Gül fortunately cannot go to Baghdad

A right decision to the point, it was; especially with respect to the Baghdad trip scheduled for Dec. 20 to 21. If Gül had gone, he would have gone to Baghdad not Iraq.

What is the difference? Isn’t Baghdad the capital of Iraq? If he had a trip to Baghdad, wouldn’t this have counted as an official visit to Iraq?

Although it seems that it makes no difference, yes, there is a difference. Gül’s Baghdad visit is not a historic visit because if it would have been realized, he would not have been the first Turkish president stepping into the Iraqi capital for the first time. Neither would he have been the first Turkish official visiting Baghdad since the war in 2003. For Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan had already paid a one-day trip to Baghdad in July.

Gül was not the first foreign head of the state to visit "new Iraq’s" capital in the post-war period. For the President of the United States George W. Bush, made his fourth visit to Baghdad two days ago. Even Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmedinajad went to Baghdad. What could have made Gül’s visit meaningful were visits to other Iraqi cities including Kirkuk and Arbil in particular, in addition to Baghdad. But even if he had gone to Baghdad on Dec. 20 to 21, this could have been simply a Baghdad visit.

From this perspective, Gül’s Baghdad trip wouldn’t have been a "dramatic" one, similar to the one he made to the Armenian capital of Yerevan in September. However, the statement issued said Gül would visit Kirkuk together with his Iraqi counterpart Jalal Talabani, while the Iraqi president was receiving Iraqi Türkmens during the days of Eid al Adha (The Festival of Sacrifice). Ankara was allegedly disturbed by the statement's inconsistence with Gül’s preparations for a Baghdad visit. Possibly during the New York meeting with Gül in late September, Talabani must have been encouraged by the silence when he suggested that he expected to see Gül in Baghdad and if Gül goes to the Iraqi capital, they could also visit Najaf, Kirkuk and Arbil together.

On the day of the Gül-Talabani meeting in New York, I wrote the following in the Sept. 26 edition:

"We are sitting with Talabani in front of a breath-taking New York landscape. The Statute of Liberty is right across us... ’I wonder if...’ he asks, ’Will Gül stop by in Arbil while visiting Baghdad? If he does, this could be a joyful event and he will be received very well...’

"The Arbil leg of Gül’s possible trip to Baghdad is a different story. Gül put his mark on the history as the 'first Turkish president to have visited Yerevan.' But he will not be the first one visiting Baghdad. If he stops by in Arbil during the Baghdad expedition, Gül may claim his place in history again.

"I am saying this.

"Will Talabani share the Arbil dimension of the Baghdad trip with Gül during a one-on-one meeting today?

"I don’t know..."

We learned it the next day, because Talabani did suggest Gül visit Arbil together with him and added other cities to the list, like the Shiite religious capital Najaf and like Kirkuk to which Turkey attributes a special meaning. What motivated Talabani must have been that he didn’t hear any objection to his suggestion. However, Ankara makes different calculations. Apparently, the Turkish capital doesn’t entertain the idea of Mr. President visiting other Iraqi cities besides Baghdad.

Having a trip to Baghdad simply wouldn’t add anything special to this "ordinary" visit, even if Gül’s health condition doesn’t present a problem.

For this reason, Gül’s health at this point fortunately cannot allow him to visit Baghdad. The postponement gives him time to think and prepare for Kirkuk and Arbil trips too.

An Iraq expedition including Kirkuk and Arbil in addition to Baghdad will have historic meaning, a value, in terms of Turkey’s rapprochement policy toward Iraqi Kurds and in finding a solution model that Turkey can also adopt in the critical Kirkuk issue.

Iraq is not a country which Turkey can have "routine visits" to. Gül’s stepping into Iraq should be a historic visit, a visit out of the ordinary to open a "new page" in Turkey’s internal and external politics.

And that most certainly should be an Iraq expedition including the cities of Arbil and Kirkuk.

Let’s not deceive ourselves: What makes Iraq "special" for Turkey is not its being an old Ottoman territory including the cities of Mosul and Basra. There are many other countries having similar characteristics.

What makes Iraq "special" for Turkey is its direct relation with the "Kurdish issue" which has projections on Turkish internal politics...