Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Turks' eastern turn

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Turks' eastern turn

    Turks' eastern turn

    Financial Times, UK
    Nov 25 2009


    There will be plenty to discuss at Thursday's meeting in Istanbul of
    European Union foreign ministers with their Turkish counterpart: not
    just Turkey's stalled accession talks but the ostensible turn
    eastwards of Ankara's foreign policy.

    There are those who perceive a contradiction in EU candidate and Nato
    member Turkey's facing east and west at the same time. The
    neo-Islamist government of Recep Tayyip Erdogan is not among them -
    and it may have a point.

    To begin with, Turkey has a clear interest in fostering stability in
    its near east and south-east. So, for that matter, does the EU.

    To be clear, the expansion of Turkish influence, including with Syria
    and Iran, is not just about stability. Turkey is reasserting itself as
    a regional power, and trying to demonstrate it has alternatives to the
    EU, where France, Germany and Austria seem intent on slamming the door
    in its face.

    If this demonstration highlights the strategic value of having Turkey
    inside the union, the contrasting feebleness of the EU's efforts in
    the region - Europe's turbulent backyard - and the creative use of
    `soft power' in action, then it could be salutary and worthwhile.

    Turkey has not just mended fences with Syria, it has flattened them:
    abolishing visa restrictions. In 1996 Ankara was suspected of planting
    bombs in Damascus, for harbouring Kurdish separatists. It has also
    embraced post-war Iraq, which it had threatened to invade, also over
    the perceived threat from the Kurds. It has started to address the
    rift with Armenia, over the mass-murders of Armenians in the dying
    years of the Ottoman empire, and started devising the first real
    policy of reconciliation with its own Kurdish minority.

    It has also fallen out with Israel over Gaza, and cosied up to Iran,
    where Mr Erdogan said the west is treating the Islamic Republic's
    nuclear programme `unfairly'.

    Yet, the turn east - seen by some as neo-Ottoman - is driven by
    interests more than ideology. Trade with the Middle East is fast
    expanding to take up the slack of the EU downturn, while Turkey wants
    to become a hub for energy from the Caspian and Egypt.

    Overall, the EU should be positive about this. Turkey is the most
    successful country in the region, with a big foot in Europe. The
    ability of its secular republic to accommodate (so far) a governing
    party with Islamist roots, and simultaneously carry out a
    constitutional revolution, mesmerises the most dynamic sectors of Arab
    society. That is surely an asset for Europe, and for the broader
    Middle East.
Working...
X