Turkey is enthusiastic about the United States' so-called "Greater Middle East Initiative", which was at the heart of recent talks between Arab foreign ministers, according to Turkish commentators and analysts.
The U.S. administration gave Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan the green light during his visit to Washington in January to promote the initiative in view of Turkey's pivotal role in the plan and the region, journalist and writer Sibl Araslan wrote Monday, February 16, in the daily Vakit.
Vakit said that Israeli Labor Party Chairman Shimon Peres discussed the initiative in camera with left-wing leaders during his visit to Turkey on Saturday, February 14.
Ahmet Tas wrote in the daily Yeni Safak that the U.S. used its global war on terror in the wake of the 9/11 attacks and military juggernaut in Afghanistan and Iraq as a tool to press ahead with its nascent initiative.
"They want to send the unmistakable message that 'we can force our project by force,'" he wrote. Americans believe that the peoples of the Middle East would support the initiative to head off devastating wars and a repeat of the Iraqi tragedy, added the journalist.
http://www.islamonline.net/English/News/2004-02/17/article09.shtml