studies.1 In his last book, however, Professor Hale limits the scope of
his work to a more specific subject than the previous ones: The evolution of Turkish foreign policy towards Iraq from 1918 to the present with special emphasis on the last period starting with the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.
It is a matter of fact that since the US-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003, the crisis revolving around this country has been the most crucial issue on the agenda of Turkish foreign policy makers. So much so that, Turkey’s relations with both the West (the US and to a
1Other books of the author include: Aspects of Modern Turkey (edited),
London, Bowker, 1976; The Political and Economic Development of
Modern Turkey, London, Croom Helm, 1981; Turkish Politics and the Military, London, Routledge, 1994; Turkish Foreign Policy 1774-2000,
lesser extent the EU) and the Middle East (especially Iran and Syria) became extremely dependent on developments in Iraq. Accordingly, scholarly works concentrating on the Turkish foreign policy towards Iraq increased, though most of them are focusing on Turkey’s Kurdish or Northern Iraqi policy.2 Professor Hale’s book is an
attempt to analyze the complex relationship between Turkey, the US, Iraq and the Iraqi Kurds while accentuating “the role and policies of Turkey, as one of Iraq’s most important neighbours, and America’s only formal ally in the region” (p. 9).
The book is composed of six chapters, the first five of which address the subject chronologically from 1918 to the end of 2005. The last chapter, entitled “Conclusions, Assessments and Options,” was formed as a concluding chapter and includes general conclusions regarding the subject as well as some policy options for Turkish decision makers. The fact that there is neither an introduction nor an introductory chapter makes it somewhat difficult for readers to grasp the main problematic and arguments of the book in the beginning. A few sentences in the preface section and subsequent remarks throughout the book make it clear that the author takes the dilemma between public pressure in favour of non-intervention in Middle Eastern affairs and the commitments to the United States which is pushing for a more active role in the region from Turkey, as the main tool in comprehending Turkish foreign policy towards Iraq (p. 9-10, 58, 158-159).
In the first chapter, the author briefly describes the general patterns of the relations between Turkey and Iraq from 1918 to 1980. Here, he underscores two basic conditions for favourable relations: First, a rough balance of power between the two sides, and second, mutual respect to borders which were set in 1926. He further stresses the role of the joint opposition against Kurdish independence aspirations in making the relationship between the two countries sustainable regardless of periodic political instabilities they have undergone.
2Two such examples are Bill Park, Turkey's Policy Towards Northern Iraq:
Problems And Prospects, Oxon, Routledge, 2005 and Asa Lundgren, The Unwelcome Neighbour: Turkey's Kurdish Policy, London, I.B. Tauris,
The second chapter focuses on the 1980-1993 period, when Turgut Özal emerged as the most dominant figure in the formulation Turkish foreign policy. In this period, the author distinguishes two important developments marking significant shifts in traditional Turkish foreign policy towards Iraq. Firstly, the Halabjah massacre of 1988 and subsequent flow of Kurdish refugees into Turkey disrupted the so far favourable relations between the two countries. And secondly, the power vacuum occurred in Northern Iraq after the Gulf War of 1991 (owing to the Operation Provide Comfort) forced Turkey to deal with an autonomous Kurdish entity in the region and establish direct contacts with the Kurdish groups of Northern Iraq, thus abandoning its traditional policy of non-intervention in the Kurdish problem of Iraq.
The third chapter which analyses the period between 1993 and 1998 focuses on the triangular politics of the Northern Iraq (between the US, Turkey and the Kurds) along with Turkey’s struggle against the PKK. The main argument of this chapter is that although Turkey could not solve some basic problems regarding its own Kurdish problem, Operation Provide Comfort and economic losses originating from the Gulf War, its Northern Iraq policy was successful in general terms, building up Turkish influence in the region while acquiring the consent of the US.
The focal point of the fourth chapter, which examines the period between 1998 and 2003, is the US-Turkish relations regarding the invasion of Iraq and particularly the political bargaining that took place between the Justice and Development Party (JDP) government and the US during the pre-invasion period. Here, while analyzing the developments leading to Turkey’s non-cooperation with the United States in the invasion of Iraq and subsequent deterioration of bilateral relations, the author clarifies the positions of the major institutions in Turkey. At this point, however, he does not fairly emphasize the significance of the divisions within the leadership and the MP’s of the JDP.3
3For more information on this subject, see Şaban Kardaş, “Turkey and the
Iraqi Crisis: JDP between Identitiy and Interest,” The Emergence of a New
Turkey: Democracy and the AK Parti, edited by M. Hakan Yavuz,
The fifth chapter deals with the aftermath of the US-led invasion of Iraq until the end of the year 2005. The main aim of the author in this chapter is to examine the circumstances that led to the re-convergence of interests between the US and Turkey in Iraq, after a serious falling out in 2003. At this point, he defines the year 2005 as a turning point in the relations as Turkey started to exert a more comprehensive and rational Iraq and Middle East policy which is more in harmony with US interests in the region.
In the concluding chapter the author firstly takes issue with the claims about the mismanagement of the 2003 Iraqi crisis by the JDP government by stressing the more puzzling and tricky nature of it than Gulf War of 1991. Secondly, stressing the substantial changes in the regional balance of power, he advises the Turkish decision makers to learn how to live with an independent Kurdish state in Northern Iraq. And lastly, he applauds the comprehension of the limits of cooperation by the US and Turkey after the 2003 crisis and thus rebuilding the relationship on a more realistic and robust basis than before.
In general terms, the book reaffirms the common assumption that after the Gulf War in 1991, Turkish foreign policy towards Iraq became one of the most important determinants of US-Turkish relations. Furthermore, it is successful in underlining the contrast between internal and external pressures regarding Turkey’s role in the Middle East during the same period. Yet, although it clearly points out the new role that Turkey assumed in the Middle Eat after 2005, it fails to grasp this activism of the JDP government in the Middle East in a more comprehensive manner and thus situating Iraq in a broader picture. To do this, one may argue, it is essential to take into consideration the evolution of US Middle East Policy after 9/11 along with major shifts in global and regional power structures rather than just focusing on Turkish politics and the US-Turkish relations as reflected in Iraq in a detailed way.
Nevertheless, thanks to the rich Turkish sources he benefited from, the author successfully observed and analysed the political developments and debates that took place in Turkey during the period under consideration, thus enabling readers to clearly see the domestic origins of Turkish foreign policy towards Iraq. Overall, it is a concise
and easy to read book that sheds light on the complex relationship between Turkey, Iraq, the Iraqi Kurds and the US especially in the course of the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 and thereafterfrom the viewpoint of Ankara.
NURĐ YEŞĐLYURT*
*Nuri Yeşilyurt is a Reseach Assistant in the Department of International
