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Turkey Will Not Be Lost To The West

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  • Turkey Will Not Be Lost To The West

    TURKEY WILL NOT BE LOST TO THE WEST

    Qantara.de
    March 31 2010
    Germany

    The shift in Turkey's foreign policy orientation towards the Middle
    East has raised fears that the country could turn away from the West.

    In his essay, Huseyin Bagci, professor of international politics at
    the Technical University of Ankara, explains that despite appearances,
    the USA and the EU remain Turkey's most important partners

    Even under Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey's ultimate goal is to accede to
    the European Union. Huseyin Bagci is of the opinion that the reforms
    introduced to date have changed Turkey and that, for this reason,
    the EU remains an important modernization factor for Turkey

    | Turkey's foreign policy has undergone so many "initiatives and
    openings" in recent times that even the Turks themselves have
    difficulty understanding where their country's foreign policy is
    actually heading. The steps taken by Prime Minister Erdogan are
    surprising many observers. Only one thing is certain: Turkey has much
    more self-confidence than ever before and already sees itself as a
    regional and global player.

    Foreign Minister Ahmed Davutoglu's new foreign policy formula, which
    could be summed up as "no problems with the neighbours", is starting
    to bear fruit; at the same time, it is also raising fears that Turkey
    could turn away from the West. Turkey is already a "political Mecca"
    for the Islamic world and, at the same time, an indispensable partner
    for the West.

    Rooted as it is in the West in political, economic, technological and
    cultural terms, Turkey has enjoyed more room to assert its influence
    abroad since the end of the Cold War. No Turkish prime minister
    before him has enjoyed such conducive foreign policy conditions as
    Tayyip Erdogan.

    Ultimate goal: accession

    In terms of the EU's geostrategic interests, Turkey remains
    indispensable, even though both France and Germany are unwilling to
    acknowledge this fact. The Turkish policy of both these countries is
    neither creative nor result-oriented. Nevertheless, Turkey will not
    walk away from the accession negotiation table.

    Ankara should continue to push on with its reform process in order to
    meet European standards. On the other hand, the EU must also fulfil
    its obligations to Turkey. The relations between the European Union
    and Ankara must be improved both in terms of their quality and their
    quantity.

    Accession to the EU remains the unswerving ultimate goal of Turkish
    politics. From the Turkish point of view, it is no longer a question -
    and has not been for a long time - of whether the country will become
    a member of the EU; for Turkey, membership is practically a matter
    of course.

    The reforms introduced over the past 20 years have changed Turkey,
    and the EU remains a very important modernization factor. At the same
    time, the USA will remain Turkey's most important partner in foreign
    and security policy. Ankara's new Kurdish policy and its opening up
    towards Armenia can only succeed if Washington continues to operate
    as a peacekeeper.

    Other countries are also showing interest in Turkey. Ankara is also
    an important partner for Russia in the field of energy and in terms
    of its regional policy towards the Black Sea and the Caucasus. Russia
    is Turkey's most important trade partner; after Germany it is also
    the second-biggest buyer of Russian natural gas.

    | Bild:

    By opening up to Syria, Iran and Iraq, Turkey has established itself
    as a new regional player in the Middle East | Moscow support's
    Turkey's decision to open up to Armenia. When the foreign ministers
    of Armenia and Turkey signed a rapprochement agreement last October,
    the Russian foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, was present. Public
    opinion about Russia in Turkey has never been as positive as it is
    at present. Nevertheless, Moscow is not a political alternative;
    it is primarily an economic partner.

    Turkey's decision to improve relations with Syria, Iran, Iraq and
    the entire Islamic world puts the country at the political centre of
    the Middle East. Prime Minister Erdogan is the most popular political
    figure among the Arab masses, but not necessarily among Arab regimes.

    Tayyip Erdogan also acts as Israel's most high-profile critic. The
    Turkish-Israeli crisis was intentionally started by Erdogan, and he
    is enjoying it. Moreover, Ankara does not intend to end its close
    relationship with Iran just because the West does not approve of it.

    Erdogan is pragmatic, and Iran is a good economic partner. At the same
    time, Turkey would like to play the role of honest broker between
    Iran and the USA. This is why Iran is using Turkey to break out of
    its own political isolation. For Iran, Turkey is a springboard. Even
    in Turkey, this has generated much severe criticism.

    Regional power in the Middle East

    Iraq and the Kurds in northern Iraq constitute a common problem for
    the USA (as the protector of Baghdad) and Turkey. Iraq's Kurds are
    benefitting from the new Turkish policy to avoid, where possible,
    all problems with neighbouring countries.

    | Bild:

    A new Kurdish policy: Ahmet Davutoglu became the first Turkish foreign
    minister to visit the autonomous Kurdish region in northern Iraq when
    he travelled there in October 2009 and met the Kurdish leader Massoud
    Barzani | The visit of Turkish foreign minister, Ahmed Davutoglu, to
    the Kurds in northern Iraq was an expression of this new policy. In
    the long term, Turkey is Iraq's best partner in the region. Turkey's
    recently concluded agreements with Syria, Iraq and Iran are mostly
    economic in orientation and are a demonstration of Turkey's "soft
    power".

    The reorientation of its Kurdish policy has both domestic and foreign
    policy consequences for Turkey. It could mean the end of the PKK as
    a terrorist organization; in any case, the Kurds are becoming more
    self-confident.

    Nevertheless, an independent Kurdish state is unlikely. That being
    said, Turkey's neighbours realise that the time for confrontation
    has passed and the time for co-operation has arrived. In this regard,
    Turkey can indeed be considered the peacemaker of the region.

    In doing so, Ankara's political pragmatism makes use of Islam and
    the common cultural history of the Ottoman Empire. The debate about
    "Neo-Ottomanism" also points in this direction. The intellectuals
    and politicians of the Ottoman Empire believed in the mission of
    modernizing both the Islamic world and the Middle East. This is the
    political heritage of the current government in Ankara.

    In this regard, Turkey will not be lost to the West. On the contrary,
    Turkey is promoting common values in the Middle East. Turkey considers
    itself to be the ambassador of democracy in the region and remains
    firmly rooted in the West, even under Tayyip Erdogan.

    Huseyin Bagci

    © Neue Zurcher Zeitung / Qantara.de 2010

    Translated from the German by Aingeal Flanagan
    http://www.qantara.de/webcom/show_article .php/_c-476/_nr-1311/i.html
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