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TURKEY: Obama Offers Islam a Handshake

Hilmi Toros

ISTANBUL, Apr 7 2009 (IPS) - On his first visit to a Muslim country this week, U.S. President Barack Obama proposed "a new chapter" in U.S. engagement with the Islamic world. He drew much praise, while some remain skeptical.

"The United States is not, and never will be, at war with Islam," he told the Turkish Parliament in capital Ankara Monday. "Our partnership with the Muslim world is critical in rolling back a fringe ideology that people of all faiths reject."

His words rang sweet to his audience, a change from statements by former president George Bush, who was not quite so emphatic in offering an embrace to Islam. "America's relationship with the Muslim world cannot and will not be based on opposition to Al-Qaeda," Obama declared. "Far from it. We seek broad engagement based upon mutual interest and mutual respect."

In symbolic gestures, he met Tuesday with leaders of Muslim, Christian and Jewish faiths in the main metropolis Istanbul. He also visited Hagia Sophia, a landmark that was once a Greek Orthodox basilica, later a mosque and is now a museum, and toured the Blue Bosque with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

"He inspired people, he is the voice of hope," Gulsun Zeytinoglu, a human resources executive and former board member of the Turkish Women Entrepreneurs Association told IPS. "He is trying to create new relationships in a world still influenced by the old paradigm. We need his vision."

Obama endeared himself to Turks simply because he appears, talks and acts differently from previous U.S. leaders – and because of his middle name common in Islam. In its extensive coverage of Obama's visit to Turkey, the state television network constantly referred to him as "Barack Hussein Obama".

And who would quarrel with his comment: "The United States has been enriched by Muslim Americans. Many other Americans have Muslims in their family, or have lived in a Muslim-majority country. I know because I am one of them."

"He is solid, he makes no mistakes and got wide acclaim from the media and people," analyst Nejdet Kivanc told IPS. "But whether he can achieve what he wants is a question mark. He may end up following the old U.S. policy rather than changing it."

Veysel Guler, a devout Muslim and a rank-and-file member of the Islamic- rooted ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), also had his doubts. "He sounds hopeful, but nothing can be solved by words unless you change the perception of Islam in the West," he said. "The problem is there, not here. Can he change them? Will he drop America's pro-Israel policy?"

Apart from the overture to Islam, Obama's trip had other political overtones.

Obama described Turkey as a "critical ally." It was significant he chose Turkey, considered a bridge between East and West and an aspiring member of the European Union, as the first Muslim nation to visit. The U.S. and Turkey were close allies in the Cold War against feared Soviet expansion, but fell out over the Turkish Parliament's refusal to let U.S. troops open a front against Saddam Hussein in the U.S. led invasion of Iraq in 2003. But that was a war Obama opposed from the start.

The United States now sees Turkey as a possible means to solve regional conflicts, on the basis of its strong relations with Iran, Syria, Afghanistan and Pakistan – all of continuing concern to the United States. Turkey also maintains ties with Hamas as well as Israel, although Erdogan's clash with Israeli President Shimon Peres at the World Economic Forum earlier this year dented Israel-Turkish ties.

Obama's visit to Istanbul coincided with an Alliance of Civilisations summit in the city at a forum co-founded by Turkey and Spain, and designed to find ways to overcome cultural divides.