TOUR OVER NINE COUNTRIES

The new US Secretary of State John Kerry has included nine countries in his first overseas tour. Whereas his visits to the allied European powers such as the UK, Germany, France and Italy confirmed the friendly relations within the Euro-Atlantic space, John Kerry's visits to Turkey, Egypt and other Arab countries were marked by renewed expression of US policies in one of the world's most problematic regions - the Middle East.

Mouthpiece of the "middle ground"

John Kerry's visit to Turkey was paid against a seemingly successful background, bearing in mind the fact that the recent installation of NATO radars on Turkish territory was a convincing argument in favor of Ankara's strategy still developing towards the USA and NATO. However, the Turkish government has demonstrated that things are not as straightforward and that there is at least one issue between the USA and Turkey that prevents this relationship from being described as idyllic and trouble-free.

Prior to Kerry's trip to Turkey it was assumed that the primary focus of the US State Secretary's talks with Turkish leaders would be the Syrian crisis. And it was reasonable given the fact that, on the one hand, the USA had officially declared provision of the Syrian opposition with humanitarian aid and, on the other, that Turkey had been venting its growing discontent over the fact that major Western powers, including the United States, were strongly rocking the Syrian ship and having Ankara face the consequences of that.

But all of a sudden a problem emerged that attracted the attention of the USA and the West. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, addressing a UN "Alliance of Civilizations" forum in Vienna, put Islamophobia on a par with such crimes against humanity as fascism, anti-Semitism and Zionism. The mention of Zionism resonated strongly in the West, in Jewish communities around the world and, of course, in Israel itself.

Ankara's position was also condemned by the United States. The new Secretary of State, John Kerry, indicated Washington's concern in connection with the possible further worsening of the crisis in Turkish-Israeli relations and complications of the efforts to achieve peace in the Middle East due to Erdogan's statements. The US Secretary of State urged Turkey to find the "middle ground" in relations with Israel, recalling that the two countries "are vitally important allies".

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, in turn, has accused Israel of being hostile to Turkey, as evidenced by the deaths of 10 Turks during a capture by the Israeli commandos of the "Mavi Marmara" ferry in 2010. Davutoglu called on Israel to "reconsider its attitude to us, to people of the region and in particular its position on the settlements in the West Bank".

Thus, the Turkish Foreign Minister again linked a possible normalization of dialogue between Ankara and Tel Aviv with a substantial change of Israeli policies in the Middle East. And apparently Ankara's position is not expected to mitigate. The Government of Turkey's ruling Justice and Development Party has gone too far in promoting the interests of the Palestinian side to take steps in the opposite direction now. Especially considering the fact that by positioning itself as a defender of Palestine as the injured side in the never-ending Middle East conflict, Turkey seeks to restore its leading role in the region and the Islamic world.

However, the chance of recovering the "historical cooperation" between Turkey and Israel, very much hoped for by the United States, does exist. To a large extent it depends on a major breakthrough in the settlement of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, which is a strong contributor to the confrontation between Ankara and Tel Aviv.

Meanwhile, Secretary of State John Kerry has confirmed that the Obama administration is aware of the high degree of Israel's responsibility for the current escalation of the Palestinian-Israeli confrontation. This is why in the course of a visit to Saudi Arabia, where he met with the leader of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, the US Secretary of State did not object to the latter's statements regarding the need to stop the construction of Jewish settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories. However, it is clear that Kerry's mere acquiescence with the requirements of the Palestinians is not enough to melt the ice of mistrust of many Muslim countries towards Washington. This is clearly demonstrated by John Kerry's visit to Egypt.

In a Cairo street 

The Egyptians met the US Secretary of State with anti-government protests in Port Said, Mansoura and other cities where participants burned portraits of the American visitor in protest at Washington's support for Egyptian President Mohammed Mursi accused by the opposition of "suppression of freedoms, usurpation of power and the Islamization of the country". The liberal opposition blame on the Americans for making it possible for "Muslim Brotherhood" to rise to power in Egypt. Discontent is also caused by the fact that Washington urges the National Salvation Front, the country's main opposition party, to abandon the boycott of the parliamentary election scheduled for April.

Meanwhile, it is clear that the White House is aware of the acute political and economic crisis developing in Egypt, which is fraught with civil strife and increasing violence. Therefore, the US administration seeks to prevent the biggest "Arab revolution" country from sliding into chaos. A significant tool for the conservation of Cairo in the orbit of Washington's policy is the IMF loan of $4.8 billion promised by John Kerry.

According to Kerry, "the energy of the Egyptian people must be channeled from the streets into entrepreneurship and a strong civil society". And this is a signal that the USA is ready to strengthen control over Egyptian political process in order to prevent the "streets" from leading the "country of the pyramids" astray, which is not envisaged as part of the "Arab spring". Realizing that a true alternative to the government of a moderate "Muslim brother" Mohammed Mursi is not liberals who position themselves as pro-Western political forces but radical Islamists who have an impressive social base in Egypt, the Americans, used to making real bets, prefer to provide adequate support for the president of Egypt, even though this does not impress western democrats very much. Whether this will eventually be justified is unknown probably even to John Kerry and the entire Obama administration, which makes no secret of its intention to reformat the US policy in the Middle East and make it much milder. The latter, however, does not retouch the actual goals of the US strategy in relation to the region.

This is entirely confirmed by the US position on Iran, which was discussed in detail during a visit to Saudi Arabia. John Kerry said that Iran has the right to have a safe nuclear capability, but added: "We are determined to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons capabilities."

Thus, the new US Secretary of State during his first foreign tour which in many ways was of exploratory nature made it clear to all the interested parties that he will do its best to promote the aggressive diplomacy of the White House, but with restraint and "flexible approach" characteristic of Barack Obama.