US better understood Turkey after Sept. 11

The United States understood Turkey much better after the Cold War and especially after Sept. 11, said Ross Wilson, the U.S. ambassador to Ankara in an exclusive interview.“Turkey is a democratic, stable, powerful and self-confident country, the majority of its population is Muslim. We much better understood these properties of Turkey after the Cold War and especially after September 11, in comparison to the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s,” Wilson said. Wilson has been ambassador to Turkey for three years and is preparing to go back to the United States.

Wilson said if there is any change in U.S. policy toward Turkey, that is about the United States, better understanding the importance of Turkey for its own interests, it highlighted secularism in the past, but currently emphasizes that Turkey is a “country of moderate Islam.”

Washington has never failed to understand the significance of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, issue for Turkey, including the existence of the PKK in northern Iraq, Wilson said.

“When we first entered Iraq, however, our focus was on reading the complete picture correctly. (We) thought that the PKK issue would be easily solved if the Iraq project settled down,” he said.

The increasing PKK attacks made the United States understand the urgency of the issue, Wilson said, adding that they saw leaving the issue on its own might negatively affect efforts and Iraq and also the enthusiasm of Turkey to play its role in the Iraq project.

“After that our president’s contribution to the PKK issue came forth. Today northern Iraq is not safe for the PKK,” he said.