“The future of the geography, in which Islam lives, was the most important item on the agenda of Bush-Erdogan meeting, which Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul, U.S. State Secretary Colin Powell, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, and National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice also joined. In this respect, Erdogan mentioned the calls of his government to the Islam world for democratization, transparent administration, and supremacy of law. Erdogan said that change in the Islam world should be realized in a patient process of evolution and that democratic forces in Moslem countries should be supported in this sense. In other words, Erdogan was trying to give the message to Bush that he should pursue milder policies towards the Middle East… Bush supported the views of Erdogan about change in the Islam world and stated that Turkey had a “unique” and “valuable” position as a country that combined Islam and modernization. In this respect, one of the most important results of the Bush-Erdogan meeting was that they agreed on a “strategic vision” and on the fact that in this vision Turkey would act as a model.
“On the issue of Iraq, the important point of the Bush-Erdogan meeting was the fact that Bush gave the guarantees that Erdogan would demand even before the latter voiced his opinions. Bush said; We will not accept a federation model that will let Iraq disintegrate. We know your concerns and sensitivities. We will follow an approach that will take your sensitivities into account.
“… As Bush gave these assurances right at the start, Erdogan preferred not to get into details of the Iraq issue. Therefore, sensitive subjects, such as the status of Turkomans and Kirkuk, were left to be tackled by Gul and Powell. While the meeting of Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan with U.S. President George Bush was under way, U.S. forces in Iraq raided the bureau of the Democratic Solution Party, the political wing of PKK.”
