La Turquie : puissance régionale et forteresse assiégée ?

Turkey: A Regional Power or a Fortress under Siege?, by Hamit BOZARSLAN The attitude of Turkey, one of the closest allies of the United States in the Middle East, has been highly ambiguous throughout the Iraqi crisis. Obviously, Ankara does not have enough resources to oppose Washington's decisions. Its policy, however, is determined by a set of factors and constraints, among them the legacy of the Ottoman Empire and the fear of emergence of a viable Kurdish entity. Moreover, some sections among the military and civil establishment are quite reluctant towards the United States, which are accused to aim at the destruction of the "nation-states". The declaration of general Tuncer Kilinç, secretary general of the powerful National Security Council, underlining the necessity of a radical switch in the Turkish foreign policy and a strategie alliance with Russia and Iran against the West, is a significant proof of internal tensions inside the Turkish establishment. Ultimately, Ankara will be obliged to accept some kind of co-operation with the US during the Iraqi crisis. It seems however also be convinced that the establishment of a pro-American administration in Iraq will depreciate its "strategie value" in the Middle East.La crise irakienne place la Turquie devant un dilemme. Il lui faut montrer son soutien aux Etats-Unis, dont elle est l'un des principaux alliés, et à l'Occident, dont elle espère se rapprocher encore en rejoignant l'Union européenne. Mais elle redoute fortement que la guerre menée contre Saddam Hussein et son régime ne remette en cause les structures étatiques et les frontières nées de la Première Guerre mondiale, en particulier en donnant aux Kurdes la possibilité de créer leur propre Etat souverain. Le nouveau gouvernement turc, issu de la mouvance nationale islamiste, doit donc naviguer entre plusieurs écueils, d'autant que tout laisse à penser que la tendance nationaliste en Turquie, qui s'exprime par un discours de plus en plus anti-occidental, voire « eurasiste » militant, dispose de positions solides dans l'armée et l'establishment civil.Bozarslan. La Turquie : puissance régionale et forteresse assiégée ?. In: Politique étrangère, n°1 - 2003 - 68ᵉannée. pp. 93-102