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ANKARA: Turkey's heart is with Gaza but its mind looks westward

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  • ANKARA: Turkey's heart is with Gaza but its mind looks westward

    Today's Zaman, Turkey
    Feb 1 2009


    Turkey's heart is with Gaza but its mind looks westward



    Prime Minister Recep Tayyip ErdoÄ?an's show of power and honor
    at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos has sparked a discussion in
    Turkey over whether the Justice and Development Party (AK Party)
    government is turning its back on Israel, and by extension, the
    Western world.

    ErdoÄ?an's harsh response to Israeli President Shimon Peres'
    rebuking and loud tone was perceived by certain diplomats and media
    organs as a sign of a complete halt in Turkey's friendly relations
    with Israel. But the phone call that came from Peres, allegedly
    apologizing for his tone and reiterating the importance of Turkey's
    friendship to Israel, and a statement by the Turkish General Staff
    that there is no problem in Turkey's military equipment deals with
    Israel have suggested the opposite.

    Why, then, were critics of ErdoÄ?an's Davos protest so
    aggressive in claiming that the AK Party government was isolating
    Turkey from the West? Deputy Prime Minister Cemil �içek
    thinks their claims are actually wishful thinking. Turkish and foreign
    diplomats and academicians underline the fact that Turkey is as
    indispensable for the West as the West is for Turkey. The same applies
    to Israel, Turkish Foreign Ministry diplomats told Sunday's Zaman on
    Friday.

    Speaking to Sunday's Zaman, �içek said Turkey's position
    is not against the Israeli nation or Jews worldwide, but against the
    leadership that ordered the attacks on Gaza. �içek is
    aware that certain retired diplomats and a Turkish media group have
    criticized Prime Minister ErdoÄ?an for losing Israel's
    friendship and the support of Jewish lobbies in the US, especially as
    they have previously countered a looming Armenian "genocide" bill.

    "To some extent this is the wishful thinking of those who say these
    things. The prime minister does not target Israelis or Jews. Such an
    attitude is not acceptable in our religion or in our culture. What
    Turkey is criticizing is also criticized by certain Jewish writers,"
    he said. �içek believes that Turkey will continue to be
    the sole country that can speak to all sides of the Middle East
    conflict. "Foreign policy should be an area of calm. If
    ErdoÄ?an's words are taken out of their context and are used to
    harm Turkey's relations with Israel and other countries, this amounts
    to an injustice done to Turkey," he told Sunday's Zaman.

    The deputy prime minister does not believe that the Jewish lobby in
    the US will influence Washington's position vis-à-vis Turkey.

    He reiterates that friendly Turkish-American relations are more than
    50 years old and that they serve the interests of both sides. `The US
    has experience in governance. It does not give its decisions on the
    basis of one or two declarations. It looks to the past and the
    future. This is what all serious states should do. I don't believe
    Turkey's stance on Gaza will create a radical shift in the perception
    of Turkey in the US,' he said. But he does not downplay the
    possibility that the Armenian diaspora will use this opportunity to
    harm Turkey's image in the US capital. `We cannot say what will happen
    in April. That is a decision another country [the US] should
    make. They shouldn't make their decision looking only to the angle
    they are presented with by the Armenians,' he explained.

    A senior French parliamentarian and the Danish ambassador to Turkey
    ruled out suggestions that the incident in Davos was a sign that
    Turkey has been moving toward the Iran-Syria axis rather than
    gravitating toward Western society.

    Pierre Lellouche, a member of the French Parliament from the ruling
    Union for a Popular Movement (UMP), formerly led by current French
    President Nicolas Sarkozy, was in Antalya on Friday to participate in
    an international meeting of the Turkish-Atlantic Council.

    `Turkey is becoming just itself, nothing else; it is a bridge between
    Europe and the Middle East and it's conducting a very active policy in
    the Middle East, in the Gulf region and in the Caucasus,' Lellouche
    said, noting that the Turkish government has most recently displayed
    its commitment to joining the EU by appointing State Minister Egemen
    BaÄ?ıÅ? as a full-time chief EU negotiator for the
    accession process. `There is no need to dramatize the situation. I'm
    sure Turkey will continue playing its EU cards,' he added.

    Danish Ambassador to Turkey Jesper Vahr said he didn't believe that
    Turkey has been moving away from the West.

    `We have been expressing our pleasure over Turkey's balanced
    relationship with the Arab world and Europe. This balance matters for
    us. There is no such thing as moving away from the West,' Vahr said.

    Professor Ä°hsan DaÄ?ı, a political scientist,
    wrote an article in the Zaman daily on Friday about whether the AK
    Party would turn its back to the West. He claimed in his article,
    penned before the Davos incident, that among the antagonists of the AK
    Party were those who hoped that the party would abandon its
    pro-Western, pro-EU stance and turn into a government cut off from the
    rest of the world.

    `Don't struggle in vain!' he said to those who want to see the AK
    Party isolated. `For the first time in history the demands and
    position of the `conservative democrat circles' overlap with the
    global dynamics and the flow of history,' he wrote.

    Sunday's Zaman spoke to DaÄ?ı about whether the Davos
    incident changed his mind or not. He said he thinks the AK Party
    cannot turn its back on the West and the West cannot abandon the AK
    Party.

    `There is a natural alliance between the Western powers that want to
    see Turkey in the West and the AK Party. This is not something either
    side can give up so easily. There is no actor in Turkey, other than
    the AK Party, that can shoulder Turkey's vision of the West. This, in
    fact, is the major advantage of the AK Party. For the last six or
    seven years there has been no opposition that has stationed itself in
    the West. Those who want to see Turkey in the West do not have any
    alternative but to work with the AK Party,' he
    said. DaÄ?ı does not foresee a push from the Western
    capitals that would force Turkey to turn its face to the East. He is
    rather worried about the pull of the Arab streets.

    `We were in Brussels with the prime minister and we saw there that the
    European Union is not critical of the role Turkey is playing in the
    Middle East at all. Turkey is not only a moderator between actors; it
    also pulls Hamas and Hezbullah toward more moderate positions. It
    pulls Syria and Iran toward the international system. My only worry is
    the pull from the Middle Eastern streets. That shouldn't corrupt the
    chemistry of the AK Party,' he told Sunday's Zaman.

    In fact, the pull of Arab streets doesn't just worry intellectuals
    like DaÄ?ı, but also the Arab regimes. There have already
    been sentimental declarations among Arab intellectuals condemning
    their own regimes for their pacifism in the face of Israeli
    aggressions in Gaza. The Arab streets are referring to the Turkish
    prime minister either as the `Grandson of Abdülhamid II' or a
    second `Gamal Abdel Naser,' a new `Arab hero.' Keeping this in mind,
    one should be worried more about Turkey turning its back to the Arab
    leaders, and not European leaders. ErdoÄ?an is certainly winning
    the hearts of the Arab streets, but is Turkey losing the Arab
    capitals?

    One particular reason that Turkey may lose the friendship of certain
    Arab regimes is the need for consistency in Turkey's humanitarian
    concerns and search for justice. Having assumed the role of `the
    mouthpiece of the deprived and the helper of the weak,' Turkey will
    feel obliged to raise its voice in the face of similar injustices seen
    in other parts of the world. The dictatorial regimes of the Arab world
    provide enough material for such an obligation. And this is exactly
    what retired diplomat Onur Ã-ymen criticizes about the style of the
    prime minister. Ã-ymen thinks Turkey should have spoken in the name
    of the entire Palestinian people, not of Hamas. `Hamas is listed as a
    terrorist organization both by the European and American
    administrations. Turkey has accepted Hamas as a terrorist organization
    also. This is a contradiction. This is what will harm Turkey's
    relations with the West. What the prime minister criticizes deserves
    to be criticized. But you didn't show this response as hundreds of
    thousands of Iraqis were killed. You didn't show it when 300,000
    people were killed in Sudan. If the prime minister didn't show this
    contradiction, we would also applaud him,' Ã-ymen told Sunday's
    Zaman.

    On the other hand, the responses that came from the Arab capitals
    didn't confirm these worries. It seems that the Arab intellectuals
    regard Turkey's new role in the region not as a challenge to the
    current regimes, but as a complementary support for the Palestinian
    cause. Palestinian Ambassador to Ankara Nabeel Maarouf didn't, for
    example, accept the allegations that ErdoÄ?an was voicing the
    pains of Hamas only and not of the Palestinian people as a
    whole. `Hamas is a part of the Palestinian nation. We are under
    occupation and we have the right to defend ourselves. ErdoÄ?an
    is supporting the Palestinian nation and this right cause as a
    whole. He didn't point to a particular group or organization,' he told
    members of the Turkish press recently.

    Remarks by senior Fatah official Nabil Shaath, a former foreign
    minister, are in agreement with what Maarouf said. According to
    Shaath, suggesting that Turkey's policy is particularly in favor of
    Hamas is `unacceptable.' All Palestinian groups have sympathy for
    Turkey, Shaath stressed.

    `Turkey, welcome back to the region,' said Mustafa al-Labbad, director
    of the Al-Sharq Center for Regional and Strategic Studies, adding that
    Turkey is becoming `the star of the region,' particularly because it
    is not pushing any ideological doctrine in its approach to regional
    issues.

    For Dr. Amr al-Shubki, an expert at the Al-Ahram Center for Political
    and Strategic Studies, ErdoÄ?an's latest action in Davos
    revealed that a country could be both democratic and moderate, while
    at the same time being able to criticize Israel.

    Meanwhile, US Ambassador to Turkey James Jeffrey made it clear on
    Friday that the postponement of a scheduled visit to Turkey by the new
    US envoy for the Middle East, George Mitchell, had nothing to do with
    the incident in Davos.

    Mitchell was supposed to arrive in Ä°stanbul today for talks
    with ErdoÄ?an and Foreign Minister Ali Babacan as part of a
    regional tour aimed at shoring up the Gaza cease-fire to promote
    Israeli-Palestinian peace.

    Jeffrey, who was in Antalya for the TAC meeting on Friday, told
    Sunday's Zaman that the reason behind the postponement was `solely
    technical,' and added that the US side had briefed Ankara about the
    postponement before the panel in Davos.

    `I do not share them,' Jeffrey briefly replied when he was asked
    whether he shared certain opinions suggesting that Turkey was moving
    away from the West.

    01 February 2009, Sunday
    KERÄ°M BALCI / EMÄ°NE KART ANKARA
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