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Turkey: An Ally Twists in the Wind
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11304 |
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Section : |
CURRENT ISSUES
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5 / 1986 |
1,929 Words |
| Author
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Evans Johnson
Evans Johnson was a foreign correspondent based in several
Middle Eastern countries from 1975 to 1982, and is now an
associate editor with the New York City Tribune. |
When American warships sailed within six miles of the Soviet Black Sea coast March 13, the verbal wrath Moscow unleashed was only slightly more acerbic than that directed at visiting U.S. Secretary of State George Shultz by his Turkish hosts 10 days later.
Both events illustrated the major role Turkey, a U.S. ally within the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), plays in the East-West conflict.
Shultz was in Turkey in hopes of initialing an agreement on the continued use by the United States of at least 15 military installations, ranging from electronic listening posts high in the mountains of the northeast facing Soviet Armenia and Iran, to the U.S. Air Force base in Ankara. The agreement on the bases expired December 31, 1985. It is being extended conditionally by the Turks, who seek greater access to U.S. markets for their textiles and a larger allotment of U.S. foreign aid.
A startled Shultz was verbally flailed during his visit as he attended a luncheon in Istanbul held in his honor. Only the day before his hosts had sealed off the entire, vast, covered Great Bazaar, so Mr. And Mrs. Shultz and their two dozen retainers could shop. During the luncheon, Sakip Sabanci, chairman of the Turkish industrialists' and Businessmen's Association, told Shultz that Washington should assist Turkey "not by aid, but by facilitating our export performance."
Sabanci referred to the U.S. quota on Turkish textile imports, which was $120 million last year. Turkey is asking that the quota be raised to $400 million. In 1984, bilateral trade ran three
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