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ISTANBUL: The way of `thinking big' in foreign policyŚ

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  • ISTANBUL: The way of `thinking big' in foreign policyŚ

    Hurriyet, Turkey
    April 2 2010


    The way of `thinking big' in foreign policy¦

    Friday, April 2, 2010
    HASAN CEMAL


    News keeps coming in one item after the other. First, the Turkish
    ambassador to Stockholm goes back to work. And then the Turkish
    ambassador to Washington is expected to be back to United States soon.
    Apparently, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip ErdoÄ?an has had a change of
    heart and will attend the Nuclear Security Summit under U.S. President
    Barack Obama.

    Are these bad? No, not at all. If the news is a sign of better
    relations between Turkey and Armenia; Turkey and U.S., it cannot be
    bad news. Why should they? Better relations serve to all parties.

    What is wrong here is that indexing relations to the so-called
    Armenian `genocide' allegations and leaving them hostage to the
    Karabakh conflict. Of course there are different ways of thinking at
    this point. But that doesn't mean that communication among these three
    countries should be sacrificed. This is wrong.

    Sides can have problems. And some cannot be solved immediately and
    take time. The important thing is to prevent poisoning the relations.
    This is what we should do. The normalization of Turkish-American or
    Turkish-Armenian relations cannot be tied to the so-called `genocide'
    issue. It is likewise for the Karabakh question. And let's not forget
    the Cyprus conflict.

    Turkey over the years had a very narrow maneuvering space in Cyprus
    and had troubles in national politics as well. Now, please let's not
    create a second one with the Karabakh question or a Rauf DenktaÅ?
    problem again! I am not saying that neither Cyprus nor Karabakh is
    important. All I am saying is that both Turkey and Azerbaijan, without
    doubt, have their own legitimate reasons. But none should be allowed
    to create a setback for relations with Armenia, the U.S. and
    Azerbaijan.

    In other words: None of these problems should be a monkey on Turkey's
    back. We had plenty of examples in the past. But now we have to learn
    from our past experiences. Let's not overlook this:

    Turkey is standing on completely different ground today. Several
    issues shouldn't tie Turkey's hands; a country with such a remarkable
    growth and development and quite different national interests today.
    In this perspective, governing bodies as well as the political
    establishment in Turkey must `think big.' Besides, there is, should
    not be, no way but to be creative for Turkish diplomacy.

    Let's stop being wordy. It is wrong to index Turkish-American
    relations or Turkish-Armenian normalization to the so-called genocide
    issue and the Karabakh conflict. The common interests of these four
    countries, including Azerbaijan, do not lie in nationalistic show-offs
    but sound, normal relations.

    As I've said, we can live with some issues and leave solutions to
    time. But at the same time, we can bring relations back to normal or
    have better ties. This is the right thing to do.

    Turkish ambassadors to Stockholm and Washington going back to office
    and ErdoÄ?an attending the summit are hopefully signs of this
    normalization.

    * Mr. Hasan Cemal is a columnist for the daily Milliyet in which this
    piece appeared Friday. It was translated into English by the Daily
    News staff.
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